September 28th, 2021 
Jackson Murphy 
A sequel to MGM’s 2019 CG Addams Family movie was announced just four days after it opened. Director Conrad Vernon and his team got right to work on creating a new story for the creepy and kooky gang. This time, they’re on a vacation, but it’s not all fun as the Addams face a major family revelation. Vernon discusses the pressures of The Addams Family 2 (which is in theaters and on VOD this weekend) and the film’s unexpected marketing partner.
Jackson Murphy: How did you make an animated movie in less than two years?
Conrad Vernon: Oh my God… it wasn’t easy. We needed to get going right away. When it was announced that we were doing a sequel, I think the date that it was coming out was also announced, and we didn’t have a script yet. We were definitely hard-pressed to get this thing going as fast as possible. I hand it to Cinesite not only to figure out how to get an animated film done in two years but how to get it done during COVID. It was pretty phenomenal work to get this thing up on its feet and running. When we finally finished the last frame of this movie, we had three hours left before our actual deadline. We got it in, literally, right under the wire. I don’t recommend ANYONE do what we just did because it was a stroke of luck. (laughs)
JM: Wow. But an amazing accomplishment. That is inspiring. This is a road trip movie that takes us to all kinds of places [including] Niagara Falls, Miami, The Grand Canyon and Sleepy Hollow. How did you decide on choosing the specific places for The Addams Family to go?
CV: Well we had a whole list of where we wanted them to go. And then we started talking with the writers about, “What are the [most fun] gags we can come-up with in each of these places?” We found that there were a couple creepy/kooky places that The Addams Family actually did want to go but we found it was [more fun] to put them in places where normies were hanging out because of the way they would actually adjust who they were into these places. We had a whole list of places… we had a bunch of gags and we said, “These are the great gags.” We started boarding them out… and then of course the cost and time pressure came into play. I thought we ended-up with the best of them. There were a couple I missed, like Vegas and Alaska that we had in there that were really fun. But I think we came-up with the best ones.
JM: Yes, they’re fun. And again, you had to make decisions very quickly and very efficiently to get this going. When the first movie came out, one of its strengths was Chloe Grace Moretz’s voice performance as Wednesday. Why did you decide to focus this sequel [on her]? Mainly it’s Wednesday’s story.
CV: We know that the audience loves Wednesday. She’s a focal point for audiences in this franchise. And we wanted to make sure that we did something different from the first movie. That’s why we took them out of the house and put them on the road. I will say that in the beginning when the writers were pitching, “We find out Wednesday’s not an Addams”, my first concern was, “Is anyone gonna buy this? She’s so obviously Addams. Are we gonna know she’s not an Addams from the very beginning?” But the way that they wrote it and crafted the story, it works beautifully and I totally buy into it. Even if people don’t buy that Wednesday’s not an Addams, the way that it affects the rest of the family, especially Gomez and Morticia, is really quite heart-wrenching and dramatic… and you kind of have to have that heart underneath the gags to make people care. I really like that story and I think that’s why we wanted to focus on Wednesday.
JM: And without giving away too much, Bill Hader’s character Cyrus… there’s a reason why he’s designed a certain way in order for us to want to believe about Wednesday not being an Addams. Science is a major theme here. You’ve directed a number of big animated features, from Shrek 2 and Monsters vs. Aliens to Madagascar 3 and Sausage Party. What’s the most fascinating element about the science of animation and the science of making animated features?
CV: I think it’s the fact that so many different people have got to come together on an equal level. A lot of other filmmaking… everyone has an important role but it’s very heavily, I guess, leaning towards the spontaneity in live-action. It has to happen perfectly right there, which is a fascinating aspect of that. This, to me, the fascinating aspect of it is getting these different teams of people to all coalesce and come together under one vision, and that’s where the director is so important here. The director certainly doesn’t have to be a master animator or a master DP or a master lighter. The director has to be able to tell people, very clearly, what he or she wants to see and the talented people who work on the movie need to bring that forward. Watching it go from script to storyboard to camera to animation to lighting to effects and all of it to come together – it’s fascinating for me to see all the pieces come together over a course of time.
JM: It’s so great that – you’ve been making a lot of animated films over the years – that you’re still really interested in that process. And it really is amazing. I have to ask you about this Progressive commercial. It’s been everywhere. It’s been so well-received. I’ve watched it a number of times. How did that come together?
CV: That I will give to our consumer products people. We’re working with the consumer products people who are bringing in all these great partners. George Leon is the one who spear-headed that for us. I’ll be honest: when they first brought Progressive in, I was just like, “Insurance?” (laughs) Last time it was chocolate. They really came forward and pitched us a lot of great commercials and I’m really glad that they’re being received so well. And look, we wouldn’t have put a Progressive gag in the movie if it wasn’t funny. That gag made me laugh, so I was just like, “We’re keeping this in. I like it.” It was great. All of our partners on this movie have been really fun to work with.
JM: Good. It’s a fun little moment in the movie. And with the commercial: seeing Flo, who we’ve seen for so many years, as an animated character – and with these iconic Addams Family characters – it’s a slam dunk. There’s a scene in the movie with Wednesday and Lurch where they come upon a sign with a bunch of places and directions to go. One of them I noticed is the Overlook Hotel. Now, how do you think The Addams Family would do at the Overlook Hotel?
CV: I think they’d fit right in. I think they’d be fine. What The Addams Family tends to do is be so comfortable with the macabre that it throws the macabre off. They’re not dealing with a normal person here. They’re dealing with someone who absolutely would fight it completely. Ghosts don’t scare them. People with axes coming at them don’t scare them. I think if someone with an ax came after Gomez he’d go, “Aha!” He’d [take out] his sword, and after he bested them he’d say, “I’ll see you tomorrow for the same thing!” Right? That’s what I love about The Addams Family and that’s what I love about horror in general. Why Evil Dead is one of my favorite horror films: there’s a sense of humor to it. There’s a fun to the horror that I really enjoy.
JM: And shortly after that moment in the movie, there’s a bar scene and Wednesday makes a Social Distancing joke. When did that reference come into the script?
CV: Well, it was obviously post-COVID. (laughs) Definitely post-COVID. It was a joke one of the writers came-up with. When [Wednesday] denies a hug from the bikers, she says, “I’ll pause on the hug… I’ve been social distancing since birth.”
JM: I was pleasantly surprised to hear it because, again, you did this movie in less than two years – and to be able to get that in and animate and voice it and have it in in this crunch of time. Another impressive element. I looked up a little information on you. You were born July 11th, 1968, is that correct?
CV: That’s correct.
Conrad Vernon and Jackson Murphy
JM: Okay. Are you mad, Conrad, that you were born on a Thursday and not a Wednesday?
CV: No. I’m fine with Thursday. (laughs) That was okay. Unlike Wednesday, I don’t wanna be a child of woe.
JM: Are you thinking about the possibility that these characters, in this animated form, could have their own series? The live-action versions of these characters had an iconic series.
CV: Absolutely. How we move forward with the franchise, if we move forward with it, is totally open. There’s plenty of room nowadays, I think, to make TV shows out of successful hit movies. The only question you have to ask yourself is: How much different is the TV show gonna look like the movie? A movie does not normally translate seamlessly into a TV show without A LOT of work being done to make that possible. And not to mention I think Tim Burton has a Wednesday series coming-up as well.
JM: Right.
CV: So I don’t know if we wanna compete with that or have those two things butting right up against each other because that’s on TV. But you can do anything you want with these characters. That’s been proven.
JM: Yeah. And stay [to the end of the movie] because the hand-drawn animation is very good as well. So you definitely have some options. Now that this movie is done… it’s out there… you pulled it off in two years… what’s the kind of vacation that YOU wanna take?
CV: Ah. You know what? I definitely wanna take a little bit of time just to relax and sit in the sun. I know winter’s coming now, so hopefully I’ll be able to get to a tropical place. I always like tropical places. But I just think taking a little time to just relax and not doing anything for a month would be nice – or just be able to think about what the future holds for me. That’d be nice.
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