Wednesday, Pugsley and others: who are the Addams and where did they come from?

On Wednesday, September 3, 2025 (how symbolic!) Netflix presented the second part of the second season of the series Wednesday. The new season received the same high ratings as the first, the audience as a whole was satisfied. So - here we go.

But not everyone in the target audience, and not even everyone who knows the Addams family from the 1990s films, is aware of the long journey this family has come and where it all came from. So let's remember this unusual franchise, its main films and games, and, of course, the people who were involved in its emergence and development.

His name was Charles

And not just any Charles, but Charles Addams. This very real man was a cartoonist. And before that, he was a boy from an ordinary, but not exactly, middle-class family from Westfield, New Jersey. His father was a musical instrument dealer and had an architectural education, and his mother was a housewife, as was customary at the time.

Next to the modest residence of the real Addams, there were many old houses and an equally old cemetery. They say that it was they who inspired Charles for his drawings. In general, he was almost the most famous daredevil in the area: cheerful, lively, but with a rather specific humor. He loved to wander around the cemetery, draw cute graves in the margins of notebooks and penetrate abandoned houses.

Well, one of those that has more ghosts than people. It is known for certain that a little boy was once detained by the police at the same time that he was drawing a skeleton on the wall of a neighbor's estate. And this very location is considered one of the prototypes of the famous Addams House.

I can't say for sure, but such a warm attitude towards death and decay is often associated with some strong internal turmoil or fear. As they say, you can't overcome it, make it funny, and master the fear in this way. Perhaps Charles did. Or, perhaps, it was just a natural curiosity and bizarre humor with which he liked to play what others avoid. And, what is most pleasant for us, he continued to do so in adulthood.

The First Addams: Comics

After school, Charles studied a little at various universities, and then moved to New York, to the Grand Central School of Art. There he worked part-time, in particular, at True Detective magazine. The work was not pleasant by the standards of an ordinary person: he was given photos of crime scenes and asked to "clean them up" or even "revive them." He did it so well that he had to slow down, because an overly creative approach for such a field could seem like overkill.

In 1932, he sold his first drawing to The New Yorker, and a few years later he became a regular contributor to the publication. His big breakthrough was the cartoon "Skier", where a daredevil left a mark in the snow... on both sides of a tree at the same time. Without any signature, but with a chic black humor. Typical of Addams.

And in 1938, the characters we now know as The Addams Family first appeared on the magazine's pages. In the debut scene, a vacuum cleaner salesman tries to "smack" the product on a pale lady with black hair in a long dress (the future Morticia). Behind him stood a tall, silent giant (Larch, still bearded), and from the second floor peered a reclusive, dark-haired girl - our beloved Wednesday.

Since then, Charles has regularly returned to the eccentric inhabitants of his painted estate. He seems to have taken the image of the "model American family" from advertising brochures and turned it upside down, adding cemetery humor, a little irony and a lot of cobwebs. The family gradually grew: the owner of the house, Gomez, his son Pugsley and brother Uncle Fester, an immortal grandmother and even the family's favorite - a Hand named Thing, who existed on its own.

Gradually, their characters and relationships emerged. Wonderful, I must say, relationships. The Addams are one of the mentally healthiest families, according to many psychologists. Because although they are very strange, they sincerely believe in each other and always try to stick together.

First appearances on screen

The characters of The New Yorker were still nameless, just vivid images on the magazine's pages. They received their names and full personalities much later, only in 1963, when work began on the television version of these comics.

1964 TV series

In 1964, viewers saw the first series about the strange but surprisingly charismatic family. It was then that Gomez, Morticia, Fester, Pugsley and others finally became entrenched in popular culture, turning into cult heroes with their own charm and humor, which are still recognizable at first sight.

The first series, The Addams Family (1964), was black and white, a bit theatrical, and very ironic, which immediately struck a chord with viewers. At that time, the screens were dominated by cute sitcoms about ideal families with snow-white fences, and here suddenly there was a Gothic mansion, cobwebbed windows, a creepy organ, and characters who, with completely serious faces, talked about things that would send shivers down the spines of ordinary Americans.

It was this series that "brought the whole company together." Gomez, played by John Astin, became a charismatic homeowner, a little crazy, with a love for blowing up trains and a constant cigar in his mouth, but immensely in love with his wife. By the way, it was this Gomez who set the trend for the "handsome" head of the family. Addams fans often complain about the image of the head of the family from the series "Wednesday", saying that he is not handsome enough. However, he is just closer to the canonical image of Charles - a little awkward, short, overweight. But John Astin somewhat adjusted the image and made Gomez handsome, slim, with fire in his eyes and, to top it all, a skilled athlete and fencer.

Morticia, played by Carolyn Jones, was a true Gothic lady: calm, elegant, in a black dress, with a look that anyone would understand: it's better to love her than to annoy her.

It is worth mentioning that a decade earlier, in 1954, cult horror film actress Mile Nurmi appeared at a masquerade ball as Morticia. And it was after this that her own signature image was born – the Vampire.

Fester, played by Jackie Coogan, was a cheerful, loner uncle with a strange passion for explosions and electricity. By the way, Jackie was one of the first famous child actors, and the cute boy from Charlie Chaplin's The Kid is the same future Uncle Fenster, although it is very hard to believe.

And the two-meter-tall Ted Cassidy created the image of Larch, a butler who could say more with his muffled "uuuu" than other characters could say in an entire paragraph, and he also played the Hand.

The children were also memorable: Lisa Loring as little Wednesday with pigtails, who delighted in guillotining dolls, and Ken Wezes as Pugsley, the cheerful and naively explosive brother, the eternal victim in his sister's games. However, Wednesday was still very small here, so her image was much softer than the following ones. Although she danced quite well even then.

The series only lasted two seasons, but that was enough to make the Addams family immortal. They were recognizable, quoted, parodied, and the finger-snapping theme song became iconic.

1973 animated series

In 1973, the first animated series The Addams Family appeared - colorful, bright, a bit childish compared to the original black-and-white sitcom.

Interestingly, this series was born from a crossover with Scooby-Doo, from the Wednesday is Missing episode of the animated series The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972). Viewers saw how the Addams family and their guests get into adventures together with a detective team of cartoon friends. This experiment showed that the family "works" perfectly in a comedy-adventure format, and that the Addams humor can be understood even by children who are not familiar with the original comics by Charles.

Although the series was more childish and cheerful than the previous live-action format, it retained the main features of the characters. Gomez remained the charismatic landlord, but now his crazy energy became more friendly and comical, and the signature cigar temporarily faded. Morticia looked a little less gothic, although her elegance and mystery still stood out against the background of other cartoon characters. Wednesday and Pugsley became even more sophisticated in their black humorous antics, but at the same time less creepy, so that the animated series could be shown to a younger audience.

Viewers received the animated series warmly: it helped a new generation discover the Addams family, and many children who watched it then happily returned to the classic series and comics.

Halloween-1977

Halloween with the New Addams Family (1977) is more of a television play than a full-fledged film. It aired on Halloween Eve, and was a sort of reunion of the original cast from the 1960s series. Of course, the child actors had grown up quite a bit in 11 years, so… no, they didn't hire any other actors, the Addams solved the problem in their own way, giving birth to another Wednesday and another Pugsley.

The atmosphere here is more intimate and theatrical, and the main reason for the family to meet is a Halloween party, full of the Addams' characteristic black humor and absurdity. Yes, there are not only duplicates of the children, but also "fake" Gomez and Morticia.

1990s. The First Addams Renaissance

For a while, it seemed that the Gothic family had been forgotten. But in the 1990s, a whole flurry of different Addams began. There were several films, a new series, and a new animated series. And video games, where would we be without them: this is the nineties!

Barry Sonnenfeld's dilogy and another film

In 1991, director Barry Sonnenfeld, who later directed Men in Black (1997) and Wild Wild West (1999), directed the first feature-length film, The Addams Family (1991).

He assembled a wonderful cast – Anjelica Huston as Morticia with a corset and special eyelids, the unforgettable Raul Julia played Gomez – slender, with fire in his eyes, a real "handsome" head of the family. Raul was also a theater actor, played in Shakespearean productions and had experience as a fencer.

Christopher Lloyd, the same as Professor Emmett Brown from Back to the Future (1985) and Professor Orlov's head in Netflix's Wednesday, is the perfect Fester, and Christina Ricci first made Wednesday iconic: with a pale face and pigtails; she even came up with the way her character lies in bed - with her arms crossed over her chest.

The plot revolved around the return of the long-lost Fester to his home. Gomez and Morticia welcome him with open arms, but the audience is left wondering for a long time whether this is the real Fester or an impostor sent by a crooked lawyer to take over the estate.

Two years later, a sequel was released – Addams Family Values (1993). The plot: a baby, Pubert, is born into the family, and Fester falls in love with a soul-sucking nanny (Joan Cusack). This film literally collected everything that viewers love the Addams for.

There's contradictory dark humor, great acting, and a lot of love. And the adventures of Wednesday and Pugsley at the Orphanage children's camp are something! Almost a manifesto against insincerity in children's language.

The film received favorable reviews: critics called it funnier and more sophisticated than its predecessor (Rotten Tomatoes ~75%, Metacritic - "generally favorable"), but grossed only $111 million at the box office against a budget of $47 million.

A third film with the original cast was never made: Raul Julia's death in 1994 effectively buried all plans. However, the Addams Family Reunion (1998) was released soon after. Gomez was played by Tim Curry, and Morticia was played by Daryl Hanna. The only ones who returned from the original were Larch (Karel Strucken) and Hand (Christopher Hart).

But this version was not liked by either critics or viewers. It looked like a failed parody of a parody: too childish, not subtle, straightforward. It was quickly forgotten like a nightmare, and people turned to television again.

The New Addams Family

In 1998, the series The New Addams Family was released, which tried to return the iconic characters to television screens. This time, Morticia was played by Canadian actress Ellie Harvey - fragile and very lively, she made the image less gothic and tragic than her predecessors.

In her performance, Morticia was rather ironic and eccentric, with lively facial expressions and ease of movement, which made her resemble a mischievous girl locked in the body of the mother of the family. Gomez in Glenn Taranto's version was also kind of cute, but instead of aristocratic charm, he became more "homely" and even everyday, often appearing in ordinary clothes, so he was more like a dad from sitcoms than Gomez as such. However, this interpretation cannot be called completely unsuccessful.

Wednesday, played by Nicole Fujeire, deserves special attention. This is the same actress who played in the third film, and in general, we can assume that she used Christina Ricci's work, as well as her own characteristics - a rather calm facial expression, which made her look like a classic otherworldly girl from a horror movie.

The series was generally aimed at a children's audience and had a lighter tone, but it managed to retain a certain gloom and black humor, making it memorable for an entire generation of viewers in the late 1990s.

The Addams Family – animated series

After the great success of Sonnenfeld's film, a new animated series, The Addams Family, appeared in 1992, which aired on ABC until 1993. In it, Morticia appeared less dramatic, a little softer and rounder than in the films, but retained her recognizable features: pale skin, sharp cheekbones, black hair and classic black dress. She was voiced by Nancy Linari, known for her work in sitcoms and animation.

Gomez became more comical, while retaining his charisma and love for his family, and the children - Wednesday and Pugsley - were given even more cartoonish features, emphasizing their mischievousness and sarcasm. Fester, Larch, and Ruka were also animated in a more friendly and bright style, and the gothic surroundings of the house and the dark humor were toned down to be more suitable for children. This made the animated series accessible to a younger audience, without losing the recognizable charm of the Addams Family.

Video games

The first Addams game is considered to be Fester's Quest, released in 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. In it, the player controlled Uncle Fester, who fought against aliens who had kidnapped... all day. A classic platformer-shooter with a bunch of enemies and saving the city - this is how the story in the gaming world began.

There were already several games in the 1990s, and it was easy to get confused: different platforms gave different versions. In 1992, two games were released at once, where you had to explore the Addams estate and gather the whole family together, solving puzzles or killing bosses along the way.

The first, The Addams Family, is a platformer with quest elements. In addition to the rather complex platforming, it was really difficult to survive and complete all those slippery refrigerators and underwater levels, and the game required collecting and using items. This game was released on the NES, Sega Genesis, and Super Nintendo.

The second game is a more classic platformer, but not quite: there were almost no linear levels, you could go through the rooms in any order. This game has almost no collecting items, but with bosses.

On the 16-bit Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo platforms, the player once again reincarnated as Gomez, but in the slightly shortened version for the NES, for some reason the role of the family's savior went to Pugsley and was called The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt. There was a game starring Pugsley with the same name on the Super Nintendo, but with different content. In short, it's very easy to get confused.

It is worth mentioning Addams Family Values (1995) – an isometric game for Sega Genesis and SNES. Here we again controlled Uncle Fester. Strange as it may sound – before us is a "Zeldoid", although not the most successful one. In it we fight bosses and solve puzzles, making our way through eight dungeons in search of the baby Pubert.

In 2002, The New Addams Family Series was released for the Game Boy Color, based on the late 1990s series. It was a point-and-click adventure with platforming elements, where Wednesday and Pugsley traveled through the rooms of the mansion, solving puzzles and searching for documents to save the house from demolition. The game received positive reviews for its faithfulness to the franchise and attracted interest from fans and collectors of retro games.

After that, there was a long pause until the mobile version of The Addams Family: Mystery Mansion, based on the cartoon, appeared in 2019. In it, players equip a mansion, open new rooms, interact with characters, and develop a family nest in the spirit of a construction simulator.

The newest Addams game incarnation to date is The Addams Family: Mansion Mayhem (2021).

It's a 2019 cartoon-style 3D platformer available on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows. You can play as Wednesday, Pugsley, Gomez, or Morticia, each with their own unique abilities. The game supports up to 4-player co-op and is reminiscent of Super Mario 3D World with its fixed camera and family-friendly gameplay. Although critics called it "mediocre," fans and younger audiences were pleased.

The Second Renaissance and the Future

It would seem that after the 1990s, the Addams Family was forgotten for almost 20 years. It's not that they were not remembered at all... their images remained iconic at Halloween parties, and in 2010 a musical appeared on Broadway that brought the family to life on stage. But for a wide audience, the Addams family became a bit "not for everyone."

The revival began with feature-length animated films. The first, The Addams Family (2019), voiced by Charlize Theron (Morticia), Oscar Isaac (Gomez), and Chloe Grace Moretz (Wednesday), followed the adventures of a family in a modern world that is trying to change them.

The film won the love of a younger audience and brought back interest in the family. The 2021 sequel, The Addams Family 2, added even more humor, dynamics and vivid adventures, preserving the canonical features of the characters, but presenting them in an even more modern and cartoonish style.

Well, the biggest breakthrough and a real wave of popularity for the family, as you already know, was brought by the series Wednesday. Jenna Ortega embodied the teenage Wednesday with gothic charm and sharp sarcasm, combining eerie charisma with youthful energy.

The first season immediately won the respect of the audience, the second was also liked by both young and old, and the third… the third will have to wait a little longer. What does this mean for fans of the Gothic family? We can assume that the same teenagers who admire Wednesday today will remember her with warmth in years to come… and embody familiar images in new books, comics, games or TV series… And, perhaps, even in something completely new that we are not yet familiar with.