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Director Andrew Stanton On The Legacy Of ‘Wall-E,’ His Feelings On A Sequel, And Its New Criterion Disc

Wall-E came out in 2008 and seemed almost like a warning of sorts, as in, this is where we are headed with the planet if we don’t change things quickly: a desolate wasteland of junk, survived only by one robot (our hero, Wall-E) and a cockroach. Now, watching today, (on the brand new Criterion 4K that comes out Tuesday), it seems almost optimistic. Wall-E‘s director, Andrew Stanton (who also directed Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, John Carter, and For All Mankind) was somewhat surprised to hear that assessment. But even he admits he never imagined then how bad things would get now. And also admits at the time his bumbling president played by Fred Willard seemed, “too far,” but, again, that was 12 years before we had a president suggesting we inject bleach to kill a virus.

The new Criterion 4K of Wall-E is gorgeous. But, first, how did a Disney-owned film (they are pretty protective of their movies) get a Criterion release in the first place? Stanton himself led the charge because, well, frankly, what director doesn’t want their film part of the Criterion Collection? Ahead, Stanton takes us through that process. He reflects on the film itself and how it works today versus how it worked back in 2008. Also, Stanton is pro sequel in general, but his feeling toward a Wall-E sequel are a bit more complicated.

I watched the Criterion 4K yesterday. I always think of this movie as beautiful, but this is another level. You have to be happy with how this turned out.

Well, it’s funny. We put such high-res detail into everything we do, it’s almost like the world finally caught up to what we get to see in private, on most of the level of details that we work on. We have a saying at Pixar where we sand the underside of drawers. We do details that nobody will ever appreciate, but now it feels like the world can, you know?

What did you pick up on this time around? Like, I forgot we did that?

Well, for me, it’s the details in the shelves. Those shelves rotate and they’re made to rotate a hundred percent. So that means anything in the depth on any one of those shelves, those items were made and detailed and surfaced. In other words, all those props exist inside that virtual world. So there are elements that, if you want to pause and look. So much of this movie, for as much as it gets labeled as a silent film, is dependent on all the audio storytelling that’s happening…

Oh, by the way, the sound on this disc is incredible.

We worked very hard on that. It was a difficult movie to design, sound-wise. Not design, but to mix, sound-wise. Because I think your ear is doing extra work than it normally does on films because it’s picking up on atmospheric details because it’s not usually filled with dialogue. And so we had to control all that. Like really, really, really go to a level of control that was frustrating at times, but the results were great.

So, rewatching, I couldn’t help but think this movie is a little more optimistic than I remember.

[Laughs] I haven’t heard that.

Well, there’s a bonus feature where you say, on climate change, at the time you were just trying to be “a good stewardship.” And that you never thought it would get this bad. For me, it went from, “this could happen,” to, “this might be the best-case scenario.”

Well, I’m showing my age, but I was raised on the Don’t Litter campaign of the United States in the late Sixties, early Seventies, and the air pollution. So it was always in your face and in the schooling, and down to Sesame Street to preschool. It was always “be good to your environment.” It just got more detailed and worse and dire as we got older. So it’s not like it was something new in my life. And so it shocks me that it’s become politicized because it’s always been an issue in my life.

Remember the ozone layer problem in the ’80s? All the nations kind of got together and fixed that.

Yeah, exactly.

When Reagan was president even. I’m not sure that would happen today.

Right. And of course you don’t wish for things to be this dire. My agenda was not to go, “Be careful guys, this is going to happen.” But I just picked an obvious thing that I’m like, well, this will happen if we don’t address it. Usually something about the world got worse, whether it’s technology or the environment, whatever, and how does humanity navigate through the future problems? And so that’s always sort of a format of the storytelling. But I just needed an excuse that you would buy within minutes so that I could just have you invest in somebody that was all alone on a desert island. So I just needed something that was logical and quick.

So I think I said it’s optimistic because at least they could come back and repopulate. I’m not sure that’s going to be a future option.

Well, what’s crazy, and I guess optimistic, or proof that we could do something, is when the pandemic hit and how much of the pollution went away so quickly and how much of the wildlife came back within months. I mean, it really was kind of living proof of like, you can make a difference if you really want to.

That’s an excellent point. Also, does this movie play different to you now that the pandemic has happened?

Yeah. I mean, it’s that and also just the technology consumption. And the technology blindness, I guess, if you want to call it that. Or where we’re siloed. That’s a common term now that we’re bubbled, we’re siloed. Those words weren’t around when I made that movie. The iPhone came out in the middle of making that movie-

Right. Wall-E has a video iPod...

I joked like, “Oh, this will be short-lived, probably by the time this movie’s out.” I thought I was being funny and it did. It was gone. Like the 8-track player.

Also in the bonus feature, you mentioned how you thought you went too far with Fred Willard as the president. And that, little did we know…

Yeah. I remember thinking, “Is this a little too cartoonish?” I mean, we can get away with it, but is it pushing it? And, no, it wasn’t.

When he announces that everyone is on their own and outs on a gas mask and walks off, that seems a little better advice than injecting bleach.

Most comedians are commentators on just human nature and the cultural observations, and we certainly were coming from a slightly comic standpoint. But you’re pulling from what you see, what you’re witnessing. Somebody will be right about something else they’re projecting right now in 15 years from now.

Does this movie work better today than it did then?

I don’t know. That’s a good question. I don’t know if I’m the one to answer that.

If not you then who?

Well, I mean, it’s lasted. Just from a selfish filmmaker standpoint, you tell stories in the hopes that somebody will still want to watch it way past all the history of it. When we started Pixar, we wanted to be in the Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, Godfather club where you kept pulling that movie out no matter what was going on. And we called that the Grandkids Club. You want to show it to your grandkids, or your grandkids find it on their own. They don’t know any of the things attached to it. I’ve been out in the field doing a lot of TV for the last seven years, and so I’ve been with a lot of little different clubs and camps of filmmakers and stuff. And they all love this film, particularly for its cinematic sources and angle. Because it’s a different beast than of the other animated films. It’s kind of made from a love of this weird hybrid love of sci-fi and arthouse cinema.

It’s funny because those movies you just mentioned, most have sequels, and some very good ones. I’m surprised we haven’t had one for Wall-E yet. I’m curious how often that’s brought up.

I think I’m safe because it didn’t make as much money as all the other Pixar movies. So if you’re just ranking it there, it doesn’t look like a cash cow to somebody. So it’s kind of protected.

That’s interesting. It did really well, but just not well enough so you have to deal with that every two years, someone going, “make another one.”

The definition of “well” is who are you? If you’re an executive, you’re like, “How big was the box office?” I could care less about that stuff. I just want to be able to get the chance to make another movie. I’m more like, do you want to watch this thing, you know, much later? Which is way beyond box office wakes and stuff like that. So I feel like it’s protected because it was low there, it was low on that level.

And I’m sure you’ve addressed a million times, but I assume the story’s over for you.

I’m not anti-sequel. I make sequels…

I know. Just with this one, it sounds like you don’t want to.

This one I didn’t…. Every child’s different and this one I didn’t see it. It’s a lot of chatter. People are going to make what they want to make. If you lived long enough, you’ve seen remakes of things you thought nobody would ever dare remake. Memories are short. People that are young coming into the industry don’t know the history and don’t care. It’s just going to keep happening, so it’s kind of a wasted air to worry about whether there’s going to be sequels or prequels. It’s always been part of the world and it always will be.

How does this happen with Criterion? Because I’m under the impression Disney is very protective of their properties.

Well, it’s because I asked. I went to Alan Bergman and he said yes. It was a filmmaker’s specific personal request and he said, “Let’s see if there’s a there.” And I love that Criterion thought the film was worthy, but we’ve been working on it for years. The pandemic kind of interrupted it and we really got serious last year. It’s a sort of an off-shoot scenario.

When did this first get agreed on?

I want to say mid-2019.

So the National Film Registry happens in between. Is that right?

Yeah, which was a great punch in the arm of like, “Let’s do this still.” Because the pandemic drifted everything.

I didn’t want this to look like filmmaker hubris and there’s no way that I won’t be accused of that to some degree. What filmmaker doesn’t want to be in the Criterion Library? But I wanted it to be earned. I just really thought, it was so born of the movies, some of them directly that were in their library that I just thought there was a fit. So I’m fortunate that they thought so too.

How much do you pay attention to social media?

Not at all.

When this was announced I saw a pretty overwhelmingly positive reaction.

Yeah? Good. Because I feel it is, too, and hopefully if you watch all the dots, there’s more confirmation for why. For how it was born and where it comes from.

You can contact Mike Ryan directly on Twitter.

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Therapist breaks down how to do household chores when you’re depressed. It’s a game changer.

Mental health struggles impact people from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. It doesn’t matter if you’re making millions of dollars or minimum wage, depression can still strike. Knowing how to care for yourself while depressed can make a huge difference in your ability to operate.

KC Davis, author of “How to Keep House While Drowning,” breaks down household care tasks to make them more manageable for people struggling with depression. In her TEDx talk, the therapist gives multiple examples of tasks that can be broken down into smaller pieces to make your home functional. The first step in the process is being gentle with yourself and changing your mindset from “I’m failing” to “I’m having a hard time.”


In 2020, around 21 million adults ages 18 and up experienced at least one major depressive episode. Depression can be debilitating for some individuals, causing them to have difficulty caring for their own needs or even getting out of bed. In Davis’ TEDx talk she explains how to care for yourself even on the days you can’t manage to get out of bed. Her advice involves a zip-close bag.

Yup, a plastic baggie. If there are days when you feel you can’t get up, Davis’ advice is to keep a gallon size zip-close bag on your night stand to put your dirty dishes in. It’s a simple fix that seals in any odor the food may produce and won’t attract bugs. The dirty dish will stay secured until you have the energy to take it to the kitchen, put it in the sink or wash it.

Small depression hacks like this can help a person feel less shame around the tasks not being done to the standards of society. Davis reiterates that, “care tasks are morally neutral” and “anything worth doing is worth doing half-assed.” Check out her TEDx talk below.

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17 important life lessons, shared by those who learned them the hard way

It’s true that life never gets easier, and we only get continuously better at our lives. Childhood’s lessons are simple—this is how you color in the lines, 2 + 2 = 4, brush your teeth twice a day, etc. As we get older, lessons keep coming, and though they might still remain simple in their message, truly understanding them can be difficult. Often we learn the hard way.

The good news is, the “hard way” is indeed a great teacher. Learning the hard way often involves struggle, mistakes and failure. While these feelings are undeniably uncomfortable, being patient and persistent enough to move through them often leaves us not only wiser in having gained the lesson, but more confident, assured and emotionally resilient. If that’s not growth, I don’t know what is.


Reddit user u/G_man252 asked people to share their own life lessons “learned the hard way,” and the answers, though varied, all touched on something useful that everyone can probably relate to. Especially those of us who have had the blessing of living long enough to gain a lot of hard-won knowledge.

Below are 17 of the best lessons that all of us either have learned, are trying to learn or will learn soon enough. Reading them isn’t necessarily the same as experiencing them, but there is still some comfort in knowing they are all part of what it means to be human.

Read. Be enlightened. Or at the very least, be soothed and entertained.

1.

Not everyone who loves you is good for you.” – @Gulbahar-00

A woman meditating, with hand on heart.

2.

“Back up your data.” – @SomeoneHad2FuknSayit

3.

“You can’t fix other people. Only yourself.” – @Bob_N_Frapples

4.

“It’s okay to put yourself first. Don’t expend all your energy on others and leave nothing for yourself. Understand how to give and take in moderation and that it’s a two way street.” – @Neffili

5.

“Your fear of failure is worse than the failure itself. Take the chance. Now.” – @aerofish_

A person skydiving.

6.

Nothing ever stays the same no matter how hard you want it to be … don’t take it for granted.” – @CodyGhostBlood

7.

“Not everyone will like you for doing the right thing.” – @Kaitriarch

8.

Never take your health for granted. Appreciate every little thing you have that makes you happy.” – @galestrikesback

9.

Being vulnerable is the hardest thing you can do, but not being vulnerable will make your life much, much harder.” – @thiccdiccboi

A wooden heart decoration with the words 'open'.

10.

“Budget and be financially responsible.” – @QuailandDoves

11.

“If your gut is screaming at you that something is wrong, listen to it.” – @REDDITprime1212

12.

Time does not heal all wounds. Most days get better but you’ll always have days where you feel it all over again as if it just happened and you can’t do anything about it except for ride it out.” – @Smokey_S

13.

“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.” – @Karnezar

14.

Mental illness is very real and will get in the way of your life.” – @NoUsername817226

15.

It’s okay to be wrong sometimes. Humility really goes a long way in maintaining relationships and being happy.” – @Freezeucriminalscum

A young man crouched on the floor by a window, eyes closed, contemplating his mental health.

16.

You will inevitably, directly or indirectly hurt people in life.” – @Sinusoidal0360

17.

Don’t wait until the right time. For most things there is no right time. Perfectionism stalls you.” – @lovelyfallday

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10 things that made us smile this week

Do you ever look around and marvel at the things humans can do?

Like, yes, there are a lot of terrible and tragic things out there, and we could easily spend all of our days focusing on them. But today I was looking at my living room rug and thinking about the fact that some fellow human being designed its floral pattern and coordinated the colors in a way that brings me joy. And some other human or humans, way back when, figured out how to turn sheep’s wool into fibers in order for this rug to be possible in the first place. Some other humans created machines to manufacture, wrap up and ship it. Some humans invented the vehicle that transported it to my house, and a friendly human from UPS smiled at me as he delivered it to my front doorstep.

And that’s just a rug. If we look around, we see signs of human ingenuity and creativity everywhere. It’s incredible what our species has figured and how we’ve consistently coordinated with one another to make seemingly impossible things a reality. (I mean, this computer I’m typing on? Incomprehensibly incredible.)


I like to remember such things when headlines or social media toxicity starts to seep into my psyche. We have our flaws to work out, for sure, but people are truly amazing beings with mindblowing abilities, not just for invention but for compassion, connection and delight. Yay us.

So join me in celebrating humanity with these 10 joyful reminders of our awesomeness—with a couple of adorable animal videos thrown in for good measure. Enjoy!

1. Baby elephant won’t stop tickling a local Kenyan reporter as he tries to tell a serious story about wildlife conservation.

Gotta hand it to him for lasting as long as he did before breaking. And honestly, this delightful moment probably did more than any somber warning could do to get people to care about how human actions were affecting wildlife. Read the full story here.

2. Parents ask their kids to record them dancing, but capture the kids’ reactions instead.

@thechavezfamilyy

The end 😭😭 why am I bawling at this trend?! He’s SO CUTE #momsoftiktok #momtok #toddlersoftiktok

The pure love and joy in that face! What a cutie. This is one TikTok trend worth watching, and we’ve got a whole collection of these adorable videos here.

3. Two cockatoos play peekaboo, giggle and … smooch?

How delightful is that? Cockatoos are freakishly smart, so it’s not so surprising that they would find fun in the same kinds of games we play with human babies.

4. The way the 4-year-old imagination can make up whole entire lives.

Scroll through these stories. Absolutely hilarious. The imagination of the average preschooler and their willingness to follow wherever it takes them are unmatched.

5. This pizza maker’s skill with his dough is the stuff of legend.

Give him about 30 seconds to warm up, and then holy cannoli. That’s a guy who takes pride in his work. So impressive.

6. Bruce Springsteen shared an incredible story about being invited to a fan’s house and surprising his mom.

Can you even imagine? You’re just out at the movies and you run into a mega rock star? And then you invite him to sit with you and he says yes? And then you invite him to your house, and he says yes?!? There are so many fun details to this story. Read the full story here.

7. The unbridled joy of a left-handed person finally getting a pair of left-handed scissors.

Who knew cutting things could be so fun? Scroll through. It’s the simple things we take for granted sometimes.

8. The actor who played Biff in ‘Back to the Future’ wrote a hilarious song about all the questions people ask him.

Tom Wilson has been doing standup comedy and music for the past several decades and this song is one of the staples in his show. He also has a card he created that he can hand out to people answering all of the usual questions he gets asked. Check out the full story here.

9.Coach proposes on the sideline and the football team’s reaction is everything.

Clearly, this is a coach with a strong connection to the kids on his team. What a fantastic celebration.

10. Let’s strive to live life with the perseverance of this playful kitten.

Hope that brought a few smiles to your face! Come back next week for another collection of smileworthy finds. And if you want to get this post in your inbox each week, sign up for Upworthy’s free newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.

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Indiecast Looks Back on 25 Years Of Modest Mouse’s ‘The Lonesome Crowded West’

It’s hard to decide which indie album released in 1997 was the best since there are so many great ones to choose from. There’s Elliot Smith’s Either/Or, Yo La Tengo’s I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One, and Built To Spill’s Perfect From Now On. But this week on Indiecast, hosts Steven Hyden and Ian Cohen are looking back on 25 years of an album that meant a lot to both of them at the time: Modest Mouse’s The Lonesome Crowded West. They reflect on that era of indie music and decide if Modest Mouse are underrated, overrated, or properly rated at this point.

In terms of indie news this week, Indiecast would be remiss if they didn’t discuss the Grammy nominations this week. Plus, Steven and Ian talk about the Taylor Swift/Tickemaster bungle and give a thoughtful tribute to Low’s Mimi Parker, who sadly passed away earlier this month.

In this week’s Recommendation Corner, Ian gives a shout out to Japanese emo band Injury Tape, whose debut album came out earlier this year. Meanwhile, Steven suggests listeners should check out Guma, whose album A List Of Sightings dropped in February and has been compared to Steely Dan and ’70s soft rock.

New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 115 here or below and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at [email protected], and make sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.

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Lauren Boebert Has Preemptively Claimed Victory In Her Nail-Biting Colorado Race, But People Will Not Let This Slide

Ten full days after the midterms, we still don’t know whether Lauren Boebert will be rootin’ and tootin’ in D.C. for another day. Given that she’s in such a nail-biting race in such a red-leaning district, this does not bode well for a lengthy political career, but Boebert doesn’t see those alarm bells ringing. Instead, she’s simply happy to be barely leading Adam Frisch, who was unknown to nearly everyone until he ran on the “Not-Boebert” platform in Colorado’s 3rd district. Going into Friday morning, the Colorado Sun reported that Sarah Palin 2.0 led by a mere 543 votes. Only 200 were left to be counted, although such a close race is subject to a mandatory recount.

Boebert previously exclaimed, “Winning!” That was when she led by less than one percent of the vote, and now, she’s gone ahead and posted a victory video. “We won!” she tweeted on a day that might very well see Twitter’s last dying breath. “I am so thankful for all of your support and I am so proud to be your Representative!”

Let’s get real: there’s a strong likelihood that Boebert will pull off a squeaker in the recount. It’s not enough to justify her tweets about “losers” because Republicans are clearly pushing back at being represented by such a heckling menace and Ted Cruz’s BFF. So, people are still here to point out that Boebert truly has nothing to celebrate, and she probably hasn’t learned anything from this experience. And Twitter users are here to let the recount commence.

(Via Colorado Sun)

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Lil Wayne Got Emotional Recounting An On-Stage Moment With A Make-A-Wish Fan At The Lil Weezyana Festival

Weezy F Baby and the ‘F’ stands for — “feelings?” Over his nearly-30-year career, Lil Wayne has maintained a tough exterior with his brash lyrics and nonchalant attitude. However, during a sit-down interview with journalist Megan Ryte, the “Lollipop” rapper peeled back one of his many layers to expose one of his areas of vulnerability.

With several hit songs to his name, the Young Money leader has amassed a broad fan base which includes 10-year-old Donovan ‘DJ’ Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick, who has hypoplastic left heart syndrome, joined the rap star on stage at his annual Lil Weezyana Festival thanks in part to the Make-A-Wish foundation.

Emotional about meeting DJ, the on-air host asked the importance behind that moment, to which Lil Wayne replied, “I’ve never been a part of a Make-A-Wish situation, but I know all about them. Those kids — their days are so important. Their days are so vital. So, one of you wanna spend one of your days with me?”

He continued, “After the show, I was able to look him in his eyes and tell [DJ], ‘You know, no matter how many people were out in the crowd tonight — no matter how many people were standing to my left and to my right on stage — it was you.’”

This year’s Lil WeezyAna Festival featured performances from Rick Ross, a guest appearance by Drake, and tragically, the last performance from the late Takeoff alongside Quavo.

To watch the full interview of “Impact” by Nightline, click here to stream it exclusively on Hulu.

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Lupita Nyong’o Is The Best Part Of ‘Wakanda Forever’

Lupita Nyong’o does not show up on screen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever until halfway through the movie. Or maybe it’s less than halfway through, or maybe it’s more than halfway through. It’s hard to keep track when you’re watching a two-hour and forty-minute movie with multiple plotlines and a backdoor pilot for a Disney+ show starring Martin Freeman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. The film is fine before Nyong’o is in it, but meandering. Boseman’s absence is felt, but so is Nyong’o. But once she arrives, the story comes alive. It’s still meandering, but it has an emotional focus. Nyong’o’s character, Nakia, a Wakandan spy with a very special set of skills and a love interest for T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), has not been in any Marvel films since 2018’s Black Panther (she must have gotten Marvel contract advice from Bradley Cooper). Before Nakia appears in Wakanda Forever, we learn that she left Wakanda and is so far removed from her life there that she doesn’t even attend T’Challa’s (Chadwich Boseman) funeral.

When Nyong’o finally shows up, she’s wearing a flowy, coral dress and is surrounded by a hall of plants. Nyong’o’s presence is an instant breath of fresh air. No matter how messy this thing gets (MCU films seem to only get messier and messier as they go on), everything will be okay, because Nyong’o is there to ground everything, effortlessly.

In less than a decade, Nyong’o has, through her performances and her striking personal style, established herself as an icon. Fresh out of the master’s program at the Yale School of Drama, Nyong’o rose to prominence for her supporting role as Pastey in Steven McQueen’s 2013 film 12 Years a Slave, which won her an Oscar. Nyong’o’s performance was committed, human, and graceful. It is without a doubt one of the best film debuts of any actor in history.

Years later, Nyong’o shows the same commitment in any role, big or small, and her emotional power remains the same, even behind motion capture as Maz Kanata, a space pirate in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In 2019, Nyong’o brought her emotional intelligence to her chilling lead performance in Jordan Peele’s horror film Us, a performance that should have earned her an Oscar nomination (or, better, yet, the Oscar). Although terrifying and different from her prior roles, Nyong’o’s performance in Us still has her signature emotional pull. Nyong’o will return to horror with a leading role in A Quiet Place: Day One, a spin-off of John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place series.

In Wakanda Forever, Nyong’o grounds every scene she is in – even CGI-heavy underwater scenes or chaotic action sequences – and elevates every single performance around her. Letitia Wright’s performance as Shuri, a character who is processing grief, is more raw and refined when Nyong’o is in the scene with her, particularly in a post-credit scene in which Nakia introduces Shuri to her son, whom she secretly had with T’Challa. Nyong’o delivers dry but heavy exposition with sincerity and grace, in a way that makes the language seem riveting and active. Although the role of Nakia is just a supporting role in a MCU film,

Nyong’o is as committed as she is to everything she does, from her performances in Oscar shoe-ins, work with auteurs, and her meticulous, intentional fashion.

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Netflix’s ‘Wednesday’: Everything To Know Including Release Date, Cast, Plot, And More

This holiday season, expect some Halloween energy. On the day before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, the television series that follows Wednesday Addams, aka the most goth member of the iconic Addams Family, drops on Netflix. Since the series is, like so many things these days, based on an existing property, there are many things to know before its release if you’re curious. Below is a guide to everything you should know about Wednesday on Netflix, including the cast, creative team, and story.

What’s it about?

Despite its title, Wednesday is not about hump day. Netflix has kept much of the plot details under wraps, but here’s the official description for the comedy series, which gives us a little bit of context:

“While attending Nevermore Academy, Wednesday Addams attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a killing spree and solve the mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago.”

The series’ trailer, available at the top of the post, gives a little more insight into this plot as well.

What is Wednesday based on?

The Addams Family, of course. The Addams Family originated as unrelated cartoon characters by cartoonist Charles Addams published starting in 1938, some of which were published in The New Yorker. Over the past many decades, the family is still with us, and Wednesday Addams has become an icon all on her own. The 1960s sitcom made the spooky fam more famous. There was a cartoon show in 1970s, and then the incredible 1990s films, The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993). In those films, Christina Ricci’s performance as Wednesday turned the character into an icon. The 2010 Broadway musical was not a hit, but the Addams Family still reigns supreme: in 2019 and 2021 there were animated films, and now, there’s Wednesday. The Netflix series is mostly original, but will surely draw inspiration from the entire Addams Family canon.

Who’s in it?

Jenna Ortega stars in the titular role of Wednesday Addams. Joining her in the main cast are Gwendoline Christie in all her tall glory, Riki Lindome, and Isaac Ordonez. Catherine Zeta-Jones will play Wednesday’s mother, Morticia Addams, and Luis Guzmán is playing Gomez, and Fred Armisen is Uncle Fester. Other supporting roles.

Is Christina Ricci in this?

Yes. Christina Ricci, who played Wednesday Addams in the iconic 90s Addams Family films, is in Wednesday but she is not playing Wednesday Addams. Not much is known about Ricci’s character at the moment, but her character’s name is Marilyn Thornhill, and she is brand new to the Addams Family Universe (AFU), as are several characters in the series.

When does it come out?

Wednesday comes out on Netflix on Wednesday (hahah, get it)?!, on November 23.

Anything else?

Yes! There are still interesting things to know about Wednesday. The series comes from co-creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (they co-created Smallville and are credited on the Spider-Man 2 screenplay). The show is also executive produced by Tim Burton, who directed several episodes. Burton’s frequent collaborator Danny Elfman composed the show’s original music. Burton, a perfect match for the AFU, did not direct the 1991 film The Addams Family due to scheduling conflicts with Batman Returns. Finally, he got his chance with Wednesday.

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Elon Musk’s ‘Space Karen’ Nickname Has Everyone Cracking Up After (Empty) Twitter Headquarters Got Trolled With A Projection Beam

After issuing a bizarre ultimatum that gave Twitter employees the option of working “extremely hardcore” for Elon Musk or receive three months severance, at least half of the remaining staffers reportedly chose the door. The situation deteriorated so badly that Musk reportedly locked down Twitter headquarters out of fear that the employee mass exodus would lead to intentional sabotage. However, Musk’s biggest concern should be how long the site will last now that the employees who man critical systems are now gone.

Via CNN:

A former Twitter executive, who recently exited the company, described the situation as a “mass exodus.” Asked about the situation, the former executive said, “Elon is finding out that he can’t bully top senior talent. They have lots of options and won’t put up with his antics.”

“They will struggle just to keep the lights on,” the former executive added.

As employees shared details with reporters or tweeted out screenshots of internal Slack messages on Thursday evening, #RIPTwitter started to trend along with several hashtags pointing towards an imminent collapse. Adding insult to injury, someone set up a projector that scrolled a trail of insults on the Twitter building. The text called Musk a “lawless oligarch, space Karen, mediocre manchild, worthless billionaire.”

As video of the projector insults made its way around the Twitter platform, “Space Karen” became a breakout hit despite the endless stream of users posting send-offs in the face of an imminent collapse. Even in its possibly final hours, Twitter couldn’t resist a well-made insult, particularly one aimed at the man who did so much damage in so short amount of time.

You can see reactions to Space Karen below while still Twitter is somehow still working:

(Via CNN)