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The Addams Family

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The Addams Family is the creation of American cartoonist Charles Addams. A satirical inversion of the ideal of the perfect American nuclear family, they are an eccentric wealthy family who delight in everything grotesque and macabre, and are never really aware that people find them bizarre or frightening.

Addams's cartoons in The New Yorker magazine gained popularity in the 1930s. Addams was noted for his morbid sense of humor, and over the years various bizarre people and creatures who lived in a huge decaying Second Empire house became recurring characters.

Contents

Premise

The Addamses are the descendants of a very long line of witches, freaks, ghouls, and other assorted social outcasts. The family that the cartoons, movies, and shows are based around are said to be but one surviving branch of the Addams clan. Many other "Addams families" exist all over the world. Their family credo, according to the film version, is "Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc" (We gladly feast on those who would subdue us).

Gomez Alonzo Addams studied to be a lawyer, but rarely practices while taking absurd pride in losing his cases. He is wealthy from inheritance and extensive investments, though seems to have little regard for money. Gomez is of Castilian origin and loves to smoke cigars and play destructively with his model trains. Though head of the household, he is also the most naïve and childish member of the family, with a short attention span and endless optimism. Despite his macabre sense of humor, he is extremely generous and known for going out of his way to help those he considers friends. Gomez is married to Morticia A. Addams (née Frump), a vampish woman who dresses only in long, black gowns, and trims flowers by clipping off buds and leaving only the stems ("live heading" them instead of "dead heading" where you cut off the flower after all the petals have fallen). Morticia, who speaks French fluently, can easily seduce her husband with just a few words of the language. She too comes from a long line of deviants, freaks, and maniacs.

The mansion is full of unusual decorations and oddities like a mounted swordfish with a man's foot sticking out its mouth, and a polar bear skin rug on the floor in the entryway that roars when unwary visitors step on it.

Gomez and Morticia have two children, Pugsley and Wednesday. Wednesday, whose middle name is Friday, was originally—as her name suggests—a quiet, somewhat pathetic child, full of woe. In the TV show she was a sweet-natured, happy child, largely concerned with her pet spiders. A favorite toy was her Marie Antoinette doll, which she had guillotined, and which she often showed to visitors. The movies gave her a serious personality with a deadpan wit, and a morbid fascination with trying to physically harm or possibly murder her brother (she was seen strapping him into an electric chair, for example, and preparing to pull the switch). She is apparently often successful, but Pugsley never dies. Like most members of the family he seems to live in a semi-immortal state.

For his part, Pugsley is largely either oblivious of the harm his sister tries to inflict on him, or an enthusiastic supporter of it. In his first incarnation, Pugsley (originally to be called Pubert) was depicted as a diabolical, malevolent child next door. In the TV series, he was a devoted older brother and an inventive and mechanical genius, although his brilliance was lost in the movies, in which he appears to be of below-average intelligence.

In the most recent animated series, Pugsley's and Wednesday's personalities seem to be a mix of their previous ones, with Wednesday being back to her happy and somewhat optimistic child, while retaining her sophisticated manner from the movies and Pugsley having regained some of his genius when it comes to chemistry and machines, but his intelligence still seems to be rather underdeveloped at times.

In Addams Family Values, Gomez and Morticia had a third child, a son named Pubert (voiced by Cheryl Chase), a moustachioed and seemingly indestructible baby with the ability to shoot flaming arrows.

Other members of the family who live with Gomez and Morticia include Uncle Fester and Grandmama. In the original television series, Fester was Morticia's uncle, and therefore technically not an Addams, although at times he claims the family name as his own (in one episode, Fester became confused when someone asked what his last name was, implying that he had none at all). In all other animated and filmed content, Fester became Gomez's older brother, and therefore the uncle of Wednesday and Pugsley. Grandmama is Gomez's mother in only the 1960s live-action TV series and the 1990s animated TV series (Starring John Astin, Nancy Lanri, Rip Taylor, Jim Cummings and Carol Channing). In all other content, Grandmama is Morticia's mother (in fact, both animated TV series have one episode each where Grandmama's surname is mentioned as "Frump"). In the original TV series, Mother Frump exists as a separate character from Grandmama.

The family has a servant in the form of a disembodied hand named "Thing". Thing has been Gomez's friend since childhood. He (it is implied that he is male) often performs common, everyday tasks such as retrieving the mail. They also have a tall, ghoulish manservant named Lurch. Morticia and Gomez summon him by means of a bell pull in the form of a hangman's noose which produces a crashing gong that shakes the house, to which Lurch responds instantly with "You rang?" He is also very adept at playing the harpsichord. Lurch has ejected several visitors from the premises. Gomez also has a Cousin Itt who often visits the family; his long hair covers his body entirely, from scalp to floor, and it is unclear what, if anything, is beneath the hair.

Other guests include Morticia's older sister Ophelia (also played by Carolyn Jones in the sitcom) and Morticia's mother (and Fester's sister), Hester Frump (played in the sitcom by Margaret Hamilton, best known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz). The Addamses also have many eccentric cousins who, in the sitcom, were mentioned but never shown.

The nature of The Addamses

The exact nature of the Addamses is never established. They all seem to share a bond with the occult and supernatural. Uncle Fester is often portrayed as something of a mad scientist, and Grandmama as a fortune-teller, but these activities don't really explain the Addamses' seemingly immortal state. The food they live on is inedible or outright deadly for normal humans to eat, and there is also the family's interest in painful activities like walking across minefields, and having a sharp pendulum cut them in half. Of course, these activities are most certainly just added to the shows to point out the Addamses' personalities.

The Addamses are a close-knit and loving family. Morticia and Gomez remain passionately in love, and it drives Gomez crazy when she speaks French. She sometimes calls him "Bubele" (German dialect: Little Boy), which he responds to by kissing her up and down her arms. They are deeply concerned with the well-being of their children. Though they all share an obsession and interest in death, dying, and other gothic and macabre subjects, the Addamses are not evil people (in several of the TV episodes, Gomez is willing to donate large sums to worthy causes, to the shock of the already disturbed visitors), and usually restrict their ghoulish activities to within their own family.

Most of the Addamses' neighbors are less than understanding, however. Within the larger community, the Addamses are viewed as oddballs, dangerous, or worse. Both the TV shows and movies deal with outsiders attempting to understand and "correct" the behavior of the family, and remain frustrated and horrified by the things that the Addamses find amusing. The Addamses, for their part, are just the opposite, and are often shocked and horrified at the actions of "mainstream" society. The underlying moral premise of the series thus seems to be a message against being judgmental and trying to impose universal standards of morality.

Although the Addamses are frequently labeled as nonconformists, this is not really the case. While they have little use for conformity, they do not consider their tastes to be nonconformist per se, since they are under the impression that most people share them; occasionally, the 1960s series featured guest characters who shared the Addamses' tastes, which, along with the fact that the family obviously purchases its yak meat, explosives, etc. from somewhere, implies an entire subculture of people who share the family's tastes (as seen in several Charles Addams cartoons). In contrast, the Addamses consider such things as daisies, chocolate fudge, the Boy Scouts, and other such traditionally "wholesome" things—as well as any distaste for such things as swamps, octopuses, and hanging upside-down from the ceiling—to be odd, if not outright disturbing.

Television, film, and games

Title card from the 1964-66 television series.
Enlarge
Title card from the 1964-66 television series.

For cast listings in each medium, see "Cast" below.

Live-action

In 1964, a network television series was spawned with actors playing characters from Addams cartoons, entitled The Addams Family. The 30 minute series aired in black-and-white for two seasons in 64 installments on ABC (September 18, 1964 - September 2, 1966). Like Star Trek, it was not particularly successful during its original broadcasts but became hugely popular when repeated in wide TV syndication after its cancellation. It was originally produced by Filmways TV. Today, successor company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (via Sony Pictures Television) owns the rights to the ABC shows.

Compared to the cartoons, the series was restrained in how gruesome the humor be portrayed due to contemporary content restrictions. However, many television critics noted with some amusement that Gomez and Morticia had a strong marriage that was obviously so much more passionately loving than the typical married couple on American television that it was noted that they appeared to be the only couple in the medium capable of having children.

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The Munsters, a series which shared a similar gothic look, but featured broader and less sophisticated humor, ran for the same two television seasons (on CBS), although The Munsters scored better ratings than The Addams Family in its original run. A TV reunion movie, featuring most of the original cast (except Blossom Rock, who had played Grandmama but was very ill at the time, and was replaced by Jane Rose), titled Halloween With The New Addams Family, aired on CBS in October 1977.

In the 1990s, Orion Pictures (which by then had inherited the rights to the series) developed a film version of The Addams Family. Due to the studio's financial troubles at the time, Orion sold the film to Paramount Pictures. Upon the film's initial success, two sequels followed, Addams Family Values (1993), and Addams Family Reunion (1998). Loosened content restrictions allowed the films to use far more grotesque humor that strove to keep the original spirit of the Addams cartoons. The second film's title is a piece of word play on family values, the Addamses seeming to represent values the polar opposite from the term's usual meaning (in fact, the Addams exhibit many laudable values; in particular, they are a close-knit, loving family). The third film was released direct-to-video and, assuming it takes place in the same movie continuum as the first two films, would take place shortly after the events of the first film, since Fester is with the family, and Morticia is not showing yet.

A second live-action television version, The New Addams Family, produced and shot in Canada, ran during the 1998-1999 season on Fox Family. Most episodes were remakes of many of the original series' episodes, though some re-scripting had to be done to account for the new relations between characters, and the more macabre versions of Wednesday and Pugsley, to try and fit the episodes into the movies' universe. John Astin returned to the franchise in this series, albeit as "Grandpa Addams" (Gomez's grandfather, a character introduced in Addams Family Reunion), on specific episodes of the Live-action TV series (1998-1999)

Animation

The Addams family in the second animated series. From top to bottom: Wednesday, Grandmama, Uncle Fester, Cousin Itt, Pugsley, Gomez, Morticia, and Lurch with Thing on his shoulder.
The Addams family in the second animated series. From top to bottom: Wednesday, Grandmama, Uncle Fester, Cousin Itt, Pugsley, Gomez, Morticia, and Lurch with Thing on his shoulder.

Two animated television spin-offs and an animated guest appearance have also been produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions.

The Addams Family's first animated appearance was on the third episode of Hanna-Barbera's The New Scooby-Doo Movies, "Scooby-Doo Meets the Addams Family" (aka "Wednesday is Missing"), which first aired on CBS Saturday morning September 23, 1972. Four of the original cast (John Astin, the late Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, and Ted Cassidy) returned for the special which involved the Addamses in a mystery with the Scooby-Doo gang. The Addams Family characters were drawn to the specifications of the original Charles Addams comics. After the episode aired, fans wanted more animated adventures featuring the Addamses, and Hanna-Barbera responded in kind.

The first animated series ran on Saturday mornings from 1973-1975 on NBC. In a departure from the original series, this series took the Addamses on the road in a Victorian-style RV. This series also marked the point where the relations between characters were retconned so that Fester was now Gomez' brother, and Grandmama was now Morticia's mother (though the old relations would be revisited in the 1977 TV-movie, to keep continuous with the original sitcom). Although Coogan and Cassidy reprised their roles, Astin and Jones did not, their parts being re-cast with Hanna-Barbera voice talents Lennie Weinrib as Gomez and Janet Waldo as Morticia, while none other than an eight-year-old Jodie Foster provided the voice of Pugsley. Again, the characters were drawn to the specifications of the original Charles Addams comics. One season was produced, with the season rerunning the following year.

The second animated series ran on Saturday mornings from 1992-1995 on ABC after producers realized the success of the 1991 Addams Family movie. This series returned to the familiar format of the original series, with the Addams Family facing their sitcom situations at home. John Astin returned to the role of Gomez, and celebrities Rip Taylor and Carol Channing took over the roles of Fester and Grandmama respectively. New artistic models of the characters were used for this series, though still having a passing resemblance to the original comics. Two seasons were produced, with the third year containing reruns. Oddly in this series, Wednesday maintained her macabre, brooding attitude from the Addams Family movies, but her facial expressions and body language conveyed the Happy-go-lucky, fun attitude of her portrayal in the original television show.

Games

Six video games released from 1989 to 1994 were based on The Addams Family. Fester's Quest (1989) was a top-down shooter that featured Uncle Fester. The Addams Family platformer was released for Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy, with later ports for Genesis (based on the Super NES version), Master System and Game Gear (both based on the NES version but with different graphics) and TurboGrafx-CD (developed separately); these games, released by Ocean Software (Flying Edge in the case of the Sega consoles ports) (ICOM Simulations for the TurboGrafx-CD version), these were based on the first movie rather than the TV series or cartoons. The games' sequel, [[The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt]] (1993), also by Ocean Software was based on the ABC animated series, and was released for Super NES and Game Boy. Addams Family Values (1994) by Ocean was based on the movie's sequel and returned to the style of gameplay seen in the original Fester's Quest.

A Game Boy Color game was released in the 1990s for promotion of "The New Addams Family." The game was simply titled, "The New Addams Family Series."

A pinball game by Midway (under the Bally label) was released in 1992 shortly after the movie. It broke previous sales records by selling over 20,000 units.

Cast

Gomez Addams
Gomez is Morticia's husband and the Addams Family patriarch. Originally Grandmama's son, this was retconned later on to make him Grandmama's son-in-law. His brother (originally uncle-in-law) is Uncle Fester. He is portrayed as a charming, handsome (in a gothic sort of way), and successful man, yet takes a childlike eccentric enthusiasm to everything he does. For instance, his personal portrait depicts him as standing gleefully on his head. Generally he dresses in a dark pinstriped suit with short, slicked-back hair and sports a pencil-thin moustache. Though a peaceful man he is known to be well-versed in many types of combat. He and Morticia fence with foils sometimes. He is extensively wealthy, and in the TV episodes is quite willing to contribute to charitable causes. His endless love for Morticia shows that while the family is strange, they are indeed good people. Gomez is quite proud of the fact that his law class voted him "Least Likely to succeed." The original Gomez John Astin made a cameo on the second TV series as the father to Gomez Addams—an in-joke tribute to the original series.
Morticia Addams
Morticia is the matriarch of the Addams Family, serving as its heart and soul. Her original mother was Hester Frump (played by Margaret Hamilton in the sitcom), but her origins were later retconned and she became Grandmama's daughter. (Grandmama subsequently became known as Esmerelda Frump.) Morticia has an older sister named Ophelia. In the sitcom, her marriage brought her uncle Fester into the family. She has pale skin and a gothic appearance. She also knits strange items of clothing for various members of the family. She is portrayed as elegant, artistic, and musically inclined (opera singing, tango dancing, and playing numerous instruments). Gomez said she was pale and mysterious the first time he met her.
Pugsley Addams
(See above for differences between the Addams children in the cartoons/TV series and films).
Wednesday Addams
(See above for differences between the Addams children in the cartoons/TV series and films)
Uncle Fester
Fester is a bald, stooping, barrel-shaped man with dark, sunken eyes and a devilish grin. He seems to carry an electrical charge and can illuminate a light bulb by sticking it in his mouth. In one episode of the TV series, he claimed to possess 110 watts of power. In the second TV series, Uncle Fester is kidnapped by aliens who make a "twelve pack" of Uncle Fester clones to power their spaceship.
In the first Addams Family movie, Uncle Fester and Gomez had a disagreement that led to Fester's 25-year disappearance. Brainwashed by gold-digging Abigail Craven (Elizabeth Wilson) into believing he was her adopted son Gordon, the two hatch a scheme with the Addams' lawyer, Tully Alford (Dan Hedaya), to steal the family fortune, only to ultimately be thwarted by a lightning strike to Fester's head, which jogs his memory.
In the second Addams Family movie, Fester again finds himself in the clasp of a gold-digger, this time in the form of Debbie Jellinsky (Joan Cusack), a nanny the Addams hire to watch over their newest son "Pubert." Marrying Fester in order to kill him in an "untimely" death, Debbie's plans are eventually spoiled not only by the Addams' apparent invulnerability, but also by Pubert himself.
Grandmama
Grandmama is first known as Eudora Addams (Gomez's mother). Later on she was retconned to be Esmerelda Frump (Morticia's mother). Grandmama is a witch who deals in potions, spells and hexes of all kinds. She even dabbles in fortune-telling. Grandmama often argues with Fester, and wins. Her trademarks are her shawl and frizzy hair.
Lurch
Lurch is the shambling, groaning, eight-foot-tall Frankenstein's Monster-like butler to the Addams family. He tries to help around the house like any other butler, though occasionally he botches things up due to his great size and strength. Aside from a headless doll named Marie Antoinette, he is Wednesday's best friend. Surprisingly, he is often seen playing the harpsichord and organ with a great degree of skill. Much of Lurch's history, (including his first name), or the nature of his relationship to any other Addamses is unknown.
For unexplained reasons, Lurch talks in the TV series (albeit, only in brief phrases), but merely groans in the films.
Thing
Thing is a disembodied hand. Always credited as being played by "Itself" in the TV series, he would appear out of ubiquitous boxes or other convenient containers throughout the house. In the movies and in The New Addams Family, Thing is an entirely mobile hand, thanks to the introduction of filming on a bluescreen.
Cousin Itt
Gomez's cousin, he is a short-statured hairball who speaks in a squeaky, high-pitched gibberish language that only the family understands. None of his body other than hair is visible. In the second animated series, Itt was a super-spy for the U.S. Government.
The second animated series introduced three new regular characters, The Normanmeyers (Norman, Normina, and N.J.), a family of "normal" people living across the street from the Addamses. While Norman and Normina are constantly appalled and shocked at the Addams' macabre behavior, their son N.J. counts Wednesday and Pugsley as his best friends, and the feeling is mutual. Norman owns and works at an underwear factory, and is utterly obsessed with underwear, which arguably makes him less "normal" than the Addamses themselves.

Trivia

The cast of Histeria! spoofs the opening to The Addams Family.
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The cast of Histeria! spoofs the opening to The Addams Family.

External links


The Addams Family
Characters
Gomez Addams > Morticia Addams | Pugsley Addams | Wednesday Addams | Uncle Fester | Grandmama | Lurch | Thing | Cousin Itt
Films
The Addams Family (film)> The Addams Family (1991) | Addams Family Values (1993) | Addams Family Reunion (1998)
Games
Fester's Quest (1989) > The Addams Family (pinball) (1991) | Addams Family (1992) | [[The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt]] (1993) | Addams Family Values (1994) | Addams Family (1994)

 

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