The Addams Family is a 1991 American fantasy comedy film based on the characters from the cartoon of the same name created by cartoonist Charles Addams. The film was originally developed at Orion Pictures (which, at the time, owned the rights to the television series on which the film was based due to its ownership of the Filmways library and later quietly relaunched by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on September 11, 2014). But due to the studio's financial problems, Paramount Pictures stepped in to complete the film and handled North American distribution; Orion retained the international rights, though these rights now belong to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer through their purchase of Orion.