Wednesday : 6 fun facts to know about Tim Burton's show

12/12/2022

Released on Wednesday, November 23rd, the Wednesday series has quickly risen to become one of the most watched programs on Netflix. The new adaptation of Charles Addams’ comics focuses on the daughter of Morticia and Gomez Addams, a character played by Jenna Ortega. Discover 6 fun facts about this brand new show created by Tim Burton.

A shooting in Romania
A shooting in Romania

What’s more obvious than shooting a fantasy series in Romania, the country of Dracula? As Jenna Ortega, the actress who plays the title role in the series, revealed, the eight months of filming necessary to produce this first season took place in the eastern country known for the region of Transylvania. During a Q&A session at the New York Comic Con, the young actress said, "We worked really, really hard on the show — eight months in Romania, away from our families, really trying to create something that did Wednesday Addams justice". Thus, many scenes taking place at the Nevermore Academy were filmed at the Cantacuzino Castle, located in the Romanian Carpathians. As for the town of Jericho, it was entirely built in Romania by the show's set designers in order to recreate the typical New England architecture.

Christina Ricci (the original actress from the The Addams Family) is in the show
Christina Ricci (the original actress from the The Addams Family) is in the show

This was a big surprise for the fans of The Addams Family and Addams Family Values, the horror comedies that popularized the Charles Addams comics. Christina Ricci, revealed at age 11 in those adaptations, stars as Marilyn Thornhill, a zany teacher and supervisor at the Nevermore Academy. Her mission is to facilitate Wednesday's integration into this unusual school. A situation a bit like the passing of the torch between the two actresses playing the eldest daughter of the Addams at the end.

The various references to previous adaptations of The Addams Family
The various references to previous adaptations of The Addams Family

Besides having Christina Ricci in the cast, Tim Burton and his team wanted to pay tribute to the famous movie The Addams Family and the 60s series by scattering numerous easter eggs in the show. In the pilot episode, the character played by Jenna Ortega wears a classic black dress with a white collar, which is a nod to the outfit worn by Christina Ricci’s Wednesday. Similarly, the stuffed bear in Principal Weems' office is a reference to the one that sat in the Addams' house in the 1964 show. In addition, the Netflix series composer, Danny Elfman, included harpsichord and organ notes in all of Wednesday's soundtrack tracks to echo the 1960s show. Moreover, throughout the episodes, we find other references to previous adaptations, but shhh, we prefer to maintain the suspense!

Jenna Ortega took many lessons to play Wednesday
Jenna Ortega took many lessons to play Wednesday

If you've seen the show, you've probably noticed that Wednesday is a very talented girl: she's multilingual, a martial artist, a skilled fencer and archer, and a cello prodigy. To play such an iconic character, Jenna Ortega had a long preparation. She took lessons in German, cello, fencing, archery and canoeing. On top of that, the 20-year-old actress also put herself in the shoes of Wednesday in everyday life to work on her posture and confidence. A true professional!

Colleen Atwood worked on the costumes of the show
Colleen Atwood worked on the costumes of the show

To work on the costumes of Wednesday, Tim Burton surrounded himself with his favorite costume designer, Colleen Atwood. She worked on the shooting of Edward Scissorhands, Sleepy Hollow, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street or Dark Shadows and even won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for, among others, Alice in Wonderland. For Wednesday, Colleen Atwood was directly inspired by Charles Addams’ original drawings, the author of the comics, to pay tribute to the man who had been a long-time friend of her grandfather. In addition to the references to 1930s cartoons, the Oscar-winning costume designer wanted to infuse the characters' outfits with a contemporary spirit and was inspired by fashion trends in the music world, in particular Billie Eilish’s style.

Thing is played by a magician
Thing is played by a magician

For the viewers who are wondering, yes, Thing is indeed played by an actor! Well, actually a magician named Victor Dorobantu. Of course, Tim Burton and his creative team could use prosthetic hands when it was really necessary. Note that this is the very first screen role of the magician. Before playing this unusual character, he contacted Christopher Hart, also a magician by profession, who played Thing in The Addams Family 90s films. To shoot the scenes with Thing, Victor Dorobantu spent three hours a day preparing himself, during which he put on a blue suit so that the VFX team could erase his body in post-production.

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