They're creepy, they're kooky, and they've been on television and movie screens for nearly 60 years and there is nothing spooky about that. The Addams Family have been a part of the pop culture landscape for over half a century, delighting audiences with their macabre mannerisms and freaky familial fondness for each other. The Addams Family started off as a string of comic panels for the New Yorker back in 1938 created by Charles Addams, but most people know them from their 1960s television series. Since the series, there have been a slew of animated adaptations, big-budgeted blockbusters, countless merchandise, and even a Broadway musical back in 2010. The latest Netflix adaptation directed by Tim Burton, called Wednesday, has officially dropped as of November 23 (fittingly enough, a Wednesday). The question is, why The Addams Family? Why and how has this property stood the test of time, while many of their other 1960s sitcom counterparts do not receive the same treatment?
While there can be many reasons why audiences keep coming back to The Addams Family, their appeal can be boiled down to two reasons, and it's not very mysterious or spooky to see why. One, and this is the more obvious reason, is that no matter the adaption, the core theme of them being a loving family unit is always there. Sure, they may try to decapitate each other with the guillotine or put rat poison in their food, but it is always out of love. The Addams Family does not only embrace all the misery, headache, and embarrassment that family can bring, they welcome it. And the other reason is that even in the 1960s, The Addams Family characters and aesthetics were already timeless, and that has translated to many decades with new and exciting reboots and reimaginings that continue to fascinate audiences to this day.
Where Did 'The Addams Family' Start?
As mentioned, The Addams Family started off as a series of comic strips created by Charles Addams in the late 1930s. And while those comics are great and are the reason why The Addams Family exist, most people know the frightening and friendly family from their 1960s sitcom of the same name. The Addams Family sitcom premiered on ABC on September 18th, 1964, and ran until April 8th, 1966. It is responsible for introducing many elements to the Addams lore that are mainstays in the franchise even to this day. The show introduced elements like Wednesday's love for bizarre and disturbing historical facts, Gomez and Morticia's endless lust for each other, Uncle Fester's light bulb gag, and Grandmama's peculiar cooking. The show is also a big part as to why characters like Thing and Cousin Itt are popular members of The Addams Family. They existed in the comics, but the showrunners were such big fans of their designs that they made it mandatory for them to appear in the series.
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The premise of almost every episode is that someone comes and visits the Addams family, and they are either terrified by the literal jungle that is their home or confused as to how a group of people can be so weird and not see anything wrong with it. The Addams' love each other and delight in all the strange and unusual things that go on; they honestly think that "normal" people are the ones who are truly strange. They are never malicious or rude to their guests; instead, the Addams' welcome them with open arms, and it's the visitors who are usually mean or misunderstand them. The series starred John Astin as Gomez, Carolyn Jones as Morticia, and Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester and ran for 64 episodes in total. Though the show lasted a short while, the popularity of it kept the show alive through decades of reruns that aired up until the early 1990s. This show also gave fans the iconic, Grammy Award-nominated theme song that has been a staple of The Addams Family ever since.
The Addams Family Gets Animated
Though they eventually got their own animated show in 1973, the first time The Addams Family appeared in animation on the small screen was with none other than Scooby-Doo. In 1972 The New Scooby-Doo Movies: "Scooby-Doo meets The Addams Family" premiered and saw Scooby and the gang crossing paths with the mysterious and spooky Addams Family. They even got the original cast to voice their animated counterparts and the special was a huge success, though it was never released on VHS or DVD due to copyright issues.
This led Hannah-Barbera to produce a cartoon series in 1973 aptly titled The Addams Family. The show follows the Addams on a cross-country road trip in their creepy camper that's meant to look like their Victorian home. Though the show is a little more lighthearted than the sitcom that came before it, the Addams family was able to come off as even weirder, having their characters and aesthetic only strengthened by the medium of animation. The only two actors from the original sitcom to return to reprise their roles were Coogan as Fester and Ted Cassidy as Lurch. Interestingly enough, a 10-year-old Jodie Foster voiced Pugsly in this show. The show takes place in a different world than the sitcom, but the core of the Addams' was still present throughout the series.
In 1977 a new live-action special was produced entitled Halloween with the New Addams Family. This was the last time the entire original cast was together as The Addams Family. It was also the first and only time the original Addams Family cast appeared in color.
The 1990s and the Return of 'The Addams Family'
Then the '90s happened and changed the way people would view The Addams Family forever. In 1991, director Barry Sonnenfeld, known for The Men in Black trilogy and Get Shorty, directed a live-action film adaptation called The Addams Family, bringing the strange family to the big screen for the first time. Through the success of the first film, a sequel, also directed by Sonnenfeld, came out in 1993 entitled Addams Family Values. These films are considered to be the definitive version of The Addams Family by die-hard fans and are usually the version of The Addams Family people know of the best. The film's cast does not even feel like a cast, but more like the real Addams Family come to life. The film stars Raul Julia as Gomez, Angelica Huston as Morticia, Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester, Christina Ricci as Wednesday, Jimmy Workman as Pugsley, and Judith Malina and Carol Kane as Grandmama in the first and second film, respectfully. Christina Ricci in particular usually gets major props for playing Wednesday Addams, a role she was definitely born to play, and Angelica Huston got nominated for two Golden Globes for her portrayal of Morticia in both films.
The 1990s Addams Family films showcase one of the biggest reasons The Addams Family has stood the test of time: they're timeless. There is nothing distinctively 1960s about The Addams Family. They do not wear '60s clothes, the kids never talked in '60s lingo, and they never really had jobs in the first place, so nothing about The Addams Family was dated. Their whole shtick is that they are a family of weirdos that have a taste for the dark and dismal, yet have a cheery disposition and a healthy family life. That concept is so strong that any writer or filmmaker can place The Addams Family in any decade and the jokes and characters still work. The first film was a massive success, making $113 million against a $30 million budget, and received an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design. Addams Family Values was not as big a financial success as the first film, however, it did receive better critic reviews and an Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration. Many fans consider the sequel to be better than the first film, reaching cult classic status.
The '90s films were so popular that The Addams Family returned to the small screen, once again in animation. In 1992, Hannah-Barbera again produced an animated series based on the family shockingly titled The Addams Family. The show only lasted one season before ending, but most notably it is the last time John Astin would play Gomez, who returned to voice him in this show. Famed Power Rangers producer Hiam Saban got the TV film right to The Addams Family and produced Addams Family Reunion. Critics and audiences responded to the film negatively and there are not many great things to say about it, but it did give audiences Tim Curry as Gomez and everyone can always use more Tim Curry in their lives. Addams Family fever was so hot in the 1990s that they even got a new sitcom, their first one in over 30 years. In 1998, Hiam Saban once again produced a new Addams Family sitcom appropriately titled The New Addams Family. The show had a much lighter and goofier tone than previous live-action adaptations and it only lasted one season.
By the time the 1990s ended, The Addams Family had shown themselves to be an intellectual property that can change and adapt to the ever-changing pop culture landscape. Though audiences didn't hear or see much new material from The Addams Family during most of the 2000s and 2010s, they were still itching to see new Addams Family media once again. In 2019, MGM released a new animated film The Addams Family, and it was widely successful. The film made over $200 million at the box office against a $24 million budget and that led them to green light a sequel The Addams Family 2 that came out in 2021. The cast for this film was Oscar Isaac as Gomez, Charlize Theron as Morticia, Chloe Grace Moretz as Wednesday, Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester, Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley in the first film and Javon "Wanna" Walton in the second, and Bette Midler as Grandmama. The films made it very clear that audiences were still in the mood to be enchanted by The Addams Family once again and reinvigorated the franchise for a new generation.
Tim Burton and 'The Addams Family'
Tim Burton and Netflix have released Wednesday, a new series that explores the daughter of the Addams family trying to fit in with the rest of the world at her new school, Nevermore Academy. Tim Burton himself has had a history with The Addams Family. When the '90s film was produced, he was the first director asked to direct, but had to decline due to his involvement with Batman Returns. Many years later in 2010, Tim Burton was set to direct and produce a stop-motion animated film adaptation of The Addams Family, but was eventually passed on. So now, over 30 years later, Tim Burton finally gets to do his own version of the creepy and kooky family and the trailers already have audiences excited to see what the sick, twisted, and loving family has in store. The Addams Family has a long, varied, and successful career on screen and only time will tell when audiences are craving more from the oddball family. Their never ending love for each other warms audiences' hearts and their timeless aesthetic allows any and every generation to get into them with just a quick *snap* *snap* of their fingers.
