The Addams Family

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." 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 (based on Thomas E. Dewey) joining four years later, Pugsley, and finally Wednesday and Fester shortly after. Addams indicated that Fester resembled himself, "plus a little more hair." 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 (2001), 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. 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. 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". He married Marilyn Matthews Miller in 1981, in an Addams family themed ceremony conducted in a cemetery. A second film in 1993, Addams Family Values was highly regarded by critics but performed poorly at the box office unexpectedly, and earned less than half the revenue of its predecessor. This, and the sudden death of Julia in 1994, prevented Sonnenfeld from producing further films. A direct-to-video film, Addams Family Reunion produced by Saban Entertainment in 1998, featured the return of Carel Struycken as Lurch and Christopher Hart as Thing, but was otherwise unrelated to the Sonnenfeld films. It was very poorly received. The film was intended as the pilot for a Canadian-produced live-action television series, The New Addams Family, made with a mostly different cast and airing the following year. Astin, then in his late 60s, returned as Grandpapa Addams in the TV series, rather than Gomez, who was played by Glenn Taranto. After a try-out in Chicago in 2009, the musical was performed on Broadway in 2010, and thereafter in a sequence of international tours until 2021. The rights to the franchise were purchased by Illumination Entertainment in 2010, and the studio shortly announced a Tim Burton stop-motion led film. However, Burton withdrew from the project in 2013 over a decision to use computer animation rather than stop motion as he had intended. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired the remaining rights and announced a computer animated film the same year, and entered into production in the late 2010s. Unlike the Burton version, this would use 3D computer animation. The film was eventually released in 2019, to a moderate box-office sales and mixed reception. A sequel, released in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, was far less successful and poorly received critically. Netflix series (2022–present) Miles Millar and Alfred Gough began work on a live-action spin-off series entitled Wednesday in 2019, financed by MGM. The writers room for the series took place during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and so was conducted remotely. The project was formally announced in 2020, with Burton as executive producer. The series premiered with its first season in 2022 to critical acclaim, and a second season followed in 2025. Amazon purchased MGM in 2021, which in turn means that the Addams Family rights now rest with the company. ==Premise and background==