Tim Burton had one message for Chris Bacon when they started building the music for Wednesday: don’t make it funny. Bacon said Burton also told him, “Do not play funny music,” and pushed him to keep the score serious from the start.
The composer said that direction shaped the sound of the show across Season 1 and Season 2, with the goal of making the music darker, heavier and more grounded. That approach, Bacon said, fits Jenna Ortega’s performance and makes the jokes land harder because the score never winks at the audience.
Bacon made the comments during a panel at Deadline’s Sound & Screen Television awards-season concert event, where he said Wednesday’s music had to be “quirky but also not too quirky” and strong enough to feel as if it could exist at any time. He added that Wednesday is a contemporary show, “but the Addams Family doesn’t exist in time.”
That idea reaches back to the original Addams Family TV series in 1964, which used a harpsicord in its theme. Bacon said the instrument remains part of the family’s sound because it helps keep the music timeless, calling it “a great sound to throw in to remind us that we’re there.” He said the score also used French horns when Enid turns into a werewolf to save Wednesday, one of the musical touches that kept the show rooted in its macabre fantasy world.
The next phase is already underway. Wednesday Season 3 began production in Ireland at the end of February, with Chris Sarandon, Noah Taylor, Oscar Morgan, Kennedy Moyer and Winona Ryder added to the cast. A recent photo also showed the action heading to Paris, extending the show’s reach beyond Nevermore’s familiar gothic frame.
Bacon offered one more update on the new season’s music, and it was as spare as it was revealing: “Music is being made.” The line fits the way Burton has steered the series from the beginning. Wednesday may be new, but its sound is built to feel as old as the Addams Family itself.
