The Addams Family

Trivia: The seedy motel sequences were shot at the Wampum Court Motel in Sylmar, CA, a 1950s relic that had definitely seen better days. To enhance the fleabag image, two gaudily-painted signs were added for the film, touting "air conditioning" and the deliberately misspelled "kitchins."

Jean G

Trivia: Director Barry Sonnenfeld plays the passenger in one of Gomez's trains.

Trivia: The part of Morticia was originally offered to Cher, who passed because she felt that "The Addams Family" wouldn't do enough to boost her slumping (at least at the time) film career.

Jean G

Trivia: Charles Addams' cartoon characters had no first names until 1963, when he gave them names for the TV series. Pugsley was Pubert until ABC nixed that as "too suggestive." Addams named Gomez for an old family friend, and Wednesday after a line in a nursery rhyme, "Wednesday's child is full of woe."

Jean G

Trivia: Thing was played by the hand of actor and magician Christopher Hart. In the TV series, Thing was said to be played by "Itself," but was actually the appendage of Ted "Lurch" Cassidy most of the time.

Jean G

Trivia: The idea for the film came when producer Scott Rudin was in a van with several other executives. One of the executives' kids, who were also in the van, started singing the theme song to the 60's TV show, and soon, everyone joined in since they all knew the words. Rudin realised that the show and characters were still very relevant and well-known, and pitched the idea of turning "The Addams Family" into a movie the very next day.

TedStixon

Trivia: This film marked the directorial debut of Barry Sonnenfeld.

Trivia: The film originally wasn't going to end with the revelation that Gordon really was Fester all along. Instead, it would have been left ambiguous... the family would simply "accept" Gordon as Fester, even though none of them knew for sure. The cast hated the ambiguous nature of the ending, and Christina Ricci was nominated to approach director Barry Sonnenfeld and request that the script be altered to make it 100% certain that Gordon really was Fester. Sonnenfeld was quickly won over by a speech Ricci gave him, and a few extra lines were added to the ending of the film clarifying that Gordon and Fester were one and the same.

TedStixon

Trivia: Gomez mentions that Fester has been missing for 25 years. The film debuted 25 years after the original "Addams Family" sitcom ended in 1966.

TedStixon

Trivia: Raul Julia's health began to fail in the early 90's, culminating in his tragic passing in 1994. According to family members, one of Julia's greatest joys in his final years was all of the children who recognized him from the two "Addams Family" movies, and would frequently approach him because they wanted to "talk to Gomez." Julia was a humanitarian who sponsored many charities that dealt with children's needs and troubled youths, and took great joy in making children happy.

TedStixon

Trivia: The film's production was reportedly nightmarish. There was turmoil at the original studio, who were forced to sell the film off during production. Two separate cinematographers left during filming, forcing director Barry Sonnenfeld to complete the final weeks of principal photography acting as both the film's director and the cinematographer. Sonnenfeld also developed sciatica during filming and his wife had to have unexpected emergency surgery. Raul Julia ("Gomez") burst a blood vessel in his eye on camera, which interrupted filming. And finally, both Anjelica Huston ("Morticia") and Judith Malina ("Grandmama") found their costumes and makeups insufferable and difficult to work in. (And according to Huston, Malina reportedly dealt with her uncomfortable makeup by constantly smoking marijuana, and thus performed most of the film while high as a kite.) However, despite the chaos, most of the cast and crew loved the film and still speak highly of it.

TedStixon

Trivia: Originally, Christopher Lloyd was going to wear heavy prosthetics for the role of Fester. His original "look" for the role can even be seen in an early teaser-trailer. (With his face being much rounder, to the point Lloyd is near unrecognizable.) However, it was decided early on during filming that the look just didn't work.

TedStixon

Trivia: The film wasn't released on DVD outside of a few select territories (such as the US and the UK) until 2013 due to rights issues that stemmed from the film's production way back in 1990. By contrast, the film had been out on DVD in the US for over a decade by that point.

TedStixon

The Addams Family mistake picture

Revealing mistake: In the part in the motel where THING is doing morse code on the table to Gomez you can see the cut-out in the table where the guy's hand is sticking through the table.

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Gomez: Have no fear. The courts will decide. They say a man who represents himself has a fool for a client. Well, with God as my witness, I am that fool.

More quotes from The Addams Family

Question: When Gordon and his mother are in Tulley's office, how does Tulley see a resemblance between Gordon and Fester? I thought he had not been seen for 25 years.

Answer: He's seen pictures and paintings of young Fester and notices a resemblance. Like you said, no-one had seen him in 25 years, so all that was required was a passing similarity.

Brian Katcher

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