Tim Burton at Lucca Comics & Games: “Wednesday Addams? It’s me”

So he tells Tim Burton: “I grew up watching the original Addams TV series and cartoons. When I was a teenager, I felt like Wednesday. I was Wednesday. I shared her point of view, her statements in black and white, her being always an outcast “. He has come to Lucca Comics & Games the most awaited guest of the 2022 edition, to present his new tv series Netflix branded and dedicated to the young woman Wednesday Addams. A few hours ahead of the preview broadcast of the pilot episode, Burton talked about how the project was born and what we can expect from a Wednesday that is no longer the little girl we remembered.

What the first teaser of WednesdayTim Burton’s series about the Addams family

The Addams family returns with a new episodic story with Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán, focusing on the first child and the mysterious school she attends

In the tv series (coming soon on November 23), Wednesday is pictured in her years from student at Nevermore Academy – a strange school where eccentric and genius characters such as Edgar Allan Poe studied. “Wednesday has always been portrayed as a little girl – says Tim Burton. – I was curious to see how she would be as a girl, how she would react to school, to the relationship with the teachers, to therapy. Thus the project was born“. Even in Nevermore Academy, a college for the outcast and outcast, Wednesday is out of the group. “IS an excluded among the excluded. She doesn’t want to join the party. Like meat school”, Observes the director.

A timeless charm

So Wednesday finds himself in the modern world, a world of Snapchat and Instagram and social media, and classmates to deal with: “All this clashes with the character of Wednesday “Burton explains. “For her, social networks are a black hole: there are only typewriters and cello. Also in this I am like Wednesday: I’m afraid of the internet, when I start watching things on the web I start going down into a black hole and I find myself viewing funny videos of kittens. The web, social media, can be beautiful, very useful, and certainly they are, but too often they end up being used for evil. So I fear them. Like Wednesday“.

According to Burton, the Addams family’s appeal is almost universal: “It’s the weird family by definition, and in real life all families are strange. We all have some bizarre family member, and most of the kids I know are embarrassed by their parents. So imagine what it would be like to have Morticia as a mother … it would be freaking out“.

How will the series dedicated to Wednesday

Playing Wednesday Addams is the young star Jenna Ortega, previously seen in the Scream remake-sequel. “Without her there would have been no show”Burton declares in no uncertain terms. “Wednesday is an iconic character, so it is very difficult to find an actress who could play him by telling something new without betraying him. Jenna brought Wednesday to life, succeeding in the difficult task of becoming the character and at the same time making it her own. With her eyes, with her voice, with the calm strength of her character. I’m really impressed“.

Burton spends praise on the colleagues who accompanied him on this filming experience the first 4 episodes of the tv series. “The other directors who worked with me inspired me; I set the tone for the show, but they followed it in their own way and they left me something in the process. Danny Elfman, who curated the music, is a friend of mine with whom I have always had a strong connection because we share the same passions – and for me it’s like he was another character in the series, because that’s the role of the music. Also Colleen Atwoodwho made the costumes, was by my side in many projects, and she had the task of providing Wednesday with new looks that did not betray the character: but creating new worlds is what she does best“.

And of course it can’t be missing But noalways on the side (or rather, on the shoulder) of Wednesday: “Mano had a difficult life, he has a strange history. For this reason she seems more worn out, worn out than we remembered her. I wanted to make it look more like a horror movie monster – The crawling hand, or The beast with five fingers. I wanted to give her a particular, magical story. We can define it – how to say – the Dustin Hoffman of the hands“.

Burton concludes by recounting his first experience in a TV series. “I enjoyed it, it was enjoyable. There is a different, slower pace. But I still love moviesand I still think that there is always a place for cinema even in today’s world“.