The Addams Family has been around since the 1930s, originating as a cartoon. However, the wildly popular eccentric family has been revisited time and time again. The Addams Family landed a spot on ABC, where the cartoons were brought to live-action episodes that featured all the zany antics the family would get into. Like Rob Zombie's modern production of The Munsters, The Addams Family is getting a reboot treatment with director Tim Burton and is set to focus on Wednesday Addams, who will be played by Jenna Ortega. Wednesday is an audience favorite, mostly for her one-liners and dark, blunt humor. In the modern era of streaming, Netflix is sure to be the perfect platform to reintroduce The Addams Family to a new generation, and will most likely benefit Wednesday's success.

The Addams Family's Animated Beginnings

The Addams Family
The New Yorker

In 1938, cartoonist Charles Addams created a single-panel comic for The New Yorker that featured an off-beat, seemingly creepy family that would later become known as The Addams Family. According to Sportskeeda, the first comic portrayed a salesman trying to sell a vacuum cleaner to a family that lived in what appeared to be a haunted mansion. The quirky family was a dark contrast of what was considered to be the "perfect" American family, who appreciated the more morbid side of life and lived by their own merit. The panel ran in The New Yorker until 1964, at which time it got picked up by ABC network for a live action sitcom. The black and white program ran against shows like The Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched, and The Munsters, so the idea was to make the family less menacing and more "quirky" for the times. The Addams Family only ran on ABC for two seasons, but networks continued to broadcast re-runs for decades to come, and even saw a crossover episode with the 1960 classic cartoon Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, which featured a host of special appearances from popular celebrities at the time.

Related: Netflix's Wednesday: Plot, Cast, Release Date, and Everything Else We Know

Cult Film Adaptations

The Addams Family Values
Paramount Pictures

In 1991, the spooky family saw a resurgence when Paramount Pictures released the major motion pictureThe Addams Family, which would showcase them on the big screen. The star-studded cast was just the beginning, featuring the likes of Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, and Christina Ricci, and it would be Ricci's portrayal of the young daughter, Wednesday Addams, that would go on to become a fan favorite for years to come. The film dove into the true quirks of the family and animated the Addams' house more than the sitcom truly ever could. Yet, it is Wednesday's perfectly delivered one-liners that truly unearth the comedy within the script. The film's success lead to a sequel that was released two years later, taking the Addams children out of their element and to a well-lit summer camp after the announcement that Morticia and Gomez were expecting another child. The film wasn't nearly as successful as its predecessor, but often finds itself in the mix of an essential autumn movie watch-list each year.

After the underwhelming success of The Addams Family Values, coupled with the death of actor Raul Julia in 1994, America's zany family went silent again until an attempted series in 1998 The New Addams Family came out. The series only lasted a year and sought to bring back 1964's Gomez actor John Astin. Many would think that this would have been a property that director Tim Burton would have tackled in the late-90s and early-2000s. However, Burton was supposed to direct the 1991 film The Addams Family, but the project went on the Barry Sonnenfield. According to Screen Rant, Burton turned down the gig because he was busy working on Batman Returns. Burton initially proposed a stop-motion film in 2010, but the idea never completely baked, and, later, went in a completely different direction for a 3D animated film that would be released in 2019 by a completely different director.

Related: Christina Ricci is Honored to Have Been Asked to be Part of Netflix's Wednesday

A Modern Wednesday

Wednesday Thing
Netflix

Earlier in the year, it was announced that Netflix would be taking on an Addams Family series, but the primary focus would be on Wednesday Addams, and Burton would be behind the reins. CBR cites that Burton never wanted to make an Addams Family story of his own until receiving the script for Wednesday: "The story just spoke to me about how I felt in school and how you feel about your parents, how you feel as a person. It gave the Addams Family a different kind of reality. It was an interesting combination." The new spin on the series will feature a teenage version of Wednesday, who will be portrayed by Jenna Ortega, who has been regarded as a one of the upcoming scream queens for the modern era.

Despite The Addams Family's inconsistent past, a series on a streaming platform will arguably reignite the franchise. Netflix has brought to life past properties that have had a significant amount of success on the platform, one of which being Chilling Adventures of Sabrina which like The Addams Family originally was a comic published by Archie Comics. The possibilities for Wednesday are endless, especially since the series will be allowed to explore the darker elements and undertones behind the family and the mysterious Nevermore Academy in which the series will be set. Wednesday is available to stream on Netflix on November 23, 2022.