All reviews of the original 1988 film

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice — Careful, don't say his name three times! Director Tim Burton's long-awaited sequel to his comedy-horror classic about the afterlife and its wildest demon is finally here. And there are plenty of knowing references to the 1988 film that started it all.

The repetition of their Beetlejuice Characters in the sequel include Michael Keaton in the title role, Winona Ryder as the “strange and unusual” Lydia Deetz, and Catherine O'Hara as her artistic stepmother Delia. Jenna Ortega joins the cast as Lydia's daughter Astrid, while Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Danny DeVito, and Willem Dafoe also star.

Read on to find out all the possibilities Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a homage to the original. (Spoilers about the plot of the film follow!)

The opening sequence

Beetlejuice introduced audiences to the Connecticut suburb of Winter River and its charming covered bridges. Both the original film and the sequel feature an opening credits sequence, with music by composer Danny Elfman, that introduces us to the town – only to pan out and reveal that it is a miniature version of the town in the attic of the Deetz family home.

Later in Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceAstrid evades danger on her bicycle in the streets of Winter River, not unlike Adam and Barbara Maitland, played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis in the original. In this part, the couple suffers a somewhat macabre fate that takes us to the afterlife and thus marks the start of what is now a two-part film series.

Delia’s dangerous sculptures

O'Hara's character stormed into Beetlejuice with a fabulous wardrobe, a dislike of country life, and several abstract metal sculptures – which later came to life thanks to Betelgeuse's demonic magic. Although not as dangerous in the sequel, these works of art do appear at Astrid's boarding school, where her now-famous grandmother clearly exerts influence as the namesake of the art center.

Interesting fact: In 2023, during the filming of Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceOne of Delia's prop sculptures was stolen from the set in East Corinth, Vermont.

“Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)”

O'Hara confirmed last March that Harry Belafonte's “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” would be used again in the sequel, after the original featured a memorable musical moment when Delia and her dinner guests grooved and lip-smacking to the tune through some sort of ghostly possession.

Not long after, fans got a glimpse of Burton recapturing the song's magic. As the sequel's teaser trailer revealed, a children's choir sings the Belafonte classic in a slower, sadder manner at the funeral of Charles Deetz (played by Jeffrey Jones in the original).

The recently deceased (and their waiting room)

The imagination of Burton and his production teams leaves nothing to be desired. Beetlejuice cinematic universe set in a bureaucratic afterlife where the recently deceased await their administrative fate. Figures and dolls bearing the marks of their demise are seen with shrunken heads, sickly colored or blue from suffocation or other ailments, and even sawn in half with different body parts functioning separately.

It would not be Beetlejuice Sequel with no references to the original inventions, which were implemented using practical rather than computer-generated effects. Burton takes the idea even further: one character glimpsed at was apparently killed in an underwater magic trick gone wrong, while another, eaten by piranhas, is still being gnawed by the wriggling fish. Meanwhile, the goggle-eyed shrunken-headed men play a prominent role in the second film – including dear Bob, Betelgeuse's mute assistant.

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The sandworms

The space between the afterlife and the mortal plane in Beetlejuice is a science fiction-inspired desert populated by vicious—stop-motion animated!—sandworms. Baldwin and Davis' characters initially flee in fear, using the creatures to prevent Betelgeuse's wedding to teenager Lydia.

In the new film, it is Lydia and her daughter Astrid who enter this dreamlike space and use the worms as a weapon again at a crucial moment. “There was a lot of sand and a lot of wind,” Ryder said Weekly entertainment in August. “I think it is common knowledge [that] it's really hard to walk on sand. I always had dreams where I was walking on sand, so that was it.”

Jane Butterfield

Little Jane, introduced in Beetlejuice As the daughter of ambitious real estate agent Jane Butterfield (Annie McEnroe), she is now an adult. When Amy Nuttall takes over from the young Rachel Mittelman, it is clear that selling houses – which may or may not be haunted – is a family legacy.

Lydia's red wedding dress

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice saves its biggest visual flashback for the story's climax. Lydia's red frilly wedding dress from the original reappears in the sequel, when she is once again forced to marry Keaton's insidious demon. He once again dons his foppish tuxedo in a darker red.

The dress, by Oscar-winning costume designer and frequent Burton collaborator Colleen Atwood, is iconic enough to warrant an obvious homage from Ortega on the red carpet of the 81st Venice International Film Festival, where the sequel had its world premiere on August 28.

Musical numbers with obsessive choreography

Given the reinterpretation of “Day-O,” viewers may be wondering if Beetlejuice Beetlejuice recreates a musical number in which the characters sing and dance through possession. Jimmy Webb's delightful and absurd “MacArthur Park” proves to be a perfect match, with Lydia, Astrid, Delia and others lip-syncing along to the tune while under Betelgeuse's control at his wedding. And yes, there's also a cake left out in the rain.

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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is now in theaters.