‘Addams Family Values’ Accidentally Made the Darkest Michael Jackson Joke

It’s officially the fall, which means it’s time to watch Addams Family Values, the greatest Halloween/Thanksgiving film that technically takes place in the summertime.

While Charles Addams’ creations are obviously known for their macabre humor, it turns out that the darkest joke in the entire movie was a complete accident. 

Back in 1993, when Addams Family Values first hit theaters, it wasn’t uncommon for Hollywood comedies to have tie-in songs performed by major pop acts. The first Addams Family’s soundtrack included MC Hammer’s “Addams Groove.” Did the track have a music video in which Gomez challenged Hammer to a sword fight after the “U Can’t Touch This Singer” hit on Morticia? Yes. Yes, it did.

As director Barry Sonnenfeld revealed in his memoir Best Possible Place, Worst Possible Time, per SlashFilm, he and producer Scott Rudin decided to try and “hook an even bigger fish for the sequel.” That big fish turned out to be Michael Jackson, who the filmmakers landed after a visit to Neverland Ranch that included a screening of the film and a lunch of “peanut M&M’s, Kit-Kats and Snickers bars.”

A song was written, and production began on a music video, but then “Michael had to leave the country. In a hurry.” The producers “shipped the set to Michael in Japan,” but “neither the video nor song were ever finished.” Perhaps not coincidentally round the same time that the song fell apart the “first allegations against Jackson for child sexual abuse” were made public.

Judging from the footage that’s surfaced online, the music video would have played way differently in light of the scandal. The premise of the video literally involves an angry mob, including parents with their children, carrying torches and pitchforks to Jackson’s house/the Addams mansion to try to run him out of town.

Similarly, a joke that made it into the movie took on a whole other meaning after the allegations. 

Not long after Wednesday and Pugsley arrive at Camp Chippewa, the overly-peppy counsellors confine the siblings to the “harmony hut,” a cabin filled with teddy bears and inspirational posters. When the nerdy Joel is similarly forced inside, he lets out a loud scream upon seeing a Michael Jackson “Heal the World” poster.

While the joke was seemingly intended to highlight Joel’s awkward outsider vibe, and possibly to appeal to their musical collaborator, Sonnenfeld and screenwriter Paul Rudnick soon realized that audiences were laughing for different reasons.​​ “It was right as his scandal was breaking so we did not intend it to have the impact it did,” Rudnick said on the movie’s 4K UHD commentary. 

“It took on a whole new resonance.” Sonnenfeld noted that the Jackson jump-scare “had quite the impact,” adding, “We thought it was funny anyway.”

Pretty wild that this ended up being the bleakest gag in a movie about a serial killer trying to bump off the kids’ uncle.