These Are Wednesday's Most Important Influences, According To The Series Co-Creators

Publish date: 2024-05-02

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Schools for particular students, gothic structure, spectacularly specific costumes, TikTok trendy dance numbers, and a constant wave of homages to the authentic Addams Family are simply part of the reason Netflix's Wednesday works so smartly. And each and every of these elements were thoughtfully integrated via co-creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, as well as their inventive crew which integrated Tim Burton.

There are a variety of very clear sources of inspiration in Wednesday from Carrie to Scooby Doo. But right through an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Gough and Millar went into element about what actually inspired them to make some of their most specific inventive choices.

How The Original Addams Family Inspired Netflix's Wednesday

The most glaring, and arguably important, source of inspiration for Alfred Gough and Miles Millar's Wednesday is certainly Charles Addams' Addams Family cool animated film and the earlier series/movies. In his interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Millar explained that it was once important that Wednesday honor the legacy of The Addams Family. Not only did they enjoy doing it, but they also learned how taping into that nostalgia was the most important for increasing the fan revel in.

"We also went back to the original Charles Addams illustrations. That was certainly something that we talked to [producer and director] Tim [Burton] about, and he was a huge fan of Charles Addams growing up," Millar said to THR. "Looking at his body of work, it’s so fresh, acerbic, subversive, morbid, fun. There are production design elements we literally ripped out of his panels, which we thought would be a really fun Easter egg for people who do know Charles Addams and can reference that."

Related: Netflix's Wednesday Is 'Not Trying To Be' An Addams Family Reboot

Part of referencing Charles Addams' work came in the form of casting Christina Ricci who performed Wednesday Addams in Barry Sonnefeld's two films.

"We felt was such a delicious moment to have the two Wednesdays in a scene together," Millar stated to THR of having Christina play reverse Jenna Ortega.

Did Harry Potter Inspire Netflix's Wednesday?

Given that most the entirety of the first season of Netflix's Wednesday facilities around a college for special students, many lovers have drawn the connection to Hogwarts in Harry Potter. The similar can be mentioned for Percy Jackson, as identified by means of the interviewer at The Hollywood Reporter who wondered co-creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar about what influenced Nevermore.

"We’ve always loved the genre and Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, certainly," Miles Millar explained to THR earlier than announcing that the Nevermore boarding faculty wasn't meant to be Hogwarts or Percy Jackson's Yancy Academy.

"It wasn’t any homage to Percy Jackson or anything like that, or Harry Potter, but as soon you get to boarding school, the comparisons are there," he persisted.

Related: Jenna Ortega Vows To 'Fight' Wednesday's Love Triangle Story Arc

"We wrestled with that initially, in terms of, if we’re doing the teenage Wednesday Addams, is it funny if she’s the fish out of water in a regular high school? But then we felt like every day should get back to the family, and we sort of wanted her out of the family.," Millar stated to THR.

"And then the other thing about the boarding school offered was boarding in the world of the Addams Family. So you see, where did Gomez and Morticia go to school? What is that? How do these people exist in this real world? So, it excited us in terms of opened and expanded the world of the Addams Family, and that’s something, I think, certainly, people have been intrigued by."

How Tim Burton And Stephen King Inspired Netflix's Wednesday

Tim Burton directed 4 of the 8 episodes in the first season of Netflix's Wednesday. He also served as a producer on the entire series. But he wasn't concerned with Alfred Gough and Miles Millar's revamp once they first started.

Related: The Real Reason Catherine Zeta-Jones Was Cast As Morticia In Wednesday

Part of what drew him to the venture is undoubtedly the fact that the two creatives threaded a ton of references to his paintings into Wednesday. This is because they were very much impressed via his paintings as well as by way of the basic tone and stylistic alternatives of acclaimed horror/suspense creator Stephen King.

"I think, for us, Stephen King and Tim Burton because Tim wasn’t on the project when we first started it and created it," Miles Millar mentioned to The Hollywood Reporter. "The Stephen King element of small towns and teenage emotions run rampant felt like was sort of the elements that [we went for], and then Charles Addams, so those things were really what inspired us."

This Is The Main Inspiration Behind Wednesday

Aside from the source material, Harry Potter, Stephen King, and Tim Burton, Wednesday was impressed via the theme of sisterhood. In reality, throughout an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, co-creator Miles Millar claimed that this was "the key to the show."

"This idea of sisterhood is key to the show," Millar mentioned referring to the dynamic between Enid and Wednesday. "We wanna explore that friendship in every way."

But this theme simply wouldn't work with out the intense focus on growing dynamic young women to focus on.

"One of the other elements is that [co-creator Alfred Gough] and I have always loved the Addams Family and this character in particular, but we’re also the father of four daughters between us. So, we have definitely culled from life for this one, and I think we’re definitely inspired to write or find a teen girl character like this, who’s so rare, who’s so self-confident, literate, smart, weird and unapologetic about all those things."

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