Warning: Spoilers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s depiction of its dead characters doubles down on the biggest complaint about Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis’ ghosts from the original movie. TheBeetlejuicesequel maintains a lot of the classic lore and iconography from the first film.Danny Elfman’s unforgettable theme musicplays on the soundtrack and, once again, the characters have to say Betelgeuse’s name three times to make him appear. It brings back the model town in the Maitlands’ attic and Delia Deetz’s uniquely macabre artwork, and it practically turns the shrunken-headed ghosts into Minions this time around.
Althoughit updates theBeetlejuicecastand story to appeal to a younger audience,Beetlejuice Beetlejuicesticks to the original movie’s guns. It’s just as weird and just as creepy as its predecessor. Betelgeuse’s sense of humor hasn’t gotten any more politically correct andTim Burton’s horror movie referenceshaven’t gotten any less obscure. And on top of that, it tackles the biggest complaint about the ghosts of Adam and Barbara Maitland from the original film – but not by rectifying the problem; by doubling down on it.
Richard & Charles Aren’t Constantly Wet In The Afterlife, Despite Dying In Water (Just Like The Maitlands)
Everyone Dies In Water, But No One Is Wet In The Afterlife
One of the best running gags in theBeetlejuicefranchise is that all the ghosts in the afterlife look exactly as they did when they died. A surfer who was eaten by a shark only has his top half in the afterlife. A competitive eater who choked to death during a hot dog eating contest has his mouth stuffed with hot dogs in the afterlife. So,since they drowned when they crashed their car into a river, the Maitlands’ ghosts should technically be wetthroughout the afterlife.
Since they drowned when they crashed their car into a river, the Maitlands’ ghosts should technically be wet throughout the afterlife.
Adam and Barbara even arrived back at their house still soaking wet, but they dried quickly and stayed dry for the rest of the movie.Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceaddresses this inconsistency by embracing it completely. Two of its most important dead characters – Charles and Richard – both died in water:Charles was attacked by a shark and Richard was attacked by piranhas, but neither of them is wet in the afterlife.
Beetlejuice’s Water Deaths Have A Good Reason For Breaking The Afterlife’s Rules
It’s Not Practical To Keep The Actors Wet Through The Whole Movie
TheBeetlejuicemovies had a good reason to breakthe afterlife’s rulesand let the wet ghosts dry off. It’s not an in-universe reason; it’s a behind-the-scenes reason. It’s just not practical to have the actors soaking wet throughout the movie just to keep that consistency.The production would have to employ a full-time crew member just to hose down the actorsin between every single take. It’s worth having a slight inconsistency inBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceto keep the actors comfortable on the set.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Cast
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the sequel to the original Tim Burton classic that starred Michael Keaton and Wynona Rider in a horror-comedy that involved ghosts trying to scare off new homebuyers from taking their house. The sequel brings back Michael Keaton as the hilarious and sleazy ghost with selfish intentions, now joined by Jenna Ortega in a new role.
