The Addams Family is a beloved media franchise that follows the macabre, kooky family members and is based on the popular Charles Addams cartoon. First published in The New Yorker in 1938, the oddball aristocrats appeared in the publication over the course of 50 years, leading to future television and film adaptations that remain some beloved fan favorites. The bizarre gang made their small screen debut in the 1964 live-action television series The Addams Family, introducing the masses to iconic characters like the eccentric, lovestruck Gomez and Morticia, and their brooding children Wednesday and Pugsley.

The cartoon has been reinvisioned and remade countless times over the years, with some versions faring far better than others. Surprisingly, no TV version of The AddamsFamily has lasted more than two seasons, and yet it’s been engrained in the cultural lexicon for a long time. In the 1990s, Barry Sonnenfeld delighted fans of the cartoon with his brilliant reimagining of the characters with the successful The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia and Christina Ricci. The King of Gothic himself Tim Burton has co-created the highly-buzzed about series Wednesday, which is set to make its Netflix premiere on November 23. In honor of its impending debut, let’s take a look at every adaptation of The Addams Family.

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9 The Addams Family 2 (2021)

     United Artists Releasing 

Following the iconic macabre family as they embark on a thrilling road trip across the country, The Addams Family 2 is the zany follow-up to the 2019 animated hit that features a superb A-list voice cast including Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, and Bette Midler. In this version of the beloved franchise, the kooky characters face-off against the hilarious Bill Hader’s scheming mad scientist Cyrus Strange, who claims to be Wednesday’s true biological father and pursues the family on their vacation. The sequel was a success at the box office but did not fair well with critics, with many feeling the film did not do justice to the essence of the characters or their delightfully peculiar humor.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

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8 Addams Family Reunion (1998)

     Warner Home Video

Horror icon Tim Curry is undeniably the greatest part of the 1998 spooky comedy Addams Family Reunion, in which the It star portrays Gomez alongside Daryl Hannah’s Morticia, with the film chronicling the family’s efforts to organize a family reunion in order to find a cure for Gomez’s grandparents who are slowly turning “normal.”

Instead of adopting the late and great Raul Julia’s romantic, lothario approach to the character, Curry decided to fully embrace Gomez’ weirdness and made his character delightfully strange. Though compared unfavorably to the ’90s film adaptations, Curry’s performance in Addams Family Reunion was praised by critics and was deemed the bright spot of the remake.

7 The Addams Family (1992-1993)

     Turner Entertainment 

Hot off the heels of the immense success of the 1991 live-action remake, producers decided to once again give the family the animated treatment and create the 1992 series The Addams Family. Focusing on the clan as they live their day-to-day lives in their gothic, ancestral home in Happydale Heights, the program sought to water-down their true macabre tendencies and nature in order to appeal to a young audience. Fans of the franchise were quick to notice that Gomez’s affinity for cigars was gone, as was the affectionate, frenzied banter between him and Morticia. The show aired as a Saturday morning cartoon and ran for two seasons before being canceled.

6 The New Addams Family (1998-1999)

     Saban International 

In 1998, the Fox Family Channel presented audiences with a new rendering of the ghastly gang with the sitcom The New Addams Family, centering on the close-knit Addams as they spend their days nurturing their supernatural powers and morbid hobbies and interests. Though it only ran for one year, its 65 episodes were regularly syndicated, and for most Millennials and Gen Z individuals, this is probably the best-known version of The Addams Family.

Glenn Taranto and Ellie Harvie step into the spooky shoes of Gomez and Morticia, while original series star John Astin (who formerly portrayed the patriarch) appeared as new character Grandpapa Addams. The show attempted to modernize the story by infusing contemporary jokes and references in the dialogue, and some of its episodes were direct remakes of the original program’s episodes.

5 The Addams Family (1973)

     Taft Broadcasting 

Hanna-Barbera Productions (The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo) decided to bring back the ’60s series with 1973’s The Addams Family, enlisting original stars Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester) and Ted Cassidy (Lurch) to provide their voices for their former counterparts. The adaptation featured future Oscar-winner Jodie Foster as Pugsley and follows the family on a cross-country excursion throughout America in their Gothic-style Creepy Camper, inadvertently causing mischief and mayhem along the way.

The creepy characters made their first animated appearances in a Scooby-Doo crossover episode before a full length series was ordered, and were drawn in the style of the original Charles Addams comics. The wacky program went on to last for just one season.

4 The Addams Family (2019)

Directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan teamed up to create the 2019 animated supernatural black comedy The Addams Family, in which the spooktacular characters battle it out against a devious reality TV host who wants to rid the town of the clan in order to achieve her coveted planned community.

Joining leads Charlize Theron (Morticia) and Oscar Isaac (Gomez) is Chloë Grace Moretz as Wednesday and Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley, and the film also depicts the arrival of the family’s hair cousin, Itt (voiced by Snoop Dogg, believe it or not). The adaptation was a blockbuster hit and was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Animated Film, and its success led to its 2021 follow-up The Addams Family 2.

3 The Addams Family (1964-1966)

     MGM Television 

The legendary black comedy sitcom that helped launch the enduring media franchise, 1964’s The Addams Family was the first installment based on the popular cartoons, and it introduced audiences across the world to the creepy and kooky clan. Series creator David Levy set out to capture the magic and essence of the cartoon, expressing in an interview that he wanted to make them a real-life family, “They are not grotesque and hideous manifestations. At the same time we are protecting the images of [Charles] Addams’ ‘children,’ as he refers to them. We are living up to the spirit of his cartoons. He is more than just a cartoonist. He’s a social commentator and a great wit.”

The influential series featured the iconic theme song fans know and love, with famed composer Vic Mizzy creating the instantly recognizable tune that utilized finger snaps and a harpsichord. The sitcom ran for two seasons and 64 episodes, effectively establishing a lucrative film and television franchise despite its surprisingly short run on the small screen.

2 Addams Family Values (1993)

     Paramount Pictures 

Wonderfully embracing the dark and grisly nature of the original series, Barry Sonnenfeld’s 1993 black comedy Addams Family Values is the highly-anticipated sequel to the 1991 picture that centers on the eccentric family as brooding teens Wednesday and Pugsley are sent to summer camp and Uncle Fester is pursued by a beautiful serial killer determined to steal his inheritance.

Joan Cusack portrays the dangerous vixen, joining the superb cast led by Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, and Christina Ricci in the star-studded adaptation; the film marks the final film released by Julia in his lifetime, who passed away in 1994. The version was a modest box office success and earned praise by critics for its story, humor and stellar performances.

1 The Addams Family (1991)

     Paramount Pictures

Undeniably one of the greatest Halloween staples and film adaptations of all time, Barry Sonnenfeld’s celebrated 1991 supernatural black comedy The Addams Family perfectly captures the oddball charm of the legendary gang while infusing the characters with zany wit and endearing eccentricities. Christina Ricci delivers a scene-stealing performance as Wednesday Addams, appearing alongside Latin lothario Raul Julia as Gomez and Anjelica Huston as the raven-haired matriarch Morticia. In the blockbuster hit, the morbid family seemingly reconnects with Gomez’s long-lost brother Fester (a perfect Christopher Lloyd), unaware that the man wishes to steal the Addams fortune.

The Addams Family was a massive success with audiences and fared well with critics, with the Washington Post writing in their glowing review, “More than merely a sequel of the TV series, the film is a compendium of paterfamilias Charles Addams’s macabre drawings, a resurrection of the cartoonist’s body of work. For family friends, it would seem a viewing is de rigueur mortis.” Huston went on to earn a Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal and the remake earned an Oscar nod for costume design. The black comedy’s overwhelming popularity led to the successful follow-up The Addams Family Values in 1993.