Compared to its predecessor, which retained something of the madcap approach of the 1960s sitcom, Addams Family Values is played more for very dark and macabre laughs.[3] The film revolves around the family's adjustments to the birth of new baby Pubert. Subplots include Uncle Fester marrying the new nanny Debbie Jellinsky, who is a serial killer intending to murder him for his inheritance; and teenagers Wednesday and Pugsley Addams being sent to summer camp.
The film was released by Paramount Pictures on November 19, 1993. In contrast to its predecessor's mixed reception, the film was well received by critics; however, it was not as financially successful, with a box office gross of $111 million against a budget of $47 million. In the decades since its release, the film has become acclaimed for its humor and performances. This would be Julia's final theatrical film released during his lifetime; he would appear posthumously in one more film, Street Fighter (1994). The film was followed by another sequel, Addams Family Reunion.
Plot
Gomez and Morticia Addams have a baby, hiring the nanny Debbie Jellinsky to care for their newborn son Pubert. This is after a number of failed attempts by his siblings Wednesday and Pugsley to kill him, for which Gomez and Morticia gently rebuke them.
Unbeknownst to them, Debbie is a serial killer who marries and then murders rich bachelors to collect their inheritances. After she seduces Uncle Fester, Wednesday becomes suspicious of her intentions. To maintain her cover, Debbie tricks Gomez and Morticia into believing Wednesday and Pugsley want to go to summer camp.
Wednesday and Pugsley are sent to Camp Chippewa, managed by the bubbly Gary and Becky Granger. There, they are singled out by the counselors and popular and snobbish girl Amanda Buckman for their macabre appearance and behavior. Joel Glicker, a nerdy bookworm and fellow outcast, becomes attracted to Wednesday. Debbie and Fester become engaged.
At her bachelorette party, Debbie is repulsed by the Addams family and their relatives. At their wedding, Fester passionately and with great emotion declares his everlasting devotion, while Debbie offers a lackluster response. On their honeymoon, she tries unsuccessfully to kill Fester by throwing a boombox into the bathtub.
Frustrated, Debbie forces him to cut ties with his family; when they try to visit Fester and Debbie at their home, they are turned away. The Addamses are alarmed to find that Pubert has transformed into a blue-eyed, rosy-cheeked and blond-haired baby. Grandmama attributes this to his disrupted family life, and Gomez becomes horribly depressed.
Back at Camp Chippewa, the counselors cast Wednesday as Pocahontas in Gary's Thanksgiving play, "A Turkey Named Brotherhood". When she refuses to participate, she, Pugsley, and Joel are all sent to the camp's "Harmony Hut" and forced to watch hours of wholesome family entertainment movies and television shows.
Afterwards, the three feign cheerfulness, and Wednesday agrees to take part. However, during the performance, she returns to being her true self. With help from Joel, Pugsley, and the other outcasts, they capture Amanda, Gary, and Becky by igniting the pilgrim set. Later, Wednesday and Joel share their first kiss before she leaves, with Joel staying behind to lead their friends to ensure the camp's permanent destruction. Pugsley and Wednesday return home in the campsite's stolen van.
Debbie tries to kill Fester by blowing up their mansion, but he survives. She then pulls a gun and reveals that she never loved him and was only after his money. Thing helps Fester.
Fester later apologizes to Gomez at the Addams mansion, Wednesday and Pugsley return, successfully reuniting the family at last. Just then, Debbie arrives, holds them at gunpoint, and straps them into electric chairs to kill them all.
The Addams family listens to her sympathetically, as she explains that as a child and young (self-proclaimed) ballerina, she killed her parents Sharon and Dave after they gave her a Malibu Barbie doll on her 10th birthday rather than her desired ballerina Barbie. Then, as an adult, murdered her first two husbands for incredibly frivolous and materialistic reasons.
Meanwhile Pubert, now restored to his normally pale and mustachioed self, escapes from his crib with a knife and reaches the family via a series of improbable events. As Debbie lowers the switch to electrocute the Addamses, Pubert connects two loose wires, rerouting the electrical current through her instead, destroying her in spectacular fashion. All that remains are a pile of ashes, her shoes, and her credit cards—the means of the family's salvation.
Some time later, the Addamses and their relatives gather to celebrate Pubert's first birthday, with Joel also attending. Fester laments Debbie's loss, but soon becomes smitten with Dementia, a new nanny Cousin Itt and his wife Margaret Alford have hired for their child.
Out in the family graveyard, Joel attempts to ask Wednesday out by asking about having a future with a husband, though she turns him down. She then tells him Debbie was a sloppy husband killer, and that Wednesday would have scared her husband to death and made sure not to be caught. As he lays flowers on Debbie's grave, a hand emerges from the earth and grabs him, prompting Wednesday to smile as he screams.
The "family values" in the film's title is a tongue-in-cheek reference by writer Paul Rudnick to a 1992 speech ("Reflections on Urban America") made by then-vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle. In the speech, Quayle controversially blamed the 1992 Los Angeles riots on a breakdown of "family values".[4]
Production of Addams Family Values began in Los Angeles on February 8, 1993.[5] According to Anjelica Huston, it became increasingly clear during filming that Raul Julia's health was deteriorating. He had trouble eating and was losing weight as a result.[4] He died on October 24, 1994, less than a year after the film was released. Sequoia National Park, particularly Sequoia Lake, in the Sierra Nevada of California, was the site of the movie's "Camp Chippewa".[6]
American singer Michael Jackson was supposed to feature a song in the film, called "Family Thing".[7] The song is mostly rumored to have been removed due to the child sexual abuse allegations against Jackson; in reality, it was because of contractual differences with Paramount Pictures.[8] The song has since been leaked online.[9] Jackson is referenced in the film via a poster in the Harmony Hut advertising his 1992 single "Heal the World", which horrifies Joel.
Reception
Box office
Addams Family Values opened at number 1 at the US box office in its opening weekend with a reported gross of $14,117,545.[10] In its second week, the film dropped to number 2 behind Mrs. Doubtfire, and in its third week to number 3 behind Mrs. Doubtfire and A Perfect World.[11] Its final box office gross in the United States and Canada was $48,919,043, a significant decline from the previous film's domestic total of $113,502,426.[12] Internationally it grossed $62 million, for a worldwide total of $110.9 million.[2]
Critical response
I'm of the firm belief that the Addams Family are the most loving, caring and connected family that has ever graced the silver screen. They are wildly devoted to each other, show an interest in what the others are doing and spend tons of quality time together. In all honesty, there's quite a bit to be jealous [of] when watching them.
Addams Family Values was well received, garnering significantly better reviews than the first film.[14] On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 75% based on 114 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "New, well-developed characters add dimension to this batty satire, creating a comedy much more substantial than the original".[15][16] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 21 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[17] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, a grade up from the "B" earned by the previous film.[18]
Janet Maslin of The New York Times wondered if "the making of this sequel was sheer drudgery for all concerned", then answered herself by writing: "There's simply too much glee on the screen, thanks to a cast and visual conception that were perfect in the first place and a screenplay by Paul Rudnick that specializes in delightfully arch, subversive humor".[19] Leonard Klady of Variety was slightly less enthusiastic than Maslin: "It remains perilously slim in the story department, but glides over the thin ice with technical razzle-dazzle and an exceptionally winning cast".[20]Richard Schickel, writing for Time, was even less enthusiastic than Klady, calling the film "an essentially lazy movie, too often settling for easy gags and special effects that don't come to any really funny point".[21] Both Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert had disliked the first film. Siskel gave Addams Family Values a mixed review and accused Sonnenfeld of caring more about how the film looks than how the jokes play. Ebert, however, gave the film three stars out of four and thought that, unusually for a sequel, it improved upon its predecessor. He enjoyed the various subplots and recommended the film.[22][23]
The film was released on VHS and DVD in 2000 with only two theatrical trailers as special features. It was re-released in 2006 with the first film on a single disc, with no new features.
In October 2019, the film debuted on the Blu-ray format when Paramount Pictures[27] released double feature of Addams Family and Addams Family Values on Blu-ray in the United States, along with standalone releases.[28] In Australia, the film was released on VHS by Paramount Home Entertainment (Australasia) in 1994. In 2002, the film was released on DVD with theatrical trailers in the extra features.
Legacy
In retrospect, Barry Sonnenfeld recalled: "I was disappointed in the box office for the second film. I think the first film is more romantic and the second film is funnier. Part of the reason it didn't do as well is that the marketing of the movie was so similar to the first one that people didn't think it was going to be any value-added and I really wanted to push the Pubert of it all and the Fester of it all. Instead, the whole campaign was back with the original Addams Family, so it wasn't really promising anything new. I think that's in part why it didn't do as well. Many people love it as much or more as the first one".[29]
In the decades since its release, the film has been reassessed with retrospective acclaim. Once a source of mixed reception, the film's dark humor and satire have become lauded.[30][31][32] Ricci's and Cusack's performances have also received praise, with Cusack's role in particular becoming the source of several memes and tribute videos on YouTube dedicated to her performance.[30][32]
Notes
↑ Cheryl Chase provided vocal effects for Pubert Addams.
Related Research Articles
The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in The New Yorker between 1938 and their creator's death in 1988. They have since appeared in other media, such as television, film, video games, comic books, a musical, and merchandise.
Uncle Fester (Addams) is a member of the fictional Addams Family and has been played by numerous actors, beginning with Jackie Coogan in the television series The Addams Family (1964–1966).
Thing T. Thing, often referred to as just Thing, is a fictional character in The Addams Family series. The Addamses called it "Thing" because it was something that could not be identified, being originally an unseen creature in the original cartoons, but starting with the live-action television series it was settled to be a disembodied hand. It is known as "Mãozinha" in Brazil, "Cosa" (Thing) in Spain, "Dedos" (Fingers) in Hispanic America, "Mano" (Hand) in Italy, "La Chose" in French-speaking countries, "eiskaltes Händchen" in German, "Rączka" in Polish, and "Izé" in Hungarian.
Morticia Addams is a fictional character from the Addams Family multimedia franchise created by American Charles Addams in 1933. She plays the role of the family's reserved matriarch. Morticia Addams has been portrayed by several actresses in various Addams Family media, including Carolyn Jones in the television series The Addams Family (1964–1966), Anjelica Huston in the feature films The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993), and Catherine Zeta-Jones in the streaming television series Wednesday (2022).
Lurch is a fictional character created by American cartoonist Charles Addams as a butler to the Addams Family. In the original television series, Lurch was played by Ted Cassidy.
Grandmama is a fictional character in the Addams Family television and film series. First appearing in the works of cartoonist Charles Addams, she is a supporting character in the film, television, and stage adaptations.
Gomez Addams is the patriarch of the fictional Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker magazine in the 1940s and subsequently portrayed on television, in film and on the stage.
Wednesday Addams is a character from the Addams Family multimedia franchise created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. She is typically portrayed as a morbid and emotionally reserved child that is fascinated by the macabre, often identified by her pale skin and black pigtails.
Addams Family Reunion is a 1998 American comedy film based on the characters from the cartoon created by cartoonist Charles Addams. It is the sequel to The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993). Directed by Dave Payne, the film was intended to serve as a pilot for a new proposed television series produced by Saban. The film stars Daryl Hannah and Tim Curry as Morticia and Gomez Addams respectively while Carel Struycken and Christopher Hart's hand are the only ones to reprise their roles from the last two films. The film's plot focused on the eccentric, macabre aristocratic Addams family mistakenly arriving at the wrong family reunion and encountering a man who seeks to commit murder in order to inherit a fortune.
Pugsley Pubert Addams is a member of the fictional Addams Family, created by American cartoonist Charles Addams.
The Addams Family is an American Gothic sitcom based on Charles Addams's New Yorker cartoons. The 30-minute television series took the unnamed characters in the single-panel gag cartoons and gave them names, back stories, and a household setting. The series was spearheaded by David Levy, who created and developed it with Donald Saltzman in cooperation with cartoonist Addams, who gave each character a name and description. Shot in black-and-white, The Addams Family aired for two seasons on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966, for a total of 64 episodes — its opening theme was composed and sung by Vic Mizzy.
The Addams Family is an American animated television series produced by H-B Production Co. and based on the eponymous comic strip characters by Charles Addams. It is the second cartoon show to feature the characters, and ran from September 12, 1992, to November 6, 1993, on ABC. The series' development began in the wake of the successful 1991 Addams Family feature film. Two seasons were produced. It remained part of ABC's Saturday Morning lineup until it was replaced by Fudge in January 1995.
James Christopher Workman is an American retired child actor. He is best known for playing Pugsley Addams in The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993). He is the older brother of actress Ariel Winter.
The Addams Family is a musical comedy with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. The show is based upon The Addams Family characters created by Charles Addams in his single-panel gag cartoons, which depict a ghoulish American family with an affinity for all things macabre. Although numerous film and television adaptations of Addams' cartoons exist, the musical is the first stage show based on the characters. The Addams Family is also the first show produced by Elephant Eye Theatricals.
The New Addams Family is a Gothic sitcom that aired from October 1998 to August 1999 on YTV in Canada and Fox Family in the United States and CITV in the United Kingdom on weekends. It was produced by Shavick Entertainment and Saban Entertainment as a revival of the 1960s series The Addams Family. The series was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
"Addams Groove" is a single performed by hip-hop artist Hammer that was released as the theme song to the 1991 film The Addams Family. It was the second single from his 1991 album, Too Legit to Quit, included in the track list for the cassette version of the album but not the CD. The song was his fifth and last top-10 hit in the United States and was the recipient of the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song at the 12th Golden Raspberry Awards in 1991.
Halloween with the New Addams Family is a 1977 American made-for-television comedy horror film based on the 1964–1966 sitcom The Addams Family. In contrast to the "new" in the title, most of the original series regulars reprised their roles, including John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, Ted Cassidy, Lisa Loring, Ken Weatherwax and Felix Silla. Eleven years after the cancellation of the 1960s TV series, it was the only presentation that brought together most of the original cast in a color production, shot on videotape.
The Addams Family is a 1991 American supernatural black comedy film based on the characters from the cartoon created by cartoonist Charles Addams and the 1964 television series produced by David Levy. Directed by former cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld in his feature directorial debut, the film stars Anjelica Huston, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance as Morticia Addams, Raul Julia as Gomez Addams, and Christopher Lloyd as Fester Addams. The film focuses on a bizarre, macabre, aristocratic family who reconnect with someone whom they believe to be a long-lost relative, Gomez's brother Fester Addams.
The Addams Family is a 2019 animated supernatural black comedy film based on the characters from the cartoon created by cartoonist Charles Addams. It was directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan, with a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and a story by Lieberman, Erica Rivinoja, and Vernon. The film stars the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, and Allison Janney.
The Addams Family 2 is a 2021 animated supernatural black comedy film based on the characters created by Charles Addams and the sequel to The Addams Family (2019). It was directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon and co-directed by Laura Brousseau and Kevin Pavlovic, from a screenplay by Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen, and Susanna Fogel, and a story by Hernandez and Samit. The film stars the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Kroll, Javon Walton, Wallace Shawn, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, and Bill Hader. It tells the story of the Addams family as they go on a road trip.
↑ Ebert, Roger (November 19, 1993). "Addams Family Values". Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2018. It's the rare sequel that is better than its original
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