Charles Addams’ creation, The Addams Family, has always been synonymous with quirky, dark humor and uniquely designed characters. The potential for animation to bring this world to life seemed immense, especially considering the family’s history primarily resides in live-action adaptations like the iconic 1960s television show and Barry Sonnenfeld’s films. Nearly eight decades after their inception, the animated movie simply titled “The Addams Family” arrived, promising a fresh take. However, instead of embracing the kooky and humorous essence of its source material, this animated feature falls surprisingly flat. Far from the delightful spookiness expected, it emerges as a rather uninspired and frankly, one of the most disappointing animated films in recent memory. This movie unfortunately misses the mark, delivering a lackluster experience that leaves much to be desired.
The narrative of “The Addams Family” animated film centers around the familiar creepy clan – Gomez (voiced by Oscar Isaac), Morticia (Charlize Theron), Wednesday (Chloe Grace Moretz), Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard), Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll), and their loyal butler Lurch. They reside in their signature spooky mansion perched atop a New Jersey hill, content in their macabre lifestyle. Their isolation is disrupted when the fog surrounding their estate dissipates, revealing a newly built, aggressively cheerful suburban town named Assimilation, spearheaded by the ambitious and image-obsessed TV personality, Margaux Needler. Needler (voiced by Allison Janney) views the Addams’ mansion as an eyesore and a threat to her meticulously planned community, setting in motion a scheme to turn the town against them just before a crucial televised town showcase. Simultaneously, the Addams family faces internal turmoil as Pugsley approaches a coming-of-age ceremony involving traditional sword fencing, and Wednesday begins to explore the outside world, intrigued by the seemingly normal teenage girls of Assimilation and their interest in conformity. While the premise holds potential, the unfolding story struggles to capture genuine excitement or engagement.
This project had a long and winding development history. Earlier in the 2010s, there were talks of a stop-motion Addams Family film at Illumination, with even Tim Burton’s name attached to direct. Ultimately, Illumination abandoned the project, which then landed in the hands of Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan, the directors behind the adult animated comedy “Sausage Party”. In retrospect, the initial visions from Illumination or Burton seem potentially more promising because the most significant flaw of this animated Addams Family movie is its pervasive dullness. The pacing feels sluggish, resulting in a surprisingly boring viewing experience. The humor rarely lands with genuine laughs, and the predictable plot points feel recycled and uninspired. Even the film’s underlying message about embracing differences felt derivative, echoing themes explored more effectively in “Uglydolls,” released earlier the same year.
Story and Pacing Issues
The narrative structure itself is weak and meandering. The subplot concerning Pugsley’s coming-of-age ceremony feels tacked on and underdeveloped, failing to add any meaningful weight or humor to the film. It exists merely as a side note, never truly integrating with the main conflict. The attempts at levity through this subplot fall flat, highlighting the overall lack of narrative cohesion.
Animation Quality and Visual Style
Visually, the animation is inconsistent and occasionally feels unfinished. Certain character animations appear stiff and limited, lacking fluidity and expressiveness. Even basic elemental animations, like smoke and water, appear rudimentary and underdeveloped. The overall aesthetic is a mixed bag. While the darkly gothic look of the Addams mansion is appealing and appropriately creepy, the town of Assimilation is visually jarring in its blandness. Its generic suburban design lacks any charm and comes across as artificial and uninviting, the opposite of the intended satire. It’s definitely not a setting that sparks any visual interest.
Character Development and Voice Acting
However, the most significant shortcomings lie in the characters themselves. Most of the Addams family members are disappointingly bland and lack depth. Morticia and Gomez feel like pale imitations of their iconic selves, devoid of their characteristic spark. Uncle Fester, voiced by Nick Kroll, becomes gratingly annoying, with Kroll’s vocal performance quickly becoming irritating. Pugsley is similarly weak and underdeveloped, offering little to engage the audience. Even the villain, Margaux Needler, is a stereotypical caricature – the overbearing real estate agent obsessed with perfection, complete with a cliché “evil lair.” This character archetype was already explored, and arguably perfected, by Allison Janney herself in “Over the Hedge,” where her portrayal was genuinely psychotic and hilariously over-the-top. Here, the character is simply stale and uninspired. Even Lurch, the iconic butler, is reduced to a single, repetitive gag of playing incongruous songs like “Green Onions” or the “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” theme song at inappropriate moments, which quickly loses its already limited humor.
Disappointing Music Score
Adding to the film’s woes is the underwhelming musical score. While Jeff and Mychael Danna are usually reliable composers, known for scores like “The Good Dinosaur,” their work here is surprisingly poor and ill-fitting. The score lacks the quirky, gothic charm one would expect for an Addams Family movie and stands out as some of their weakest work to date.
A Glimmer of Hope: Wednesday Addams
If there’s one redeeming element in this animated Addams Family movie, it’s Wednesday Addams. Chloe Grace Moretz delivers a strong vocal performance, capturing the character’s morbid wit and dry humor effectively. Wednesday’s character arc, as she navigates the contrasting worlds of her family and the “normal” town, is arguably the most engaging aspect of the film. However, even Wednesday’s relative strengths are not enough to salvage the overall disappointing experience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, “The Addams Family” animated movie is a significant letdown. It’s a film plagued by a remarkably uninspired and boring storyline, coupled with animation that feels rushed and visually unpolished. The characters, with the exception of Wednesday, are underdeveloped and lack the charm and personality that define The Addams Family. This animated iteration fails to capture the kooky humor and macabre spirit of its source material, making it a major disappointment in the realm of animated films this year. Instead of wasting time on this lackluster animation, viewers would be far better served revisiting Barry Sonnenfeld’s live-action Addams Family films or even exploring the “Hotel Transylvania” series for a more genuinely entertaining animated Halloween-themed movie experience. This “Addams Family Animated” movie is akin to stale Halloween candy – visually appealing on the surface but ultimately lacking in taste and substance.
