Seeking Out American Halloween Essence: The Addams Family

 

"They're creepy and they're kooky,

Mysteriously spooky,

They're all together hooky.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY"


A true classic. In the 1960's and 1970's there became this genre of "dark comedy" that seemed to rile the senses and give us a laugh of things scary. The Addams Family was released in 1964 and shortly after, the Munsters and Bewitched. Dark Shadows was released in 1966. How we currently conceptualize monsters living among us can be traced to these early TV shows as we now have, "Vampirina" and "Monster High" which is for little kids and let us not forget about the more recent "monster" shows that have taken our hearts and minds for a ride such as "Supernatural", "Vampire Diaries", "Charmed", and "Lucifer" with many being those shows being the ones you want to hate and wondered when they would end, like "Sleepy Hollow" and the ones you wonder what happened to them such as "The Witches of East End". We are intrigued by monsters and all things fantasy so when in 1991 they made "The Addams Family" into a movie, we naturally watched. I never saw the TV show when it first came out so my recollection of this show is from the movie as I was a young girl when it came out. When the early half of 2019 showed previews of the animated version I wanted to take a look but I did not want to bother because they could have done something else. 



The children did not seem too interested so we did not check it out in the movies. Fast-forward to pandemic 2020 where people are getting sick, social injustices, wildfires, increased hurricanes, "murder" hornets, (only to bees) "derecho", increased tornados, and remote learning caused the Addams Family to appear on many of the streaming networks.

I was pleasantly surprised with the animated movie. It did not follow the exact same blueprint as Tim Burton's version. *Spoilers if you have never seen it* In Tim Burton's film, the Addams Family has been in the house for generations with the community developing around them. The kids go to school. The parents go to the children's school programs and participate in the community. They are antonyms of our "typical" neighbors. In the Conrad Vernon animated version, the family "discovers" the house while fleeing from danger and once they find the house, they do not go outside of their comfortable haunted gates. Both display the love between Gomez and Morticia but the Tim Burton version exaggerates that as we see more interactions between Gomez and Pugsley and Morticia and Wednesday. They are both along the same lines with none being the same as the other. I actually recommend the animated Addams Family for kids as there is some sexual innuendo in the Tim Burton version. I still love the 1991 version as the normal interaction between the children and their community is pure comedy gold. 


I think I will wait a few years before we attempt a family costume of the Addams Family. How nifty would it be to dress up as Gomez and Morticia while dressing my kids as Pugsley and Wednesday. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure my mother-in-law would NOT dress up as grandma Addams and my brother-in-law DEFINATELY WOULD NOT dress up as Uncle Fester. Well, my hubby has more than one brother. LOL!(j/k- it would just be the immediate family.) So, enjoy watching this movie- it is on Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. Enjoy with some spooky snacks!


Eclectic Lotus

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Great Conjunction- Function: What does it all mean?

Image
 If you are living under a rock or not into Google, you most likely did not see this picture:  So, if you did see this and think: how cute! Let me click on this. You already know. So, today is December 21st which is the winter solstice. If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, it marks the astrological first day of winter is the longest night of the year. What you may not know is that two planets are aligned so it appears as if they are giving each other a "high-five". They call this a conjunction when planets are aligned. How cute, right? They have not been this close since 1663, so this is an epic event. So, you will be seeing something that Galileo saw when he devised telescopes. This event happens every 20 years but every 321 years or so where you can see it in great detail. Both of these planets are beautiful, not like Earth but beautiful. Now, if you are like me and live in an area of light pollution, most likely you will see a star and a planet. Here, in Chicago proper, ...
Read more

Where does the Time go?

Image
 I know where my time goes- into treating patients. I am loving this life of treating numerous and multiple patients. Maybe from the suppression of seeing accident and worker's comp patients.  That is really me treating- no Photostock/AI pictures! Side Note: This was created in February 2025. It was stopped and completed in April 2025.  With changes in the schedule, it has been difficult to maintain this blog. I am keeping current and will begin to have a schedule where I post once a month. Wish me luck! 
Read more

Food, Air and Water Show and NAILS

Image
Today has looks very similar to yesterday- work out, eat when you can, read, clean, computer searches for jobs along with ideas and concepts. This morning I went for a run and it looked like rain so I shortened the run and went a little faster just because I did not want to be like the old guy in the tale "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and get struck by lightning. Hubby somewhat shocked me today because he asked about the Air and Water Show. I asked why and he thought it would be good for both of us to go either this year or next year. I have always hated the Air and Water Show because when I lived two blocks from the lakefront I could never nap or focus because of the noise of the planes. One thing about living in the city I do not like and that is all the noise pollution. I have pretty sensitive hearing so at times my hearing goes out for a day once it went out for three days and when I say goes out I mean it feels and sounds like someone put cotton in both my ears...
Read more