The Addams Family
The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. The Addams are an eccentric old-money clan who delight in the macabre and the grotesque and are seemingly unaware or unconcerned that other people find them bizarre or frightening. The Addams' view in seeing their family life and interests as normal was a basis for the satire and comedy. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in The New Yorker between 1938 and their creator's death in 1988. They have since appeared in other media, such as television, film, video games, comic books, a musical, and merchandise.
The family members were unnamed until the 1960s. Matriarch Morticia and daughter Wednesday received their names when a licensed doll collection was released in 1962; patriarch Gomez and son Pugsley were named when the 1964 television series debuted. The Addams Family consists of Gomez and Morticia Addams, their children, Wednesday and Pugsley, and close family members Uncle Fester and Grandmama, their butler Lurch, and Pugsley's pet octopus, Aristotle. The dimly seen Thing was introduced in 1954, and Gomez's Cousin Itt, Morticia's pet lion Kitty Kat and Morticia's carnivorous plant Cleopatra in 1964. Pubert Addams, Wednesday and Pugsley's infant brother, was introduced in the 1993 film Addams Family Values.
The live-action television series premiered on ABC on Friday, September 18, 1964, and ran for two seasons. An animated series from Hanna-Barbera aired in 1973 and the characters had cameos in the animated The New Scooby-Doo Movies. The 1960s television show characters and actors returned in a 1977 telefilm titled Halloween with the New Addams Family.
The franchise was revived in the 1990s with a feature film series consisting of The Addams Family and Addams Family Values. The films inspired a second animated series which is set in the same fictional universe. The series was rebooted with a 1998 direct-to-video film and a spin-off live-action television series. In 2010, a live musical adaptation featuring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth opened on Broadway to tepid reviews, but it was nominated for two Tony Awards and eight Drama Desk Awards, winning one Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design. The series was rebooted again in 2019 with the animated film The Addams Family, which led to a sequel in 2021. In 2022, Netflix debuted the original live action series Wednesday, based around the daughter of the family.
The franchise has spawned a video game series, academic books and soundtracks, which are based around its Grammy-nominated theme song. A staple in pop culture for eight decades, The Addams Family has influenced American comics, cinema and television. The goth subculture and its fashion have also been influenced by The Addams Family.
History
Origins and ''The New Yorker'' cartoons (1933–1964)
Charles Addams began as a cartoonist in The New Yorker with a sketch of a window washer that ran on February 6, 1932. Addams first drew the then-unnamed Morticia some years before her first published appearance in The New Yorker. Some sources give a date of 1933, while Addams himself when asked in interview suggested "around 1937." Media speculation at the time often connected Morticia to Charles Addams' first wife Barbara Jean Day, but he had yet to meet her. In an interview in 1981 he acknowledged that Morticia reflected the qualities he was attracted to. Because of this, the women he married later on resembled the character. He described Morticia as "not patterned after anyone in particular, although I've often thought there was a little Gloria Swanson in her."The first Addams Family cartoon was published in 1938, in a one-panel gag format. Charles Addams became a regular contributor to The New Yorker and drew approximately 1,300 cartoons between then and his death in 1988. 58 of these would feature the Addams Family, almost all of which were published in the 1940s and 1950s. Members of the family were introduced one by one, with Morticia first, Gomez joining four years later, Pugsley, and finally Wednesday and Fester shortly after. Addams indicated that Fester resembled himself, "plus a little more hair." A Christmas 1946 strip, showing the family pouring boiling oil on carolers, was well received and was later sold on Christmas cards. Outside of The New Yorker, Addams also published several collections, the most notable being Dear Dead Days: A Family Album in 1959.
In 1946, Addams briefly collaborated with science fiction writer Ray Bradbury, planning out an illustrated book about a supernatural family named The Elliotts, similar to The Addams Family. There was difficulty finding a publisher however, and the two went their separate ways. These stories were eventually anthologized in From the Dust Returned, with a connecting narrative, an explanation of their collaboration, and the artwork Addams had created for the project in 1946.
Beginning in the early 1960s, the development of the television series affected the comics. For one thing, it is claimed that Wednesday was first given her name in reference to the nursery rhyme Monday's Child, where "Wednesday's child is full of woe". Actress and poet Joan Blake offered Charles Addams the idea for the name and the others were eventually named ahead of the series' debut. Some suggestions from series showrunner David Levy were introduced into the last comics of the era, including the addition of Thing and Cousin Itt. Itt was an invention of Levy's, while Thing was an expansion on a disembodied hand that had appeared in a 1954 strip. The comics ceased publication in The New Yorker in 1964, as the editor William Shawn banned the characters. He was concerned about the image of the publication, and did not want it associated with a mainstream sitcom. Smithsonian Magazine called him "snooty" for the decision.
TV adaptations and rise to popularity (1964–1977)
In the early 1960s, former NBC executive David Levy stumbled across one of Addams' books in a New York bookstore and realized that the tone would be perfect for television. He purchased the book and met with Addams in the Plaza Hotel, and the topic of a television adaptation was raised. Addams had been approached about television adaptations by others in the past, but he was inclined to take Levy up on the offer because of their shared friend in the author John O'Hara. At the next meeting, at Addams' apartment, Levy indicated the characters would need to be named, and Addams came up with a list for the third meeting. According to Levy, Addams had little involvement with the series after those three meetings. He retained the right to veto casting decisions and other choices, but did not make use of the power. Some rights to the franchise were given to Filmways, the production company for the show.The 1964 television adaptation on ABC brought the series to a much wider audience and was well received publicly. Producer Nat Perrin took a "less evil" approach to the characters and stories than Addams had in the cartoons, emphasizing lighter, more comedic elements. Stephen Cox later described the series as "more zany than spooky". Charles Addams himself was less happy with the series, criticising the characters for being "half as evil" as in the comics.
The popular series, broadcast on the ABC network, ran only two seasons. No official reason was given for the cancellation, though Smithsonian Magazine speculated that it was due to the adoption of color programming on the network the following year. It has also been suggested that competition with Hogan's Heroes in the same time slot on CBS was a factor.
The show’s cancellation in 1966 brought issues for Addams, as he faced a drop in income with the show no longer in production. His second wife Barbara Barb was a practicing lawyer who had engaged in "diabolical legal scheming" during their marriage, and had convinced Addams to sign over the rights to future television and film adaptations, as well as rights to some of his other cartoons. Following their divorce she remained in possession of these rights until 1991, when she sold them to allow development of the Sonnenfeld films. Addams could also no longer publish his comics in The New Yorker as Shawn's ban remained in effect even after the television series concluded. Addams became bitter towards the magazine "for disowning his family". The franchise remained in the popular consciousness even after the series concluded, with the "Lurch" dance move remaining popular through the 1960s. The television series was often re-run through television syndication for years afterward, particularly in Australia.
Hanna-Barbera parodied the show in November 1964 by introducing a family named "The Gruesomes" to The Flintstones, and the Gruesomes appeared occasionally in Flintstones media into the early 1970s. The studio later animated a 1972 Addams Family crossover with Scooby-Doo, which led to a 1973 animated series. The animated incarnation featured a new cast except for Felix Silla, who returned as Cousin Itt. The show had good ratings and spawned a line of children's merchandise, but only aired 16 episodes. A pilot was also produced that year for a new live action series entitled The Addams Family Funhouse, using a different cast. The pilot was aired in 1973 but never picked up for a full series.
A 1977 special, Halloween with the New Addams Family, reunited most of the original cast from the 1964 series, with Blossom Rock absent due to her health. The made-for-TV movie faced issues during production and was poorly received. It was shot using a house set that had been constructed for the horror film Ben, which didn't resemble the original Addams mansion and caused technical issues with lighting. The film was widely criticised for the script, direction, and the performances of some of the actors. Jackie Coogan in particular was recovering from a mild stroke during filming.