PLOT SUMMARY: When the Addams Family move into a new neighborhood and Wednesday strikes a friendship with the neighbor, none of the families are pleased.
There was a time when my weekend mornings were reserved for cartoons. All of the shows were different, and all of them were entertaining.
I really do miss the era of Swat Kats, Captain Planet and Scooby Doo. The Addams Family had a different schedule which is why I didn’t get to watch it everyday. But when I did, I remember thinking how normal the characters thought they were. Playing with weapons, tossing them at family members, trying to hurt them but not completely going through with it.
The writing was such that the family was certainly spooky, but their love for each other was palpable.
As far as I remember, the Addams family lived in a normal neighborhood with a perpetual storm cloud over their mansion. The neighbors detested them, but not their kids.
Over time I forgot what the stories were, so when this movie came out, I thought I would get to relive some childhood memories.
This movie is certainly not for former fans. I believe this movie was solely created to introduce new generations to the franchise.
Sadly, I believe they might not be too impressed.
The family is a little spooky, but not kooky enough or mysterious.
As someone who enjoyed the 90’s cartoons, the new movie was a letdown.
Why? Because even though the Addams family originally embraced their eccentricity, in the movie, the characters seem to be seeking acceptance from the others.
The major disappointment came from Wednesday, who used to be smart, collected and cared for her brother Pugsley even though she left no stone unturned to stretch his limbs or bury him in the ground.
Here, Wednesday learns to love her family towards the end. Everything else is about her behaving like a normal teenager trying to fit in.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY Movie Plot
The story begins with Gomez and Morticia getting married but immediately being chased away by the townspeople who branded them monsters.
Morticia is greatly disturbed, although I don’t remember her showing so many expressions in the cartoon series. She begs Gomez to find her a home far from the people so she could have a life and bring up their kids.
Their car hits someone and it is Lurch, escaping from the mental asylum atop a precarious mountain. The Addams have found their home. Thing teaches Lurch the theme and their home is set up.
Thirteen years later, Wednesday is all grown up and curious about what lies beyond their snapping grill gate. She thinks she sees another girl as well.
Pugsley is anxious about the upcoming Mazurka, a tradition for the Addams wherein the teenagers are tested to see if they can protect the family.
Right below the mountain, a woman called Margaux Needler runs a TV show renovating homes and selling them off.
The season finale is two weeks away and this time she has a whole neighborhood to sell.
It is her daughter, Parker, who first tells Margaux about the house on the mountain, but her mother refuses to listen to her.
Unknown to everyone, Margaux runs a website called Neighborhood Peeps wherein all the neighbors are members and can connect with each other. But what the members don’t know is that Margaux has installed a hidden camera in their homes to spy on them.
Due to the construction, the marshes are drained and the fog atop the mountain dissipates, revealing the Addams’ home. The family decide to go down and introduce themselves even though Morticia isn’t too keen.
Uncle Fester creates a commotion and everyone runs away. Margaux gets herself invited and the next day arrives with a camera crew.
Her advice, to tear down the house.
But Gomez barely hears her and the family is thrilled about the new neighborhood because in two weeks time the rest of their family meme era are due to arrive for the Mazurka and will require a place to stay.
Margaux decides to poison everyone’s mind in the neighborhood against the Addams’ by spreading a rumor on the site.
Meanwhile, Parker and Wednesday have met and Wednesday decides to go to the same school as her. Again, much to Morticia’s displeasure.
At school, Parker is bullied by another girl and Wednesday stands up to her. There is a sequence following that where there are zombie frogs attacking the bully, but that barely generates a giggle.
Wednesday’s new friends take her to the mall and she returns home with a pink unicorn hair clip.
Morticia is shocked at the color, but Wednesday hardly listens to her mother.
As Parker and Wednesday become close friends, they go to the extent of copying each other’s styles.
Parker shaves part of her head and goes goth. Wednesday wears Parker’s pink frock and goes home.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY Ending Explained with Spoilers!
This time Morticia has had it and forbids Wednesday from going back to school. Wednesday responds by running away from home.
Meanwhile, Margaux decides to round up the neighbors and throw the Addams out, but Parker and Wednesday find her hidden cameras lair. They are found out by Margaux who locks them in a room.
At the mansion, Pugsley’s Mazurka is taking place but things aren’t going well for him. Soon enough, they are attacked by the neighbors and a catapult. Their home is hit and just as the roof is about to fall over their heads, Wednesday appears with Ichabod, the living, responsive tree, who saves the family.
Pugsley uses his grenades to destroy the catapult from further damaging their house.
The neighbors see the Addams embrace each other and realize they are just a family who cares about each other.
Margaux tries to rile them up but Wednesday reveals about the hidden cameras and the tables are turned. Her show is cancelled as Parker was filming her mother the whole time.
Uncle Fester has developed a crush on Margaux and strikes a deal with her to let the Addams Family relatives buy the houses in her new neighborhood.
Pugsley is awarded for being brave and defending the family, Wednesday learns she loves her family, the neighbors learn to accept the Addams with all their weirdness, and Margaux and Uncle Fester now run a realty business.
The movie ends with the Addams Family song.
The movie had one message: people years ago were intolerant and narrow-minded. The people now are more tolerant and you need to be more accepting of them.
This was a message that never came across in the cartoon. They used to be lively, entertaining, and less preachy.
It seems that it has become paramount to insert a message in every animation movie about how you need to learn to accept.
The only problem is that because of this requirement, the stories become bland, the jokes are made with caution so as not to offend anyone or anything.
In the process, comedy is compromised, and any animation movie is just ordinary.
To be honest, I was curious as to how The Addams Family would pull off a whole movie in today’s world where everyone seems sensitive and opinionated about everything.
The cartoon violence was subdued then and made to look normal But now it would be seen as a tutorial on how to be violent which is why the movie tries too hard to be safe.
Anticipating a backlash for showing scenes that would be seen as a promotion of violence, the writers created an ordinary story of two teenagers trying to fit in, whereas the original message of The Addams Family was always: who cares about what anybody thinks. Just do what makes you happy.
Scare scale: 2.5/5
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