The Beetlejuice Easter Egg Tim Burton Slipped By Us In Wednesday
What happens when you take a precocious child from a macabre family, send her to a boarding school, and give her latent psychic powers? One gets Netflix's runaway success known as "Wednesday." Based on the Addams Family daughter of the same name, played by Jenna Ortega, "Wednesday" places the iconic character into Nevermore Academy, a school that holds a special place in the history of the spooky family on account of Gomez (Luis Guzman) and Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones) having met there.
Of course, one of the best people to bring this new "Wednesday" show to the small silver screen is the famously death-obsessed Tim Burton. Made famous for his endeavors like "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman," "Sleepy Hollow," and "Beetlejuice," Burton has a rather distinct style that is almost immediately apparent to anybody who has had any previous experiences with the director. Speaking with Empire, Tim Burton spoke about what inspired him to take on "Wednesday" and explained, "When I read this [script], it just spoke to me about how I felt in school and how you feel about your parents, how you feel as a person. It gave the Addams Family a different kind of reality. It was an interesting combination." Considering the status of Burton's works in pop culture, "Wednesday" is filled to the brim with clever callbacks and nods to his other movies.
There are tons of Easter eggs throughout Wednesday
Throughout "Wednesday," there are tons of Easter eggs inspired by Tim Burton's other famous works, which was very intentional. According to Variety, production designer Mark Scruton delighted in filling scenes with homages to Burton's body of work. One particular location in "Wednesday" is absolutely adorned with Burton references, and that is the Weathervanes coffee shop that many Nevermore Academy students frequent. If one pays close attention, one can see that the weathervanes channel the essence of two Burton movies — one is inspired by the Headless Horseman from "Sleepy Hollow," and one emulates the hat from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."
However, these two examples were far from the only Easter eggs, and there were several that were explicitly designed to reference previous "Addams Family" shows and movies, like Pilgrim World and the archery scene, which are nods to "Addams Family Values," as well as the secret way into Nevermore Academy's secret society consisting of the two finger snaps made popular by the "Addams Family" theme song. In an interview with Netflix's Tudum, Scruton said, "There's Tim Burton Easter eggs, there's 'Addams Family' Easter eggs and there's clues to the mystery of the show. We [tried to] give subtle clues as to the course of the storyline, even printing things [on] the wallpapers of the rooms." Of course, one cannot put Burton-based Easter eggs in "Wednesday" without some involving the "Ghost with the Most."
There are multiple references to Beetlejuice in Wednesday
Released in 1988, "Beetlejuice" tells the story of a recently deceased couple, played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis, who has to come to terms with their status as ghosts and the family that moves into their house. Seeking to restore their former peace and ownership of their home, the previously mentioned couple conjures up a bio-exorcist known as Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton). Animated and eccentric, Beetlejuice terrorizes the Deetz family with possession and donning the likeness of a warped and twisted snake-like creature. Considering the popularity of "Beetlejuice" among Tim Burton's works, it makes perfect sense as to why there are multiple "Beetlejuice" references in "Wednesday."
Probably the easiest of these references is the shrunken head that resembles the big game hunter in the afterlife waiting room from "Beetlejuice" upon the desk of Principal Weems (Gwendoline Christie). Likewise, the Hyde creature also resembles the look of Beetlejuice's snake transformation, complete with wide eyes and a fanged mouth. However, there is a more subtle reference in "Wednesday" that emulates the famous white and black striped suit made popular by Beetlejuice. In Episode 7, titled "If You Don't Woe Me by Now," Wednesday and Tyler (Hunter Doohan) watch the supposed horror movie "Legally Blonde" while eating popcorn at Crackstone's Crypt. However, eagle-eyed viewers or those with their brightness settings turned up may notice that the popcorn bag has the same color scheme and look as Beetlejuice's typical suit, which was definitely intentional. Luckily for Wednesday and Tyler, they weren't immediately compelled to sing "Day-O!" by Harry Belafonte, though this is still a great Easter egg for longtime fans of Burton.