Equally talented in front of and behind the camera, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice always had to be like Wednesday — but it does make some specific references to the hit Netflix show. Released 36 years after the original film. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was Tim Burton’s next project Wednesday the first season that saw his long-awaited return to the macabre (and led to his biggest success in years). Burton knocked Wednesday Showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar will write the sequel and cast Wednesday Addams herself, Jenna Ortega, as Lydia Deetz’s rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid.
Involving Ortega and the writers behind it Wednesday was a smart move because it ensured that Beetlejuice 2 not only attracted nostalgic fans of the first film, but also attracted Wednesdayhuge fan base. Part Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceThe success of the blockbuster at the box office can be explained Wednesday walking tours because it’s essentially a big screen spin-off Wednesday in everything but name. Beetlejuice 2 not only shares the creepy atmosphere and twisted sense of humor with Wednesday; it shares some similarities with the Netflix series, such as a creepy boarding school and an eccentric dance scene.
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Jenna Ortega plays a dark, moody high school student
Astrid Dietz is essentially Wednesday 2.0
The casting of Ortega in the lead role is one of the most obvious parallels between Wednesday And Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Not only does Ortega lead the casts of both projects with a strong roster of Gen Z stars; these two characters have a lot in common. They are both dark, moody, misanthropic high school students who have very little interest in making friends or studying. They both have morbid hobbies and interests: Wednesday is obsessed with the Bermuda Triangle, and Astrid loves to re-read the dark literature of Fyodor Dostoevsky over and over again, reliving the suffering of her protagonist.
Ortega has a very similar delivery style to both characters, with a dry and deadpan approach to humor. This makes the two plays very similar—virtually indistinguishable except for different character names—but since each character’s lines were written by the same writers, they reveal a similar delivery style. In many ways, Astrid is characterized as Wednesday 2.0. She was intended to be a new version of her mother Lydia for a new generation of moviegoers, but the creation ended up being a carbon copy of Wednesday.
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The story begins in a creepy boarding school
Astrid’s boarding school has a lot in common with Nevermore Academy
Not only do Wednesday and Astrid share the same disdain for high school; they both also attend the same high schools. They both attend creepy boarding schools located inside giant, creaky old mansions. Wednesday attends Nevermore Academy, a school specifically designed for students with paranormal abilities, where her roommate is a werewolf, her principal is a werewolf, and her classmates are a siren, a gorgon, and a vampire. Astrid’s school is more of a regular prep school; she is the only student with supernatural powers and doesn’t even know she has them until she leaves.
In both Wednesday And Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceThe boarding school serves as the catalyst for this story. IN WednesdayThe boarding school is where the mysterious Haida creature begins to exterminate its prey one by one; V Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceBoarding school is where Astrid’s mother and grandmother pick her up to take her to her grandfather’s funeral, effectively completing the cast and setting up the sequel’s plot. But where Wednesday stays in boarding school Beetlejuice 2 quickly leaves that setting behind to return the franchise to the creepy small town of Winter River.
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Jenna Ortega doesn’t get along with her classmates
Both Wednesday and Astrid are loners who despise the popular kids.
In both Wednesday And Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceOrtega’s characters don’t get along with their classmates. Wednesday and Astrid are loners who have no interest in friendship and despise the popular kids. This is not the case in Ortega’s entire filmography. IN Stuck in the middleHer character Harley Diaz has a best friend named Ellie. IN Miller’s GirlHer character Cairo Sweet has a best friend named Winnie, whom she tells about her affair. IN Scream In the films, her character Tara Carpenter leads an active social life with a large circle of close friends who care deeply about her.
But neither Wednesday nor Astrid are as socially active as Ortega’s other characters. They are both shown as lone wolves who feel ambivalent or even hostile towards their fellow students. First episode Wednesday begins with the title character releasing a swarm of hungry piranhas into the school swimming pool in an attempt to kill the bullies who have locked her brother Pugsley in a locker. When Astrid first appears in Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceshe was pranked by a group of popular girls, whom she continues to scold with one of Beetlejuice 2best quotes.
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Delores’ hand crawls independently like a Wednesday thing
It’s a subtle reference to the medium, but it’s unmistakable
While it may be an unnecessary subplot that doesn’t really lead anywhere or add much to the overall narrative, Delores’ quest for revenge was a great concept in the film. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Betelgeuse found it amusing to have an ex-wife who is even more evil and vindictive than him and seeks revenge. She was the quintessential femme fatale, and Monica Bellucci was the perfect casting choice to bring this seductively sinister character to life. But aside from some fun flashbacks in the style of old black-and-white Italian horror films, she doesn’t bring much to the film.
However, she brought one of Beetlejuice 2subtle references to Wednesday. Delores makes her first appearance in the afterlife as all of her severed body parts are reanimated. Her reanimated body parts drag along the floor and reattach themselves to each other, eventually piecing her back together, all set to one of Burton’s best soundtracks: the Bee Gees’ “Tragedy.” When Delores’ hand crawls on its own to reunite with the hand from which it was cut off, it looks suspiciously like the Thing from Wednesday. The creature is Wednesday’s favorite hand and surprisingly helps her in the investigation of Hyde’s case.
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Jenna Ortega’s love interest turns out to be a villain
Wednesday and Astrid fall in love with a bad boy
Both Wednesday And Beetlejuice Beetlejuice give Ortega’s character a love interest, and in both cases that love interest turns out to be the villain. Midway through the first season WednesdayThe main character began an affair with the son of the sheriff, Tyler Halpin. At first, Tyler seemed like a good guy who truly loved Wednesday. However, midway through the season, it was revealed that Tyler is the true identity of the monster Hyde, who has been killing people all over the city. It was a shocking turn in Wednesdaybut the second time it wasn’t so shocking.
IN Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceGough and Millar copied their own plot twist. At the beginning of the film, Astrid meets a local boy named Jeremy Fraser, with whom she quickly falls in love due to their shared love of Dostoevsky. Like Tyler, Jeremy initially seems like a genuinely nice guy with genuine feelings for Astrid. But like Tyler, he later turns out to be a serial killer plotting to betray her. As it turns out, Jeremy is a murderer who killed his parents, then died falling out of his treehouse, and is now a ghost.
Jeremy has a wicked plan to steal Astrid’s life; he tricks her into thinking that he is just an innocent dead man and she can resurrect him by signing a contract in the afterlife. However, he really plans to exchange her life for his. When she signs the contract, she will be doomed to an eternity in the afterlife, and he will be free to walk the Earth with her stolen life force. At least it did Beetlejuice 2love interest/villainous twist is a bit more complicated than that WednesdayLove interest/villainous twist, with a couple more angles.
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Jenna Ortega has an eccentric dance scene
The most obvious Wednesday reference in Beetlejuice 2 is the dance scene.
The most iconic moment in Wednesday This is a dance scene. In Season 1 Episode 4, “Woe That Night,” Wednesday attends a school dance with Tyler and destroys the dance floor in one of the most memorable dance scenes ever put to film. Ortega’s fun, unconventional dance choreography was inspired by the dance “Aloofness” from the 1969 Bob Fosse musical. Sweet charity. The dance quickly became a TikTok trend and a defining image of the hit Netflix series. Decades later, Ortega will still be remembered for Wednesday a dance sequence that briefly captivated the world.
Climax sequence Beetlejuice Beetlejuice contains a not-so-subtle hint Wednesdaydance scene. Betelgeuse has stolen Lydia and Rory’s wedding as he wants her to keep her side of the deal she made in exchange for saving Astrid. When Lydia, Rory, Astrid and Delia try to protest the ceremony, Betelgeuse uses one of her most unusual abilities to stop them. Betelgeuse launches into a rousing rendition of Richard Harris’ classic pop hit “MacArthur Park” and gets everyone else in the church to join in.
During the musical number “MacArthur Park”, Betelgeuse uses his powers to force Astrid and Delia to dance against their will. Judging by their confused expressions, they cannot control their movements, but Astrid’s movements are very similar to Wednesday’s. This is not a copy of the dance in the style of Fosse from Wednesdaybut close enough that the reference point is clear. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has many links to Wednesdaybut the dance scene is the most obvious parallel between the two projects.