On September 6th, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was released to theaters. A sequel to the classic film Beetlejuice, it has taken theaters by storm. Everyone was interested to see if the actors would still have their old spark, if the new actors could fit in seamlessly, and if director Tim Burton could pull it off. As it turns out, the OG actors have gotten older, but so have their characters. In this film, all three generations of Deetz women return home for a family tragedy when Lydia’s (Winona Ryder) daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), finds a portal to the underworld, taking Lydia right back to the world of Beetlejuice again, this time 30 years later. 

When looking at the original film, there are a lot of similarities and differences to be seen, both good and bad. One of the most notable differences is the absence of the Maitlands, some of the main stars of the original Beetlejuice. They were briefly mentioned to have ‘moved on’, but many fans are unhappy with that explanation. The real reason, Burton said, was because he wanted to move on from their narration and focus more on the grandmother-mother-daughter dynamic. (Though there’s another theory that they were omitted because ghosts aren’t meant to age and the actors who played said ghosts have.) 

Aside from that, producers added one aspect to this film people are happy with: the animated death scene of Lydia’s father, Charlez Deetz. This stop-motion animation is a nod to Burton’s earlier works in animation, detailing Charlez’s death by shark attack. One theory suggests that the reason why the actor who played Charlez previously (Jeffrey Jones) did not make a comeback was due to his plea of no contest after he was charged with possession and solicitation of child pornography. Charlez does briefly appear in the rest of the movie, however he is not played by Jones.  Rather, an unnamed actor who appears gruesomely headless (missing most of his shoulders in fact) plays him. No need for Jones’ likeness when there is no “likeness”. 

Stop motion also made its way into the sandworm scene of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, delighting the fans who enjoyed the old-school animation of the sandworm in the first film. Unfortunately, as time has gone on, claymation has become less popular in favor of its successor, CGI.  So seeing the stop motion in a modern movie added a touch of whimsy that pulled in Tim Burton fans even more. 

As another aspect, fans enjoyed bringing back the original actors and seeing their age show on their characters: Beetlejuice with extra dust and moss on his iconic suit and Lydia as a full adult, still spooky as ever. 

One fan, HHS student Kami Hernandez, commented on the stop motion, saying she “loved the claymation,” and that it was good to keep some of the same style from the first movie.

Some say that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was marketed towards a younger audience this time, causing them to wonder “Why not go for the old fans who loved Beetlejuice already?” 

The answer is simple: the old audience didn’t need to be hooked on a sequel as they were already ecstatic to see the original cast back on the big screen. Some elements, though, kept them interested and were appreciated nods to the first film, such as the stop motion, the original cast, and the “MacArthur Park” dance sequence during the wedding. This scene, a nod to the absolutely iconic “Day-O” scene from the first film (while a bit long) was certainly a welcome callback.

 All together, there were various pros and cons to the decisions producers made, but it all turned out into a fantastic film and sequel. 

Big Beetlejuice fan and local HHS science teacher, Mrs. Lach, says “Most sequels don’t live up to the hype, but this one did,” solidifying the overall opinion. 

Finally, the movie has been highly rated and lived up to expectations from such a hard sequel, reaching 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, a solid 7/10 on IMDb, and with an HHS student poll saying 43.9 viewers enjoyed the new movie as a solid sequel to the original. The original actors relived what was certainly a fantastic first film and the new actors got to experience that magic. It could’ve easily ruined Beetlejuice’s glowing reputation, but it simply added to his repertoire and confirmed: that he’s still got it.