9 Sinister Curiosities About “The Addams Family”

Admit it: When “The Addams Family” was aired during an evening's programming, you would probably make a ton of popcorn and sit in front of the television with the confidence that you would have a good laugh.

Starting as a series on The New Yorker in 1938, and then becoming a TV series, this strange family is one of our favorites, so we couldn't help but tell you a few things the Mental Floss guys revealed about this bunch of crazy people. Check out:

1 - Thank a guy named Scott Rudin

Filmmaker Scott Rudin was driving a van with some other movie names when he began humming the Addams Family theme song. Suddenly everyone was singing together. The other day, Rudin proposed to Barry Diller, studio boss, that the macabre family become a movie. Fortunately, the idea worked.

2 - About the role of Uncle Chico

Actor Anthony Hopkins was asked to play the dark Uncle Chico, but he eventually did not accept the role in order to play Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs."

3 - And in the direction

Tim Burton was the first name thought to occupy the director's chair of the film. Screenwriters Caroline Thompson and Larry Wilson had previously worked with hit director Edward Scissorhands and, knowing Burton's dark and comical side, thought of him as director of the feature film.

Burton was not part of the direction of the movie. Recently, some rumors indicated that the director would produce a 3D animation about the Addams. Unfortunately, he seems to have given up on the project.

4 - Debuting

It was the first time Barry Sonnenfeld had been in the role of director - by then he had a good experience as a cinematographer. Rudin, as a joke, made a point of stressing that Sonnenfeld was not his first option for the post and, throughout the recording days, put names of other directors in Sonnenfeld's chair, including Joe Dante, David Lynch, and of course, Tim Burton.

5 - Cut! The director passed out

Sonnenfeld was talking to one of the film's producers about budget issues when he said he had a severe chest pain, described as a feeling that someone was filling his chest with a bladder. Then the director passed out.

During the shoot, Sonnenfeld had some problems with his sciatic nerve and also ended up filming for several days when his wife had to undergo a surgical procedure.

6 - Black Cloud

The director, after facing some problems during the production of the film, was also harmed by the absence of videographers, and the first to resign was Owen Roizman, who left to be part of another production. In his place came Gayl Tattersoll, who eventually had to stop recording to treat a health problem and never returned to the studios.

In the end, Sonnenfeld ended up doing camera work as well. But the problems didn't stop there. Raul Julia, who played Gomez, had a problem with one eye. Later, when talking about the backstage of the film, the director said he felt that there was a dark cloud clouding the production. That's cool, huh!

7 - Rebellion of actors

Uncle Chico, in the first version of the script, was possibly an impostor. Annoyed by this, the actors gathered and asked Christina Ricci, the Vandinha, to ask the director to remove this impostor feature from Uncle Chico. The "rebellion" happened two weeks before the shootings, and according to Sonnenfeld, the only person who didn't care about an imposing Uncle Chico was Christopher Lloyd, who played the dark character.

8 - Morticia

Singer Cher had a keen interest in playing seductive Morticia Addams, but Anjelica Huston was Rudin's first choice. To bring the family leader to life, the actress watched the documentary “Gray Gardens” - “Gray Gardens” in a free translation. The movie was about Jacqueline Kennedy's aunt and cousin, who lived in a mansion full of trash and animal waste.

Incidentally, the actress had to work hard to get into the shape of the character. According to Sonnenfeld, Anjelica needed to wear a metallic corsage that helped create the extremely drawn silhouette of Morticia Addams. The actress had to go through make-up transformations to get her eyebrow raised and neck elongated every day - besides, of course, the giant false nails.

Anjelica said during an interview that she was extremely tired after the recordings, with body aches and migraine attacks.

9 - Process

David Levy, the executive producer of the old Addams TV series, sued Paramount Pictures and Orion Pictures after the film's release, claiming that many of the ideas used in the plot were part of the TV series, not Charles's cartoons. Addams The case was ultimately settled out of court.

* Posted on 11/14/2014