The Addams Family (1973 animated series)

"The Addams Family" was an animated adaptation of the Charles Addams cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1973.

"Scooby-Doo" appearance

The Addams Family's first animated appearance was on Episode SDC-3 of Hanna-Barbera's "The New Scooby-Doo Movies", "Scooby-Doo Meets the Addams Family" (a.k.a. "Wednesday is Missing"), which first aired on CBS Saturday morning September 23, 1972. Four of the original cast (John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, and Ted Cassidy) returned for the special which involved the Addamses in a mystery with the Scooby-Doo gang.

Character designs

The Addams Family characters were drawn to the specifications of the original Charles Addams comics. After the episode aired, fans wanted more animated adventures featuring the Addamses, and Hanna-Barbera responded in kind.

The Addams get their own show

The first animated series ran on Saturday mornings from 1973–1975 on NBC. In a departure from the original series, this series took the Addamses on the road in a Victorian-style RV. This series also marked the point where the relations between characters were retconned so that Fester was now Gomez' brother, and Grandmama was now Morticia's mother (though the old relations would be revisited in the 1977 TV-movie, to keep continuous with the original sitcom).

Cast

Although Coogan and Cassidy reprised their roles, Astin and Jones did not, their parts being re-cast with Hanna-Barbera voice talents Lennie Weinrib as Gomez and Janet Waldo as Morticia. Jodie Foster provided the voice of Pugsley. Again, the characters were drawn to the specifications of the original Charles Addams comics. One season was produced, with the season rerunning the following year.

Gold Key Comics series

Gold Key Comics published a 3-issue "The Addams Family" comic book series between October 1974 and April 1975, boasting stories adapted from episodes of the animated series.

Broadcast history

:Telecast: NBC Saturday Morning September 8, 1973 - August 30, 1975

:Sept. - Dec. 1973, NBC Saturday 9:00-9:30 AM (EDT):Jan. - Aug. 1974, NBC Saturday 8:30-9:00 AM (EDT):Sept. 1974 - Aug. 1975, NBC Saturday 8:00-8:30 AM (EDT)

Production credits

* Executive Producers: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
* Directed by Charles A. Nichols
* Produced by Iwao Takamoto
* Associate Producers: Paul Sommer, Maurice Pooley
* Story: Bill Raynor, Bud Atkinson, Jack Mendelsolm, Miles Wilder, Dick Conway, Gene Thompson
* Story Direction: Jim Carmichael, Carl Fallberg, Dave Hanan, Fred Crippen, Jan Green and Don Sheppard
* Character Design: Talutshi Masunaga
* Voices: Josh Albee, Howard Caine, John Carver, Ted Cassidy, Jackie Coogan, Jodie Foster, Pat Harrington, Jr., Cindy Henderson, Bob Holt, Don Messick, John Stephenson, Herb Vigran, Janet Waldo, Leonard Weinrib
* Animation Director: Carl Urbano
* Animation Supervisor: James A. Pabian
* Dialogue Director: Wally Burr
* Background Styling: F. Monteniegre
* Musical Director: Hoyt Curtin
* Music Supervisor: Paul DeKorte
* Unit Directors: Arthur Humberstone, Mike Salter, Terry Harrison
* Production Manager: Dennis Gardiner
* Supervising Editor: Mel Roberts
* Layouts: Ted Pettingell, Toni Bailey, Jolm Cooper and Mel Darsler
* Backgrounds: Geoff Channell, Caird Green, Chris Collingwood, Jane Penning, John Dick
* Animation Co-ordination: Graeme Stubbings, David Thwaytes, Alma Sachs
* Trace and Paint Supervisor: Sally Walls
* Animators: Janet Nunn, Mike Pocock, Tom Barling, Peter Sachs, Bryan Foster, Joirn Swanson, Mike Murphy, Alan Simpson
* Created by David Levy
* Based on the Cartoons by Charles Addams :"'A Hanna-Barbera Production:© 1973 Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.:Characters © 1973 Charles Addams"'

Episodes

:AF-1. The Addams Family in New York (9/8/73):AF-2. Left in the Lurch (9/15/73):AF-3. Boola Boola (9/22/73):AF-4. The Fastest Creepy Camper in the West (9/29/73):AF-5. The Mardi Gras Story (10/6/73):AF-6. Follow That Loaf of Bread (10/13/73):AF-7. Aloha, Hoolamagoola (10/20/73):AF-8. The Reluctant Astronauts' Trip to the Moon (10/27/73):AF-9. The Great Balloon Race (11/3/73):AF-10. Ghost Town (11/10/73):AF-11. The Circus Story (11/17/73):AF-12. The Addams Family at Sea (11/24/73):AF-13. The Voodoo Story (12/1/73):AF-14. The Roller Derby Story (12/8/73):AF-15. The Addams Family Goes West (12/15/73):AF-16. The Addams Family at the Kentucky Derby (12/22/73)

ee also

*"The Addams Family (1992 animated series)"