How the movie "The Addams Family" was filmed (18 photos)

I would like to talk about how the film “The Addams Family” was filmed, and also show you some interesting shots from the filming.





1. The Addams Family movie was not a project created from scratch. This film had a very extensive background in the form of cartoon sketches by Charles Addams (the first sketch appeared in 1938 in one of the newspapers) and even a separate black-and-white series in 1964.



By the way, the Addamses got their first and last names precisely with the advent of this series. The creators of the series decided to consult the creator of the original sketches, Charles Addams, what the name of each member of this abnormal but friendly family was, because at that time they did not have any names.

Without much thought, Charles gave the characters his last name - Addams. As for names, he immediately came up with names for all the characters. Only the head of the family came up with two names at once - Repelli and Gomez. But actor John Astin chose the name Gomez for his character.

The Addams' daughter Wednesday got her name from the old song "Wednesday's Child Is Full of Sorrow." But the name Martisha means "Undertaker".

As for Pugsley, Charles named him Pubert (after puberty or puberty). But on television they reacted negatively to this name, so the Addams' plump little son was named Pugsley.



Baby Pubert (Addams Family Values, 1993)

But in the end there will be a place for Pubert, because that’s what the Addams’ newborn son will be called in the second part of the film, subtitled “Addams Family Values” (1993). By the way, the child was played not by a boy, but by a girl. Or to be more precise, two twin sisters. But we'll talk about the second part some other time.

2. The idea to make a feature-length film about the Addams Family appeared almost by accident. Back in 1986, studio producer Scott Rudin was driving in a car with his colleagues and their children when he heard one child humming the theme song from the old 60s TV series The Addams Family. After that, all the passengers began to sing along. And then Scott decided that it would be cool to make a film based on the old series about a crazy family, since this series is still remembered and loved.



Scott Rudin, executive producer

The studio had been negotiating for a long time with the author of the family, Charles Addams. And so, when the truth was received and the script had already been written, a pressing question arose in choosing a director. The director's post was offered to several famous figures, including the great and terrible Tim Burton. But they all refused for various reasons.

Rumor has it that Tim Burtom thought the script was lousy. But the funniest thing is that it was Tim Burton, many years later, who directed the series “Wednesday,” which instantly became a cult classic.



As a result, Barry Sonnenfield, who at that time was a cinematographer and who had never sat in the director’s chair, was hired as the director. But then Barry Sonnenfield will become famous as the director of such cult films as “The Concierge”, “Get Shorty” and of course “Men in Black”. By the way, I have a separate article about the filming of the film “Men in Black”. I recommend reading it.



Barry agreed to direct, but on the condition that he could make changes to the script. That's what they decided on. As a result, Sonnenfield made many changes to the script, and completely replaced the ending with a different one.

3. According to the original version of the script in the film, Fester was supposed to be an impostor. But then the main actors rebelled, literally insisting that Fester must be real. Well, after young Christina Ritchie declared on behalf of all the actors that Fester could not be an impostor, the creators and director made a concession. They changed the ending, citing that Fester simply lost his memory.



Only one leading actor cared who Fester turned out to be. And you know who? Christopher Lloyd, who played this character.

4. The producer of the original 1964 TV series sued Paramount Pictures because he found elements from that series in The Addams Family.ial, the studio did not have the rights to it, since Charles Addams could only control the characters and their cartoon versions.



But in the end there was no trial, and the parties came to an agreement out of court. I think everyone understands that this is about money.

5. To make Marticia Addams's eyes more slanted (as in the original), actress Anjelica Huston had special strips of fabric attached to the corners of her eyes, after which the other end was attached somewhere in the head area using elastic bands. Because of this, by the way, the actress constantly had a headache.

6. In addition, Martisha had to wear a metal corset to give her a wasp waist. This, by the way, also caused a lot of inconvenience for the actress. But what can you not do for the sake of art?

6. During the filming of the film, some kind of problem kept occurring with the cameramen. One quit a month after filming, and the other ended up in the hospital some time later.



As a result, Sonnenfield was personally behind the camera in some scenes. So what? He is, after all, an experienced cinematographer.

7. The role of Fester Addams was offered to Bob Hoskins, Anthony Hopkins and Danny DeVito. But they all refused.

8. According to the plot, Fester should be noticeably shorter than Gomez, but in fact, actor Raul Julia was only 3 centimeters taller than Christopher Lloyd, which is an almost imperceptible difference. Therefore, Christopher Lloyd had to bend down a little to look shorter.



9. Young actor Jimmy Walkman got the role of Pugsley by accident. he came to the audition with his sister, who wanted to get the role of Wednesday. But the guy was noticed in the crowd and asked to read his text. Well, then you know. Jimmy was approved for the role.



10. The role of the Thing (hand) was played by Canadian actor and magician Christopher Hart, who was once an assistant to David Copperfield himself. He returned to the same role in the sequel, as well as in the third part with an updated cast.



Scenes with the thing had to be filmed twice. For the first time, the magician himself was present in the frame, but when shooting again he was no longer present. The frames were then superimposed on each other, after which everything except the hand itself was erased.

11. If we judge this way, then the Addamses are an ideal family. They are loving, sincere and caring. And even despite the fact that they often talk about death and something otherworldly, they are kind people who wouldn’t hurt a fly. But the people who surround them are often villains, scoundrels and have many “skeletons in the closet”. This is exactly the idea that author Charles Addams had in mind, and the filmmakers picked it up.



12. John Astin, who played Gomez in the 60s series, is still alive and is currently 93 years old.

But Raul Julia, who played Gomez in two parts of the film “The Addams Family,” died in 1994 from stomach cancer. Even during the filming of the second part of The Addams Family, Raoul experienced wild pain, but tried not to show it so that no one would notice anything in the frame.



13. Christopher Lloyd actually had all his hair shaved off for The Addams Family. So he didn't wear any bald wig.

14. After the success of the film, games began to be released on platforms such as NES and Sega mega drive 2. By the way, the 8-bit game turned out to be so difficult, although interesting, that few people could complete it to the end. That's why I included it in my list of the most difficult games on the Dendy console. Be sure to watch my video if you haven't already.

15. Actor John Franklin was cast in the role of Cousin It (It). Moreover, he got the role after he read Hamlet’s monologue in the language of his cousin Ita at the audition. Everyone around him just laughed until he cried, so it was no surprise that Franklin got the role.

But the actor did not have it so easy, since he had to wear a wig weighing almost 16 kilograms. Well, in order to monitor the condition of the wig, a separate person was assigned to it, who had to watch so that not a single hair got tangled or dirty.

16. According to director Barry Sonnenfield, the studio wanted to cast exclusively singer Cher in the role of Marticia, since she is best suited forthis role. But Barry had a different vision. He saw exclusively Anjelica Huston in the role of Marticia.



Barry Sonnenfield

17. According to Christopher Lloyd, he was a fan of “The Addams Family” since childhood, and when he was offered this role, he simply did not believe what he heard, but agreed to play the uncle without hesitation. Moreover, Fester had always been his favorite character.



Christopher Lloyd

18. Christina Ritchie's mother advised her to rely on the image of Winona Ryder in the movie Beetlejuice. And by the way, despite the fact that Richie has starred in a considerable number of famous films, she still treats the role of Wednesday with special warmth, considering it the best in her career.



Christina Ritchie as Wednesday and Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester

19. Christina Ritchie, despite her young age, behaved like an adult. When director Barry Sonnenfield asked her to make Wednesday sadder, she replied that she couldn't do it because sadness is an emotion, and Wednesday doesn't have any emotions. And the director agreed with her, leaving everything as it was.

20. With a budget of $30 million, the film grossed $191.5 million worldwide, making the film a success. Unfortunately. the second part of the film was unable to repeat the success of the first part, earning 49 million against a budget of 47 million.

21. Christina Ritchie, who played Wednesday in the 1991 film, also appeared in the 2022 Wednesday series. There she played the role of botany teacher Marilyn Thornhill at Nevermore Academy.