The Untold Truth Of Wednesday Addams

She's creepy, she's kooky, she's altogether ooky — just add in a gallon of mystery and angst, and you've got Wednesday Addams. Some people have weird families, and others have weird families. But even among the likes of her bizarre but loving parents Morticia and Gomez, her goofy brother Pugsley, and her shagadelic Cousin Itt, Wednesday Addams is arguably the most relatable (and most beloved) Addams.

Through decades of multiple TV shows, movies, and comics, no one seems to get tired of the sardonic, smart-as-a-whip little girl whose fascination with the macabre is dramatic enough to creep anyone out. It's no surprise that a character with as much ambiguity and intrigue as Wednesday would have a few secrets up her sleeve, and there's probably a lot that "Addams Family" fans don't know about her mystifying background.

For instance, did you know that she got her start long before she ever appeared on TV? Which staple cartoon did the woeful Addams Family cross over with? And what's with that pesky lawsuit, anyway? The Addams Family is teeming with secrets, but we're more interested in the one particular Addams with two iconic braids and a scowl to boot. Here's everything you didn't know you needed to know about Wednesday Addams and her pet spiders.

Wednesday Addams may have existed long before she appeared on TV, but when she meandered on her comic strip with the rest of her family, she was actually nameless. (Maybe that's why she lightened up in the '60s sitcom: She finally had a name.) According to a letter to the editor posted in the New Yorker, Joan Blake, a forlorn mother in a custody dispute, gave Addams inspiration for Wednesday's name.

When Addams voiced his concern about not having a name for the comic strip daughter as he went into a TV show deal, Blake recited the line of an old nursery rhyme, "Wednesday — Wednesday's child is full of woe." The cutesy rhyme is a fun adage meant to determine what a child will be like depending on the day of the week they're born. Granted, Wednesday would also fit the bill for Monday, which states, "Monday's child is fair of face." But then again, Monday Addams just doesn't have the same ring to it. Funnily enough, Wednesday's middle name is Friday in the sitcom, but despite her morbid tendencies, she's still pretty "loving and giving," so it still tracks.

Even beyond her name's intention, the word "Wednesday" has some pretty powerful connotations on its own. According to the Guardian, back when creating a weekly calendar was first a blip on the Romans' radar, Wednesday was called "dies Mercurii," translating into "The day of Mercury." So, who's Mercury? Just the god of tricksters (among other things). Fitting, huh?

Everyone wants a piece of Wednesday Addams' dishonor, including none other than the super sleuth pup, Scooby-Doo. Wednesday appears in the episode "Wednesday is Missing" of the confusingly titled TV series "The New Scooby-Doo Movies." The episode, only the third in the series, serves as the backdoor pilot to the 1973 animated "Addams Family" series (not to be confused with the '90s animated series of the same name).

When Morticia and Gomez Addams are looking for some "us" time, the Scooby gang are hoodwinked into playing housekeepers (and babysitters) for the wayward Addams children after The Mystery Machine goes missing. Wednesday uncharacteristically wears a pink version of her usual collared dress. However, she's still quick to get a "voodoo booboo" while she sticks needles in a voodoo doll, so she definitely hasn't lost her ooky streak beneath the smiles and the pink. Even her parents are disappointed with her peppy demeanor, forlornly remarking that she's growing up to be a "sweet, cheerful young lady." The horrors.

Cindy Henderson took on the voice role of Wednesday, continuing into the short-lived animated series that followed. Most of the actors featured in the Scooby episode didn't reprise their roles for the standalone series. However, John Astin, the '70s live-action Gomez, appeared in the crossover episode. He later joined the '90s series a few decades later, though he skipped a recurring role in the '70s cartoon. There are just way too many projects titled "The Addams Family" – only adding to their chaotic presence.

One of the most hotly debated aspects of child stars is kissing scenes that happen too soon for young actors. Whether it's in modern films and TV shows or those of decades past, the concept of children kissing will always garner a spirited discussion. Where should we draw the line? At just 13 years old, Ricci had her first onscreen kiss with future "Numb3rs" star David Krumholtz, who was only two years older. The "Addams Family Values" scene marked the latter actor's first onscreen kiss as well.

In a 1993 interview, Bobbie Wygant asked Ricci if there was "a big to-do" made about the kiss. She brushed it off, saying, "No, there was no real big deal about it because, I mean, when you think about it ... there's so much of that, you know, in movies and everything, and it's just a movie." Listening to her speak is a wild experience, given that she's more mature than most adults these days. She also noted that Wygant is "a nice guy."

But in a way, it's a little sad that Ricci had to grow up quite so fast and in the limelight. While she may have told Wygant that it was no big deal, Krumholtz told Buzzfeed for the film's 20th anniversary that Ricci was less than thrilled with her scene partner's peach fuzz. He noted, "That made me really self-conscious." Ah, awkward teen drama (in front of a camera, no less).

Most child stars have done anything humanly possible to distance themselves from their most iconic role, but Christina Ricci has other ideas. She told the AV Club that the "Addams Family" films "have clearly had the biggest impact on my career and life." Not only fully aware (and appreciative) of the role that defined her career, Ricci still feels a kinship toward her darker alter ego. She said, "I feel very inextricably bound to [Wednesday]."

We'll probably never know just how much the role shaped Ricci as a person, but she's certainly defied the tragic fate of many child stars – so maybe Wednesday's resilience and strength played a part in Ricci's transition from a child star to a successful adult actress. She posed this question to the AV Club: "It's like a chicken-or-egg debate: Did I influence her as a character, or did she as a character influence my personality?"

In a sobering follow-up thought, Ricci noted, "The way memory works in childhood, it all blurs. So I don't have a sense of who I was or what I felt like before I was an actress, essentially." So in a way, she and Wednesday are permanently intertwined — for better or for worse.

Let's face it: We all have those days where we feel like channeling our inner angsty Wednesday Addams. Luckily for those looking to get her pallid complexion just right, MGM released a YouTube video called "Wednesday's Late-Nite Makeup Tutorial." The video is perfect for anyone whose real-life eye shadows aren't quite dark enough. And don't worry, "it's guaranteed to make you look like you haven't slept in years."

The video served to promote the release of the 2019 animated film "The Addams Family." Voice acted by the film's very own Chloë Grace Moretz, Wednesday takes viewers through her arsenal of makeup by brands like "Coverghoul's Depressed Powder," "Dry N Somber lip chalk," and the very exclusive ashes of her ancestors. (Does anyone have an urn lying around that they're not using? Asking for a friend.)

MGM also produced a video on "How To Make Wednesday's Halloween Lemonade," and she wasn't the only Addams character to get some animated YouTube love. There were even some Morticia, Gomez, and Grandma tutorials to make your Halloween (or a random Wednesday afternoon) extra spooky.

Jenna Ortega is already a "Scream" queen, but playing Wednesday still proved a challenge. What typically makes Wednesday a fascinating and status quo-defying child is just that — she's a child. Most people expect young girls to be docile, frilly, and largely agreeable and innocent when they've barely reached double digits. That stereotype has faced increasingly widespread challenges in recent years, but it still hasn't fully gone away, and that's precisely what makes Wednesday a fascinating character. 

So, with an aged-up Wednesday, how did Ortega and the "Wednesday" writers avoid making her a run-of-the-mill snarky teen? According to a conversation Ortega had with EW, that was one of the biggest challenges of taking on the role. "We've never seen her as a teenage girl. You know, it's funny and sweet and almost charming to hear this eight-year-old's obsession with murder and blood and guts," she explained. "As she gets older, that nasty attitude or [those] biting remarks, it's almost kind of hard to not make it sound like every other teenage girl." 

It's tough to film such a long series about a sardonic and somewhat unemotional character, but Tim Burton knows what he's doing. Ortega praised Burton's attention to detail to EW, saying, "That has been really incredible, just being such a fan of his work prior, but also getting to know him and realizing he's the most detail-oriented director I'll ever work with."