The Addams Family is a 1991 American fantasy comedy film based on the characters from the cartoon of the same name created by cartoonist Charles Addams.
Synopsis: The Addams Family (1991)
The Addams family emerges from the pages of Charles Addams’ cartoons. They are well-off and live in a house with all the trappings of the macabre (including a detached hand as a servant). A dishonest accountant and his loan shark are thrown into the mix, as does a scheme to introduce the shark’s son into the family as their long-lost Uncle Fester. Can the imposter Fester get into the vault before being discovered?
A sequel soon came upon the horizon, with The Addams Family Values.
Synopsis: The Addams Family Values (1993)
In this sequel, the members of the bizarre Addams Family are up to even more macabre antics. This time, Gomez Addams (Raul Julia) and Morticia (Anjelica Huston) are welcoming a baby boy into their family. Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) aren’t delighted about the new arrival and try everything they can to get rid of the baby. When nanny Debbie Jelinsky (Joan Cusack) shows up to keep the youngsters in line, she brings with her an unexpectedly nasty twist.
7 Fun facts about the Addams Family:
(1) To make Anjelica Huston’s eyes look slanted like the original Morticia, the make-up artists had to attach strings with spirit gum to the outside corners of her eyes and anchor the strings on her head.
(2) In the television series, Fester was Morticia’s uncle (and hence not technically an Addams), but in the films, he is Gomez’s brother and is referred to as Fester Addams.
(3) Several scenes reference original Charles Addams illustrations, most notably the introduction sequence where the Addams family pours a cauldron of oil on the Christmas carolers, the passenger on Gomez’s toy train, the octopus painted on the foot-board of Wednesday’s bed, and Pugsley with the road sign.
(4) Early makeup designs for Gomez included dark circles around his eyes, similar to Fester’s. This was eliminated before filming, but can still be seen on the film’s posters and other publicity material.
(5) The scene when Morticia trims the blooms off the roses is a direct reference to the television series. Also when the Addams family are evicted from the house Morticia is carrying a plant. Though shorter, the plant is identical to ‘Cleopatra’ Morticia’s meat eating, African strangler plant.
(6) Uncle Fester powering a light bulb with his mouth is a reference to the original TV series, where he does the same thing.
(7) In order to gain Morticia’s figure, Anjelica Huston wore a metal corset. She also had to get gauze eye lifts, neck tucks and fake nails daily. She told Entertainment Weekly, “Come afternoon, I could be prone to a really good headache from my various bondages. And because I couldn’t lie down (in the corset) or rest, it was fairly exhausting”.
