We are deep into our look at Addams Family villains and after the last villain I am so glad we are looking at a betterish villain over the snooze fest of Dr. Phillip Adams. Today, we are looking at our first animated villain in this series. Animation and The Addams Family seems like something that should go hand in hand yet sometimes in animation they seem more limited than the live action adaptions. I’m not sure why that it is but I have to wonder if it ties into the mindset that animation is for kids only. Make no mistake, this movie and its sequel are children’s movies first and foremost whereas the movies we had as kids were family movies.
There’s a fine line but family movies means that the entire family can get enjoyment from them whereas children’s movies mean that the makers have kids in mind first and foremost and might sprinkle in something for the parents that are dragged to see these movies.
For years before this movie, there were rumors of stop-motion Addams Family that would’ve been directed by Tim Burton. That would’ve been perfect imo and while I’m not the biggest fan of Burton, he does have a history with stop-motion creating the characters for The Nightmare Before Christmas even if he did not direct the movie but he would later direct The Corpse Bride. Instead this movie came from a studio that I think most if us had never heard of, Cinesite.
Admittedly, this movie isn’t great and it is boring and the quote unquote regular everyday people in the neighborhood look that much off while The Addams look fine but not great.
Another aspect I’ll touch upon with this villain is that in many forms The Addams, normalcy is the villain. The Addams Family in many ways are the antithesis to American traditionalism. Obviously, this changes over time of what American traditionalism is. When looking at the original sitcom, that was a father who went to work while the mother stayed home and cooked. The Addams are the very opposite of that.
This movie taps into that albeit in a very blunt way but instead of tapping into the traditional nuclear family aspect, it uses interior design shows think every show on HGTV as a commentary on conformity. Again, it’s not subtle as the town is named Assimilation.
Using an interior designer and her show is a smart idea to commentate on how again normalcy is the villain but this would have worked better if this movie wasn’t so safe.
First Appearance
We actually meet her daughter Parker first as she rides by The Addams mansion on her bike and Parker tries to tel her mother about it but Margaux writes it off that is until she meets the Addams and sees their house and wants to use it for her makeover show but Gomez and Morticia are happy with their home as it is.
This speaks back to the idea of conformity and normalcy and how The Addams Family as a concept stand against it. Maragux can’t stand that they won’t accept her help and fails to grasp that they are happy with how their life is. This drives her mad, this is also where I think the movie fails The Addams Family a tad as they wanting to be accepted by the townsfolk for who they are.
I’m sorry but the whole point of The Addams Family is that they don’t care if they don’t fit in or not, they embrace being who they are and if people can’t accept them, that’s on them.
Margaux in some ways reminds me of the character of Norman Normanmyer from the 90’s cartoon in how she couldn’t stand the Addams much in the same way he couldn’t and their children becoming friends with the children of the Addams. I doubt it’s a reference to that as this is an easy setup for a story like this.
Personality/Grand Desire
I’ve decided to combine the two of these as they imo go hand in had. Margaux as I’ve mentioned is all abut control Ned if she can’t have control it drives her crazy. This again ties back into the idea of how she believes are only happy if they are living the way she wants them to. Remember she named her town, Assimilation. That’s very on the nose and at one point, we hear kids including her daughter and her daughter’s bully singing a song about how conformity is better than individualism.
She wants to run the Addams out of town and destroy their home and replace it with a design that is more to her liking that fits in with her town. This again speaks to how conformity is a disease. Sure, this is a children’s movie and I’m probably putting more thought into this than the creators intended but it also speaks to how twisted conformity truly is.
I’ll touch upon this a little later down in the article but she does succeed in one of her goals as she needs to sell the houses and it just so happens the relatives are coming to town for a coming of age event or Pugsley. With the aid of Fester, who we see her dating at the end of the movie, we see her sell the houses.
Most Evil Deed
This is rather twofold as the more Parker and Wednesday start to hang out, the more secrets are discovered including a rather advanced looking spy room where Margaux had bugged the residents of her neighborhood to spy on them. The girls see this and it’ll come in handy later.
The other is through the power of social media, she spreads rumors about the Addams Family that turns the residents against them. IMO, this one doesn’t hold as much weight as spying on her neighbors. It’s a good idea but I have to believe the Addams wouldn’t really care.
Demise/Redemption
This is twofold (I know I used that word already). First, the big day of her finale shoot arrives and Margaux has gone a bit mad that the Addams turned her down and tries to destroy their house. She frankly succeeds but tying back into the coming of age event for Pugsley, he protects the house in his way.
Margaux had led an angry mob in a humorous moment of them using their phones as torches towards the mansion. Parker and Wednesday stand up for the latter’s family by revealing the secrets of the townsfolk. This gets Margaux to see the error of her ways and as I said, she ends up with Fester and we see them visiting the extended family members and the two have started a realty business.
Is Margaux Needler a Good Villain?
She’s fine. She gave me a lot more to talk about than the previous entry. While I stand by my belief that this series is better with edge, this movie is a good introductory point for kids to discover these characters. It understands the concept of how it commentates on how conformity and normalcy are a true evil. Join me next time as we look at the villain of the sequel to this movie…
Dr. Cyrus Strange
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