Beetlejuice Beetlejuice avoids a big plot hole with dead Deetz family member

Warning! This article contains major spoilers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!The death of Charles dates in Beetlejuice 2 Could have created a plot hole in the sequel, but Tim Burton cleverly avoids this with a hilarious running gag in the afterlife. Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton and Catherine O’Hara reprise their roles as Lydia Detz, Betelgeuse and Delia Detz in Beetlejuice 2S figure, the The sequel does not bring back original actor Jeffrey Jones, who portrayed Charles Deetz in the 1988 horror comedy. Although Jeffrey Jones not returning as Charles makes sense, dealing with the absence of the character may have led to some conflict for Beetlejuice 2s plot.

The 1988 movie established that killing off a character is not an effective way to explain their physical absence. Barbara and Adam Maitland died in Beetlejuices opening scene and their ghosts are forced to inhabit their winter river house for the next 125 years, with teenager Lydia Deets, and later her parents Delia and Charles, able to see them. Therefore, Charles Debt dies in Beetlejuice 2 wouldn’t have been enough to justify his absence, regardless of Jeffrey Jones’ return status, with the Deetzes’ after-life misadventures compounding the potential plot hole. However, Burton finds a clever way to dodge this issue.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice cleverly brings back Charles Deetz’s ghost into the afterlife

Charles’ ghost returns without his body missing above his shoulders

Since Charles’ ghost would inevitably appear in the afterlife or the Winter River House, the place that Beetlejuice 2 Reiterating that he was most attached to in life, leaving him out would have been a plot hole. However, leave Charles out of Beetlejuice 2The promotional materials were strategic, as the character appears in the 2024 sequel. Avoid the potential plot hole, Charles Deetz’s ghost wanders the afterlife throughout the movie and finally reunites with Delia in Beetlejuice 2It’s the end.

Considering Jeffrey Jones did not return, it seemed there would be no way for Beetlejuice 2 To include Charles. Burton found an incredibly clever workaround to the casting problem by revealing that Charles Deetz died from being eaten by a shark. The shark launched out of the water and much of the top half of Charles’ body, so his ghost was missing with his shoulders and above. With only his shoulders down being seen, Beetlejuice 2 May not require Jeffrey Jones or a full recast to bring Charles back And portray him in the new misadventures of the Deetz family tree with the afterlife.

Still, Charles’ return required a voice recasting. When Charles wanders around the afterlife, He speaks almost incoherently as he gargles the blood spurting from his esophagus. Charles’ speech can still be understood, however, with a new actor other than Jeffrey Jones who was the one to relay his lines. With Charles’ face missing and his voice altered by the shark chomping off his head and neck, Beetlejuice 2 is able to preserve the image and characterization of the figure from the 1988 movie as he interacts with Delia and others in the afterlife.

The return of Charles Deetz also revives a beloved Tim Burton movie trademark

Tim Burton brings back stop-motion animation to show Charles’ death

Before his ghost appeared in the afterlife, the image of Charles Deetz as he was still the original Beetlejuice Movie and before his death appears during a stop-motion sequence. During the stop-motion animated scene, Charles’ death is depicted on the screen While Delia describes the tragic series of events that happened, including his excitement while flying, his plane’s crash, and the shark jumping out of the water to tear off his upper body. It’s a clever way for Burton to bring back the Charles that audiences remember from the 1988 movie, and revives one of the director’s most beloved trademarks.

Using stop-motion animation has long been a distinguishing feature of Tim Burton’s movies, with the original Beetlejuice Also use the technique with sequences with Delia’s moving art sculptures and the sandworm. Tim Burton also executive produced and inspired the story and characters of the 1993s The Nightmare Before Christmas Before directing 2005’s dead bride and 2012s FrankenvenieAll of which are stop-motion animated movies. Use of the format began to dwindle in Burton’s movies as he leaned more into CGI animation, however His return to basics and his filmmaking origins in Beetlejuice 2 meant strongly reviving his stop-motion focus.

Why doesn’t the ghost of Charles Deetz come to the Winter River house?

Adam & Barbara’s ghosts were sent directly to the house

Charles Deetz returns as a ghost in the afterlife and alive in a stop-motion animation sequence, but surprisingly isn’t in Beetlejuices most iconic location. When Barbara and Adam died in BeetlejuiceTheir ghosts are transported straight back to their winter river house, still dripping wet from the river where they were killed. Only when the couple pulled a door on the attic wall, they finally went to the second world. however, Charles’ ghost goes directly to the afterlife when he dies, and is never seen at the Winter River House..

Charles’ ghost going to the Winter River House would make sense because it is the earthly place he is most closely associated with, as Delia chooses to bury him there due to his affection for the home. Instead, Charles’ ghost only appears in the afterlife realm, and he nearly takes the soul train to the great beyond before reuniting with Delia’s ghost in the sequel’s ending. It is It is possible that Charles’ unique death caused him to be sent directly to the netherworld Before being given his next steps, then he could be transported to the Winter River House after Beetlejuice 2.