FILM · 1991 · USA
The Addams Family
24 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
24 Interesting Facts About The Addams Family
Interesting Facts (18)
- #001
According to Anjelica Huston, Christina Ricci came up with Wednesday's sleeping position herself, with her arms crossed over her chest.
- #002
The "Mamushka" scene was originally meant to be longer, a full song about sibling love in which both Gomez and Fester name other famous brothers. Test screenings revealed, however, that audiences felt the song brought the film to a halt. The film shows only an edited version in which Gomez and Fester dance and Gomez throws knives at Fester. The complete song can be found on the film's soundtrack, and the extended scene can be seen as "More Mamushka" on the 2021 Blu-Ray of The Addams Family.
- #003
The exterior of the Addams house was built for $100,000.
- #004
Anjelica Huston wore a metal corset to achieve Morticia's figure. She also had to undergo gauze eye lifts, neck stretches and false nails every day. She told Entertainment Weekly: "By the afternoon, I could be prone to really severe headaches from the various bindings, and it was quite exhausting because I couldn't lie down or rest (in the corset)."
- #005
To make Anjelica Huston's eyes look slanted like the original Morticia's, the makeup artists had to attach spirit gum strings to the outer corners of her eyes and fasten the strings to her head.
- #006
When Fester arrives at the Addams house, his trunk carries travel stickers from places known for terrible events and disasters: Elba, Jonestown, the Bermuda Triangle, Death Valley, the Black Hole of Calcutta, Three Mile Island, Alcatraz, Pompeii, Devil's Island and others.
- #007
In The Addams Family (1964), the Addamses had a pet lion named Kitty. Although Kitty does not appear in this film, Gomez can be heard cracking his whip and saying "Down, Kitty!" like a roar when he goes to the vault early.
- #008
Gomez's early makeup designs included dark circles around his eyes similar to Fester's. This was removed before filming, but it can still be seen on the film's posters and other promotional materials.
- #009
Director Barry Sonnenfeld initially did not plan to use the theme music of The Addams Family (1964) in the film. After positive reactions to the first trailer that included the theme, he added it to the opening sequence.
- #010
Near the end of the film, Morticia is seen telling a group of children the Grimm fairy tale "Hansel & Gretel." In the pilot episode The Addams Family Goes to School (1964), the Addamses object to Grimm fairy tales being read at school because of how violent they are toward dragons and witches.
- #011
Christina Ricci's portrayal permanently changed the tone of other portrayals of Wednesday, as it moved toward Charles Addams's macabre working tradition. Lisa Loring played Wednesday in the series as a sweet, happy little girl with a few oddities (a pet spider named Homer, and she cut the heads off her dolls). In contrast, Christina played a dangerously intelligent girl (often the smartest person in the room), with a sullen demeanor, bad behavior and a flat monotone delivery. She is now always portrayed this way. She and Jenna Ortega stated that they did not discuss her portrayal of Wednesday because they did not want it to influence her performance.
- #012
While playing Morticia Addams, Anjelica Huston drew inspiration not from Carolyn Jones in the series but from the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens by David Maysles and Albert Maysles, about two eccentric elderly women found living in a decaying mansion. The women, Edith Bouvier Beale "Big Edie" and Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale, are respectively the aunt and cousin of the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
- #013
Morticia cuts the flowers of roses, just as in The Addams Family (1964). Also, when the Addams family is evicted from the house, Morticia carries a plant. Although it is shorter, the plant, "Cleopatra," is the same as Morticia's man-eating African strangler plant.
- #014
Gomez is never seen working in the film, and the origin of the family's wealth is never explained. In the series The Addams Family (1964), Gomez is a retired lawyer who works as a stock market and financial investor, using a special monocle to carry out dangerous (but successful) stock operations.
- #015
Unlike The Addams Family (1964), which featured many catchphrases including "You rang?", Lurch is silent in this film (and in Addams Family Values (1993)) and only makes a low, slow grunting sound. This goes back to Charles Addams's original concept for the character, who was meant to be mute in the series. That changed when Ted Cassidy improvised and aired his famous line, and the producers decided to make Lurch a speaking character.
- #016
One of the markers in the cemetery belongs to Ansel Addams, a namesake of the famous photographer Ansel Adams.
- #017
The passenger on the model train is a giant Gomez, who looks in through the window and laughs before the two model trains collide.
- #018
All of Thing's personal belongings, such as different types of gloves, hand-costume-themed catalogs and notebooks, are hand-related.
Production Story (1)
- #019
David Levy, who served as executive producer of The Addams Family (1964), sued Paramount Pictures after the film was released. He claimed that many Addams Family character "trademarks" used in the film, including Gomez's fondness for exploding model trains, the characters Thing and Cousin Itt, Lurch's fondness for playing the harpsichord, and the passionate tangos danced by Morticia and Gomez, were not part of the original Charles Addams cartoons from which Paramount Pictures bought the film rights, but were original ideas he created only for the series. The lawsuit was later settled out of court.
Behind the Scenes (1)
- #020
Cinematographer Owen Roizman left the production after about a month to work on another film. His replacement, Gale Tattersall, had his contribution cut short when he had to leave the job shortly after being hospitalized with a severe sinus infection. Fed up with the situation, Barry Sonnenfeld took over the cinematography himself, reasoning that if anything happened to him the production would be shut down, so he had little to lose. Sonnenfeld had been a successful cinematographer before becoming a successful director, so he knew what he was doing.
Characters & Cast (1)
- #021
The cast was worried about the ambiguity of the big Fester story. It was initially unclear whether the amnesiac Gordon, who resembles Uncle Fester, is actually Fester. Two weeks before filming, the cast nominated Christina Ricci to make a passionate plea to Scott Rudin and Barry Sonnenfeld that Fester should not be an impostor. Sonnenfeld recalled that the only person in the cast who did not care about this was Christopher Lloyd, who played Fester.
Easter Eggs & References (2)
- #022
Some scenes reference original Charles Addams illustrations, most notably the opening scene (in which the Addams family pours a cauldron of oil on Christmas carolers), the passenger in Gomez's toy train, the octopus painted on the steps of Wednesday's bed, and Pugsley with the road signs.
- #023
Uncle Fester lighting a bulb with his mouth is a nod to the original series, in which he did the same thing.
Life & Family (1)
- #024
Lady Colyton, thanked at the start of the credits, is Barbara Barb, who was married to Charles Addams from 1954 to 1956. When the couple divorced, she received the copyright to some of Addams's work as part of the divorce settlement. She later remarried Henry Hopkinson, Baron Colyton — hence the title.
Related pages
- The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy — The Addams Family comes up in the facts on that page
- Idle Hands — The Addams Family comes up in the facts on that page
- Jackie Coogan — The Addams Family comes up in the facts on that page
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
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