They're creepy, and they're kooky, and they've been entertaining us for over 80 years. And, are so iconic they can be identified by one name only: Gomez, Morticia, Pugsley, Wednesday, Uncle Fester and Grandmama, Lurch, Thing, and Cousin Itt. And, finally for 2019 The Addams Family get an feature-length animated movie just in time for Halloween, of course.
In this animated version The Addams Family they live in a run-down mansion on top of a fog-surrounded hill in New Jersey (a nod to where original creator Charles Addams’ lived). Happily ensconced in their Addams way of life for years, Gomez and Morticia are preparing for a visit from their extended family for Pugsley’s “Sabre Mazurka,” a rite of passage ceremony to prove he is ready to become an Addams Family man.
But, little does the family know, their neighbor down the hill - design TV phenom Margaux Needler - is constructing a prefabricated community, replete with technicolor pop and perfectionism. When the fog lifts, Margaux is disconcerted to see The Addams Family mansion as the one thing standing between her dream of selling all the houses in the neighborhood and being adored as a TV personality forever.
And, then the craziness begins...
5 Reasons to watch The Addams Family
This is the real Addams Family
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Created by Charles Addams in the 1930's, the very first appearance of The Addams Family - which was in comic form - appeared as cartoon strips published in the New Yorker in 1938. For this new animated movie the Co-Directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan referenced (rather than copied) Addams' original shadowy line drawings and not the many different adaptations as seen in recent tv shows and movies like, The Addams Family, which was released in 1991 and starred Anjelica Huston and Christina Ricci. For instance, Morticia Addams's appearance is modelled on silent-era movie star Gloria Swanson, as was depicted in Charles Addams's original inspiration illustrations and visuals.
It will appeal to all the Family
This is not a re-boot of past Addams Family animations. This is a fresh take with a nostalgic and unique take that adults will also enjoy, with PG-rated homages to various classic horror movies for instance. Ultimately, it's a family movie that will appeal to long-time fans as well as new viewers, as in this story we get to find out how Gomez and Morticia first met and how they ended up in the house. Co-Director Conrad Vernon said:
“It was of utmost importance to us that we not only make this film for six-year-old children; but that we made it for families. You’ve got to entertain the parents, too. And, when you have a property like this, that has stretched back to the 1930s, you have people that are ostensibly ninety years old who are fans of The Addams Family. So, we were very careful to make sure that this movie entertained the family and we mean six and eight-year-olds, we mean fourteen-year-olds, we mean twenty-two-year-olds, we mean thirty-five, forty-seven, fifty-six – all the way up. We want to make sure that everyone gets something out of this movie and it’s not just talking down to people.”
It has an all-star (voice) cast
If you thought no one else could be Morticia or Gomez like Anjelica Huston and Raul Julia - then you will be pleasantly surprised by the fresh group of actors, many of whom had never done animation before. Monster actress Charlize Theron and Star Wars actor Oscar Isaac as the new Morticia or Gomez, and Hollywood legend Bette Milder is the voice of Grandma. Younger fans will delight at Let Me In and Carrie actress Chloe Grace Moretz as Wednesday Addams and Strangers Things and IT star Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley. This is also the first time Pugsley is voiced by a boy, rather than an adult, in any version of animated Addams Family shows.
Proving being different isn't 'weird'
What is wonderful about The Addams Family is they have no idea why they are perceived as 'weird'. They always accept and understand other people for who they are - and, this movie is about people accepting them. Reminding us all that whatever we think is normal, it is something very different to someone else. From Pugsley trying to learn the complicated “Sabre Mazurka” routine and, his sister Wednesday struggling with her own coming-of-age, when she befriends Margaux’s daughter Parker. Wednesday experiments with “normal” teenage pursuits and pushing those tense teen/parental boundaries (as well as, Morticia’s buttons) like attending public school, cheerleading, and wearing pink hair accessories. Watching the younger members of the Addams family deal with 'everyday' problems, is a hilarious and endearing tale of acceptance but, the underlying message is: being different is not a bad thing and we need to celebrate that a little bit more.
Showing love comes in many (dis)guises
The Addams Family see themselves as a ‘regular normal family’ who happen to have their own way of looking at the world. And, essentially, they are the classic, ‘All-American,’ fictional family its just that their misadventures lead towards the dark, macabre and ghoulish - but, when you when you dig a little bit beneath the surface they really are an extremely loving, extended family, and it endears you to them and you can't help but fall in love with them all over again. Any good movie has to have of course, a good story but it also has to have heart, something that the audience can connect and identify with and this version of The Addams Family definitely has it in spades. They may be the most eccentric, kookiest and peculiar family in the neighbourhood but you'll be wishing they were your neighbours by the time the credits roll.
The Addams Family opens at cinemas nationwide from October 25th 2019
