The Addams Family are an iconic family that people love because this is a family that is comfortable being themselves being macabre and kooky and spooky. There have been many and I mean many adaptions of this classic family. Each generation has their own version of The Addams Family. Be it the classic sitcom, the various cartoon adaptions and of course the movies. Since 1991, we have seen five Addams Family movies. Four released in theaters and one direct to video with another animated Addams Family movie on the way from the creative team behind Wednesday on Netflix.
I love The Addams Family, my introduction to them was the 90’s carton that came after the 1991 movie as Cartoon Network used to air reruns of the show. That and the musical, which imo I still believe had the biggest miscast for Gomez with Nathan Lane.
That’s also a weird area where I feel as though that adaption played it too safe. The Addams Family works a bit better when there is a slight edge. If you want to adapt a classic monster family that’s safe, that’d be The Munsters. I also like The Munsters but in many ways they feel like the also ran’s compared to The Addams Family. Maybe I’ll do a Munsters event next Halloween.
This year however, it’s all about The Addams. As many of you know my favorite things to cover is villains. And I have been branching out beyond my Disney bubble to cover other types of villains and that’s what I am going to do this Halloween by looking at the villains from the five movies and possibly Wednesday season one.
We are heading to the 1991 movie to look at the first villain Abigail Craven
First Appearance
We first see her when the crooked lawyer for the Addams approaches ah he owes her money. She is a very cold and vindictive person who uses her “son” Gordon (we really know is Fester) as muscle for enforce her rule. She isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty what she wants.
Personality/Most Evil Deed
Abigail Craven is a cold-hearted person who has blacker heart than anything in the Addams Family mansion. This is why I felt the need to combine her personality and most evil deed.
On the surface, you can argue that her most evil deed would be tying up Morticia but c’mon Tic loves that kinda stuff. And anyone that knows me knows I prefer the more manipulative angle of villains instead of the straight physical misdeeds.
This lady groomed Fester for years after she found him washed ashore on the Bermuda Triangle. She made Fester as Gordon believe that he only needs her and as he gets closer to the Addams, his actual family she gets angry as she views Fester growing close to his real family even if we don’t know he’s actually Fester as a sign of betrayal.
Consider how she constantly says that “Gordon” only needs her and no one else, it is a form of love bombing. I don’t know if that was a popular phrase in 1991, i was only two. But that feels exactly like what she did to the person she claimed to love as her son.
We can take this even further with how she pretends to be a therapist for Fester and during the session with Gomez and Morticia, she tries to drive a wedge between the brothers but it has an opposite effect.
Lackey
Tully
The lawyer who needs up working for her is spineless and weak willed. There’s a reason hi wife leaves him for Cousin Itt. You could view him as a parallel to Fester as Fester finds his spine through the course of the movie by reuniting with his real family but Tully often concedes to her whims as he is a weak willed wimp.
Grand Desire
She is after the money that the Addams have and this is where the idea to use her son to stand in as Fester comes in. As we’ve discussed though, it backfires. Yes, at one point they get everything the Addams own through a loophole of Fester being the older Addams brother but at this point, they didn’t know he was actually an Addams. (That part is really confusing). She momentarily wins but it all comes crashing down.
Demise
Her ultimate demise comes when Fester uses a book labeled Hurricane Irene to blow her and Tully out of the house. Again, this is her physical demise but her true demise is Fester standing up to her and not bowing to her orders and saying she was always a terrible mother. This is a blow to her ego as she can’t handle the man she groomed rebuking her.
Is Abigail Craven a Good Villain?
She’s serviceable. When you’re watching an Addams Family movie or show, you aren’t really watching for the villain which I know makes this whole event seem kinda moot but I do think we’d see this kooky family face off against better villains in the future much like the beloved Debbie Jellisnky from the sequel who I’ll look at next time.
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