There's more to the iconic Wednesday Addams than a black dress, a crossbow, and attempted fratricide. These are the best moments featuring her razor-sharp wit putting everyone else in their place.
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00:00There's more to the iconic Wednesday Addams than a black dress, a crossbow, and attempted
00:05fratricide.
00:07These are the best moments featuring her razor-sharp wit, putting everyone else in their place.
00:12Addams Family Values is Wednesday's time to shine.
00:15Christina Ricci's Wednesday Addams is armed to the teeth with hilarious one-liners.
00:20And one of the best moments occurs in the waiting room of the hospital as her mother,
00:24Morticia Addams, delivers the newest member of the family, Pubert.
00:28As Wednesday and her brother, Pugsley, patiently wait, they are seated next to a little girl
00:32who is excited to become a big sister.
00:35She recites an absurd monologue about where babies come from, involving angels and storks.
00:40In response to this convoluted story, Wednesday manages to end the scene in a more blunt and
00:45honest way.
00:46"'Our parents were having a baby, too.
00:49They had sex.'"
00:51Many were skeptical when it was announced that the Addams family was getting another
00:55animated treatment.
00:56But the 2019 film starring Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Finn Wolfhard, and Chloë Grace Moretz
01:02wasn't the total train wreck many had anticipated.
01:05The film was a box office success, and even spawned a 2021 sequel film that didn't quite
01:11match up to the first.
01:12The movies are arguably just as inspired by Barry Sonnenfeld's live-action films as they
01:17are Charles Addams' iconic New Yorker cartoons.
01:20Either way, it includes plenty of deliciously sarcastic lines from Wednesday.
01:25In the first animated outing, Wednesday convinces her parents to allow her to attend a public
01:30junior high school, where she befriends Parker Kneedler, played by Elsie Fisher.
01:35Parker immediately finds it weird that Wednesday doesn't have a cell phone.
01:38Wednesday, always quick on her feet, snaps back.
01:41"'I may not have a cell phone.
01:43Well, you don't have a crossbow.
01:46And I thought everybody had one of those.'"
01:51The way young girls are conditioned to perform femininity and gender roles is largely considered
01:56outdated and asinine, and Addams Family Values is one of the strongest films to rebuff these
02:01ridiculous expectations.
02:03After dropping the kids off at Camp Chippewa, the Addams Family interacts with the general
02:07public far more than usual.
02:10Of course, the attendees of Camp Chippewa are all annoying, trust-fund kids with even
02:14more obnoxious parents.
02:16In one exchange, Angelica Huston's Morticia describes Wednesday as being at an age when
02:21a girl has only one thing on her mind.
02:23Ellen Buckman, the busybody mother of Wednesday's new rival, confidently assumes what Morticia
02:28is referring to.
02:29Wednesday, without missing a beat, corrects her with a single word.
02:34"'Boys.'"
02:35"'Homicide.'"
02:36Wednesday Addams is often cited as a feminist icon, and with good reason.
02:45While it'd be easy to paint her as unique when compared to most girls, Wednesday has
02:49no interest in comparing herself to other women.
02:51She embraces her personality and aesthetic, and doesn't judge those who don't subscribe
02:56to the same lifestyle.
02:57Where she does have a problem, however, is when she sees people weaponize their identity.
03:02In a small but massively impactful moment in Addams Family Values, Wednesday stands
03:06on the dock to the lake with the insufferably spoiled and snobbish Amanda Buckman.
03:11As they wait for instructions from camp counselors during a life-saving lesson, Amanda gleefully
03:16volunteers to play a drowning victim.
03:18"'I'll be the victim!'
03:20All your life."
03:22Wednesday's retort shows how she clearly understands that Amanda will continue to play the victim
03:26in every circumstance until the day she dies.
03:29Despite what the American public school system would have many people believe, Thanksgiving
03:34wasn't quite a celebratory feast where colonizers and indigenous people shared a meal and made
03:39construction paper turkeys.
03:41In Addams Family Values, the campers are tasked with putting on a festive play called A Turkey
03:46Named Brotherhood, reinforcing this myth.
03:48To make matters worse, the camp has assigned all of the non-white, disabled, and Jewish
03:53campers to play Native American stereotypes.
03:56While in character as Pocahontas, Wednesday chooses to go off-script during the big performance,
04:01delivering a powerful speech explaining the ways colonizers have harmed indigenous communities.
04:06"'And for all these reasons, I've decided to scalp you and burn your village to the
04:12ground.'"
04:14This leads to a revolt where the fictional set is burned to the ground, with the children
04:18attacking the camp counselors and tying Amanda Buckman to a pole with an apple in her mouth.
04:23Wednesday Addams' quotes have historically been shared like wildfire, to the point where
04:28people viewing them can likely hear Christina Ricci's voice in their heads when they read
04:32them.
04:33While the Thanksgiving speech from Addams Family Values makes the rounds every holiday
04:36season, Wednesday's most famous moment happened during Ricci's first turn in the role.
04:41On Halloween night, Dana Ivey's conniving Margaret Alford, in full Glinda the Good
04:46Witch regalia, sees Wednesday in her usual white-collared, black velvet dress.
04:50"'What are you, darling?
04:52Where's your costume?'
04:54"'This is my costume.
04:55I'm a homicidal maniac.
04:56They look just like everyone else.'"
04:59The very first live-action adaptation of The Addams Family debuted in the mid-1960s, as
05:05a televised sitcom.
05:06Lisa Loring's Wednesday is much younger than the usual portrayals, which allowed for even
05:11funnier moments whenever she dropped macabre comments.
05:14One particular Wednesday scene has stood the test of time, above all others.
05:18In the Season 2 episode, Lurch's Grand Romance, little Wednesday takes it upon herself to
05:23teach the gentle giant how to dance in order to impress his love interest.
05:27After putting on an upbeat record and dancing her little heart out, Lurch continues to look
05:32on in confusion.
05:34"'If you learn how to dance well, she'll think you're boss.'"
05:39"'Boss?'
05:40Lurch eventually tries the dance for himself.
05:43And while he's not as smooth as Wednesday, he still looks pretty boss.