Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds Was The Sole Inspiration For One Of Wednesday's Main Characters
The Netflix series "Wednesday" is unmistakably a Tim Burton production, but that doesn't mean that the show's distinctive look isn't inspired by other auteurs. In fact, one of the characters was modeled after a famous horror film by perhaps the single most world-renowned filmmaker of all time, Alfred Hitchcock. The controversial 1963 classic "The Birds" is full of Hitchcock's signature touches, from a looming sinister force to a fraught relationship between mother and son. But the piece of this natural horror that made its way into "Wednesday" was not the themes — it was the style.
When it came to crafting the visuals for the latest entry in the "Addams Family" franchise, costume designer Colleen Atwood knew she had her work cut out for her. The creative was tasked with paying homage to the iconic original looks that "Addams Family" fans know and love while updating them to fit the evolution of the characters in the modern era. Wednesday Addams might sport a hoodie in this 2020s reboot, but she's still unmistakably herself.
"With Wednesday, we can nail the iconic look right away with a nod to the original pointed collar, little print dress and modernized platform shoes, and then put her in an environment that she totally contrasts with: an American happy-time public school," Atwood explained to Variety. "Then you've given the nod to all that's come before."
Tippi Hedren was the style inspiration behind Larissa Weems
Atwood's delicate balancing act between past and present bears the unmistakable visual influence of Burton, whose distinctive style carries over into all of his work, including "Wednesday." He, too, took a special interest in Wednesday's look, particularly her hair.
"On the first day when they were trying to establish what my hair was gonna look like we ran two hours behind because 'No, her braids are uneven — this one's lower, this one's higher,'" series star Jenna Ortega recounted on Hot Ones. "[Burton] didn't like the way that my fringe looked at the time so he was just, 'Hey can I do ... do you mind if I do that?' He asked the hairdresser very politely and just kind of did my hair himself."
But Wednesday wasn't the only character for whom Atwood and Burton had strong aesthetic visions. The costume designer also had a particular look in mind for one of her rivals — the shape-shifting school principal at Nevermore Academy, Larissa Weems. This is where she drew from "The Birds" for inspiration — much to the delight of Gwendoline Christie, who portrays Larissa in the show.
"I bought this vintage poster of Tippi Hedren in 'The Birds.' I showed a picture of it. I said, 'This is who I think you are.' And she was like, 'I love it,'" Atwood recalled in conversation with Variety. The costume designer wanted to make it clear that Weems was "her own kind of misfit, in a totally different way." She may not have worn all black like Wednesday, but she was still an outcast, after all.
Burton crafted the style of Wednesday very carefully
But character and costume design weren't the only aspects of "Wednesday" that saw Burton's strong aesthetic influence — or Hitchcock's, for that matter. As a visual artist first and foremost, the director-producer would often follow aesthetic whims, favoring crafting the project's distinctive look over adhering to the time constraints of a big-budget production.
"First of all, he draws a lot of his shots," Ortega explained on Hot Ones. "So there were some days I would come into work and he would have his own little picture that he drew of me playing the cello or me fencing and he would say, 'This is what you're shooting.'"
Burton oversaw the visuals very closely and wasn't afraid to get hands-on during the shoot. In addition to touching up Ortega's hair himself, he would occasionally touch up the shots with set decoration.
"It would be, like, four in the morning in some random Romanian forest and it'd be like 'Oh, where's Tim?' and he's carrying two trees, throwing them in the background of the shot so that they land exactly where he wanted them to," the "Scream" star recalled. "He was very specific and happy to do it himself but also a great communicator and collaborator."
A strong throughline in his work is what makes Burton such a natural comparison to Hitchcock. Few other directors working today have carved out such an unmistakable look throughout all of their work. Burton's touch is immediately recognizable, much like Hitchcock's.
Like Hitchcock, Burton is an auteur
A big part of what gives "Wednesday" its distinctive look is the elaborate sets of Nevermore Academy. These sets give the series a cartoonishly macabre appearance in keeping with the rest of the "Addams Family" franchise, as well as Burton's most famous work on films such as "Beetlejuice."
These sets also work the show into Burton's stylistic universe and leave his aesthetic mark on the project — the mark of an auteur, much like Hitchcock had. Moreover, the clearly fabricated nature of these elaborate setpieces creates a world unto itself, which harkens back to some of the late major studio films around the time of Hitchcock's Hollywood reign (such as the visually-striking horror film "The Night of the Hunter").
The Netflix series' production designer Mark Scruton was also influenced by this era of Hollywood. He preferred films where the sets were obviously constructed rather than naturalistic, even if that was a budget issue rather than an intentional artistic choice like it was for himself and Burton in "Wednesday."
"When I was very young, before I even went to school, I used to dose up on '50s B-movies and stuff that was on TV, like 'Crack in the World,' he mused in an interview with AwardsRadar. "It isn't the other ones I used to love [like] 'Krakatoa: East of Java,' any of those movies that involve models and effects and so but pretty low rent stuff, but you know, great stuff. Even when you watch today, it still has a quality to it, which I love."
Wednesday could draw from Hitchcock as it moves further into horror
If you weren't picking up on Hitchcock's influence in the first season of "Wednesday," his inspiration might feel even more obvious in season 2. The show promises to take a darker turn in the episodes to come, drawing more from the horror genre than coming-of-age traditions.
"We've decided we want to lean into the horror aspect of the show a little bit more," Ortega revealed, per Variety. "Because it is so lighthearted, and a show like this with vampires and werewolves and superpowers, you don't want to take yourself too seriously."
This levity mixed with the darker subject matter was also a signature move of Hitchcock, who was known for imbuing his twisted suspense films with humor. Take for instance "Rope," which features a myriad of hilarious moments between its two anti-heroes while they commit murder.
On the subject of anti-heroes, Ortega also wants her character to move more in this direction rather than going the route of a traditional protagonist as she did in season 1. She feels that this twist would be more true to Wednesday's macabre nature.
"I kind of want her to be darker," she told Entertainment Tonight. "I want her to get more in the nitty-gritty of things and not play things so safe, because there are a lot of lines about her saving the school and doing whatever, but for me, her main drive with the monster is of a competitiveness. Kind of, 'Man, how's this guy doing this?' [...] "I think I want it to continue down an antihero stream rather than a typical hero."
It might seem wil to some that a Netflix series geared at teenagers would be so overtly inspired by classic horror films, but Hitchcock's fingerprints can be found all over "Wednesday" — if one only looks for them.