The Serie merlin has managed to captivate the audiences of its premiere in Netflix with a story full of mystery, black humor and various hidden winks throughout its eight episodes.
production designer Mark Scruton revealed that nevermore academy, where the plot takes place, is full of references to the movies and series of The Addams Fools.
In an interview with Netflix Tudum, Scruton asserted that hide these easter egg within the project he was almost a game to the production design team he led.
“Are they easter egg of Tim Burtonare they easter egg of the mad addams and there are clues about the mystery of the program”, he commented.
“(We tried) to give subtle hints about the course of history, we even print things (on) the wallpapers in the rooms,” he added.
If you didn’t notice any of these, don’t worry.it is. The designer revealed some of the winks cast in merlin. Next, we tell you what are the references that she uncovered.
secrets in the gargoyles
One of the hidden references in the nevermore academy It is located in the architecture of the school. And it is that the production reflected the different groups of students in the gargoyles.
“All the gargoyles, (they) were designed to represent the different groups within the schools,” explained. “So there are vampires, gorgons, and mermaids.”
the giant bear the mad addams in the 60s
Likewise, there are also several allusions to previous productions about the Addams family, the iconic characters created by cartoonist charles addams for a comic strip in 1938.
“It all informed us to a certain extent and we gave it little winks.” he pointed.
One of those hidden winks is the bear in Principal Larissa Weems’ officewhich is identical to the giant bear that the family has in the first series of the mad addams (1964-1966).
“So we spent a lot of time trying to find the teddy bear ending in Larissa’s office, which references the (1960s) TV show,” he said.
Morticia and Cousin Thing’s favorite chair
Another of the easter egg It can be found at nevermore secret library that Merlina Addams finds. In this one, there is a photo where you can see Homer and Morticia sitting down.
However, the wink does not refer to them, but to the chair where they aresince it is the same one in which the character of Morticia has sat in several productions about The crazy Adddams.
“The wicker seat they sit on, we have put it in one of the black and white photos in the library”, added the creator.
In the same way, he asserted that the most astute viewers will also be able to find other details in the library regarding the Addams; between these, a painting of the furry cousin Thing.
Jericho, a town full of nods to the Charles Addams comics
The production design team also took inspiration from comic strips by charles addams, where the iconic family that has conquered from generation to generation was born.
“Obviously we look at the illustrations of Charles Addams and I took many things from there that we have built in Jericho”, uncovered Scruton, about the suburb beyond Nevermore.
“Then, many of the window displays in Jericho refer to small incidental moments in those cartoons of Charles Addams,” he confessed.
“There are a florist, a shoe store and a thrift store I think they appear quite a lot in some of those editions”, he said.
Another of the easter egg Hidden in this town is the therapist’s office at the door. Valerie Kinbott. And it is that it bears the surnames of the showrunners: Miles Miller and Alfred Gough.
Winks at the work of Tim Burton
Scruton said that, with the help of the art designers, he also slipped in some clever references to the work of Tim Burtondirector of half the episodes of merlin.
“There is always a fine line in these because you don’t want to end up right behind someone’s shoulder in one take. But they are all there,” she stated.
For example, at Uriah’s Heap taxidermy shop, there are several mice that “reflect some of Tim’s movies”, said. Also, there is a rodent version of Freddy Krueger.
Burton approved of the inside jokes when he saw them. “A lot of the more subtle things we left there and hoped you wouldn’t notice. He saw most of it and was fine”, he concluded.