Things Only Adults Notice In The Addams Family Movies

"The Addams Family" franchise made a name for itself by testing boundaries and making "normal" families everywhere uncomfortable. The kooky family unit became a love letter to outcasts and people who challenge the status quo. However, the family led by Charles Addams has mass appeal — between equally nonconforming fans and those who want a break from the normalcy of their daily lives. Hell, even kids love the franchise and the two young Addams children, Wednesday and Pugsley.

Gomez and Morticia Addams have long since cemented their status as pop culture relationship goals, but the family has more than a few dark secrets that even the most discerning fans look past. Given the seedy and grim vibe of all five "The Addams Family" films — two theatrical, one direct-to-video, and two animated — it's only natural that young fans might miss some of the franchise's more adult references. Among implied cannibalism, mommy issues, sexual topics, or any combination of the three, here are some of the Addams Family's movie moments that only adults notice. 

"Addams Family Values" just might have the most disturbing scene in the entire franchise. If any group could use a heavy dose of family therapy, it's the Addams Family. Between the Freudian snafus and the fact that there are heavy implications of inbreeding, someone needs to get this family on a couch. 

The second live-action film centers on Fester's (Christopher Lloyd) loneliness and lack of a partner, and he's one of the very few members of the family who seeks a partner outside of the family. But before Fester meets Debbie (Joan Cusack), Gomez (Raul Julia) finds a raunchy magazine peeking out from his mattress. 

Now, that's perfectly normal, right? Sure, until they both wistfully say "Mom" when they open it up. Um, say what? Is Fester ... ahem ... to a pinup magazine of his mother?! Not only is there a disturbing incest component to this scene, but it further implies that the Addams Family keeps it in the family in the most horrifying way possible. Of course, were the film in general not so macabre and surreal, this would pose real concerns, but as it stands, it's probably the most extreme joke in either of the first two "Addams Family" films. Ah, to be a child and have this scene go over your head.

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There are some heavy implications that Fester might be hooking up with Thing (Christopher Hart), an image that just about no one wants to picture. When Debbie explains what a virgin is to Fester, she says it's someone who's never experienced physical love before. In response, Fester says, "Oh, you mean with another person?" At first glance, it seems like he's talking about self-love, but when you piece together a few other moments from the films, there's a much weirder explanation.

Earlier in the movie, Gomez remarked that Fester would always have Thing when he was worried about being alone forever. Sure, this could have been a wholesome pep talk about Fester's friendship with the sentient hand, but it might indicate a more perverse relationship between the two. Given that a good portion of the Addams Family doesn't appear human, there might be some cross-species breeding within the family.

So if you get the drift, it may not be Fester's own hand doing the loving. There's also a moment in the first movie where Thing sleeps on Fester's chest back before Fester gets his memories back, making the two reasonably close at the start of the series. It's also worth noting that Fester offered to "pay" for Debbie in the same virgin conversation scene, another allusion that definitely went over most kids' heads.

While Charles Addams' original comic strip left the characters unnamed, ABC-TV enlisted Addams to help name the characters for "The Addams Family" TV show. Yet though Addams had a say in the characters' names, not all of his ideas panned out. According to the Nov. 24, 1991, edition of The San Bernardino County Sun, Pugsley was almost named Pubert. The newspaper noted on Addams' name choices, "For the boy, he suggested Pubert (as a wordplay on puberty), but it was rejected by the network and he became Pugsley." 

Kids undoubtedly wouldn't know this piece of '60s trivia, but the writers for "Addams Family Values" kept it in mind when Gomez and Morticia have a third child in the sequel. So as it turns out, Pubert wasn't the brainchild of the movie's writers but Addams himself. And the writers took Addams' vision further, giving Pubert a ridiculous (and unexplained) mustache as a metaphor for the puberty the baby's name hints at. And though Addams wasn't alive to see it (via The New York Times), his original plan for Pugsley is honored in a delightfully bizarre way that would no doubt please the father of this beloved and kooky franchise. 

No one is writing sonnets about the third live-action film, "Addams Family Reunion," but that isn't for lack of trying. It's always a risky move to recast iconic roles in beloved series, but doing so after the death of an actor takes things too far. Sadly, Gomez actor Raul Julia died of complications following a stroke before filming could begin for the third installment (via The New York Times).

The only significant returning actors were Christopher Hart as Thing and Carel Struycken as Lurch. Yet continuing the project with just one actor and one sentient hand from the original two films is precisely what prevented the film from reaching its potential. Rather than creating something new, fans can't help but compare the third movie to its predecessors, and it's just not the same.

Kids might not realize it, but iconic horror actor Tim Curry took over the role of Gomez. The actor played iconic horror roles like Pennywise in the 1990 TV movie "It" and starred as Frank-N-Furter in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." This movie certainly wasn't up to the caliber that Curry is used to, but with a great cast, it could have been incredible if its producers had made different choices.

The Addams Family certainly draws a significant amount of inspiration from horror elements and the supernatural, but those aren't the only historical figures the family looks up to. While fans might expect the Addams Family pets to get their names from Stephen King characters, they are a worldly bunch. Wednesday's (Chloë Grace Moretz) pet octopus, for instance, doesn't have dark origins but philosophical ones. He's named after the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. He helmed an entire branch of philosophy called the Socratic method — which basically consists of asking questions until someone comes to their own conclusion.

Yet though it's not inherently obvious, Socrates had his own dark ending to which Wednesday was likely drawn. Like most historical figures who questioned the status quo, Socrates wasn't exactly popular in his time. In fact, he was so detested that he accepted his fate of execution via toasting with a hemlock poison. It makes sense why Wednesday would be into that — it's kind of an iconic way to go.

Most kids watching "The Addams Family 2" wouldn't get Grandmama's (Bette Midler) reference to the Talking Heads. In the film, the Addams Family throws a rager when the immediate family is gone, and two partygoers are excited to learn that the Talking Heads are performing. Their excitement diminishes when they realize that Grandmama is actually talking about a bunch of ... talking heads. The band consists of four animated shrunken heads that the attendees confuse for puppets. Given that the original Talking Heads lineup hasn't performed together since 2002 (via NME), a random performance in a creepy family's mansion would definitely be something to get pumped about.

Still, it's a joke for the adults. Doubtlessly, many kids will not have heard of the group. It's questionable whether kids will even recognize the song Lurch (Conrad Vernon, singing voice by Dominic Lewis) sings in the bar: "I Will Survive," the classic by Gloria Gaynor.

Morticia Addams may be one of the OG queens of horror, but she's in good company when it comes to real-life horror icons. In "Addams Family 2," Dr. Cyrus Strange (Bill Hader) calls Morticia by the name Elvira, which he uses as a dig. Yet most horror fans would be honored by the reference. Given Morticia's similar aesthetic to Elvira, the comparison makes perfect sense. But young fans of the franchise might not recognize the name of the '80s horror icon.

Elvira actress Cassandra Peterson created an entire horror brand around her character, having performed for her weekly show, "Elvira's Movie Macabre," and appeared in films like "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" and "Elvira's Haunted Hills." The character has become so ingrained in pop culture that Elvira has even appeared in projects like "The Goldbergs," " Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island," and "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!" In fact, most kids probably have seen Elvira in some iteration without knowing the history of the meta horror hostess. Elvira isn't the only classic horror reference in the show, however. During the Little Miss Jalapeño Pepper competition, one of the pageant girls dumps red paint on the other contestants to mirror the pig's blood scene in the Stephen King story "Carrie."