On Tuesday (November 8), Netflix revealed the opening credits and theme for its upcoming series Wednesday from director Tim Burton. Wednesday tells the story of Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega), the oldest child of Gomez (Luis Guzmán) and Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) from The Addams Family media franchise.
“Feast your eyes on Wednesday‘s killer opening credit sequence, which was creatively guided by Tim Burton and set to Danny Elfman’s haunting score,” Netflix tweeted.
Composer Danny Elfman has worked with Burton 15 times in the last 37 years. Their first collaboration was on the 1985 comedy Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. They have also teamed up on films like Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Dumbo. For the Wednesday opening theme, Elfman incorporates harpsichord sounds, vocal chants, and strings.
The opening credits feature a lot of spooky imagery that fits in well with the tone of the new series. It also feels like a modern version of the opening credits of The Twilight Zone. The credits start with Wednesday standing at the front gate of Nevermore Academy, the private institution her parents send her to after she is expelled from her high school for trying to feed a group of bullies to some hungry piranhas.
Other images that pop up in the opening credits include a typewriter, cello, knife, clock, twisted staircase, spider, tombstone, ravens, creepy trees, and Thing – Wednesday’s friendly amputated appendage who has a mind of its own. Some of these, like the cello, we’ve seen Wednesday play in trailers for the show.
There’s also a shot of a teddy bear that is getting its head chopped off by a guillotine, a fly being consumed by a Venus flytrap, and a full moon that transforms into one of Wednesday’s dark brown eyes. We’re all circling our calendars for this one.
Wednesday premieres on Netflix on November 23, 2022.