The Addams Family does not do the 1964 TV show justice and here’s why

TV Guide/Paramount Pictures — Contributor: Sofie Levy

The classic storyline of The Addams Family follows the lives of this spooky family, which is made up of parents Morticia and Gomez Addams, their not-so-average son, Pugsley, and their depressing, pessimistic daughter Wednesday. The family is just like everyone else, except just a bit more ominous. Meanwhile, the writers of the newest rendition of the classic TV show have entirely changed the storyline to make the movie relatable to everyday life in 2019.

The movie was released in October 2019 and, according to boxofficemojo.com, the film grossed “$94,774,364 domestics and $75,000,000 internationally,” making it commercially successful film at the start of the holiday season. The movie received mixed reactions from its audiences, which was made up of everyone from parents and their children to the staff at the movie theater the film was being shown at.

The new storyline follows the Addams Family as they attempt–and sometimes fail–to navigate their way through society when they move to a new, suburban neighborhood. At first, they do not blend in at all, which was to be expected. As time went on, though, the family learned to take part in things that the rest of the neighborhood did, such as making their house and getting rid of the haunted feeling it gave off to its visitors by letting a neighbor give it a makeover.

Released in October to align the movie with the spooky season, makes it what the Millenials would call “basic.” Had the film been released earlier or later than it was, maybe the public could consider it as a movie in general and not so much a movie that was released to get the world into the Halloween spirit.

The movie also gave off some robust Tim Burton vibes, whether it be through the characters’ unusually large eyes that rarely blink or their lanky, unproportioned bodies that Burton has been known to create.

Once again, the film industry has taken something good and tried to modernize it by animating it and adding some new catchy songs to it. Instead of producing a remake of the show, the creators of the new Addam’s Family movie have created something that could be considered as a Hotel Transylvania wannabe and added the name of a classic TV show to it.

“The TV series was amazing, no comparison,” says Candy Cohen, a mother who saw The Addams Family movie with her daughter and had watched the original TV series years ago. “The memorable part was spending time with my daughter; the movie itself was not great.”

However, Tony Escobedo and Jess Carreon, both staff members at the AMC theater located in Glendora, Calif. who saw the movie before it was released, had a different view of the new film.

“I felt it helped me connect with younger audiences, said Escobedo. “I got a glimpse into the supposed mindset and humor aimed at children. It has been a long time since I last watched a children’s movie, and it brought some nostalgia.” Carreon agreed with Escobedo when she said, “It was very nostalgic.” However, Carreon shows disagreement when she describes the movie as not “super impactful.”

Overall, Carreon considered the movie “Cute and wholesome.” It’s such a shame that young audiences will most likely never know the iconic spooky TV show that families anticipated sitting down to watch weekly after a long day at school, but will only know of this cartoon that seems to be trying just a bit too hard to live up to its expectations.

There are just some shows that should never be followed by a sequel or spinoff, and whoever watches The Addams Family in 2019 will understand why there has never been a better time than now to say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Written by Sofie Levy

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