The Addams Family animated movie is in theaters everywhere this weekend and needless to say, we are stoked.. and STUFFED full of the delicious spider-webbed pancakes from the film’s IHOP tie in! One of the directors and voice actors, who brings to life the character of Lurch among others, is Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2 , The Simpsons, Sausage Party, Madagascar 3, Ren and Stimpy), and we chat with him in the latest episode of The Boo Crew.
“Why? Why are we doing The Addams Family for the umpteenth time and..how are we gonna give a REASON for making this, you know? I don’t wanna just take IP and throw it up on the screen,” comments Vernon on the return of the iconic franchise. “Between what Matt (Lieberman, the writer) and I cracked, eventually was in the climate that we live in today with the immigration stuff going on and everything we thought, this would be kind of a great way to tell an immigrant story with this family because when we went back to look at all of Charles Addams’ old cartoons-they didn’t specifically say where any of these people were from.”
The similarities and vibe between the new film and the original 1930’s comic strip doesn’t end there.
“Everything that we did, we got right out of the old Charles Addams’ cartoons, so there are all sorts of homages. In the original cartoons as well, there was never THING, there was never the hand. That was a TV show invention. THING was actually this little shadowy character that he would hide in the background of all his cartoons. So if you looked in the corners, you would sometimes see this shadowy character with wide eyes just kinda watching them from above. That was THING in the original cartoons so we actually renamed him WHAT and in the movie we have him hidden in the background in a bunch of different scenes, so you can see if you can look for those easter eggs.”
Exploring the world of The Addams Family thru the window of animation had all sorts of advantages for the creators in terms of character and set design. “When we went into check the 3D, we found that the house looks absolutely incredible in 3D. You feel like you’re kind of, nestled into the house with them. You can see into the rooms in the background. We really designed the hell out of this thing. We have hundreds and hundreds of props that we designed and put into the background. Paintings of the family on the wall and when you see it in 3D, its like you can walk into it. So I will say this is one of the few movies I’ve seen where 3D actually does enhance the experience.”
Vernon explains the secret of making a horror-themed movie that the whole family can enjoy, “That’s the way I always approach this kinda stuff for kids, its making sure that I laugh, that it’s something I wanna see on the screen. If it’s a little too scary I always temper it with humor. That’s what made me love Evil Dead II! The humor tempered the sheer terror of it all!”
Listen to the complete interview with director Conrad Vernon on The Boo Crew Episode 73, part of The Bloody Disgusting Podcast Network. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts.
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