The Addams Family Blu-ray Review - Short Extras-Goofy Gags

The Addams Family animated film finds Morticia (voice of Charlize Theron) and Gomez Addams (Oscar Isaac) deciding to move to New Jersey in hopes of escaping rejection by townsfolk elsewhere. They raise daughter Wednesday (ChloëGrace Moretz) and son Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard) at home with butler Lurch (Conrad Vernon) and Thing who is just an animated hand. Townsfolk in the village below get sight of the Addams bunch and they are freaked and bent on destruction just when the entire Addams clan is arriving to celebrate Pugsley’s coming of age ceremony.

The family in townCourtesy of Universal Studios

A Town Below?

At the mansion, Pugsley loves to blow up things in creative ways but is supposed to be practicing his sabre swordplay and dance for his coming of age ceremony to be attended by the entire Addams clan.

Uncle Fester wants Pugsley to do wellCourtesy of Universal Studios

Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll) arrives early to help coach Pugsley and Wednesday longs to see what is past the fog in the town below especially since she glimpsed a girl her age who came to the mansion gate but was frightened away. When a red balloon and confetti float overhead from a grand opening celebration in the town below, Wednesday is even more tempted to check it out.

Wednesday wonders about the town belowCourtesy of Universal Studios

Ugly Mansion Above

Lots of new homes have been built in the town and real estate TV personality Margaux Needler (Allison Janney) is preparing to sell all of them with a big televised opening ceremony until she sees the Addams’ scary house high on a hill above town.  She will just have to remodel it in time! We see that the girl visiting the gate before is Parker (Elsie Fisher), Margaux’s daughter. She goes with her mom to visit the Addams clan but they refuse the makeover and Pugsley is only getting worse at his sword dance practice.

Addams Family scary mansionCourtesy of Universal Studios

Wednesday at School

While Margaux incites families in town against the Addams, Wednesday enrolls in middle school with Parker and gets creatively even with the head mean girl who had been picking on Parker.

Wednesday stays with ParkerCourtesy of Universal Studios

When Morticia doesn’t approve of her new friendships, Wednesday moves into town to stay at Parker’s and stands up her mom for a tea and séance date while Grandmama Addams (Bette Midler) arrives for Pugsley’s ceremony as does hairball Cousin It (Snoop Dogg). Pugsley is still awful at swinging a sword while dancing. In town, the girls discover Margaux’s secret spy room where she watches everyone in town on camera.

Margaux wants the family to leaveCourtesy of Universal Studios

Angry Attackers

While angry townspeople come up the hill to get rid of the Addams family, Pugsley tries but fails miserably at his coming-of-age saber dance ceremony. When the townspeople attack however, he is allowed by Gomez to use his real talent, explosives to get rid of them! Will Wednesday and Parker stay friends? Will the townsfolk ever accept the family and is Uncle Fester really hot for a relationship with Margaux?

Wednesday stands up for Parker at schoolCourtesy of Universal Studios

Special Extra Features

• Deleted and Extended Scenes – 4 of them seen in various stages of animation – funny but not really worth more than one watch.
• Charades with Thing presents our creepy hand Thing playing several rounds of Charades with us. Most of them are easy-ish to guess and, of course only works for one watch.

Thing plays pianoCourtesy of Universal Studios

• Life of a Scene is an entertaining little “how’d-they-do-that” extra showing step by step how a scene in animated from Storyboards, Layout, Animation to final Lighting then Sound Design.  A nice tutorial.
• Welcome to the Family is the short Making Of featurette in which co-directors and voice actors discuss characters and story. The movie establishes relationships we didn’t know about in previous films and TV;  the family's immigration status, the early romance between Gomez and Morticia, etc. Set design is mentioned. Nice.

Morticia and Gomez are a great matchCourtesy of Universal Studios

• Addams Family Throwback briefly explores the source of this odd horror brood, cartoonist Charles Addams who started the comic in the 1930’s. Interesting if short.
• Two Lyric Videos – Christina Aguilera’s “Haunted Heart” which is nice and “My Family”, more of a rap with Migos, Karol G, Rock Mafia and Snoop Dogg.

Wrapping Up

This Blu-ray/DVD/Digital set has a nice visual look and sound is great. Extras are all short but entertain okay.  As we reported when the film was in theaters, the animated family is “Creepy kookie, mysterious and spooky” and there are a lot of funny visual moments in the movie as well as jokes adults will “get”. If you are familiar with the family, their portrayal in this movie won’t disappoint. Everyone you’ve seen before is there and famous voice actors do a good job of giving them some fun dialogue.

The family is definitely kookieCourtesy of Universal Studios

The story here is one seen often. “It is straight out of Frankenstein movies as an angry bunch of townsfolk try to get rid of the monsters in the spooky house above their village and Uncle Fester falling for a blonde bimbo is right out of one of the old ‘90’s Addams Family films. We hear the movie was originally going to be directed by Tim Burton. Now that might have been a cooler film!”

Margaux confronts Morticia and GomezCourtesy of Universal Studios

However, extras are worth a once-through and the movie is enjoyable enough to add to the family collection. For the home version, we can go 4 stars.  

The Addams Family Blu-ray Rating: 

Courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment

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Do You Like Horror Comedies?

Were you a fan of any of the many Addams Family films or TV shows? Which family member is your fave and why?  Will you want to take this movie home?  Let everyone know with a comment!

By: Lynn Barker