#BEETLEJUICE DAY O SCENE MOVIE#
It’s one of my favorite Tim Burton films, which is saying a lot considering that I love almost all of them (except Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… holy crap that movie is bad). There’s a lot more I could say about the film, and could probably fill the rest of the month with favorites only from Beetlejuice, but for now I’ll stop here. It’s such a clever twist, as the scheme seems to go perfectly and they’re so proud, only for Lydia to come up to tell them that her parents want them to come down, and we see the dinner party laughing about how fun the experience was. Of course, nothing is what it seems in Beetlejuice, and the fact that the Maitlands’ plan doesn’t work fits right into that. Add in the perfectly timed scare at the end, just as the group seems to have completely gotten over the fear of being possessed, and the scene couldn’t be any better. It’s the sort of culture clash that’s at the heart of the film’s humor, and it fits perfectly into the Maitlands’ view of the Deetzes. It’s easy to imagine that they would choose to scare the Deetzes and their guests by interrupting their formal dinner party with calypso music and forcing them to dance and sing along. Adam and Barbara Maitland were very laid back in life, doing things spontaneously and having their own style. Belafonte popularized the Jamaican folk song 'Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)' by recording it for his hit 1956 album Calypso, which helped bring the music genre to the masses. From the choice of Harry Belafonte music (which they listened to before they died) to their choice of scare tactic. But what’s really great is that even though the Maitlands (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) aren’t physically in the scene, you can feel their fingerprints all over it. The rest of the cast does a great job, especially Jeffrey Jones with his “mighty deadly black tarantula” dance move. Go back and watch the clip again and just focus on her face. And then, by the end, she’s totally into it, after they do the bit where they all join hands and rock back and forth. tally man, tally me bananas”, and her eyes get really wide and she looks down at herself in shock, in disbelief at what she’s doing. I especially love when she throws her arms up to start dancing when she sings “come Mr. As she continues she struggles between confusion, embarrassment, and participation in the song, and it’s all there on her face. The scene is amazing with OHara and Jones mimic singing and dancing to the song, while Belafontes booming baritone magically comes out of their mouths. She lets out with a loud “day-o” which she fully commits to, and by the 2 nd one she has the most confused look on her face, as though she’s trying really hard to work out a logical explanation for why she suddenly burst into song. She completely sells it, communicating so much with her facial expressions throughout the song. What scene did you think I was going to pick?Ĭatherine O’Hara is the reason this scene works. Take a look, and read on for my thoughts: It’s the scene, for me, that perfectly captures the essence of the film’s spirit, despite the fact that features none of the 3 lead actors of the film. And whenever I think of Beetlejuice, my mind immediately jumps to one particular scene. Maybe it’s because I dressed up as the title character one year for Halloween, or because the movie fits in with the season so well. Whenever Halloween approaches, I always think of Beetlejuice. In memory of the great Harry Belafonte, today's SoundTRAX selection is his 1956 classic "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" from Beetlejuice.Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things. Remember Winona Ryder levitating and dancing to "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)?" Yeah, you do.īut the most iconic scene has to be the dinner party, where Catherine O'Hara's character, as well as her guests, becomes possessed. Sure, the great Danny Elfman did the score, but Belafonte steals the movie with FOUR songs, two of which landed on the official soundtrack. It is impossible to think of that movie and not have his songs play in your head. Yes, he was a groundbreaking artist- "The King of Calypso"- who by 1959 was the most highly paid Black performer in history, despite the widespread segregation of the time.īelafonte's charismatic live performances inevitably led to films like Carmen Jones, Buck and the Preacher, and as recently as 2018, Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman, which would be his final role.Īnd of course, there was his life-long commitment to activism, which included civil rights and countless humanitarian causes.īut for an entire generation, their first introduction to Harry Belafonte just may have come from the soundtrack to a certain 1988 film about a "ghost with the most." Yesterday we learned of the passing of Harry Belafonte at the age of 96.
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