Addams Family, The
Writers: Charles Addams, Caroline Thompson
Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Family
THE ADDAMS FAMILY
by
Larry Wilson and Caroline Thompson
Rewrite by
Paul Rudnick
based on the characters of
Charles Addams
SHOOTING SCRIPT
April 11, 1991
THE ADDAMS FAMILY - 11/6/90
FADE IN:
A1 EXT. ADDAMS MANSION FRONT STEPS - CHRISTMAS EVE A1
A GROUP OF CAROLERS, their eager faces upturned, SINGS an
endless and cloying roundelay of "Little Drummer Boy."
They sing with self-righteous good cheer. As they
pompously begin their umpteenth verse,
THE CAMERA SLOWLY PANS UP THE ADDAMS MANSION -- past
the black wreath on the front door, past broken windows,
weather-beaten shingles, a creaking shutter.
THE CAMERA CONTINUES TO PAN TO THE ROOF
where the Addams Family members, GOMEZ, MORTICIA, GRANNY,
PUGSLEY, WEDNESDAY, and LURCH, their faithful butler,
gleefully POUR a CAULDRON OF BUBBLING, STEAMING PITCH
over the edge.
AS THE CAULDRON TIPS, THE CAMERA PUSHES INSIDE, THE
BLACKNESS OF THE PITCH FILLS THE SCREEN. TITLES BEGIN.
DISSOLVE TO:
1 INT. DIM HALLWAY - SEVEN O'CLOCK A.M. 1
C.U. AN OVER-SIZED "CUCKOO" CLOCK --
The clock is a perfect REPLICA OF THE ADDAMS FAMILY
HOUSE, down to the creaking shutter. It chimes the hour.
In ONE WINDOW, a LITTLE MECHANICAL GOMEZ bends a
MECHANICAL MORTICIA back until she's almost off her feet
and plants a kiss between her clockwork decolletage.
One, two, three mechanical kisses, counting toward
seven o'clock.
IN ANOTHER WINDOW, A MECHANICAL PUGSLEY hangs a
MECHANICAL WEDNESDAY from a noose on a gallows, up and
down.
Meanwhile, little BURSTS OF FOG float off the rooftop
where a little MECHANICAL GRANNY cranks her fog machine.
The front door of the house pops open, and a MECHANICAL
LURCH appears and begins sweeping.
Just then, THING, the disembodied hand with the
full-bodied personality, CLIMBS into view over the back
of the clock.
Thing leaps to the floor and SCAMPERS down the hall.
LOW TRACKING SHOT
follows Thing along the hallway.
(CONTINUED)
THE ADDAMS FAMILY - 11/28/90 2.
1 CONTINUED: 1
He runs past a couple of doors, past a pair of LEGS in
pajamas, feet in bedroom slippers. He skids to a halt
and BACK TRACKS to the legs. He pulls on the cuff of
the pajama bottoms. They belong to GOMEZ, who stands
in the doorway to
A2 INT. FESTER'S ROOM A2
Gomez wears a fez and a smoking jacket over his pajamas.
Even at this early hour, he puffs on his trademark cigar.
Gomez is all enthusiasm or all despair. At the moment,
he radiates unfathomable woe.
GOMEZ
Think of it, Thing. He's been gone
for twenty-five years. For twenty-
five years we've attempted to
contact Fester in the great
beyond...
The room is a dusty, cobweb-filled, long-unoccupied shrine
to Gomez's lost brother, Fester. Gomez drifts in from the
doorway.
The room has remained untouched since Fester's
disappearance as a teenager. The thick coating of dust
and cobwebs adorns the mementoes of a rapscallion's youth
- a football pennant from Alcatraz, headless sports
trophies, a high school photo with all the other students
keeping as much distance from Fester as possible.
As he lovingly and morosely surveys the room:
GOMEZ
... And for twenty-five years,
nothing. Not a whisper, not a
clue. I'm beginning to think my
my brother truly is lost.
Gomez sighs. Thing TUGS at his cuff, pulling him towards
the
B2 INT. HALLWAY - SAME TIME B2
Galloping ahead of Gomez, Thing leaps onto an
old-fashioned door latch and the door swings open INTO
2 INT. GOMEZ AND MORTICIA'S BEDROOM - SAME TIME 2
Gomez approaches the bed. Asleep on scarlet satin sheets
is...
MORTICIA
(CONTINUED)
THE ADDAMS FAMILY - 11/28/90 3.
2 CONTINUED: 2
GOMEZ
(gazing at Morticia)
Look at her -- I would die for her.
I would kill for her. Either way
-- what bliss.
Low-voiced, incisive, and subtle, with Morticia, smiles
are rare. The ghostly whiteness of her complexion is
offset by the red of the pillowcase upon which her hair
is spread like a diabolic halo. A dark Garbo, sultry
and remote, she's a ruined beauty.
Morticia OPENS HER EYES.
GOMEZ
(adoringly)
Unhappy, darling?
MORTICIA
(passionately)
Oh, yes, yes. Completely.
CUT TO:
A3 OMITTED A3
3 INT. PUGSLEY'S ROOM - SAME TIME 3
Pugsley crouches on the floor, playing with his kid-sized
chemistry set.
The walls of his room are covered with road signs he's
collected -- "Bridge Out!", "Detour! Excavation Ahead!",
"Dangerous Undertow!", "Keep Clear! High Voltage!"
SAWED-OFF STOP SIGNS, still on their poles, are stacked
in the corner.
In another corner stands a CYLINDRICAL FLOOR-TO-CEILING
FISH TANK, FILLED WITH PIRANHA.
This tubby energetic monster of a nine-year-old boy has
every chance of growing up to be the public monster his
parents would be proud of.
He MIXES chemicals in a beaker. The brew steams. Grin-
ning wickedly, Pugsley SWALLOWS it down.
He contorts, undergoing the beginnings of a transforma-
tion, then SHRINKS to the size of a mouse. Laughing, he
crawls out of his human-size pajamas.
CUT TO:
4 OMITTED 4
THE ADDAMS FAMILY - 11/28/90 4.
A5 INT. ATTIC - SAME TIME A5
Solemn and mournful, ten-year-old Wednesday has black
hair and white skin like her mother. She sits on a stool
among the stored Addams' family objects, ONE END OF A
STRING TIED TO HER TOOTH, THE OTHER TIED TO A TRAP DOOR.
The trap door is flung open, GRANNY pokes her head
through. She's a giggly hag who looks like she was in
the bathtub when the hairdryer fell in.
Wednesday's pulled tooth swings at the end of the string.
WEDNESDAY
Thank you, Grandmama.
In a foul mood, Granny tromps up into the attic.
GRANNY
You kids are going to have to kill
your own breakfast this morning.
Wednesday opens a cigar box. Inside the box are assorted
human and animal teeth, fangs and dentures, along with a
collection of glass eyes. Wednesday drops her tooth in
the box.
CUT TO:
5 OMITTED 5
A6 INT. GOMEZ AND MORTICIA'S BEDROOM - SAME TIME A6
Gomez takes Morticia in his arms. As she languidly
drapes herself across his chest, she is caught in a
sudden shaft of sunlight. She squints. On the bedside
table beside her, Morticia's OVERSIZED CARNIVOROUS
ORCHID WILTS.
MORTICIA
Gomez... the sun... il me perce
comme un poignard.
GOMEZ
(wildly aroused)
Tish... that's French!
MORTICIA
(nonchalant)
Oui.
GOMEZ
Cara mia!
(CONTINUED)
THE ADDAMS FAMILY - 12/3/90 5.
A6 CONTINUED: A6
He kisses his way up to her neck, then, suddenly
bursting with enthusiasm and a sense of purpose, LEAPS
from the bed, drawing his bedside saber from its sheath
and BRANDISHING it at the offending beam.
GOMEZ
En garde monsieur sole!
He thrusts and parries, pantomiming a duel with the
shaft of light.
MORTICIA
Gomez?
GOMEZ
Querida?
MORTICIA
Last night, you were... unhinged.
You were like some desperate,
howling demon. You frightened me.
Do it again.
Gomez, instantly aflame.
CUT TO:
6 EXT. ROOFTOP - SAME TIME 6
Granny delivers a swift kick to her fog machine.
GRANNY
Lousy bucket of bolts...!
The FOG MACHINE, straight out of a Jules Verne nightmare,
is malfunctioning this morning, struggling to churn
out its patches of fog.
CUT TO:
7 INT./EXT. MORTICIA AND GOMEZ'S BEDROOM - SAME TIME 7
At the window, Gomez pokes his head out. In the
background, Morticia brushes her hair with a silver
filigree brush.
GOMEZ
(disturbed)
Granny - where's your fog?
(CONTINUED)
THE ADDAMS FAMILY - 11/28/90 5A .
7 CONTINUED: 7
FROM ABOVE
the fog machine hurtles downwards, missing decapitating
Gomez by millimeters. It crashes below, smashing through
the front porch roof.
CUT TO:
8 OMITTED 8
9 INT. ENTRANCE HALL - LATER 9
Standing beside the front door is LURCH, the gigantic
family butler, a reanimated stitched-together behemoth.
He holds two brown paper lunch bags in his enormous
hands. The bags' contents wriggle, eager to escape.
WEDNESDAY
(taking her bag)
Thank you, Lurch.
(CONTINUED)
THE ADDAMS FAMILY - 11/6/90 6.
9 CONTINUED: 9
Pugsley takes his bag, opens it, and peers inside. Lurch
GROWLS, and Pugsley closes the bag.
CUT TO:
10 EXT. BALCONY OUTSIDE GOMEZ AND MORTICIA'S BEDROOM - 10
SAME TIME
Gomez is HITTING GOLF BALLS -- Thing serving as his tee
-- while Morticia sips tea.
11 ONE OF THE GOLF BALLS 11
flies with incredible speed
THROUGH THE WINDOW of the ADDAMS' ONLY NEIGHBOR. This
well-tended HOME sits on the hill overlooking the
Addams' Mansion like some Republican sentinel.
CUT TO:
12 INT. NEIGHBOR'S HOME - SAME TIME 12
JUDGE WOMACK, the Addams' CRUSTY PATRICIAN NEIGHBOR, is
having his breakfast when Gomez's golf ball lands in
his cornflakes, shattering the bowl, covering him with
milk.
Judge Womack hurries to his broken window, shaking his
fist:
JUDGE WOMACK
Damn you, Addams!
CUT TO:
13 EXT. GOMEZ AND MORTICIA'S BALCONY - SAME TIME 13
FROM THEIR VANTAGE POINT --
it appears to Gomez and Morticia that Judge Womack is
waving to them. Gomez waves back.
GOMEZ
(calls)
Sorry about the window, Judge!
Keep the ball! I have a whole
bucketful.
He holds up a bucket of golf balls. He tosses his
golfclub to Thing, who DEPOSITS IT in the golfbag.
(CONTINUED)
THE ADDAMS FAMILY - 11/28/90 7.
13 CONTINUED: 13
Gomez joins Morticia watching
THE DEPARTING SCHOOL BUS.
MORTICIA
The little ones, off to school.
Bless them.
GOMEZ
They grow up so fast, don't they?
MORTICIA
Too fast.
THEIR POV
Tires smoking, the school bus strains to chug down the
road. Gleefully hanging from the rear bumper is
Pugsley, dragging his heels.
CUT TO:
A14 OMITTED A14
B14 INT. THE CONSERVATORY - LATER THAT MORNING B14
Morticia, wearing gardening gloves, is snipping the
blossoms off her roses.
Gomez sits at a table, playing CHESS with Thing.
GOMEZ
It's a milestone, Tish. This very
evening -- our twenty-fifth seance.
All those years, gnawed by guilt,
undone by woe, burning with
uncertainty...
MORTICIA
(yearningly)
Oh Gomez, don't torture yourself.
That's my job.
GOMEZ
(lustfully)
Tish...
MORTICIA
Imagine, Darling, if Fester did
come back. Half-alive, barely
human, a rotting shell...
GOMEZ
Don't tease.
CUT TO:
THE ADDAMS FAMILY - 12/3/90 8.
14 EXT. JUST OUTSIDE THE ADDAMS' GROUNDS - SAME TIME 14
TULLY ALFORD, the family attorney, and his wife, MARGARET,
approach "GATE," a wrought-iron monstrosity that opens of
its own accord. Though Tully comes here often and
Margaret has been here before, they never cease to be
startled by "Gate."
Tully has a puffy, once handsome face, and an embittered
grey aura that is the mark of a middle-age misspent.
High-strung and superficial, Margaret is more disap-
pointed in Tully than he is in himself.
Margaret passes through Gate first. Then, as Tully passes
through, Gate slams on him, clipping him and catching the
end of his coat. Tully fights Gate for his coat.
TULLY
Let me go!
Ignoring Tully, Margaret continues stiffly up the walk.
TULLY
(to Gate)
Gimme that! Stop it! I'm warning
you! It's not a good day!
CUT TO:
A15 INT. CONSERVATORY - SAME TIME A15
Gomez moves a chess piece. Thing gestures out the window.
Gomez and Morticia both look out. As they do, Thing
moves two chess pieces, cheating.
MORTICIA
(looking out)
Tully is here, darling.
GOMEZ