How Wednesday's Music Supervisors Landed On The Cramps For That Viral Dance Scene
When Jenna Ortega stepped in front of the cameras to portray Wednesday Addams dancing amongst other students in the fourth episode of Netflix's "Wednesday," there's no way she nor producers could have known that she was also shooting a video that would go viral on social media, especially TikTok. The Gothic sequence, which Ortega choreographed herself over two sleepless nights prior, has been paired up with different songs, most notably Lady Gaga's "Bloody Mary," causing the pop-artist herself to react positively to this new social media connection to her own track (via Billboard). However, it was The Cramps' song, "Goo Goo Muck," that Music Supervisors landed on for the actual dance number.
For those unfamiliar with the series, this specific episode of Tim Burton's newest adaptation of the original "Addams Family," has a new Nevermore Academy student, Wednesday, showing off her unique moves at a school dance. The fact that Ortega's self-choreographed dance has become so widely shared becomes even more fascinating when fans learn she had only one take to perform it, as she was quickly rushed from the set following a positive Covid test result. In fact, NME reported that Ortega thought she "probably could've done it a bit better." Obviously, the scene's sudden popularity proves that it was done well enough, and a lot of it has to do with the perfectly matched song that the Music Supervisors landed on for it.
Music Supervisors' Gothic past lead to the choosing Goo Goo Muck
Right now, if you scroll through TikTok, you're bound to land on someone presenting their best impression of Jenna Ortega's viral dance from "Wednesday." And despite social media imitators matching the dance moves up with a spectrum of different tunes, Ortega's original take was accompanied by The Cramps' 1981 single "Goo Goo Muck." And when Music Supervisors, Jen Malone and Nicole Weisberg, spoke to Variety about this now-viral sensation, they explained why they believed the song matched perfectly, not only for the dance, but for the character performing it, as well.
Martin explained the type of music that she believes plays inside Wednesday's head as she walks the halls of Nevermore Academy throughout the series. "Classical music," she said, "darker stuff, not cheery minuets — vintage Latin, and certainly Goth and post-punk." Malone added how her past love for this type of music helped her connect this style to Ortega's character, Wednesday. "The Cramps are perfect for Wednesday. They're in her headspace, like Siouxsie and Joy Division. I'm a former Goth. To work with music I love, to find that right moment — the track had to be fun, quirky and lend itself to Wednesday's personality." Since the video clip has gone viral, Variety also reports that the early 80's track has seen an increase in its Spotify streams by 9.5%.