#(and the munsters ~= the addamses)

[marypsue]

There are two ways my original characters get named:

So the character who inspired her has the first name Jade, so I tried out some rock/crystal/semiprecious stone names, and I got to Amber, which reminded me of Amber Riley, and I liked 'Riley' better as a first name. Also, her mom's last name is Jones and her dad's last name is Graham, as a wink and a nod to the author of the character who inspired her, but she uses the last name Loomis, which she chose, because the character who inspired her also chose her own name, although that was her first name. And the last name Loomis is a reference to both Halloween and Scream, two iconic slasher movies, and this whole story is about meta slasher horror, and also Dr. Loomis in the Halloween series is, if sometimes a little intense, mostly on the side of the angels, but Billy Loomis in Scream is a villain, and the central tension of this story is about whether its protagonists are heroes or villains and what makes the difference anyway -

That's just their name.

#sometimes a little bit of both #writing #also #girls ghosts and meathooks #because this is the genesis of riley's name #(ben's is similar but shorter) #(there's an eddie and a ben in IT) #(and the munsters ~= the addamses)

[simsbyali]

Sims 4 TV Family Legacy Challenge

My husband and I worked on this together... It's a Legacy Challenge based on TV families from shows... Of course I left out the families with horrible personalities (Such as the Cosby Show (Bill Cosby) and All in the Family (Let's face it, Archie was a racist... But, hey, if you want to add them into your challenge, that is entirely up to you!

TV Family Legacy Challenge: 

Rules are simple: 

Infants have to remain infants for the entire time. 

Toddlers can be aged up if they get level 3 in all skills, or level 5 on one skill. 

Children can be aged up either by completing their aspirations or by becoming an A student 

Teenagers can be leveled up either by completing their aspirations or by becoming an A student 

Adults must finish at least one level of aspiration before they die. 

Can be done in any order, and you are allowed to use cheats. I understand the game gets annoying without cheats. 

Generation 1: The Addamses 

“They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky, they’re all together ooky, the Addams Family” 

Starts with a patriarchal household (Gomez Addams) 

Must have either Successful Lineage or Famously Wealthy Aspiration 

Must have Romantic and Gloomy traits 

Must have a partner with the same traits, but Soulmate Aspiration 

Inherited money, so you or your partner don’t have to work a day in your life (feel free to use the Motherlode cheat to become filthy stinking rich) 

Feel free to add Fester and Grandmama, if you’d like. 

Must have at least 3 children, and at least 1 of those children must be a boy. The youngest child will be the heir. 

Generation 2: The Munsters 

“The lesson I want you to learn is: It doesn't matter what you look like. You can be tall or short or fat or thin, or ugly or handsome, like your father, or you can be black or yellow or white. It doesn't matter. But what does matter is the size of your heart and the strength of your character.” 

After growing up in a family who was wealthy, you didn’t need to work. You had all the money you could ever need. Now you can focus on raising your family. Your story begins as a young adult. 

Patriarchal head (Grandpa Munster) 

Optional Pack: Sims 4 Vampires/Werewolves 

Must have Successful Lineage aspiration 

Must have Gloomy and genius traits 

Must have at least 1 daughter, and the daughter must marry a green man (who has the personality trait Childish) and live with you. 

Have 1 grandson, who will be the heir for the next generation. 

Generation 3: The Bradys 

“Here’s a story, of a lovely lady, who was bringing up 3 very lovely girls. All of them had hair of gold, like their mother, the youngest one in curls.” 

Growing up, you were sheltered and didn’t get to talk to people all that much. When you finally meet someone, it’s love at first sight. You settle down in a nice house and raise your family together. Your story begins as a young adult. 

Patriarchal Head (Mike Brady) 

Must have Big Happy Family aspiration 

Must have Romantic and Family-Oriented traits 

Must have 6 children, 3 girls and 3 boys. The youngest girl or boy will be the heir. 

Must have a maid. 

Optional Pack: Sims 4 Cats & Dogs  

Generation 4: The Partridges 

“We had a dream, we'd go travelin' together, We'd spread a little lovin' then we'd keep movin' on.  Somethin' always happens whenever we're together We get a happy feelin' when we're singing a song.” 

Growing up in a large family, you were used to being invisible, after all, you were the youngest girl. You meet a guy, have some kids. You then become the lead singer for your kids’ band, although at first you’re too shy to be in front of people. Your story begins as a young adult. 

Matriarchal Head (Shirley Partridge) 

Must have Musical Genius aspiration 

Must follow and max out the Singer occupation 

Must have Family Oriented and Outgoing traits 

Must have 5 kids: 2 girls, 3 boys (make sure the heir is a boy to continue onto the Full House generation, unless you want to skip to one of the optional families) 

Marry your soulmate and then lose him once the oldest son becomes a teenager. 

Optional Pack: Sims 4 Cats & Dogs 

Or 

Generation 4: The Ricardos 

“Lucy, you got some ‘splainin’ to do!” 

Growing up in a large family, you were used to being invisible, after all, you were the youngest boy. You meet the love of your life and together you move into a small house, and you follow your dream of becoming a lounge singer. Your story begins as a young adult. 

Patriarchal Head (RIcky Ricardo) 

Must have Musical Genius aspiration 

Must follow and max out the Singer career path 

Must have Hot-headed and Music Lover traits 

Must have at least 1 son 

Must have a wife that has red hair, and has the traits of Family-Oriented and Jealous traits 

Optional Pack: Sims 4 Dine Out- Open your own restaurant and become successful.   

Generation 5: The Tanners 

“Whatever happened to predictablity? The paperboy, milkman, evening TV? You miss your old familiar friends waiting just around the bend.” 

With your family being successful in music, you move into a big house and meet your partner. You get married and get a job working in Journalism. Your story begins as a young adult. 

Patriarchal Head (Danny Tanner) 

Must have the Best-Selling author aspiration 

Must follow the Journalist career path 

Must have Neat and Family-Oriented traits 

Must have at least 3 daughters 

Lose wife in a tragic accident 

(Optional: Add Joey and Uncle Jesse to your household) 

Optional Pack: Sims 4 Cats & Dogs 

Generation 6: The Winslows 

“It’s a rare condition, this day and age, to read any good news on the newspaper page. And love and tradition of the grand design, some people say it’s even harder to find. Well, there must be some magic clue inside these gentle walls cause all I see is a tower of dreams, real love bursting out of every seam.” 

After a long successful line of entertainers, you decide to take a different approach. After you move out, you fall in love with a non-entertainer, get married, and move into a house big enough for 8 people. Your story begins as a young adult. 

Matriarchal Head (Estelle Winslow) 

Must have Big Happy Family aspiration 

Must have Family-Oriented and Cheerful traits 

Must marry a policeman 

Must have a son who becomes a police officer 

Son (Hot-Headed and Family-Oriented traits) and wife must live with you after your husband dies. 

Have at least 3 grandchildren 

(Optional: Add Aunt Rachel and Ritchie to household) 

(Also Optional: Make Steve Urkel) 

Generation 7: The Banks 

“I pulled up to the house about 7 or 8 and I yelled to the cabbie ‘Yo holmes, smell ya later’ Looked at my kingdom I was finally there to sit on my throne as the prince of Bel-Air.” 

Inspired by your father, you decided to follow in his footsteps and join a criminal justice career. You worked from the ground up and became a successful judge, married a beautiful woman, and settled down in a mansion in the fanciest part of town. Your story begins as a young adult. 

Patriarchal Head (Phillip Banks) 

Must have either the Successful Lineage or Fabulously Wealthy aspiration 

Must have a career in Secret Agent (Base Game) 

Must have Foodie and Hot-Headed traits 

Must have a maid or butler 

Must have at least 4 children (2 girls, 2 boys) 

Nephew comes to live with you (Nephew’s traits should be Romantic and Ambitious) 

(Optional: Add Jeff as Will’s best friend) 

Optional Packs: Get to Work for Detective career or DIscover University for Judge career 

Generation 8: The Spellmans 

“What’s the matter? I have to be a witch, I have to be a mortal, I have to be a teenager, and I have to be a girl, all at the same time. That’s what’s the matter.” 

You have a good life, you’re living with your sister, and you have a good relationship with your brothers. You’re not too fond of the fact that one of your brothers married a woman who is so unlike the family, but, you love him all the same. You’ve offered to take your brother’s daughter should he end up dying. Your story starts when you reach young adult. 

Matriarchal Head (Zelda or HIlda Spellman) 

Must have the Big Happy Family aspiration 

Must have the Neat and Ambitious traits (Zelda) or Childish and Slob traits (Hilda) 

Must work in some sort of Science field (Zelda) 

Must be good friends with both of your brothers. 

Take in your niece when she’s a child and raise her after her parents’ early demise. 

Optional Packs: Realm of Magic and/or Cats & Dogs 

Generation 9: The Gilmores 

“If you’re out on the road, feeling lonely and so cold, all you have to do is call my name and I’ll be there on the next train. If you need me, I will follow, anywhere that you tell me to.” 

Losing your parents at a young age and being sent to live with your aunts wasn’t exactly something that you were thrilled about. Which is why you become a wild child. Your story starts when you reach teenager.  

Matriarchal Head (Lorelai Gilmore) 

Must have Successful Lineage aspiration 

Must have Cheerful and Ambitious traits 

Must be in the Management branch of the Business career path 

Get pregnant as a teen 

Have at least 1 daughter 

Must not date until your heir is a teenager 

Generation 10: The Prouds 

“You and me will always be tight. Family every single day and night, even when you start acting like a fool, you know I’m loving every single thing you do. I know that I can always be myself around you more than anybody else.” 

As a young adult, you begin to resent your mother for having you way too young and you begin to put a rift between you and your mom so you move out and get married to a swinger. Your story begins when you turn into a young adult. 

Matriarchal Head (Suga Mama) 

Must have the Successful Lineage aspiration 

Must have Family-Oriented and Lazy traits 

Must have 1 son with the Master Chef aspiration; Foodie and Ambitious traits 

Your son gets married and has 3 children 

After your husband dies, you move in with your son and his family 

Optional Pack: Cats & Dogs 

(You can either end it with the Prouds or you can continue with other generations) 

Optional Generations 

The Stephens (Bewitched) 

Patriarchal Head (Darrin Stephens) 

Must have Soulmate aspiration 

Must join the Management path of the Business career 

Realm of Magic: Must be married to a Spellcaster (Optional) 

Have 2 children 

The Bundys (Married... with Children) 

Patriarchal Head (Al Bundy) 

Must have Party Animal aspiration 

Must have Slob and Mean traits 

Must have 2 children (1st child when you’re a teenager) 

Get to Work: Own your own retail store (Optional) 

Marry the mother of your child 

Wife must have Materialistic and Lazy traits 

The Taylors (The Andy Griffith Show) 

Patriarchal Head (Andy Taylor) 

Must have Angling Ace aspiration 

Must join a career that involves Law Enforcement (Special Agent – Base Game, Detective – Get to Work, Judge – DIscovering University 

Marry and have 1 son 

Lose your wife 

The Arnolds (The Wonder Years) 

Patriarchal Head (Jack Arnold) 

Must have the Big Happy Family aspiration 

Must have Hot-Headed trait 

Must join the Management branch of the Business career 

Must have 3 children 

The Taylors (Home Improvement) 

Patriarchal Head (Tim Taylor) 

Must have Nerd Brain aspiration 

Must max out Handiness level 

Must have 3 children 

Must have Outgoing and Family-Oriented traits 

#sims 4 legacy #sims 4 challenge #sims 4 gameplay

[stayspookymockingbirdlane]

*At the Disney world teacup ride*

The Addamses: *talking while spinning calmly* 

The Munsters: *flying past them, spinning as fast as they can, screaming*

#crossover #memes #the munsters #the addams family #lol #herman munster #lily munster #grandpa munster #eddie munster #marilyn munster #morticia addams #gomez addams #wednesday addams #pugsley addams #uncle fester

[gruesella]

This energy is why your musical flopped, lady 😶

But seriously, if I had a nickel every time someone insulted the Munsters out of nowhere to uplift the Addamses, I could afford a trip to Universal thrice over. Can't you enjoy your fav without tearing another woman down? Not to mention Lily's iconic look is inspired by several movie monster women that came out years before Tish did...? Or how 60s Tish was changed from her comic's cold demeanor to warm-hearted like Lily?

#I've read this quote several times and I'm at a loss how she found a reason to bring Lily up #and just drag her for no reason #the munsters #why are yall like this #lily munster #bebe neuwirth #fandom problems #the addams musical

[jellogram]

I love that the Addams family is human. Like the Munsters are monsters but the Addamses are normal mortals who are just super fucking goth

[fiddler-on-the-starship]

Dark Shadows, much like The Addams Family and The Munsters, is a 1960s TV show about a family of weirdos who live in a spooky mansion, but the vibes could not be more opposite.

The Addamses and Munsters are weirdos in a fun and quirky and mostly harmless way. They may look scary, but they're really nice! They want to be your friends! Whereas the Collinses are weirdos in a pathetic wet cat kind of way while also being the embodiment of "I won't hesitate bitch" and you should not try to befriend any of them under any circumstances.

If the Addamses or Munsters invite you over for tea there is a non-zero chance that Grandmama Addams or Grandpa Munster will put something in your teacup that turns you into a frog, but at least you'll have had a good time up until that point (and you'll probably be back to normal by the end of the episode). If the Collinses invite you over for tea you will definitely end up dead or brainwashed or possessed by an evil ghost or stuck in a parallel universe, and you won't even have had a good time.

#dark shadows #the addams family #the munsters #i say all of this affectionately #text post

[anhed-nia]

Yo guess what, Rob Zombie's THE MUNSTERS is better than Wednesday by a country mile. I'm not arguing that THE MUNSTERS is a great movie, but it at least feels like it was made by a group of people who really love The Munsters. Whatever you want to say about its problems, it has passion and joy, and a basic understanding of the source material. Wednesday is like...I mean first of all Tim Burton is the least interesting choice of director and hasn't been really qualified for this sort of thing for like twenty years now. But more than that, why the fuck is The Addams Family being adapted by the creators of Smallville? As soon as I realized that it was like oh, maybe that's why this is so clueless. It doesn't just lack style and wit, but it also does not get what's good about Charles Addams's characters at all. They're supposed to be very self-actualized, the whole Addams narrative is about self-respect, so when Wednesday is bullied, she should say something so frightening that it devastates her enemies, something only she could come up with; it's a lot less interesting if she just, like, beats people up while techno music plays. The other thing about the Addamses is that they have tremendous unity as a breed apart; man, those Barry Sonnenfeld movies really got the fucking memo on this property, just the title ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES tells the whole tale. To impose conventional, neurotic in-fighting on the family, with the bitchy daughter versus the parents who don't get her at all, just makes no sense and misses the point of what's great about the whole idea of the Addams Family. I mean it could have been possible to build the drama like, "The Addamses have always been abnormally close, but Wednesday is reaching that difficult age, and now they're alienating each other for the first time," then there would be emotional stakes to Wednesday's personal journey that aren't totally cliche and anonymous. But this show feels less like anyone had a genuine desire to do The Addams Family, and more like somebody wanted a redo of Harry Potter now that everyone hates JKR and Wednesday Addams just seemed available. It fucking blows.

Now that I'm done being negative for the next five minutes, check out this incredibly beautiful Charles Addams composition, what a treat!

[aviculor]

Oh hey, The Munsters is out. You know, it's not like I ever watched the original series or anything, but I'm honestly fascinated to see Rob Zombie doing something family friendly. No swearing, no nudity, no sex, no violence, no killing (?). I want to put this under a microscope and study it.

Well, that was fun and full of campy charm. I had my reservations when it was announced, but they really made it work. Looking forward to the soundtrack coming out, but I was expecting more of Zombie's music. Like, you know, Dragula. The song named after the Munsters' car.

The TVTropes page for the film isn't fleshed out yet, but reading the one for the franchise, it seems some of the things that differentiated The Munsters and The Addams Family were glossed over. The Munsters were a working class family who never saw themselves as different from their neighbors and everyone treating them like monsters was like a metaphor for anti-immigrant discrimination. Here they have the same "we are normal and white picket fence suburbanites are bizarre freaks" view the Addamses do. Not that I mind that, and it's not a major plot point anyway since they move to their home on Mockingbird Lane with only a couple minutes left of the film. I also wouldn't have expected Rob Zombie to be making a political statement with this in the first place, much less a progressive one. We're lucky the Rromani antagonist didn't get called the g word.

Despite this being a family film, Zombie couldn't help himself but throw in a "crap" and some bleeps on an in-universe television show where it's still obvious what's being said.

#the munsters #horror

[honestscribe]

SCP Foundation/Addams Family Headcanons

I might write a story about these eventually, but feel free to use these in your own fics, as well. Just be sure to credit, and share a link if you'd be so kind!

-The Shy Guy (SCP-096): The Addamses actually consider him to be quite handsome (look at that lovely pallor!), which boosts his self-esteem, at least temporarily. He may or may not be Lurch's distant cousin.

-The Plague Doctor (SCP-049): Naturally, the family is immune to his touch of death, and actually consider him to be a good doctor. Grandmama especially enjoys his youth-enhancing brews. Morticia and Gomez keep trying to play matchmaker for him since he's so handsome and so good with the kids, but he isn't interested since it would interfere with his life's work. He has been the Addams’ family physician for centuries. (Bonus: He also knows the Munsters, but Grandpa considers him a quack. They enjoy getting into scientific arguments.)

-The Statue (SCP-173): Peanut enjoys posing for Morticia's paintings (always the same pose, but that doesn't seem to matter). He'll also let the kids draw on him as long as they wash it off. Uncle Fester likes his neck massages.

-Dr. Wondertainment: A long-time friend and business partner of Gomez Addams, who has become a friend to the family. He sends Wednesday and Pugsley a new toy every Halloween.

#silly headcanon #crossover headcanons #scp foundation #scp 096 #scp 049 #scp 173 #dr. wondertainment #addams family #morticia addams #gomez addams #wednesday addams #pugsley addams #lurch addams #uncle fester #fandom crossover #fandom thoughts #fanfiction ideas #grandmama addams #grandpa munster #the munsters

[dorksidefiker]

With very few exceptions, the Addamses Aren’t Magic.

The MUNSTERS are Magic.

The Addamses are just fucking weird.

[labyriinths]

@writingxonthewall​ Wednesday Addams gives Lily Munster a spooky starter

For anyone looking in, it would appear that The Addam’s family celebrated Halloween on a daily basis. But when Halloween actually marked their calendars, they went all out and invited all their acquaintances. Even for someone like Wednesday that found parties dull, she enjoyed every bit of it. The most interesting of creatures and most interesting of minds attended. It was always a ghoul of an evening. A few days before the festivities her god mother Lily was coming by with her family. Wednesday loved having a vampire for a godmother. But her mother advised her it was a tad to early to make rash decisions about becoming one herself. After all, she did want to become a serial killer one day. They seemed to have the best fun. As Lily arrived at their humble abode, Wednesday curtsied. “God mother, what a dreadful day to have you arrive. Have you brought me some of your morbidly fashionable creations? I still have your black lace and devil’s collar creation.” she remarked. Picking up by her tone one would think she would smile, but still she kept her face with a blank stare. A usual for the oldest offspring of the Addamses. 

#muse wednesday #writingxonthewall #}lmk if this works for you if not i can change the angle :D

[stayspookymockingbirdlane]

This is a Munster fan blog, but I just wanted to say something that's bothering me. So... these same people who praise the Addams for being progressive and unconventional, are complaining that Luis Guzmán is not hot enough for Gomez, a man who was never pretty in the comics or arguably the old show (along with the rest of his family since being off-putting was the whole point of TAF)?

...But they're okay with the other Addamses getting beauty upgrades (curvy, smiley Tish, pretty Wednesday, slim Pugsley)? They like TAF to be unconventional until they don't. What are they expecting- a classically beautiful rich family who are quirky enough to stand out from the the Bradys or Cleavers but not ugly enough to keep people from self-inserting? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Real Addams fans, I'm sorry. You guys deserve a better fanbase. And as a Munster fan I can relate because it's usually these sorts of shallow people calling the Munsters ugly, dirty hillbillies. Both these remakes have brought out some people's ugliness.

#not munsters related #but should be said #wednesday netflix

[reallyhardy]

the munsters or the addams family???

#loren talks #trick question: both #i'd like to be adopted by either #though i think #the addamses may be the better choice since they are at least all human #(i think) #the munsters dont seem to be like #too good with humans #anyway i think i would like to draw the #m #both families #when my deadline is done with

[fauzhee10069]

The Addams and Zoldyck, those two peculiar families

In this October, I love how MGM on youtube uploaded some the original Addams family TV show (yeah, the black&white one in 60s). I’m binge-watching them through this month till the Halloween.

Addams family is an odd wealthy aristocratic family who delight in the macabre and are seemingly unaware or unconcerned that other people find them bizarre or frightening. They raise octopus and lion instead of puppy and kitty, they hate puppies (they are disgusted with). The children have spider as their pet. They have swamp instead of pool. They love moonbathing instead of sunbathing. Halloween is like valentine day for The Addams couple. They decorate their living room with creepy-looking items (which they consider beautiful). They like to play with dynamites and other explosive things (which is dangerous). They use items which normal people consider them as torture devices for therapy and relaxation.

However, the Addamses are not evil. The couple, Morticia and Gomez remain passionate towards each other, they are supportive of their children. The family is friendly and hospitable to visitors, in some cases it is willing to donate large sums of money despite the visitors' horror at the Addamses' peculiar lifestyle. They’re loving family by nature.

Which greatly reminds me of The Zoldycks (Hunter x Hunter), the infamous family that breeds professional assassins. Both are not your average normal families, they do things that are not common sense for normal people. When they are abnormal by nature, their internal relationship as family are very close. The husband and wife love each other, the youngers respect the elders, they show the affection towards each other. Apart from their peculiarity, they interact like any normal family.

What distinguishes them are: the family’s primary job and their attitude outside their family.

The job:

Unlike Zoldycks, who are still undergoing one criminal work for generations as hired assassins, a job they are very proud of. The Addamses' don't do criminal work. The patriarch, Gomez is a lawyer (iirc) and sometimes an investor, they also have several properties for rent. Both do the business, but one in the form of service while the other is extensive investments and rents (goods).

Outside their family:

Maybe since they realize that they are technically criminals, The Zoldycks are very closed to outsiders (and separate themselves from the outsiders). They do not accept just any guests, they reject friendship, they even require guests to do a test to be considered worthy to enter their territory and those who enter the estate in any other way will be at risk of being attacked and killed by Mike, their trained giant guard dog. Family always comes first.

Despite their creepy and unwelcoming house, The Addamses always welcome their guests well, treating and entertaining them with their best, even to the uninvited ones. They want to be good friends with them. And most importantly, they always think positively towards the outsiders.

These two gifs straightly show how the families respond to their guests:

The Addams Family (1964) S1E7: "Halloween with the Addams Family"

The Addams’ fence gate is never locked since every guests can enter. Once you entered the front yard past the gate, it will automatically close. Almost every guest who came was shocked when the gate was suddenly closed.

I think this could be a signal from The Addams that “You’re free to come, we’re always welcome anyone. But please allow us to show our hospitality to you as our guest before you leave.” Sadly, some guests want to leave immediately and run away from The Addams’ hospitality.

Hunter x Hunter (2011) E23: “The × Guard's × Duty"

In order to enter The Zoldyck’s estate safely, one must open the Testing Gate. Those who enter the estate in any other way will be at risk of being attacked and killed by Mike. This applies to any guests and one of the family member’s friends, including their own family members. Seven doors in total, each door of the gate weights two tons, the minimum amount of strength required for opening just one door.

Why The Zoldyck installed those doors and set a guard beast dog? One of the reason obviously is to train their family members to be powerful and test their strength. But why for the guests? I think this signaling that they don’t really welcome just anyone to enter their estate. Only those who are able to open the gate are worthy to enter. Anyone who enters without going through the test and using another route is considered as intruder.

Another thing that is similar but not the same between The Addams and Zoldyck is that both have a routine of using the torture devices. both of the family members also showed their invulnerability in using those devices.

However, when The Zoldycks using the torture devices & routine as part of the training to be the top assassin, The Addamses using them purely for relaxation (and therapy). Apparently, what distinguishes both families is that The Zoldycks still view the torture devices as torture devices, they are used for torturing… for real. The Zoldycks conduct the torture sessions as a requirement in their training. “Our assassins must become very strong, therefore we have accustomed them with these torture things so that they develop their invulnerability in the future.”

But unlike The Zoldycks, The Addamses don’t view the torture devices as their intended use. Torture devices are obviously to torment, but The Addamses think of them as therapeutic and relaxation tools. They use Iron Maiden for a peaceful space (iirc), they use The Rack to deal with aches and relax the tense muscles. Uncle Fester used the Head Crusher to cure his stiff necks (iirc). They sleep on Iron Bed (a bed full of nails that is similar to Iron Chair), like sleeping on a hammock, etc. This is more frightening when The Addamses offer these devices to their guests as part of their hospitality to provide comfort for them. At least The Zoldycks don’t ask their guests to use them because they know that it is for torture.

So, I don’t think this post has any really conclusion. I just want to compare these two peculiar families because they are similar yet different. The Zoldycks are dangerous on text-book, they are widely known as assassins, they are not really welcoming to anyone, they live in a secluded area surrounded by fortress walls. The Addamses feel that they are a normal family even though people outside think otherwise. Their good intentions are often misinterpreted (and thus frighten people). They might be peculiars, but they are still “family” just like the family we have.

Perhaps, comparing The Addamses with The Zoldycks is not quite right because they come from stories with different nuances (the former is sitcom while the later is serious shounen). Comparing The Addamses with The Munsters would be better, it seems. Unfortunately, I haven't watched The Munsters yet, so I haven't been able to write about both of them yet. Hopefully, someday I will.

#addams family #zoldyck family #hunter x hunter #my thoughts

[scrambler]

Various Addamses and Munsters.

#Munsters #addams family #toys #vintage

[aion-rsa]

The Addams Family: Revisiting Barry Sonnenfeld’s Directorial Debut 30 Years Later

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

“We would gladly feast on those who would subdue us.” These are not just pretty words, but the motto of The Addams Family. Originally released on Nov. 22, 1991, the comedy about lovable and pioneering psychopaths, fiends, mad-dog killers, and brutes hits its 30th anniversary this year. To celebrate, the film will be released for the first time on Digital 4K Ultra HD on Oct. 19, and has the full sequence of the Mamushka dance restored in its entirety. Paramount Home Entertainment says the release is timed for Halloween, but every day is a dark holiday for fans of The Addams Family.

While both Uncle Fester (Christopher Lloyd) and Wednesday (Christina Ricci) might prefer to spend their holidays in the Bermuda Triangle, Gomez (Raul Julia) and Morticia (Anjelica Huston) need go no further than the family plot for their most relaxed reposts. Charles Addams’ characters have happily blighted American culture since The New Yorker published his first one-panel cartoon in 1938. In the 1960s, The Addams Family premiered on the same day as The Munsters debut, though both were ultimately taken down by the caped crusaders of Batman. The TV series codified many amorphous aspects of the comic, including family names, Thing, and the theme song. Written by songwriter Vic Mizzy, it was so memorable it inspired the Addams clan’s most imaginative reimagining.

Before remakes of The Flintstones, The Beverly Hillbillies, My Favorite Martian, and Sgt. Bilko tried to recapture the light comedy of TV’s Golden Age, Twentieth Century Fox’s big-screen version of The Addams Family tarnished the landscape. The screenplay was written by Caroline Thompson and Larry Wilson, and punched up by an uncredited Paul Rudnick, who would write the screenplay for Addams Family Values (1993).

The Addams Family marked the feature debut of director Barry Sonnenfeld, who had been cinematographer for such films as the Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, and Miller’s Crossing, as well as Danny DeVito’s homage to Alfred Hitchcock, Throw Mama from the Train, Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally…, and Penny Marshall’s Big. He would go on to direct Men in Black I and II. Get Shorty, and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Sonnenfeld’s storytelling camera exposed the spookiest of the creeps to be the modern world, while the strange, deranged Addamses are the most permissive of units, equally accepting of all but the most wholesome good cheer.

To celebrate the reissue of The Addams Family, Den of Geek threw on a shawl and paid a call on Sonnenfeld, who spoke openly about It, Thing, and other things.

Den of Geek: What was it about The Addams Family that said “this is the first feature I have to direct?”

I wasn’t looking to direct. I was reThe Addams Family’s Barry Sonnenfeld breaks down the Mamushka, his directorial saddle, and James Gandolfini’s patois.ally happy as a cameraman. I was a couple of weeks from finishing Misery for Rob Reiner, and Scott Rudin sent me the script for Addams Family. The script wasn’t very good, but if there was one script that would make sense for me to be the director on, as a first-time director, it would be The Addams Family. It’s quirky. It’s dark. It’s black comedy. And I grew up with the Charles Addams cartoons in The New Yorker. Every week my dad would read The New Yorker, and I would look through to see if there was a Charles Addams drawing in there. So, it was the perfect first thing for me to do because it let me do a lot of visual stylizations, but also be very true to Charles Addams’ tone, which the original script didn’t do, and we worked with Paul Rudnick to get it there.

I spoke with Charles Addams’ biographer, who said the screen versions were never as dark as the comics. But with lines like “widows and orphans, we need more of them,” I think you captured it best. What was so jokey about the first draft of it?

You know, I don’t remember, but it was much more like the TV show, there were comedy scenes and jokey scenes and slapstick. It felt like it was one step short of a banana peel kind of script. There are so many moments where I just stole Charles Addams’ images and put it into our movie. Gomez playing with the train set and me looking over it and seeing Gomez’s face? That was a New Yorker cartoon. The cauldron, in the opening scene, where they pour oil on the carolers on Christmas Eve, is a Charles Adams cartoon. I even stole, well used, a concept in the teaser. Charles Addams drew this drawing: you’re in a movie theater and there’s a woman on the screen and the woman is going like [screams] and everyone in the audience is turned to see what she’s screaming at, as if the woman on the screen is actually seeing something in the theater.

How do we know which are your visual gags and which are the gags that you lifted from the cartoon?

Well, the ones I’m telling you I got from the cartoon, but it’s a good question. Charles Addams never had a moving camera, so he couldn’t follow Thing around a house from a séance to a door. One of the things I’m proud of is putting the full Mamushka back in there, which is one of the add-ons for this 4K version. To get Marc Shaiman and Comden and Green to write the song and actually film this whole dance number. That’s not Charles Addams, but the tone is. They’re throwing blades and juggling knives and Fester swallows one. In tone, Charles Addams, in execution, Barry.

Charles Addams had a crazy apartment in Manhattan with suits of armor and torture devices. And you have a public bathroom as a bathroom, and direct movies from a saddle. Will you ever direct one from a mechanical bull?

No, it’s too heavy and you don’t want to make the crew carry it around from location to location. I often dress like a cowboy. I wear a cowboy hat. I wear cowboy boots. And at the end of Men in Black II, which was 20 years ago, the crew, as a joke when we wrapped, gave me a saddle and it sits on an Apple box. And ever since then, we’ve improved the saddle. It now has various drawers for my medications and bottles of water.

Now, I have a second saddle that on A Series of Unfortunate Events, we actually took a Rascal, which is one of those things that old people use to get around like Walmart and stuff, in the villages down in Florida, and we put a saddle on that. So now I have a motorized saddle so I can just drive myself up to the actors and go, “OK, just do it again, just a lot faster.” And then I pull on a joystick and go back to the monitor or to the camera. So yeah, I’m a quirky guy, and I always say I take my work seriously, but I don’t take myself seriously. So that’s how I get through the day on the set.

I heard the Mamushka was cut because of a test audience. How does that feel to have to cut something so fully formed and fun?

That’s half true. When you have a recruited-audience screening, you don’t really need tests. You don’t need them to fill out forms. Just being in the theater, you sense when people start to cough or fidget. You always want every scene to move the story forward. If you can cut a scene out of your movie and it doesn’t affect the plot or emotions, the scene shouldn’t be in there. And the problem is, before the Mamushka there is a very long lead-up to the Mamushka. We introduce Lumpy Addams, we introduce Flora and Fauna Amour, and there’s this endless setup. 

Dede Allen, who was a brilliant editor, and I felt we should leave all of the Mamushka in, but get rid of some of the stuff before, because somewhere in there we weren’t moving the plot forward, and we could sense the audience getting just a little bit fidgety. And at the end of the day, instead of losing the stuff before the Mamushka, we cut the Mamushka in half because it was an easy way to just cut into it in the middle.

But I regretted that decision. It’s the only time I’ve ever wanted to make anything longer. Joel and Ethan, they produce special editions, and they’re always shorter. The Blood Simple special edition is shorter than the original. Joel and Ethan and I are working on a rerelease of Miller’s Crossing for Criterion. And Joel is actually reediting the movie and making it shorter. This is the only time I’ve ever wanted to lengthen anything, and I really miss the full Mamushka because it starts wonderfully. Raul Julia is such a brilliant theatrical actor, on Broadway musicals, so I regretted taking out the first half.

How did the Mamushka inform Schmigadoon!?

Well, I’m not a fan of musicals, but yet I seem to know how to shoot them. I’ll tell you the truth. I think that most dance movies and most modern musicals don’t know how to shoot. There are too many inserts. Too many cutaways. In both the Mamushka and Schmigadoon!, we see full bodies, we see people dancing head to toe. We played everything very proscenium, in wide shots, so you can see whole dancers. The way they used to shoot musicals. I’m just not a fan, but it doesn’t mean I don’t know how to shoot them.

What is the Fred Astaire connection to Thing and is Thing you as a living camera?

I think the camera is me. I love how energetic and self-aware and self-important the camera is in everything I do because it’s me saying, “Hey, here I am. I know I’m not on screen, but pay attention to me.” That’s why, in Raising Arizona and Throw Mama from the Train, I do all these wacky camera moves. It’s so the people know that I’m the cinematographer or the director. Fred Astaire, he’s a darn good dancer. Thing was good too, and what I loved about Thing is, again, he wasn’t CGI. It was always Christopher Hart, with a black sleeve, coming up Gomez’s shoulder or sticking his hand underneath through a hole in the table. But ninety five percent of Thing, 98 percent is real Christopher Hart. And he was patient and brilliant and worked long hours.

The casting, obviously, is perfect, but Christina Ricci was 10 years old. Was she just born, fully formed, as a comic genius?

Yeah, very flat. Knew never to hit the comedy. That’s what I loved about her. She never hit the comedy. Just said the lines as flat as possible. She was joyful to work with because my whole motto is: fast and flat. I don’t want to hear any intonation, just say the lines without any artifice. And she was perfection and the epitome of Charles Addams, which is find the joke. I’m not going to tell you where the joke is, but you’ll find it. And that’s Christina’s acting style.

It would seem that there’d be very little improvisation on your sets. How do you let actors play?

I really think that if your script is really good, a good screenwriter is a good screenwriter and actors are not necessarily writers. Actors can often say, “I don’t know how to say this line” or “this doesn’t sound like me,” or “this is a real tongue twister.” But in general, if your script is good, you really don’t want a lot of improv. I would, sometimes, have Will Smith improv, and he would come up with some really funny, funny ideas, like in the first Men in Black, the stuff you couldn’t write. For instance, Will is chasing this alien, the alien jumps off the top of the Guggenheim Museum. He’s now chasing him and Will jumps off, and he did this stunt. He jumps off this bridge and lands on a double decker tourist bus, and stands up and says “it be raining black people.” You’re not going to write that line, but Will said it. But yes, very little improv.

The worst part of the filmmaking process is shooting the film. I love pre-production. I’ve got all the time. There’s no pressure. I can design all these great shots. I can write shot lists. The DP can come in and say, Do we need a techno crane for this? When you say boom up or is this on a dolly? So, it’s all worked out.

I love post-production because your movie, when you’re done filming, is as bad as it’s ever going to be. And now, in post you get to make the movie better again. You know that scene where you needed the sunset? It was raining, but you had to shoot anyway. That extra ruined every take. Even though he only had one line. He never got it right. So, you get rid of that. The thing I like the least is shooting, because nothing ever gets better. Except “it be raining black people.” That got better. That’s pretty funny.

I don’t like the pressure of figuring stuff out on the set. I always say, do you want to try something? It’s usually not different words. But maybe they want to be angrier. Or maybe they want to be less angry. Or maybe they want to try not crying, but it won’t be “Let’s do an improv.” I hate improv. I’ll tell you. Raging Bull has amazing, amazing, amazing fight sequences, but some of those improv scenes with De Niro and Pesci. You just feel the improv and it drives me crazy. So, there, I insulted Marty Scorsese.

Who first noticed Raul Julia had the burst blood vessel?

I noticed that. I said, “Raul, what happened?” And he said, “I was at a bar last night and I was just sitting at the bar and my eyeball just fell out on the table.” It can’t be true. An eyeball is attached to an optic nerve and. And he said, “Yeah, the eyeball just popped up out and you know, it’s unrolled and I picked it up and I put it back in my eye. But I guess I scratched it.” I said, “OK, that’s a good story. But we can’t shoot with you today because it was really red.” And then the next day it was better. But I love that he had to create a dramatic story because that’s who Raul was.

One of my favorite movies is Get Shorty. What was it like to work with James Gandolfini back then?

It’s really funny. Gandolfini, in the movie, plays a stuntman, and Gandolfini came to me and he said, “You know what? I think this guy is from North Carolina. I know so many stunt guys who are all from North Carolina. So, I’m going to make him be from North Carolina, and I’m going to give him just a little accent.” I said, “Bad idea. Don’t do it.” And he said, “Why?” I said “You’ll never talk fast enough.” And he said, “What do you mean?” I said, “I’m going to ask you to talk faster and you’re going to say, ‘no, there’s a certain lilt to people that talk in North Carolina,’ and I’m going to say, “you’ve got to do it faster” and you’re going to have a problem with that because you’re from North Carolina.

He said, “Please give me this.” And I stupidly said, OK, I think you’re making a bad decision. But if you think you can talk fast enough. The whole time [shooting], I’d say “Gandolfini, you gotta do it faster.” And he goes, “Yeah, I know, but there’s a certain patois and rhythm.” I go, “Yeah, exactly. And that’s why.”

Anyway, the movie is done. He sees the finished movie and he comes up to me and he says “You were right. I was wrong.” And so, he was lovely to work with. Piece of cake to work with. Easy. But I wish he didn’t have that sort of slight North Carolina accent, because I think it did slow down his performance. Just the littlest bit. I think we get away with it. So that was what it was like working with Gandolfini. Lovely guy who wouldn’t listen to me about no accent.

How does shooting nine porno features in nine days prepare you for the subversive comedy of The Addams Family?

Well, going back before then, what I taught the producer on those nine pornos in nine days was to block shoot. We would light, and we shot all those movies in the loft on 17th Street and Sixth Avenue. I taught him the only way we can shoot nine entire features is to light a set like the dentist’s office set, or the bedroom set, and shoot scene three of movie one, scene four for movie two, scene seven of movie three and shoot out sets.

I learned at film school that filming is all about pre-production. So, when it came time to be a director, I had already shot nine feature films and an additional nine pornos and a lot of TV. For me, it’s all about pre-production, all about prep. Even on those porno films, it was: light a scene, light a set and shoot everything you can in that set before you move on. Other than that, I didn’t learn anything except don’t work on pornos.

I heard that you were hospitalized, and there were quite a few mishaps on the set of The Addams Family.

I fainted. The day before, we had shot Thing at the séance, and they hear a knock at the door and Thing runs, and we follow Thing. That Thing is Chris Hart on a dolly, doing this with his hands, going down the hallway and we’re following. And Chris is on the same dolly with his hand, that was all in camera. But because it was such a wide lens, and because we had to go through so many rooms, it took two thirds of a day to shoot that one shot, and we probably had 15 shots to do that day.

So, I went home and didn’t sleep all night. I literally was trying to figure out what I could lose in the next day’s shooting to make up for the time, and I realized I should have had Thing leave frame at the end. And I didn’t. But I couldn’t reshoot that because it took us nine hours to light and shoot it. So, the entire night I stayed away trying to stay on schedule, stay on budget, what could I do?

The next morning, I was still awake, on the set during first set-up I drank my fifth espresso in a row, and then I heard [cinematographer] Owen Roizman say “get a blanket.” and discovered I had fainted and was on the ground. There was a lot of pressure and I was a first-time director. We were going over schedule, over budget. Our film had been sold from Orion to Paramount. That was a big change of regimes and working styles. So, it was a very tough first film because it was very ambitious.

Did the cast send in Christina Ricci to beg not to have Fester be an imposter?

Oh yeah. After our table read, by that time we had hired Paul Rudnick to do a rewrite and we had read his rewrite, the movie ended with Fester still being the imposter, and Gomez knew he was the imposter, but said, “You know what? Family is a state of mind. It’s not biology. Welcome to our family.” And we thought that was a good ending.

But the cast was totally freaked out. After we were done with the table read, they huddled in the corner. They made Christina Ricci their spokesperson, and they all came back and they said, “We hate this ending. It can end this way.” And then Angelica said, “Christina?” And Christina said, “Well, Barry, here’s the problem. The audience will not accept that ending because you haven’t answered all those questions. Where is Fester? Will he come back? Has Gomez suddenly fallen in love with imposter Fester so much that he no longer cares about his brother?”

And what Scott Rudin and Rudnick and I realized is we had created an intellectually satisfying ending, but not an emotionally satisfying ending. And the cast of actors, being actors, went right for where the emotional heart was. Christina was so articulate that I looked over to Rudnick and I said, “I think we’re going to need a new ending.” And Rudnick said, “Yeah, I think we are.” And thank God that they rebelled because our ending is so much more satisfying emotionally than if he still had remained the impostor Fester.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The Addams Family reissue will hit select theaters and be released on Digital 4K Ultra HD on October 19.

The post The Addams Family: Revisiting Barry Sonnenfeld’s Directorial Debut 30 Years Later appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3jbP0ij

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek