Wednesday Brilliantly Repeated 30-Year-Old Addams Family Movie Success That The Franchise Forgot
The Netflix series Wednesday follows an idea set by one previous Addams Family adaptation, and this can lengthen the success of the show. While the 1993 movie Addams Family Values is set during the summer and the Addams children are at camp, they perform a play that connects the story to one fall holiday. Wednesday continues this idea, allowing the show to similarly avoid getting pigeonholed into being consumed during just one season of the year. Not many other adaptations containing the Addams Family do this.
Wednesday’s cast of characters is comparable to the previous Addams Family adaptations, but the hit Netflix series adds some new favorites to the mix as well. The show takes place in a New England town called Jericho where the school of Nevermore resides. While Wednesday is a student at the academy, shenanigans ensue and mysteries need to be solved. All of this happens during autumn near the beginning of the school year.
Wednesday’s Thanksgiving Association Repeated Addams Family Values’ Holiday Trick
There are countless movies centered around Halloween and Christmas. Thanksgiving, however, is comparatively less represented in terms of media celebrating the holiday. The sequel Addams Family Values is the first movie in the Addams Family franchise that acknowledges Thanksgiving in the universe. Despite the movie being set during the summer, the camp attended by the Addams kids puts on a Thanksgiving-based play at the end of its session. This connection to Thanksgiving is ignored in adaptations that follow the 1993 sequel, including several animated and live-action features released after Addams Family Values.
There are several Addams Family TV and movie adaptations, with Wednesday being the latest. While the holiday of Thanksgiving isn’t directly mentioned on the show, there are connections made, such as with Wednesday’s ancestor being a pilgrim and Jericho historically being a town full of them. Referencing Thanksgiving continues an idea that so many adaptations between Addams Family Values and Wednesday ignored. This allowed the show to connect to one really successful previous adaptation, and make its release more unique.
Wednesday Season 2 Risks Losing The Franchise’s Greatest Dual Holiday Approach
Wednesday season 1’s ending left things off with a huge cliffhanger. This is an immediate issue to be solved, but it’s unclear when the second season is going to take place. Presumably, the family is heading back to their mansion in New Jersey. While this is a good setting for a show centered around the Addams Family, it takes away Wednesday’s connection to Jericho. While the show had seemingly finished the plot line involving pilgrims, losing the setting and characters that also surround that plot will dramatically change the series, and removing this connection between the two adaptations will take away one aspect of the series.
