Every so often, the Addams family emerges with a new and daring version – like the mythical movies of the 90s, animation projects, and even musical incursions. Now, the gothic clan is back with a bang in the fiction Wednesday, the latest adaptation developed by Netflix.
This time, acclaimed director Tim Burton, responsible for emblematic feature films such as Edward Scissorhands (1990) and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), is in charge of telling the story of Wednesday Addams, the iconic daughter of Gomez and Morticia.
So far, the teen show has broken important records on Netflix. Just three weeks after its premiere, the successor saga of The Addams Family reached the staggering figure of one billion hours of viewing worldwide; this Netflix milestone had only previously been achieved by the popular shows Squid Game and Stranger Things. It should be added that although Wednesday emerged from the mind of Tim Burton, it was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, best known for Smallville, the hit TV series about the young Superman.
Wednesday is a live-action series that mixes mystery, comedy, and the supernatural theme. The first season, made up of 8 episodes, follows the life of Wednesday Addams after she has been expelled from eight different schools and is forced to attend the “Nevermore Academy”, a peculiar boarding school for young outcasts who don’t quite fit in with society.
In this fiction, all the creatures out of the ordinary – vampires, werewolves and mermaids – are educated and make a life in this remote place.
While the previous films and series revolved around the entire Addams Family, this show takes time to explore its titular character, Wednesday. The central theme is that Gomez and Morticia’s headstrong daughter is growing up and making her way into adolescence; with her iconic black pigtails and exterminating stare, Wednesday Addams is questioning her place in the world. Despite her many talents – polyglot, writer, cellist, fencer, and detective – the young student feels like a renegade, even among outcast children.
As you might expect, Wednesday Addams has no qualms about her “individuality”. Whenever she can, she defies social norms and does her best to escape “adolescent tribal clichés”. This story begins when Morticia and Gomez urge their daughter to get involved in the strange community of Nevermore. Wednesday, drawn to the darker and spookier things, soon finds herself in all sorts of trouble and outlandish situations.
On the surface, the show depicts Wednesday’s attempts to master her psychic ability and thwart a wave of murders that are terrorizing the local town. However, the common thread of the entire program revolves around the emotional journey of the teenager, who has grown up disconnected from her surroundings after the murder of her pet, a quirky scorpion. The adventures and mysterious complots that arise in Nevermore will help her conquer a new level of emotional maturity.
Between supernatural murders, school dramas, teenage angst, and romantic feelings, the Addams family’s only daughter will learn significant lessons about human connections and empathy. Thus, the plot that begins with an outcast and lonely student ends with a teenager who begins to understand the value of friendship and allows herself to open her “dark heart” to the world.
One of the best parts of the show is the bond of friendship that forms between Enid Sinclair -the wolf girl- and Wednesday. Enid, played by Emma Myers, is Wednesday’s roommate and represents a balancing element that adds joy and color to the monotony of the protagonist.
About the cast
Taking on the role of the unusual teenager is Jenna Ortega, who proves to be a natural for the gothic and grim. Beyond a pale and expressionless appearance, Jenna brings something authentic and magnetic to the story.
It’s no secret that Wednesday has always been an iconic character with remarkable performances. Ortega, for her part, honors the legacy established by Lisa Loring in the ’60s series and Christina Ricci in the ’90s films. The young actress more than delivers. Her version is quirky and has just the right amount of rebelliousness, eccentricity, dark sarcasm, and twisted humor. In many ways, Wednesday is an anti-heroine well suited to Tim Burton’s style.
Ortega broke through as a child actress on Disney Channel and the CW series Jane the Virgin. Since then, she has appeared in productions such as You, The Babysitter: Killer Queen, and Yes Day.
Overall, the show boasts a formidable cast. Star of the musical Chicago, Catherine Zeta-Jones, dazzles as the matriarch of the Family, Morticia Addams. Talented Narcos actor, Luis Guzman, follows in Raul Julia’s footsteps and brings Gomez Addams to life – with an impressive resemblance to the original comic book. The entire Addams Family is present in the fiction, however, the clan appears in an extremely fleeting manner.
One of the most pleasant surprises of the show is the signing of Christina Ricci, who played Wednesday in the live-action movies of the nineties. Notably, the only member of the family with a regular role throughout the season is Thing, the disembodied hand.
Burton, Gough, and Millar
Like most of Burton’s work, the Netflix program revolves around the theme of outcasts within society. In this sense, Tim Burton has expressed that he feels a personal connection to the series’ script as he sees his own adolescence as an unconventional young man reflected.
“I particularly love Wednesday because she shares my worldview on things. And that was fun to explore,” Burton said in a behind-the-scenes featurette about the making of the show.
Although Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are the screenwriters and creators of the project, this juvenile fiction is imbued with Burton’s vision and style. The lighting, color, music, characters and, of course, the production design are marked by the original material of Charles Addams and by the gothic tints characteristic of the cult director.
Verdict
Wednesday’s formula may not be quite perfect; however, it is a truly entertaining and daring show. Once the viewer becomes involved in this world of supernatural weirdness, enigmatic creatures and sardonic humor it becomes very easy and fun to indulge in a marathon of Wednesday’s induction into Nevermore Academy.
Without a doubt, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Tim Burton have created a mysterious and wacky story capable of hooking more than one unbeliever.
The origin of the Addams family
The adventures of the Addams family began in the 1930s, when the American cartoonist Charles Addams published his first comic strip in The New Yorker magazine. For almost 30 years, the Addams family was a recurring cartoon in this media.
In 1964, the Addams family debuted on television with a series of the same name. It was a live-action fiction for ABC, which lasted two seasons.
Subsequently, the Addams clan made the leap to the big screen in 1991 and has since become a staple of popular culture. The Addamses have had a profound influence on comics, film, television, video games, and academic books since their creation.