The Addams Family readership and did not want it associated with characters who could be seen on television by just anybody. After Shawn's 1987 retirement, the characters were welcomed back to "The New Yorker". The Addams Family's first animated appearance was on the third episode of Hanna-Barbera's "The New Scooby-Doo Movies", "Scooby-Doo Meets the Addams Family" (a.k.a. "Wednesday is Missing"), which first aired on CBS Saturday morning, September 23, 1972. Four of the original cast (John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, and Ted Cassidy) returned for the special, which involved the Addamses in a mystery with the Scooby-Doo gang. The Addams Family characters
Thing (The Addams Family) a spider. In "Addams Family Values" Thing is shown driving a car into Debbie, in order to rescue Uncle Fester. After this, Fester gets into the car and Thing drives them off to the Addams Family Mansion, albeit erratically, frightening Fester in the process. This is also true for the 1998 series, "The New Addams Family", where Thing was played by Canadian magician/actor Steven Fox, who hails from Toronto. Its classic box only appears in one episode of the series (the remake of "Thing's Romance"); in others, it is revealed that he lives in a closet that has been modified