‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’ Trailer Draws Comparisons to a Forgotten Series

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice has gotten a final trailer ahead of its September release. The sequel to the 1988 film chronicles the Deetz family’s return to Winter River. All Hell breaks loose—literally—when Lydia’s daughter, Astrid, uncovers the afterlife portal and apparently runs into some trouble.

The new trailer offers a better look at the plot, largely absent from the first trailer, which spent most of its time rightfully spotlighting Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, and Catherine O’Hara as returning cast members. Here, we learn Ryder’s Lydia will actually team up with Keaton’s Betelgeuse to save Astrid (Jenna Ortega). It’s a neat twist, considering the pair’s complicated relationship primarily took a backseat to Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam’s (Alec Baldwin) story in the original.

However, while it might be a fun angle, it’s not necessarily unique, with many pointing out the similarities to the animated Beetlejuice series.

Betelgeuse and Lydia teamed up in the animated series

The animated Beetlejuice series premiered in 1989 and ran for four seasons before coming to an end in 1991. Although more obscure now, the series was a hit for ABC and even won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program in 1990. It’s filled with the expected Betelgeuse puns and twisted, bizarre scenery of the Neitherworld. However, the biggest departure from the movie is Betelgeuse and Lydia’s relationship, which pairs them as best friends (celebrating their one-year anniversary of friendship at the series’ beginning) and has them teaming up for adventures and hijinks.

Animated Betelgeuse and Lydia’s relationship is softer, stemming from network desires to appeal to children. Lydia garners self-confidence from Betelgeuse, while Betelgeuse expresses the utmost loyalty to Lydia, becoming quite hostile if anyone dares to threaten her. A similar team-up (albeit one that is less trusting) is on display in Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’s final trailer, with Lydia summoning Betelgeuse to help save her daughter.

The trailer shows a lot of the duo—and certainly much more of Keaton’s Betelgeuse, who, despite being the namesake character, only appeared in about 17 minutes of the original movie. Its final moments also seem to imply the duo will be getting married, or at the very least, riffing on their almost-maybe-marriage in 1988’s Beetlejuice. Whether the two will become friends as they were in the animated series or just work to reach a common goal remains unknown. The anticipated sequel is holding its cards close, which is a nice change in a cinematic landscape with a bad habit of spoiling too much pre-release.