The new Wednesday Addams series is a huge hit and loaded with kooky and spooky easter eggs
to the 90s movies and original sitcom! Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, I'm Jan
and I've been re-watching and pausing Wednesday to uncover all the weirdest
little details you might have missed! The series begins with Wednesday going to
regular school where she finds her brother Pugsley trussed up with an apple stuffed in his mouth,
mirroring how he was introduced in the 1991 Addams Family movie where Wednesday had him
tied up for archery practice. Tim Burton directs the new series
and there are numerous references to his movies throughout the show.
If you stop and zoom in on Principal Weem's desk, there's a little dried-up
head under a glass dome, a nod to Harry The Hunter's shrunken head from Beetlejuice.
And the giant bear in the Principal's office is a call-back to the enormous stuffed bear in
the Addams family home from the 60s TV show. When Wednesday ends up in the infirmary after
the gargoyle incident, she lies in the bed with her arms crossed
– as if she were in a coffin – which is also how she went
to sleep in the first movie. After Wednesday meets Tyler for the
first time, she explains she knows how to fix his broken coffee machine as she has a device
with a similar mechanism at home. Steam-powered guillotine.
I built it when I was ten. I wanted to decapitate my dolls more efficiently.
This is a throwback to the guillotine scene in Addams Family Values where Wednesday and
Pugsley attempt to re-enact the beheading of Marie Antoinette on their baby brother.
Death to the enemies of the people of the Republic.
And Wednesday's mention of decapitating her dolls is a nod to both the sitcom where she had a doll
with a severed head and also the 90s movie. The show tips its hat to the classic Addams
Family theme tune from the 60s show in the first episode when Tyler tells Wednesday…
You're not scary. You're just kinda…
kooky. And she replies…
I prefer spooky… The clue to unlocking the secret entrance to the
Nightshade Society's basement is to "snap twice"… [snaps twice]
another easter egg to the theme tune from the original sitcom.
Wednesday's dancing at the Nevermore Rave'N has already become a much-loved moment,
with Jenna Ortega revealing that she choreographed the whole routine herself!
She also confirmed my suspicions that some of her moves were a homage to the dance performed by Lisa
Loring in the original sitcom, where "she does [a] side shuffle with her hands and with her feet."
Then if you learn how to dance well, she'll think you're boss.
"Boss"? Neat...
Groovy... Ortega also said she took some inspiration
from "The Rich Man's Frug" dance craze that featured in Bob Fosse's musical Sweet Charity.
Later at the dance, Lucas and his mates drench everyone with red paint, in a nod to Stephen
King's Carrie where a group of mean girls shower Carrie with a bucket of pig's blood,
something that Wednesday herself references. They couldn't even spring for real pigs blood.
It's only paint. When Xavier asks Wednesday if she's
ever shot a bow and arrow, she replies… Only on live targets.
Which is a call-back to Addams Family Values when Wednesday and Pugsley were lining up for archery
practice and her brother shot down a live bird. It's an American bald eagle!
But aren't they extinct? They are now.
Among the many taxidermied mice and animals at Uriah's Heap, there are
several easter eggs to Tim Burton's films. I spotted this one of a dead rodent in a
wedding dress, a reference to Corpse Bride. I also saw this Freddy Krueger creature with
the Nightmare on Elm Street villain's iconic red-striped top, fedora, and blades for hands.
Like Freddie Krueger who infiltrates and attacks his victims in their dreams, the Hyde also
attacked Xavier during one of his visions. This creature's been haunting my
dreams for the past couple of weeks. When I was painting this one, the claws reached
out of the canvas and took a swipe at me. That's how I got these scratches.
It's Dr Kinbott who creates the dressed-up taxidermy rodents, and among the many she has
at home is one that's dressed as Beetlejuice. Plus there's another Freddie Krueger
one as well. When Wednesday goes to
find Tyler at the Weathervane, she rings a bell and after he comes out he says
[bell dings] You rang?
This is a nod to the Addams Family servant Lurch, and the recurring gag where the family would ring
an enormous gong to summon him. You rang?
Yes, Lurch. And when Tyler wonders whether
Wednesday was ever a girl scout, she replies… I can eat Girl Scouts for breakfast.
This is a funny reference to the Addams Family movie and Wednesday's reaction when
Amanda asked if she or Pugsley wanted to buy any of her Girl Scout cookies.
I'll buy a cup if you buy a box of my delicious Girl Scout cookies.
Do we have a deal? Are they made from real Girl Scouts?
When Wednesday breaks into the old meeting house, she comes across an old painting of
Crackstone and notices a woman on the left looking out towards her.
When the camera cuts in for a close-up, it appears to be Goody Addams, Wednesday's ancestor.
However, if you compare this with the woman in the wide shot of the painting,
they aren't the same person. I can't be sure this isn't a
continuity error, but I suspect it could well be a deliberate decision to give the sense that
the painting is alive, or that Goody's ghost is communicating through it to Wednesday.
After Wednesday discovers the truth about Crackstone's evil past,
she and Thing conspire to burn down the statue of the evil pilgrim.
And this feels a lot like a nod to Addams Family Values where Wednesday instigated
a revolt against the camp, and her gang burned down the pilgrim set.
I have decided to scalp you and burn your village to the ground
By the way, when Crackstone's statue begins to melt, it's a neat bit of foreshadowing
for how he burns up in the finale. Morticia pulling the flower head off a
red rose in front of Garrett Gates's grave is a shout-out to the opening titles of the 60s
sitcom and the 90s movie where she cuts the heads off the roses she's picking.
And there was another hat-tip to that movie when we discover via the yearbook,
that Morticia attended Nevermore in 1991, the same year The Addams Family movie was released.
On her way to Nevermore, if you pause, you can see the suitably-named Addams family license plate,
which also reveals they live in New Jersey, a homage to Charles Addams, who drew the original
cartoons, and was born in the Garden State. After Gomez is arrested for murder, he has to
change into prison uniform, which has the number 171912 on it, an easter egg to the date and year
that Charles Addams was born; January 7th, 1912.
Wednesday wears her trademark black dress and white collar from her previous incarnations.
However, at Nevermore she has to wear a school uniform but only ever dresses in
black and white, unlike everyone else. And by the end, as she prepares to leave
Nevermore, she's back in her signature outfit. Now, Addams Family fans won't have missed the
painting of Itt in the basement of the Nightshades Society, however, if you pause here and zoom in,
we discover his full name was Ignatius Itt and he was known as "Supreme Shade".
Although Ignatius Itt is no longer alive, the way the show focuses on this painting
feels like a hint that we might see one of his descendants appear in Season 2.
Principal Weem's costume was influenced by Tippie Hedren's look
in Hitchcock's classic movie The Birds. And you can see this especially in her
overall appearance, including her hairstyle, at the Harvest Festival.
It's particularly appropriate given the overwhelming raven imagery at Nevermore,
the bird on the Principal's desk, and also the fact that Wednesday's dark,
foreboding visions place her at the Raven end of the spectrum of psychic abilities.
You're a Raven. Your visions are more potent, more powerful.
All this avian imagery, including the Rave'n dance, and the name of the school itself is
also a huge shout-out to Edgar Allen Poe's famous poem, The Raven, whose talking bird
repeatedly says the word 'Nevermore'. Now, given the homage already to Hitchcock,
I think Wednesday's ever-so-slight smile at the very end of the first episode
is a nod to Norman Bates's infamous little smile at the end of Psycho.
When Tyler sets up a movie night date with Wednesday in Crackstone's Crypt
and he puts on Legally Blonde, you can see her wincing in discomfort from the movie.
Tyler probably knew she wouldn't like it, so this could be a subtle red flag
and clue that his intentions towards her aren't good as we discover by the end.
And I also think the moment is a little call-back to Addams Family Values when Gary and Becky force
Wednesday, Pugsley and Joel to watch Disney movies to try and force them to be happy.
The Little Mermaid. Stop it.
He's only a child. So, I already covered a lot of
the clues about why Miss Thornhill would turn out to be the secret villain in my "Clues You
Missed" video, but what I didn't mention was the one where Thornhill says to the mayor…
You're always tucked into that little back booth when I come for my daily matcha latte.
… but then when she meets Tyler at the Rave'N, he says she comes in every day for a cappuccino…
Double-cap, no foam, two pumps of sugar-free vanilla.
…and her reply telegraphs the fact she's up to something.
It's a small town. It's hard to keep secrets.
When Wednesday goes to see her therapist, the creators of the new show, Miles Millar and Alfred
Gough, get a shout-out as real estate agents. And the two names below, Tommy Harper and
Natalie Testa, are producers on series. The season ends on a big cliffhanger where
Wednesday discovers she has a new threat to contend with,
but I'm really wondering how her stalker got her cellphone number in the first place.
One possibility is that, as Xavier's got her number already, someone installed some
malware on his phone and now this hacker could even spy on conversations between the pair.
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Or use coupon code FLICKS when you check out. There were some more great details and clues
hidden in Season 1 to the big villain twist like the Frankenstein book Miss
Thornhill gave Wednesday and her deadly carnivore plants which I talk a lot more
about in my other Wednesday video. You can tap here to watch that,
plus there's a link in the video description. So, what was your favourite moment in Wednesday?
And do you have any predictions for what could happen in Season 2.
Let me know your thoughts and theories in the comments below.
And if you enjoyed this video do leave a thumbs-up, I really appreciate it.
Thanks for enjoying Wednesday with me and hope you have a
marvellous movie-loving week! Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!