Silly little girl with silly little ideas

We’re all FUCKED

“Deep down”

After making Morticia, I had to talk about Ophelia! And you might be surprised to learn that Ophelia Frump (or Ophelia Addams depending on the continuity you follow) actually does exist in the original cartoons of Chas Addams!

Mind you, Charles Addams actually did not “invent” Ophelia. The character’s name, personality and the like were invented for and by the television series - but Charles Addams did create a prototype, or rather invented his own version of her. I have read in some places that Charles Addams only created the “Ophelia-like” character after the airing of the sitcom, as a nod to the television character ; but due to her character appearing in various places, I will not say I am certain of this. I will need in the future to check the dates of the various strips and drawings she appears in : but it is this “Addams family feast” drawing right above that officially made the “flower-haired girl” part of the unnamed “Addams clan”: you can see her on the left. 

As in the television series the character is a blond girl with flowers in her hair - but beyond that, this “prototype” has barely any link to the sitcom Ophelia. She dresses in black dresses, not white. She does not seem very happy, joyful or lively : she has a sort of calm, placid, expression with sleepy eyes and a faint smile. She also has a bit of dark eyeshadow. Beyond the feast drawing, she also appears in this second drawing (right above) - she looks a bit younger and smaller than in the other strips, and asks her mother (who is a classical, stereotypical witch) if she can borrow her “broom” to go “out” for the night (a parody of the girls asking if they can borrow a car to go out). This drawing shows that the flower-haired girl and her witch of a mother do not live in the decaying manor of the Addamses, but rather in a stone-and-wood house, much simpler and smaller in appearance, the kind of wooden cabin or old outland cottage a fairytale witch is expected to live in. The hag of this drawing can be compared to Granny Frump from the television series (but I’ll get to her later). 

There are only three drawings (that I know of) where we are CERTAIN the Ophelia-prototype appears. There are other characters similar to her in the drawings of Chas Addams - other sad-faced, pale, thin, blond girls, in bizarre and weird situations ; but for the sake of simplicity I’ll stick to the three “canonic” ones. In this third drawing, that you can see above, the Ophelia-prototype sits in a wicker chair on a porch, at night, in what seems to be a Southern-style setting (note the high plants in the night, and what might be a screen door behind the chair). And a man with the bizarre Addams-like features (pale skin, small black-circled eyes, not particularly beautiful dark hair) is kneeling in front of her, making what seems to be a love confession, but in the dark Addams way twisted n “There’s enough hate in my heart for both of us”. It is unclear what “Ophelia” thinks of his words, due to her lack of expression, and given we never see the man together with her again, it might not have worked out.

Bounce light is something I didn't cover but I adore it!