The movie portrays the Annabelle doll as a porcelain doll, but the real Annabelle doll is a large "Raggedy Ann" doll. The Warrens had a special case built for Annabelle inside their Occult Museum, where she resides to this day.
The baby mobile hanging over the crib plays the same tune as the music box from The Conjuring (2013).
The real Annabelle doll was given to Donna (a college student at the time) by her mother in 1970. She and her roommate Angie noticed that the doll would move subtlety, then within a few weeks became fully mobile moving from one room to another while they were gone.
Alfre Woodard hadn't seen The Conjuring (2013) before she began working on the film. Instead she prepared by researching the story that inspired the film.