The dead have all the time in the world to regroup, replan, and return. And that’s exactly what the Ghost With the Most will do when Tim Burton’s long-awaited Beetlejuice sequel comes to theaters this year. Michael Keaton’s iconic dead man finally has the opportunity to get everything he always wanted, because the latest trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice teases an even bigger threat in the afterlife. And that will lead Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz to ask for help from the last person, dead or alive, she’d ever want to see.

Waiting rooms, weddings, and a whole lot of worms, this latest trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has everything. That includes a missing teenager (Jenna Ortega’s Astrid) who accidentally ends up in the realm of the dead. And we know who calls that place home. Here’s the film’s official synopsis from Warner Bros. Pictures:

After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

The movie will also mark the return of Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz. New cast members include Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Arthur Conti, and Willem Dafoe, maybe the most perfect human you could want for a Beetlejuice movie.

Will Beetlejuice finally marry Lydia? Or will Astrid prove to be the rotten apple of his eye this time? And why is the Ghost With the Most so cared of Monica Belluci’s spooky specter? We’re dying to find out the answers to all these questions. And we’ll get them when Beetlejuice Beetlejuice comes to theaters this fall on September 6, 2024.

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For decades now, we’ve heard rumors about a sequel to Beetlejuice, Tim Burton’s 1988 hit, which cemented his signature style. The story of a young goth girl (Winona Ryder) who tries to help two ghosts in her haunted home scare her parents away. The ghost they hire is a “Bio-exorcist” named Beetlejuice to do the deed. A cult classic to this day, plans for a sequel have always been rumored. During the ’90s, they even floated “Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian” to Kevin Smith.

But now, some 35 years after the original hit theaters, a sequel to the adventures of the “Bio Exorcist” is finally on the way. Original star Michael Keaton, director Tim Burton, and Scream and Wednesday star Jenna Ortega have all signed on for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

We love seeing them in this new poster:

And so, let’s bust out that Handbook for the Recently Deceased; here is everything we know about the upcoming Beetlejuice sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Title

As we hoped, the title for this movie is Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! We love it, because this way, if they ever make it a trilogy, they can call the third one Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! and Michael Keaton will magically appear when summoned, just by saying the title.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s Plot

The Beetlejuice sequel will center on the daughter of Lydia Deetz from the first film. And somehow, the previously unknown wife of Beetlejuice will play a part as well. We think it’s safe to say that both ghosts and the afterlife will play a rather large role. The teaser trailer also finally have our first look at Ortega and Keaton in their roles. We get to see Ortega’s character in deeper detail in another Beetlejuice Beetlejuice trailer.

The official synopsis for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sheds more light on the plot, sharing:

Beetlejuice is back!  After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River.  Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened.  With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

Click To View Gallery

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s Cast

The cast for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is shaping up to have a combination of stars from the original, and other actors Tim Burton has recently worked with. Michael Keaton will return as the titular character, joined by Jenna Ortega, who recently worked with Burton on Wednesday, as the daughter of Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz character from the first film. Winona Ryder is returning as well, as so is Catherine O’Hara as her stepmother. Other original cast members, like Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin, are likely not returning.

New to the cast is Willem Dafoe, who is playing a law enforcement officer in the afterlife. Empire Magazine revealed a new look at Willem Dafoe’s character ‘Afterlife Crimes’ cop Wolf Jackson.

Empire shares, “the film sees Dafoe play the brilliantly-named Wolf Jackson – an actor who, given that he was known for playing cop ‘Frank Hardballer’ when he was alive, has taken on a similar role in the afterlife as the head of the Afterlife Crimes Unit. Oh, and he has a segment of skull missing, leaving a bit of his brain exposed. ‘It’s not a normal role,’ admits Dafoe. ‘The most important thing for me was to find the tone. It had to be rooted, but it also had to be free enough that you could play with it.'”

Another new face is Justin Theroux, in an as-yet undisclosed role. Also new to the world of the afterlife is Monica Bellucci, who will play the previously unknown wife of Beetlejuice. This will be the first time working on a Tim Burton project for all three actors.

Behind the Scenes

Returning behind the camera is original filmmaker Tim Burton. Al Gough and Miles Millar, the creators of the hit Netflix Burton/Ortega collaboration Wednesday, wrote the screenplay for the sequel. Tim Burton’s longtime friend and collaborator Danny Elfman is returning to compose the score. It just wouldn’t feel like Beetlejuice without an Elfman score, would it?

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s Release Date

The long-awaited sequel to the Tim Burton horror/comedy classic Beetlejuice hits theaters on September 5, 2024.

Originally published on May 15, 2023.

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Beetlejuice fans, rejoice! The beloved trickster demon played by Michael Keaton captured the hearts of ‘80s and ‘90s kids. Now, a new generation gets to marvel in this world alongside us thanks to Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, a sequel film with a trailer that perfectly captures all the weirdness. 

It always feels good to watch anything by Tim Burton and even better to see Keaton and Winona Rider reprise their roles as Beetlejuice and Lydia Deetz. And how can you not love Jenna Ortega, who is a perfect choice to play Lydia’s teen daughter Astrid? 

In addition to the trailer, here’s the synopsis for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice:

After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River.  Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened.  With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

What Is the Release Date for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice?

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will hit theaters on September 6.

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The supreme Addams family member is coming back to our TV screens in two snaps. Well, not quite that fast. But soon enough, Netflix’s Wednesday will return for season two and we cannot wait to hear Jenna Ortega’s snappy one-liners once again. At the end of season one, Wednesday and her friends defeat Laurel Gates. Meanwhile, Tyler is set to escape his very short time in custody. Nevermore Academy is understandably closed for the remainder of the semester as a result of all the drama. But what will happen when the school opens up once again?

Here’s everything we know about Wednesday season two. 

Wednesday Season Two’s Plot 

Of course, we don’t know much about Wednesday season two’s plot at this time. It’s pretty clear that Wednesday, Enid, Xavier, and others will return back to Nevermore. We also know that someone is watching Wednesday and threatening to kill her, based on a text message she received while leaving Nevermore. There are still some secrets in Jericho to uncover, indeed. During the 2024 Emmys, Jenna Ortega revealed that the next season of Wednesday will pack in lots of horror, have more wonderful quotes, and that each episode will feel like its own movie. 

What I can say … [is] we’re definitely leaning into a little bit more horror,” the Scream actress teased. “It’s really, really exciting because all throughout the show, Wednesday does need a bit of an arc, she never really changes, and that’s the wonderful thing about her.”

Ortega previously stated this, saying the show will leave romance in the rearview mirror. As much as we love a good romance triangle, Wednesday is at her best when she’s investigating and verbally skewering people. 

Season two’s first episode is titled “Here We Woe Again,” which we discovered in this cute announcement video.

Behind the Scenes

Jenna Ortega will join Tim Burton and Steve Stark, and others as an executive producer. Alfred Gough and Miles Millar will continue as co-showrunners. It remains to be seen who will direct its episodes. As of May 2024, Wednesday season two is in production with filming taking place in Ireland.

Wednesday Season Two’s Cast 

Alongside Ortega, Emma Myers (Enid Sinclair), Joy Sunday (Bianca Barclay), Jamie McShane (Sheriff Galpin), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Morticia Addams), Luis Guzmán (Gomez Addams), Isaac Ordonez (Pugsley Addams), and Hunter Doohan (Tyler Galpin), Fred Armisen (Uncle Fester) will return. Uncle Fester is reportedly getting his own spinoff, so an episode this season could serve as a backdoor pilot for that show. It doesn’t seem that Christina Ricci will return as Laurel Gates but anything is possible.

According to Netflix, Billie Piper (who will play a character named Capri), Evie Templeton, Owen Painter, and Noah Taylor are joining the cast in a full-time capacity. Addams Family alum Christopher Lloyd is joining as a guest star alongside Joanna Lumley, Frances O’Connor, Haley Joel Osment, Heather Matarazzo, Thandiwe Newton (as Dr. Fairburn), and Joonas Suotamo

Deadline reports that Steve Buscemi has joined the cast as well, and “will play the new principal of Nevermore Academy.” His character’s name is Barry Dort.

Last year’s TUDUM event revealed that we will meet a new Addams family member. We had a few ideas about which Addams family member could show up in Wednesday. And now we know that Joanna Lumley will portray Grandmama in Wednesday‘s second season.

Wednesday Season Two’s Release Date

Wednesday season two will tentatively start filming in April 2024, so we can probably expect a 2025 release date.

Originally published on January 16, 2024.

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Beetlejuice was the unlikeliest of hits upon release in the spring of 1988. Since then, the film has left an incredible pop culture footprint. The Michael Keaton-starring supernatural comedy introduced the Tim Burton aesthetic to the masses. It particularly resonated with a certain type of spooky goth kid who had a sense of humor about themselves. Decades later, Beetlejuice‘s popularity continues to endure, spawning a sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which will hit theaters in September 2024. In honor of Beetlejuice‘s enduring legacy, lets get into unlikely story of how Tim Burton’s sophomore film became a big hit and a cultural icon.

The Original Beetlejuice Script’s Inspiration: Annoying Neighbors and Ghostbusters

In the early ’80s, horror novelist Michael McDowell saw the success of movies like Poltergeist and Ghostbusters. Both of these films brought supernatural themes to mainstream audiences with a lighter touch and became huge successes. This inspired McDowell to try his hand at writing a story in the spooky realm with a similar approach. At this time, according to The Ringer, McDowell and his partner were living in Medford, Massachusetts when the yuppie explosion began. Annoyed at the pretentious new neighbors in their quaint town, McDowell came up with the idea of nice ghosts who need to get rid of awful modern living folks in their home. The “nice ghosts” call upon the services of a mischievous “bio-exorcist” who goes by the name Betelgeuse. Pronounced, obviously, as “Beetlejuice.”

McDowell’s script, which had revisions by writers Larry Wilson and Warren Skaaren, eventually landed at David Geffen’s production company before finding its final home at Warner Bros. Studios. Studio execs loved the script yet many were afraid it was too weird for a mainstream audience. The creative team even considered changing the name to House Ghosts. At one point, it had a much darker ending where teenage lead Lydia dies in a fire then haunts the home. At the studios’ behest, these darker and more sinister aspects were taken out. (In retrospect, this was probably a good idea.)

Director Tim Burton, who had just made a hit for the studio with Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, wanted to helm the movie. He thought Beetlejuice matched his strange sensibilities… and the studio agreed. Warner Bros. rolled the dice with a relatively small budget of thirteen million dollars. Burton wanted Michael Keaton to star as the titular character although the actor was fresh off a series of flops. He also cast newcomer Winona Ryder as goth girl Lydia Deetz. The film’s leading roles were given to Geena Davis and Alec Baldwini as the ghostly Maitlands as well as Catherine O’Hara as Lydia’s annoying and eccentric stepmom. With everything in place, filming commenced in Los Angeles and Vermont in early 1987.

Beetlejuice Becomes a Sleeper Hit

Beetlejuice hit theaters on March 30, 1988 and was the tenth highest-grossing film of the year. It made a whopping seventy-three million dollars on a thirteen million budget! Keaton’s portrayal of the “bio-exorcist” created catchphrases that caught on with audiences. Everyone from late-night talk show hosts to kids on the playground were saying “It’s showtime!” or “I’m the ghost with the most, babe!” on repeat. Classic music like “Day-O” by Harry Belafonte, used in comedic moments from the film, suddenly got radio play again. And who can resist saying Beetlejuice three times? Beetlejuice came out in the heyday of VHS rentals and cable airings on a loop, which only added to its pop culture longevity. For a generation of goth and goth adjacent kids, Winona Ryder’s line “I myself am strange and unusual” became our mantra.

The “Tim Burton” Aesthetic Is Born in Beetlejuice

Tim Burton serviced Pee-wee Herman’s existing aesthetic for his first feature. But, for Beetlejuice, he got to go full Burton. The film is filled with his now-iconic swirly patterns, cartoon gothicness, and supernatural men in pin-stripe suits. Although he worked with composer Danny Elfman in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, the music created for Beetlejuice perfected the Burton/Elfman sound going forward. Beetlejuice also began Burton’s recurring collaborations with Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O’Hara.

Because of the success of the film, Warner Bros. felt comfortable giving Burton and Keaton the keys to Gotham City with Batman. As Burton’s career took off however, he didn’t seem terribly keen on returning to the world of Beetlejuice. The studio floated around sequels for other directors for years. In the ‘90s, Kevin Smith said Warner Bros. offered him a shot at directing “Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian.” Smith—and all of us—are thankful that never came to fruition.

The ’90s Animated Series Extends the Popularity of the Beetlejuice Brand

A lot of Beetlejuice’s pop culture staying power lies with one piece of media in particular—the Beetlejuice animated series. It was a hit with viewers, even though it was very different from the film with Beetlejuice and Lydia as besties. The show premiered in 1989 as a 13-episode Saturday morning cartoon and continued for two more seasons on ABC, spawning a metric ton of merchandise. In the fall of 1991, it went to Fox Kids’ network, where it launched a weekday afternoon run. Along with Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men, the Beetlejuice cartoon helped cement Fox Kids as the #1 children’s programming hub. Much like The Real Ghostbusters found a whole new audience of kids beyond the more grown-up movie, the Beetlejuice cartoon pulled the same trick.

Beetlejuice Makes Its Way to Broadway and Back to Theaters Again

Beetlejuice found another revival in recent years thanks to the Broadway musical adaptation of the film. (This followed decades of an on-stage Beetlejuice show at Universal Studios.) Debuting in 2018, the show got decent reviews and several Tony nominations. The original production shut down because of the COVIID-19 pandemic. But it came to the Marquis Theater from 2022-2023 with a lucrative national tour to follow.

Now we are finally getting the very long-awaited film sequel! Will Beetlejuice Beetlejuice do well enough that we’ll get a third film? If history is any indication to this franchise’s success, it will probably happen. Beetlejuice has to hear his name three times to be summoned, so we hope the someone says Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice soon. We don’t want to wait decades for a third chapter. But, even if we do, we can always revisit the TV series or enjoy the landslide of merch that exists today. Beetlejuice is dead yet his legacy will never die.

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Last year, Michael Keaton returned to the role he last played thirty years ago when he played Batman again. Now, he’s returning to the role of Beetlejuice, over 36 years since he last played him. Now, we finally have a good look at Keaton in the role of the “bio-exorcist” in the first teaser trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Tim Burton’s long-awaited follow-up to the cult classic supernatural comedy. You can watch the teaser below, which also features our first look at the returning cast from the original, Catherine O’Hara and Winona Ryder, along with new cast member Jenna Ortega as Astrid Deetz.

Also among the new cast are Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, and Willem Dafoe. Here’s the official synopsis for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice from Warner Bros. Pictures:

Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

We have a strong feeling the “unexpected family tragedy” is the death of family patriarch Charles Deetz, played by Jeffrey Jones in the original, and who is not returning for this sequel. We have to say, we love that Lydia Deetz has never sold out, retaining her goth aesthetic into middle age. Although she doesn’t look too happy to see Beetlejuice back in the flesh (so to speak). We are curious as to what happened to the ghostly Maitlands. They agreed to cohabitate the home at the end of the original film after all. Maybe they finally moved on to their “great reward?” We can’t wait to find out when Beetlejuice Beetlejuice hits theaters on September 6.

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Some films are obviously Christmas movies, like The Muppet Christmas Carol. But that designation is not so clear cut for others. They may be set during the holiday season, and they may even touch upon Christmas themes, but does that mean they truly qualify in the traditional sense? To find out we’re putting those movies on trial and laying out all the evidence for and against them by answering some pertinent questions, just as we did with Die Hard, Gremlins, Edward Scissorhands, Iron Man 3, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and Rocky IV. And the latest movie to take the stand in our great Christmas movie debate asked for a courtroom in Gotham. That’s right, it’s time to send up the Santa-Signal for Batman Returns.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, ask yourself…

How much of Batman Returns takes place at Christmastime?

Outside of the opening scene, all of Batman Returns takes place during the Christmas season. Oswald Cobblepot is not born during the holidays, but by the time his parents decide to abandon their cat-eating newborn in the sewers their giant tree is already up. When his circus gang then attacks Gotham 33 years later it’s during the city’s big tree lighting ceremony. The entire movie, which is full of seasonal decorations, presents, and snow, then ends by Christmas Day.

Would Batman Returns be fundamentally different if it were set at any other time of the year?

The film features major scenes connected to the fact that it’s Christmas. There’s actually two big tree lighting sequences. (RIP Ice Princess who was also an actress.) Mistletoe also ends up playing a significant role in the development of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle’s relationship. And just like the North Pole, it’s full of penguins who shouldn’t live there. Yet, if you moved the film to any other time of year and slightly changed the details/décor you would still have the exact same story. The movie takes place entirely during Christmas. It’s just not really connected to Christmas beyond scenery. The tree lightings could just as easily be the opening of a new building. The mistletoe could be a star constellation.

The only thing you couldn’t change without ruining everything was how the city made workers clean up after a terrorist attack while dressed as elves. There’s no equivalent indignity.

Do any of the film’s major themes apply to Christmas?

Batman Returns is about the duality of self and identity, isolation, and acceptance. Batman, Catwoman, Penguin, and Max Shrek all have two different identities—their public persona and their secret self—and they struggle to find a balance between the two. Interesting, but not very Christmas-y. The movie’s also about revenge, power, greed, and class. The closest any of those come to being traditional holiday themes are greed and class, but considering Bruce Wayne is the film’s hero, it’s not exactly Gotham’s take on It’s A Wonderful Life. The billionaire is the guy we want to see come out on top.

Does watching Batman Returns at Christmastime enhance the experience?

Even though the film’s plot and themes have nothing to do with the holiday, the film is so specifically set during Christmas that watching it in December does enhance the experience.* It’s easy to get caught up in the characters’ lives while also personally surrounded by a Christmas tree and festive lights. And when Bruce Wayne ends up alone at the end you feel a little extra sting because you know it will be another lonely holiday for him. You can really feel the holiday blues in the moment.

*This was obviously not the case when it first came to theaters. Batman Returns premiered in June 1992.

Has this film been accepted as a Christmas movie tradition?

Some fans consider Batman Returns a Christmas movie, but not enough. The film also has yet to break into the holiday movie zeitgeist the way a movie like Die Hard has. Since it didn’t before the streaming era began we can’t imagine it will anytime soon. If will likely need to start airing on basic cable a lot more in December to do that. If/when it does we’ll reevaluate this section. For now it’s simply a niche Christmas-adjacent movie.

THE FINAL VERDICT

We love Batman. He’s also provided us with lots of great Christmas memories over the years. For those reasons and more it would make us very happy to judge this film a true holiday entry. We just can’t do it after looking at the evidence objectively. Because while this movie embraces the feel of the Christmas season, it’s not a Christmas story. Not by its plot, themes, or characters. And since it hasn’t established itself as a holiday viewing staple, there’s only one verdict we can give.

Turn off the Santa-Signal, because Batman Returns does not qualify as a Christmas movie.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. You can follow him on Twitter and Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

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Many still argue about which Batman feature film is the best. But there are very few disagreements on which is the best Batman feature film theme music. To this day, composer Danny Elfman’s iconic score from Tim Burton’s original film is still what many hear in their heads when they hear the words “Batman.” And now, Bat-fans will get the chance to hear that music performed live as part of the DC In Concert series, starting in 2024. All of this coincides with the 35th anniversary year of Tim Burton’s blockbuster film, which hit theaters in June, 1989.

The upcoming Batman tour kicks off January 2024 in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theater. After that, it will stop in twelve U.S. cities before heading to Paris and London. Guests who attend will enjoy the film projected onto a larger-than-life screen. All while a live orchestra performs Danny Elfman’s iconic musical score. They reused the classic Batman score in Tim Burton’s follow-up film Batman Returns. Which was also scored by Elfman. But perhaps it remains associated with the character so very much because of its inclusion in Batman: The Animated Series. While Shirley Walker composed music for the actual series, the opening title was a reorchestration of Elfman’s 1989 live-action film theme.

DC in Concert attendees enjoy an enhanced concert experience with spectacular stage lighting, post-event autographs, merchandise sales, and more. They even encourage guests to dress up as their favorite DC superhero. Who, we hope, are Gotham City-related in some way. Might be awkward to go to a Batman concert dressed up like Aquaman. Although we kind of hope someone goes as Bob the Goon, the Joker’s ill-fated henchman. That’s a deep-cut character we’d appreciate. You can visit www.DCFilmsinConcert.com for ticket information and to see the other 12 U.S. dates.

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It’s been 31 years since Michael Keaton last wore the cape and cowl of the Dark Knight in Batman Returns. But after all this time, he’s back as Bruce Wayne in The Flash. As a way of celebrating his long-awaited return, Keaton was part of a special screening hosted by Empire Magazine of his 1989 Batman debut and the upcoming The Flash. At the Q&A, Keaton answered several questions about filming the original Tim Burton film, and how a certain iconic line was totally improvised on set. He explained the origin of “You wanna get nuts?? Let’s get nuts!” to the crowd.

“I don’t think ‘Let’s get nuts’ was in the script, that was me. That scene was never really that good as written, to be honest with you. That was one of the days when we went round and round. I think Kim [Basinger] is in it, me and Jack [Nicholson], nobody could ever find it. I thought, ‘Okay, pressure’s on, man. Pressure. Is. On.’ I thought he’d probably said, ‘Okay, I’m kind of cornered, I only have one way to go and I’d better let this character know that we’re gonna throw down.’

One of the other more famous things Michael Keaton invented for the big screen Batman is the idea that Bruce Wayne had a deeper, gravely voice when in costume. This was definitely not something Adam West did, and almost every other cinematic Batman has followed in Keaton’s footsteps here. Particularly Christian Bale in the three Christopher Nolan films. So what inspired the infamous Bat-voice? According to Keaton, it was really just logic.

“I actually bother people because I fall back to logic. And I remember standing there going, ‘Okay, how are we gonna do this?’ The scene was somebody standing right next to me and I said, this guy’s going to look at me and say, ‘Hey, it’s Bruce Wayne!’ It’s as practical as ‘How does the audience really believe that people don’t go, “clearly this is Bruce Wayne dressed up on a rubber suit…’ “

We are beyond excited to see Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader again The Flash. We can only hope it’s not the last time we see him in the black rubber suit. It’s an infinite multiverse, after all. And who wouldn’t want to see Keaton as “Old Man Bruce” in a live-action Batman Beyond project? To read more details on Keaton’s time making Batman, be sure to head on over to Empire Magazine for more.

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Some films are obviously Christmas movies, like A Christmas Story and The Grinch. But for others it’s not so clear cut. They may be set during the holiday season, and they may even touch upon Christmas themes, but does that mean they truly qualify in the traditional sense? To find out, we’re putting these movies on trial and laying out all the evidence for and against them by answering some pertinent questions, like we did with Die Hard, Gremlins, and Iron Man 3.

And there’s no better movie to enter into the great Christmas movie debate than Tim Burton’s unusual classic, Edward Scissorhands.

Members of the jury, ask yourself:

How much of Edward Scissorhands takes place at Christmastime?

The last third of the film. It centers around Peg’s annual Christmas party. Though after Edward was arrested for burglary and Joyce lied about him forcing himself on her, no one wants to attend the gala. It’s a festive time in the neighborhood, with lights strung up throughout. Peg’s white tree has turned her house into a Christmas wonderland worthy of GoodFellas. A flashback to the Inventor’s sad death also takes place near Christmas, in a scene we still can’t handle.

The single most Christmas-y moment comes when Winona Ryder’s Kim goes out into the backyard to find Edward making an angel ice sculpture. It creates a beautiful sprinkling of “snow.” This same effect is seen at the beginning and end of the film when a very old Kim tells her granddaughter the story of the man with scissors for hands. While those scenes don’t take place at Christmas, they have the same ethos.

Would Edward Scissorhands be fundamentally different if it were set at any other time of the year?

Yes, because the first two-thirds of the film takes place in a seemingly idyllic, totally average, sneaky awful Anytown, USA. Where the sun always shines and everyone’s lawns are always green, all during a season of never-ending good weather. (Trivia note: the movie was filmed just outside of Tampa.)

This is the time when Edward is treated with kindness and admiration. It’s not until the magical season of goodwill towards men that he is persecuted and maligned. The dichotomy of the two main settings, and Edward’s experiences in town, directly contributes to the film’s plot and themes. The story wouldn’t be as effective if either time period were changed.

Do any of the film’s major themes apply to Christmas?

Family and love are two biggies you will find in any traditional Christmas movie. The biggest Christmas-related theme, though, is that of kindness. Treating others, especially outsiders and those less fortunate, with grace, understanding, and patience. In fact, it reminds us a lot of the most important Christmas story ever, but we’ll get to that.

Does watching Edward Scissorhands at Christmas time enhance the experience?

Yes, but not just because the movie partially takes place at Christmas. Edward Scissorhands is like a classic, dark fairy tale, and it’s all framed by an old woman telling the story to her granddaughter one late snowy night. Right from the beginning the film has a surreal, magical quality to it, which is enhanced by the town’s brightly painted houses and odd citizens. The film has an aura, also captured in its score, that is reminiscent of classic holiday ghost stories.

Here, the ghost is replaced by the monster in the haunted house. Christmas is the best time of the year to watch it.

Has this film been accepted as a Christmas movie tradition?

Despite being beloved, original, and made by Tim Burton at his peak, Edward Scissorhands has never fully entered into the cable rotation the way Beetlejuice has, let alone at Christmastime.

THE FINAL VERDICT

In addition to its setting, themes, and tone, there’s a real argument that Edwards Scissorhands is analogous to a slightly more famous Christmas story. The holiday is not technically about a guy with a beard coming down your chimney. It’s about the birth of Jesus Christ. There are clear parallels between Edward’s story and the life of Jesus.

Both were miracle births, both were kind and loving, both gave of themselves freely, both are believed to have eternal life, and both were persecuted by people who feared them.

The Boggs family home was Edward’s manger. Kinda.

When you combine that with the fact the film would be different if you changed its setting, it captures the magical feeling of the season while conveying classic Christmas themes, and it’s more fun to watch in December, yes, anyway you slice it, Edwards Scissorhands qualifies as a Christmas movie.

Originally published on December 6, 2018.

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Christina Ricci is a prominent actress now, known for her roles on shows like Yellowjackets and films like Monster. But Christina Ricci started out as a child star, and her breakthrough role was as the acerbic Wednesday Addams in the ’90s Addams Family films. Although the entire casts of those films are fantastic, without a doubt, it was her take on Wednesday that stole the show every time. So fans were thrilled to learn that Christina Ricci was joining the cast of the series Wednesday, starring Jenna Ortega in the lead role, since she helped define the character for a whole generation. Here’s who Christina Ricci plays on Wednesday and the importance of Mrs. Thornhill to this brand-new take on the Addams Family dynamics.

Who Does Christina Ricci Play on Wednesday?

When we first met Christina Ricci’s character in episode one of Wednesday, she was the only “normie” teacher at the Nevermore Academy, Mrs. Marilyn Thornhill. In the series, Nevermore is a school for outcasts located near the small town of Jericho. The term outcast could mean you’re a vampire, a werewolf, a siren, or just an undefinable weirdo like the members of the Addams clan. A “normie” is just their word for the rest of us. And as far as we knew throughout the Wednesday series, Mrs. Thornhill was a normie.

Thornhill was also the Academy’s so-called “dorm mom,” as well as the botanical sciences teacher at the school. Importantly, Christina Ricci’s Mrs. Thornhill was very friendly to Wednesday at first and took her under her wing. Or at least tried to. Wednesday didn’t exactly let folks get close to her. It’s also likely that Mrs. Thornhill’s first name was an Easter egg to the Addams Family’s rival series, The Munsters, where the “normie” of the family was also named Marilyn.

What Is Mrs. Thornhill Really Up to on Wednesday?

Fans were hoping that Mrs. Thornhill might be a secret relative of Wednesday’s, perhaps her Aunt Ophelia from the old TV series. This would have made sense, given Christina Ricci’s history with the Wednesday role. Ultimately though, Mrs. Thornhill’s character wasn’t any kind of Addams relative or time-traveling Wednesday from the future. And she didn’t have Wednesday’s best interests at heart. At all. Mrs. Thornhill’s real identity actually tied into the whole decades-old plot of the series, which had Wednesday investigating a murder mystery involving her parents. When her folks were students at Nevermore, Gomez had been accused of killing local rich kid Garret Gates. The notoriously anti-outcast Gates family all died under mysterious circumstances.

In the final episode of season one, Wednesday realizes that Mrs. Thornhill isn’t really Mrs. Thornhill at all. No. Christina Ricci was actually playing a character whose real name is Laurel Gates on Wednesday. Laurel faked her own death in a drowning accident as a child. She was the last surviving member of the powerful and outcast-hating Gates family of Jericho. Laurel changed her name and infiltrated Nevermore, waiting to exact her revenge. She used her knowledge of plants to create a chemical that would unlock the “Hyde” (hidden monster) persona of local teenage Tyler Galpin, which she planned to use as a weapon of revenge against the Nevermore Academy—and the Addams clan in particular. We guess it’s a good thing Wednesday didn’t fall for Mrs. Thornhill/Laurel’s smiley ways, although Christina Ricci is, of course, incredibly charming.

Christina Ricci’s Big Villain Speech in Wednesday

In a wonderful piece of villain monologuing by Ricci, Mrs. Thornhill explained how her family was committed to serving the cause of the local town of Jericho’s founder, Joseph Crackstone, her ancestor. He was a notoriously anti-outcast bigot from Colonial times. Thornhill used her knowledge of magic, gained from a book of spells from Wednesday’s ancestor Goody Addams, to use an incantation to resurrect Joseph Crackstone. Since Goody Addams used a blood spell to imprison the soul of Crackstone, it needed someone from the Addams bloodline to unlock the curse. That someone was Wednesday.

When Wednesday arrived at the Academy, Gates pretended to befriend her. Waiting for the night of the Blood Moon to perform the spell. Luckily, Wednesday, with the help of her Nevermore friends, was able to defeat undead Joseph Crackstone. A desperate Marilyn/Laurel tried to shoot Wednesday, but Wednesday kicked her square in the face.

What Happened to Christina Ricci’s Character at the End of Wednesday?

Did Laurel Gates go to jail? Did she die? Wednesday‘s finale kept all of that vague, should they want to bring Christina Ricci’s evil character back. But as the season finale teased us at the end, there are still more secrets in the town of Jericho that have you to be uncovered. If Wednesday gets a second season, we may see Christina Ricci come back as Laurel Gates again.

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Wednesday Addams—the creepy, kooky child of Morticia and Gomez, and creation of cartoonist Charles Addams—is a goth girl prototype. She’s been around since the 1930s, when Addams brought the family to life in the pages of the New Yorker. Her legacy traces back to other goth girls of yore, like the women of Brontë or Shelley novels, or the Annabel Lees of Edgar Allen Poe. But she also traces her way forward to another beloved goth girl, one who set the stage for a long succession of onscreen follow-ups: Lydia Deetz.

Tim Burton’s Wednesday is currently on Netflix and we finally get to see our favorite goth dad’s take on the Addams daughter. She’s the latest in his cauldron of spooky sisters, which really started with Deetz. She’s his first true sad girl in black and star of his second feature film Beetlejuice, released in 1988. Winona Ryder famously brought the character to life in the first of many collaborations with Burton.

It’s easy to see what he saw in Wednesday: charmingly disaffected, macabre but non-threatening, effortlessly smart and endlessly cool. These words describe Lydia too, with her all-black ensembles and striking dark makeup. Only Winona Ryder could say that famous Lydia line–“I myself am strange and unusual”–and keep it from feeling utterly cringe.  

In Beetlejuice, Lydia is an outsider by nature and therefore a perfect heroine for Burton’s expressionistic worldview, which was especially fresh in the late ‘80s. She is the daughter of Charles and stepdaughter of the eccentric Delia. The family moves to an old farmhouse that, unbeknownst to them, is already occupied by the recently deceased Adam and Barbara Maitland.

The ghostly couple are appalled when Delia remodels their delightfully cottagecore home into something freakish and modernist. Desperate to drive the Deetzes from the house, they summon the eponymous ghoul to help them scare the family away. But not before they befriend Lydia, who can easily see what others cannot by virtue of her interest in oddities.

Unfortunately for her, that penchant for darkness also makes her an object of affection for Beetlejuice, who attempts to make her his bride. Beetlejuice is raucous and morbid and funny and cutely bizarre, with story zigs and zags that all lead back to a pleasant co-existence between the Maitlands and Deetzes. But Beetlejuice’s manic energy and the disorderly families wouldn’t work without Lydia as an anchor. Despite her unusual demeanor, she has a soft heart, and it’s her love and good-natured purity that saves the day. Even though he didn’t write the script for Beetlejuice, Burton must have liked what he and Ryder conjured on screen, because he copy-and-pasted Lydia’s template into so many of his successive films.

There are shades of Lydia in Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman in Batman Returns, Natalie Portman’s Taffy Dale in Mars Attacks!, and Christina Ricci’s Katrina Van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow. Her pale face and hollow eyes already existed in Burton’s pre-Beetlejuice artwork, but she helped solidify what we continue to see in his work. Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd, Alice in Wonderland, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, to name a few. Lydia Deetz would fit nicely into every one of Burton’s fantasy films, because she helped lay the groundwork for an enduring aesthetic.  

Lydia remains one of pop culture’s primary goth girls, even outside of the film. She’s a major Halloween costume almost 35 years later. You still see people hiding behind a big camera and swooping black hat at Halloween parties, or draped in her trademark red bridal gown. Even her cartoon TV show alter ego is recognizable in costume form. Her iconic gelled bangs feel utterly modern and classically timeless all at once. And her face and famous quotes still adorn apparel from Hot Topic and Spencer’s and other outlets. She will never really go out of style, because she set her own vibe. There’s no one quite like her.

Which is why Burton’s foray back to weird girl territory with Wednesday is so exciting. It seems wild that this is his first time in the Addams Family household; it’s understandable to assume he’s been there all along. Maybe that’s because of how perfectly he captured Lydia way back when. Like the Wednesday we’ve already seen in the classic live-action TV show and the Barry Sonnenfeld films, Lydia is dry-mannered and obsessed with dead things.

They both have the dark plaits, the witty comebacks, the dead-eyed stare. Christina Ricci, who popularized the modern take on Wednesday (and appears in Burton’s series), is a former Burton girl herself. She even played Ryder’s sister in another beloved film, Mermaids. The lineage is clear. Lydia and Wednesday are of a single piece. Burton siblings separated by a generation, ready to unite in his canon forever. It’s easy to see that Jenna Ortega has the right spooky sauce to make this new Wednesday pop. She’ll fit nicely into the strange and unusual canon that Lydia Deetz helped set forth.

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One of the most anticipated shows coming this fall is Netflix’s Wednesday, which chronicles the adolescent adventures of everyone’s favorite member of the Addams Family. The series will showcase the titular Wednesday Addams adjusting to her new “school for outcasts,” the Nevermore Academy. The new series is continuing the vibe of the brilliant ’90s Addams Family movies. And it also marks the return of director Tim Burton to his Gothic aesthetic. The Addams Family has always been well known for its theme music, and now, Burton and Danny Elfman have collaborated to bring you a whole new theme song and opening credit sequence.

We bet there are a whole lot of fun Easter eggs for fans to uncover in Wednesday‘s opening credits.

Behind the Scenes of Wednesday

Additionally, in a brand new look from Netflix, we go behind the cameras of the new Wednesday series. It features interviews with X star Jenna Ortega, our new Wednesday Addams, as well as Burton and the series’ writers. You can watch the full 3-minute featurette down below:

This sneak peek at the series gives us a better look at what the creators have in store. Showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar make certain the audience knows “this isn’t a remake or a reboot. This is just a new chapter in Wednesday Addams’ life.” For the first time in the Addams franchise, Netflix’s Wednesday will show us what the Addams children look like as teens. Jenna Ortega explains all the preparation she went through to play Wednesday, including fencing and cello lessons twice a week.

It certainly looks like the Nevermore Academy is the dark and brooding cousin to Xavier’s School from X-Men. And as the former showrunners of Smallville, Gough and Millar know all about schools with unusual students. Unlike previous Addams Family projects, Wednesday will have a plot-driven throughline, all about our heroine solving a bizarre murder mystery.

Wednesday and Tim Burton

You can also check out this shorter featurette where Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones (Morticia Addams), and showrunners Alfred Gough and Miles Millar further discuss the genius that is Tim Burton.

The rest of the cast includes Gwendoline Christie (Principal Larissa Weems), Luis Guzmán (Gomez Addams), and Isaac Ordonez (Pugsley Addams), and original movie Wednesday herself, Christina Ricci as Marilyn Thornhill. Netflix’s Wednesday premieres on November 23.

Originally published on August 24, 2022.

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One of the upcoming Netlfix series we’re most excited about is Wednesday. The show is not only a continuation of the Addams Family franchise, but it’s also a return to the gothic whimsicalness of Tim Burton. In the upcoming series, a teenage Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) goes to her parent’s alma mater, the Nevermore Academy. This is an elite school for outcasts and weirdos. (Where do we sign up?)

Now, Netflix is giving us a look at a recruitment video for Nevermore, hosted by Principal Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie). It features students who share insight about what it’s like to attend this esteemed (and deeply weird) private school. You can watch the video in full right here:

Also live is the official Nevermore Academy website. You can check it out now, should you wish to learn further details about this bizarre institution of learning. You’ll also be able to take a short quiz to determine if Nevermore is the right school for you. They will mail out notifications to those chosen few oddballs admitted to Nevermore this fall.

Wednesday’s new school has the aesthetic of Hogwarts, with a student body of more diverse powers like Xavier’s School from X-Men. You can read the official description for Nevermore Academy below.

Nevermore Academy was founded in 1791 to provide an educational haven for the supernaturally gifted Outcasts of the world. Named in honor of its most famous graduate, Edgar Allan Poe, the boarding school is home to werewolves, vampires, sirens, gorgons, and a spectrum of other students with uniquely chilling gifts. Nestled in the secluded woods of New England, the school grounds are just a brisk 25-minute walk away from the picturesque town of Jericho, one of the original Pilgrim settlements.

The new series will focus on the titular Wednesday, as she deals with emerging psychic powers, and becomes embroiled in a mystery that once involved her famous parents, Gomez and Morticia, when they attended Nevermore. Wednesday debuts on Netflix sometime this fall.

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When it comes to the Addams family, some members are a little more kooky while others are a little more spooky. Then there’s Gomez and Morticia’s daughter. She’s unlike the rest of her unusual kin. That’s why we’re not surprised she’s the one getting her own television series from Tim Burton. But while the latest trailer for Wednesday has us excited to see her go to school, we know one group that won’t be – her classmates.

Something tells us attacking the swim team with piranhas will seem tame by season’s end. Especially because Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday Addams will have bigger fish to fry. Here’s the series’ official logline from Netflix:

The series is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy, where she attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the murder mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago — all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.

Forget fish. That’s an entire ocean worth of issues. Of course, we trust Wednesday will still find time to torture her schoolmates, which we see in the trailer. And with her we mean that literally. Not that we need to tell Pugsley that. This official image from the series shows this new version of Wednesday has the same old animosity for her brother.

Wednesday isn’t the only Addams along for the fun, as we see in the latest trailer. The show also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as her mother Morticia, Luis Guzmán as her dad Gomez, and Isaac Ordonez as her little brother Pugsley. The series also features: Gwendoline Christie, Jamie McShane, Percy Hynes White, Hunter Doohan, Emma Myers, Joy Sunday, Naomi J Ogawa, Moosa Mostafa, Georgie Farmer, Riki Lindhome, and a former Wednesday Addams, Christina Ricci.

While Tim Burton directs, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar serve as showrunners and writers. The series will also arrive—when else?—during the spooky season. Wednesday debuts this fall. That’s great news for us, but not for her fellow students. That’s barely enough time to transfer somewhere else.

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Nearly three decades since the film came out, the nipples on the costumes of the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder in Batman Forever remain a source of controversy. This little detail seems to be the first thing people cite as being “wrong” with the Joel Schumacher Bat-movies, glossing over every other issue. But the controversy is not just among fans, but among actual Batman film directors.

While talking up the 30th anniversary of Batman Returns to Empire, director Tim Burton brought up the infamous “bat nipples.” And he couldn’t believe the studio fired him for the oddball kinkiness of Batman Returns, only to have Joel Schumacher add them in the next, supposedly more “Happy Meal friendly” movie. Here’s what he had to say:

“[Back then] they went the other way. That’s the funny thing about it. But then I was like, ‘Wait a minute. Okay. Hold on a second here. You complain about me, I’m too weird, I’m too dark, and then you put nipples on the costume? Go f*** yourself.’ Seriously. So yeah, I think that’s why I didn’t end up [doing a third film]…”

But in another interview this week, we actually learned the origins of the bat-nipples. And they didn’t originate from Batman Forever director, Joel Schumacher. They were the brainchild of Batman Forever and Batman and Robin costume designer, Jose Fernandez. Here’s what he said of his costuming decision to MEL Magazine (via The Hollywood Reporter):

“It wasn’t fetish to me, it was more informed by Roman armor — like Centurions. And, in the comic books, the characters always looked like they were naked with spray paint on them. It was all about anatomy, and I like to push anatomy.”

Although the nipples on the costume first appeared in Batman Forever, they doubled down on them for the sequel, adding them to Robin as well. Fernadez said, “Schumacher wanted them sharpened, like, with points. They were also circled, both outer and inner — it was all made into a feature of the batsuit. I didn’t want to do it, but he’s the boss, so we sharpened them, circled them and it all became kind of ridiculous.”

So, if the boys got nipples on their costume, why not Batgirl? Fernadez said the attempt was made, but it looked too “obscene.” All of this is a reminder of just who calls the shots at the movie studios: largely straight men. Because only straight men would call out Michelle Pfieffer in a skintight vinyl catsuit holding a whip as “too adult,” but be oblivious to the erotic nature of nipples on the men’s costumes.

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Ever since it was announced that Tim Burton was doing a series about Wednesday Addams for Netflix, fans have wondered what took so long. The man behind Beetlejuice and characters from The Addams Family? Seems like a match made in Goth heaven. Well, we finally have our first teaser trailer for Wednesday, starring Jenna Ortega as the best Addams offspring. (No offense, Pugsley and Pubert.) And she even brought Thing with her.

You can watch the first official teaser trailer for Wednesday right here:

Certainly, Jenna Ortega has the look of Wednesday Addams down. This will be the first time we’ve seen an adult Wednesday in any movie or series, and we’re here for it. Wednesday is all about the title character’s days as a student at the Nevermore Academy in the small town of Jericho.

In this eight-part series, Wednesday starts to exhibit psychic abilities. Which makes us wonder if Nevermore Academy is like a Goth version of Xavier’s School from X-Men. When a monstrous killing spree starts threatening her school, she has to solve the supernatural mystery. And find out what it all has to do with her famous parents, and an event from 25 years before. Young Gomez and Morticia flashbacks maybe?

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán play Wednesday’s glamorous parents, Gomez and Morticia Addams. Also in the Wednesday cast is Gwendoline Christie as the Nevermore Academy headmaster, and the ’90s big-screen Wednesday, Christina Ricci, is also part of the show in an undisclosed role. Given her long working relationship with Tim Burton, going back to Sleepy Hollow, this just feels right. All the regular Addams clan are popping up in the series as well, including Pugsley and Lurch. Here’s hoping we see Cousin Itt and Pubert as well!  Let’s hope this show has all the Addams Family Value vibes, and then some.

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We learned last year that Tim Burton was coming to live-action TV with a Netflix series based on The Addams Family. But that wasn’t the whole story. Announced officially by Netflix is Wednesday, a new series focusing on a slightly older Wednesday Addams. Directed and produced by Burton himself, Smallville’s Al Gough and Miles Millar are returning to TV as the series showrunners. The first season will consist of eight episodes.

Jenna Ortega, who most recently starred in the new Scream movie, will play the titular Wednesday Addams.  Meanwhile, Luis Guzman will play Gomez, and Catherine Zeta-Jones will play Morticia. And in an extremely exciting bit of news, an Addams Family alum will star as well. Christina Ricci, who famously played the character in The Addams Family films and continues to unnerve us in Yellowjackets, has joined the cast. According to Deadline, which first shared the news, Ricci’s character is under wraps—but she’ll be a series regular. Netflix’s Geeked Twitter account confirmed Ricci’s casting as an “exciting new character.”

Here’s the official synopsis for Wednesday:

“The series is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. Wednesday’s attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago—all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.”

So this sounds very much like Riverdale, but with a Gothy Burton bent. In the Addams Family movies from the ’90s, Cristina Ricci as Wednesday was absolutely the biggest scene-stealer. Especially in the superior sequel, Addams Family Values. So it makes sense to focus a series on her. This way, it’s not just another take on the Addams clan living in their creepy and kooky mansion.

The aforementioned above quartet are joined by quite a cast. Includes Hunter Doohan, Georgie Farmer, Moosa Mostafa, Emma Myers, Naomi J. Ogawa, Joy Sunday, Percy Hynes White, Riki Lindhome, and Jamie McShane. Additionally Game of Thrones alum Gwendoline Christie has joined the cast. Per Deadline, she’s playing Larissa Weems, Morticia Addams’ nemesis and principal of Nevermore Academy.

Netflix also shared a little more about these ten new characters in a release and on Twitter:

• Hunter Doohan will play Tyler Galpin. A townie who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Wednesday Addams.  Tyler has a troubled relationship with his father, the local sheriff.

• Georgie Farmer will play Ajax Petropolus. A student at Nevermore Academy who also happens to be a Gorgon.  Awkward and shy, Ajax is anxious about looking anyone in the eye.

• Moosa Mostafa will play Eugene Otinger. One of Nevermore Academy’s quirkiest students and president of the school’s bee-keeping club.

• Emma Myers will play Enid Sinclair. She is Wednesday’s sunny and colorful Californian roommate at Nevermore Academy.  Enid hails from a pack of San Francisco Werewolves.

• Naomi J. Ogawa will play Yoko Tanaka. A vampire with Harajuku-inspired Goth flair and one of the cool kids at Nevermore Academy.

• Joy Sunday will play Bianca Barclay. One of Nevermore Academy’s most popular students, Bianca descends from a long line of Sirens with a mesmerizing power to persuade.

• Percy Hynes White will play Xavier Thorpe.  A charismatic and supernaturally artistic Nevermore Academy student, who comes from wealth thanks to his celebrity psychic father.

• Riki Lindhome will play Dr. Valerie Kinbott. A local therapist in the sleepy town of Jericho who takes a particular interest in her newest patient Wednesday Addams.

• Jamie McShane will play Sheriff Donovan Galpin. Born and bred in Jericho, this Sheriff has always had an issue with Nevermore Academy and a vendetta against former student Gomez Addams.

Originally published February 17, 2021.

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Along with The Nightmare Before Christmas, most fans believe the quintessential Tim Burton film is Edward Scissorhands. Thirty years later, this modern fairy tale about the boy with the world’s most dangerous digits is still as wonderful as when it first hit theaters. The town they set the film in was actually a suburb of Tampa, Florida. They painted all the houses pastel colors for the shoot, to make them look almost like toys, or Monopoly pieces.

Just about all of the town seen in the film was a real neighborhood, and not a set. And the home that Edward’s adopted family lived in is now occupied by some die-hard fans of the film. (Scissorfans?) And according to a report from TMZ (via Comic Book), Joseph and Sharon Licalzi have turned their home into a sort of Edward Scissorhands museum, which is free to the public. They even gave it a name: Scissorland. And yes, that is definitely some Edward-inspired topiary plants outside the home. You can watch a video tour of their home right here:

Actual props from the film fill the entire home, as well as other Edward Scissorhands memorabilia and fan art. They even found identical wallpaper to the one from Dianne Wiest’s kitchen in the movie. The homeowners describe how some fans have walked through and cried, so deep is their love for the Tim Burton classic. Once the weather cools down in Florida, the owners are hoping to screen the film in their backyard. The same yard which Edward gave many of the women of the neighborhood a new hairdo. And at least one dog.

Twentieth-Century Films

To make appointments for a walk-through of Scissorland, be sure to head on over to the official Instagram and TikTok accounts. Bringing your own version of Joyce’s famous ambrosia salad? That’s optional.

Featured Image: WFLA News Channel 8

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Two decades ago Walt Disney Imagineers had a genius idea. Fuse the characters and concepts from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas with Disneyland’s classic Haunted Mansion. Known as Haunted Mansion Holiday, the overlay lasted from Halloween through Christmas 2001. But it proved to be so popular with guests, it’s become an annual transformation. And this year marks its 20th anniversary. According to a report from the official Disney Parks Blog, Disneyland will celebrate Jack Skellington’s anniversary in style.

The main feature of Haunted Mansion Holiday is the enormous gingerbread house in the mansion’s grand ballroom. The 999 happy haunts always dance around the room to celebrate. Meanwhile, guests smell the sweet aroma of gingerbread throughout as their Doom Buggy passes by. Every year, the gingerbread house is completely different. For the overlay’s 2oth birthday, this year’s gingerbread house will feature elements and Easter eggs from all of the gingerbread houses that came before.

Disney Parks Blog

Among the elements from past years includes the Monster House from the first-ever Haunted Mansion Holiday and the “Scary-Go-Round” house. Oogie Boogie’s creepy crawlies are present too, a nod to when he took over back in 2017. Since this year’s patchwork house is a collection of the previous year’s elements, it has the name “The Gingerbread Franken-House.” To see the complete list of which parts of previous houses received a nod in the new house, head on over to the official Disney Parks Blog.

Disney Parks Blog

Of course, Disney will have a ton of Haunted Mansion Holiday 20th anniversary merch for sale too. It includes the usual t-shirts and pins, and for this week only, in celebration of the announcement, park guests can get their very own Jack Skellington sipper at French Market and Harbour Galley in Disneyland. These are only available through July 18. And they will probably disappear fast. The 20th anniversary version of Haunted Mansion Holiday begins at Disneyland on September 3 and runs through January 2022.

Featured Image: Disney Parks Blog

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In what feels like the most obvious pairing of creator and material in the world, Deadline is reporting that director Tim Burton is joining with Smallville executive producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar to bring The Addams Family back to live-action television. Burton will not only executive produce the series, but it appears as if he might direct all the episodes as well. This new iteration doesn’t have a home yet, but distributor MGM is fielding offers from Netflix, among other streamers.  This would be Burton’s first venture into directing for television.

Paramount Pictures

The original ’90s Addams Family movies are often mistaken for Burton films, despite Barry Sonnenfeld being the director. Nevertheless, Burton has flirted with the creepy and kooky family on more than one occasion. He received an offer to direct the original 1991 film, but he turned it down to do Batman Returns. In 2010, he began to develop a stop-motion animated Addams Family movie, similar to The Nightmare Before Christmas. But sadly, that never came to fruition. However, it looks like Burton will finally have his chance to show the world his take on Gomez, Morticia, and the rest.

Now, the real question on all our minds is who will play the iconic characters? The recent CGI animated film had a terrific voice cast that would actually be perfect to play those roles in live-action. We could totally see Oscar Isaac as Gomez, and a Gothed-out Charlize Theron as Morticia. However, those two are big A-list movie stars and may not commit to a TV series right now. Although one can dream!

MGM

Lin Manuel-Miranda would be a great Gomez too, as would Pedro Pascal. (Although, he’s kinda busy these days). As for Morticia, great fan casting would be none other than the original Wednesday Addams, Christina Ricci. She and Burton worked together in Sleepy Hollow. Maybe it’s time for a reunion? Just be sure to bring back Snoop Dogg as Cousin Itt. He voiced him in the most recent animated version, and we think this perfect casting is due for a live-action crossover. They better not dare to get rid of the iconic theme song though—even if it will probably be a Danny Elfman version now. Some things are just sacred.

Featured Image: Paramount Pictures

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Before Tim Burton’s Batman came out, lots of fans were furious that the director had chosen then-predominantly-comedic actor Michael Keaton for the role of the Caped Crusader. Truly, complaints about Batman casting is Hollywood’s version of golf’s Masters tournament, “a tradition unlike any other.” But this old news clip featuring fans’ reactions to the film’s trailer serves as a wonderful reminder that not everyone was worried about his performance. And more than that, this video serves as a terrific time capsule for the era. Every time you think you’ve seen the most ridiculous late ’80s hairstyle or outfit possible, someone comes along with an even better look.

This old news segment, shared by the Twitter account RealE0C_Videos, features a reporter interviewing audience members who have just seen the trailer for Tim Burton’s first Batman film. Everyone seemed overwhelmingly positive about it, especially for the movie’s three stars: Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Kim Basinger. Although there did seem to be a slight undercurrent of people thinking Keaton would be “adorable” in the role, as opposed to the great, moody Batman he was.

This seems to be the trailer they watched:

The reactions to the trailer aren’t even the best part of this video though. That goes to THE HAIRCUTS AND CLOTHES. Goodness gracious what a glorious video, which somehow features an actual clown in full makeup. And every time you think, “Okay, no one is topping this person’s look”—boom! A guy with a mullet wearing aviators and a tank top shows up. Perfect. Perfect.

You may have noticed how many people in the video focused primarily on how attractive the cast was. Has Batman ’89 always been a thirst trap? …Oh, the answer is “yes?” Okay! Fair enough!

Warner Bros.

Unlike some very wrong fans back in 1989, we have no complaints about anything related to Tim Burton’s Batman. Including the people who saw it in theaters.

Featured Image: Warner Bros.

The post Reactions to BATMAN ’89 Trailer Make an Amazing Time Capsule appeared first on Nerdist.

The world of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is the gift the keeps on giving for Disney. And now, fans of the iconic family classic have a new piece of merchandise incorporating the world of Jack Skellington, and it’s one of the coolest tie-ins yet. This fall, Insight Editions will release The Nightmare Before Christmas: Pop-Up Book and Advent Calendar. With this calendar, the Pumpkin King and his pals will come to life like never before.

You can preview images of this stunning calendar and its accompanying book down below.

Insight Editions

Halloween Town aficionados everywhere can now countdown to Christmas with this pop-up advent calendar. Inside, readers will find a perfectly ghastly pop-up tree. Hidden in compartments beneath it are 25 removable and displayable ornaments—from skeletal reindeer to a man-eating wreath—to hang on the tree. Also inside is a 28-page softcover guidebook containing fascinating facts about Jack Skellington’s home of Halloween Town and all of its spooky residents.

Insight Editions

The Nightmare Before Christmas was only a mild box office success when it first came out in theaters back in 1993. But thanks to home video and countless airings on TV, it became a holiday classic. Of course, the holiday it represents is eternally up for debate. Is it a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie? Regardless of where you fall in that argument, Nightmare is now incorporated into Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion every holiday season, and is a staple of the theme park year round.

Insight Editions

Nightmare’s most iconic characters are all included in this advent calendar, including Sally, Zero, and Oogie Boogie. Hopefully, the zombie guy who is very excited to see the Easter Bunny gets a nod too. Just because he’s our favorite.

The book is available for pre-order now on Amazon, and will be available wherever books are sold on September 29th.

Featured Image: Insight Editions

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With news of Michael Keaton reportedly in talks to return as Batman for the upcoming Flash movie, an exciting new world of possibilities seem to be opening up for the DC Cinematic Universe. Dan breaks down all the details in today’s Nerdist News.

What other DC characters would you like to see appear in the Flash? Let us know in the comments!

The post How Michael Keaton’s Batman Will Reunite the DC Cinematic Universe! (Nerdist News w/ Dan Casey) appeared first on Nerdist.

Writer Vita Ayala has been shaking up the comics industry with their work on indie darlings like The Wilds and Submerged. Their impact has quickly spread to the Big Two, where Ayala introduced DC’s first non-binary character in Supergirl, wrote stunning shorts featuring Wonder Woman, and is of course shaping the future of the X-Men with Children of the Atom. 

Now, they’re wrangling the character they’ve always dreamed of: Batman. In Batman: Secret Files #3, Ayala, artist Andie Tong, colorist Alejandro Sanchez, and letterer Rob Leigh paint a picture of Batman as a carer, a father, and a hero who at his heart just wants to make everyone better. Taking on an iconic character like Batman is no easy feat and Ayala was just as overwhelmed and excited as anyone would be. “I was majorly intimidated the whole time,” they told Nerdist.

DC Comics

Like many of us, Ayala’s first brush with the sprawling world of superheroes was Tim Burton’s iconic 1989 Batman movie. “I saw it when I was four years old—that was my first non-kids movie in the theaters and it was absolutely wild,” the writer explained. “It’s so strange because I’ve been really lucky in that I’ve been able to write a lot of heroes that I grew up loving, but I don’t know, there’s something about this one that was surreal.”

DC Comics

As a huge fan of the character, taking on Batman for the first was a massive deal for Ayala and brought up some emotional memories. “The first thing I did was call my best friend Danny Lore, and I was like, ‘Danny, I made it. You know that thing we thought we’d never do?’,” they said. “When we worked at Forbidden Planet we both had this one thing where if we got into comics we’d know that we’d made it and this was mine. So it was incredible to get the art back and know that I’m a part of something that looks so beautiful. To me, writing stuff aside, just the way that the art team expresses the story is so incredible.”

Coming up with the story was a collaborative process between Ayala and their editor Dave Wielgosz. “I had a vague kind of notion of what I would find interesting to tell a story about Batman and his need to kind of reach out and try to save people on an individual level,” Ayala said. “I have a lot to say about the Bat-Family. But the project was also supposed to be about him tangling with an assassin. And so I thought: All right, how do we get at the thing that I find the most interesting and relatable about Batman while also doing that?”

DC Comics

As our exclusive pages reveal, the answer was to pit the Caped Crusader against the young assassin Cheshire, which sparks his most paternal and caring instincts. In turn, this accessed exactly what it is that makes the hero appealing to Ayala. “What I find interesting about Batman is when he’s doing things like saving orphaned kids or that episode of the animated series when Harley is having a really bad day and he gives her the dress at the end! That’s my Batman,” they laughed.

DC Comics

Though many define the hero by his grittiest and darkest moments, Ayala’s Batman: Secret Files story leans into what they feel is most important about him: how much he cares. “I think that’s his most human characteristic. It’s the thing that makes him the most relatable as a person,” Ayala said. “For me, it’s as core to his character as his intelligence or his ability to plan or whatever else people think is central to the character. I think his desperate need to save everyone and also the way he takes it very personally and is just trying to literally save everyone is very important. I really empathize. It’s what I want. I wish that everyone cared that much.”

DC Comics

That’s the aspect that makes Ayala keep coming back to the Bat. And if fans want to explore that softer side after reading the new story, they have some suggestions: “I think that James Tynion’s Detective Comics run is frickin’ great. I think it’s so good—and, again, that Bat-Fam! I also think that The Batman Adventures books that have come out…are phenomenal too.”

DC Comics

So with all of that said, what can we learn from Bruce Wayne and his cowled alter-ego in 2020? “The lesson that we have to take from Batman is that we have to build a community,” Ayala shared. “We have to support that community. He does punch a lot of people in the face, and I will equally talk about the things that I think we should criticize about that idea. But I think, again, that the thing that calls to me is that he sees people that are wounded and he’s like, ‘I want to make that better. I want to help you.’ And I think that’s what we need to take from Batman now.”

Batman: Secret Files #3 hits shelves on Wednesday, Jun 10.

Featured Image: DC Comics

The post Vita Ayala Brings Us the Softer Side of Batman (Exclusive) appeared first on Nerdist.

Although Pee-wee’s Big Adventure was Tim Burton’s first feature film, his second outing is what really defined the whole Burton aesthetic to the general public. I’m speaking, of course, about Beetlejuice, one of the greatest supernatural comedies of all time. Now, a Beetlejuice super fan has created a documentary chronicling the making of this classic comedy, with Documentary for the Recently Deceased: The Making of Beetlejuice. And they’ve just released a new teaser for the doc, which goes into the location shooting in the small town of East Corinth, Vermont.

You can check it out down below:

The film was directed by Fred China, a French filmmaker and  die-hard fan of Tim Burton’s “ghost with the most.”  He teamed up with producer Adam F. Goldberg (The Goldbergs) and Lee Leshen, who produced the Back to the Future documentary Back in Time, as well as the Ghostbusters doc called Ghostheads. Just like those feature length documentaries, this one is also being brought to life with help from the fans, via a Kickstarter campaign.

Fred China / Warner Brothers

Documentary for the Recently Deceased will cover all the aspects of the making of Beetlejuice, from shooting the film in Vermont, to all the stop motion and special effects work, along with several interviews and rare behind the scenes archives acquired by China over the last several decades. China has already met and interviewed several prominent folks involved with the production, although whether or not he was able to get any cast members or Burton to participate remains a mystery. However, the Kickstarter page has promised a few surprise interviews. Here’s hoping that means we get interviews with Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and maybe Burton himself.

Documentary for the Recently Deceased is the latest in a long line of crowd-funded, fan produced documentaries made about iconic movies. In the early days of DVD, the studios themselves poured time, energy, and money into making great behind-the-scenes docs about classic films. But as the physical media market has shrunken down, the studios no longer bother with this sort of thing. Luckily, the fans have picked up the slack. And this is looking to be another great entry in that library.

Documentary for the Recently Deceased doesn’t have a release date yet. However, filmmakers are the aiming for a December release.

Featured Image: Warner Brothers

The post BEETLEJUICE Documentary Takes Us Back to the Neither-World appeared first on Nerdist.

Paramount Pictures

Sleepy Hollow released on November 17, 1999, earning decent reviews and doing solid business. Burton fanatics who loved his creepy aesthetic were thrilled to finally have a true horror film from the director at last. At this point in their careers, Burton teaming up with Johnny Depp, who played Ichabod Crane, was still a treat for audiences. And Burton’s penchant for creating ensemble casts with quirky British character actors together with fresh young faces, like Addams Family’s Christina Ricci, had everyone excited. Twenty years later, Sleepy Hollow isn’t talked about as much as some of Burton’s other movies, but for the most part I think this movie still holds up.

Based on the Washington Irving short story from 1820 — a story embedded into the popular consciousness thanks to the 1949 Walt Disney cartoon — the script was a re-imagining of that story with a much deeper emphasis on the horror of it all. The script was originally developed by makeup effects expert Kevin Yagher and Seven screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, before finally catching the attention of Tim Burton. All the right elements came together from a group of people who truly loved the horror genre. And one can see every bit of that love onscreen.

Paramount Pictures

Whatever ambiguity the original classic story had about who and what the Headless Horseman was supposed to be was pretty much tossed out the window with this film. The Horseman (a fantastic over-the-top Christopher Walken) was confirmed to be a mercenary from the time of the Revolutionary War, cursed by witches to become their undead minion. Under their orders, he would chop off the heads of anyone they wished. As the movie’s tagline said, “Heads Will Roll.” And boy, did they.

Played by Darth Maul actor Ray Park in his headless incarnation, the Horseman brutally decapitates some five different people in this movie, including a cherubic little boy! He slices another dude in half just for the heck of it. Despite being a big budget studio film, this movie doesn’t shy away from all the blood and gore. Kids who had grown up with slasher movies in the ’80s who were now adults helped make the film a hit. Some of the convoluted soap opera plotting in this script is indeed a bit of a chore, but when the film delivers on so much else, you pretty much forgive it for its flaws.

Paramount Pictures

In many ways, Sleepy Hollow feels like the movie that Tim Burton was working towards his whole career. He’d always cite his love for the old Gothic-style Hammer horror films from the ’60s as a big influence on his work, and Sleepy Hollow is very much in that vein of those classic frights. It even has a cameo from the king of Hammer horror, Christopher Lee. Those old Hammer films were often overwrought melodramas filled with family secrets and weird conspiracies, something Sleepy Hollow is chock full of. Granted, Sleepy Hollow does it all with a far more self-aware tone than those Hammer movies ever had.

Sleepy Hollow isn’t the best movie in Tim Burton’s career. Not by a long shot really. But it represents “peak Burton” in a way. Up to that point, all of his films ranged from good (Batman, Mars Attacks!) to flat out great (Pee-Wee, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Ed Wood). I’d say with 20 years of hindsight, Sleepy Hollow is more on the very good side than the great side, but it gives us so much of the things we loved about Burton’s movies (including a notable musical collaboration with Danny Elfman) before those very same things became cliches.

Paramount Pictures

Watching Sleepy Hollow now also is a peek into a career path that Tim Burton ultimately didn’t take. Once the twenty-first century began, Burton largely abandoned his plans to make more horror films. (At one point, he was even discussing a remake of Bride of Frankenstein.) The most notable exception to this being his 2007 adaptation of Sweeney Todd. Aside from that film, most of his more modern oeuvre has been big budget, family-friendly re-imaginings of known IP, like Planet of the Apes, Charlies and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland, and most recently, Dumbo.

To be fair to Burton, almost all of these did solid business, so one can see why he went that route. But it was hard to feel the true Tim Burton touch with most of those movies. It wasn’t all a loss these past few years though for fans of Tim Burton’s more personal films, as movies like Big Fish and Big Eyes still had a glimmer of that old Burton magic.

But aside from Sweeney Todd, none of these films can qualify as a horror movie. And this fan of old school Tim Burton would love to see one more stab at the genre from him. Could Burton ever give us a good old fashioned gory horror flick again? Even if he doesn’t, well… at least we got Sleepy Hollow out of him. If you haven’t seen this one in a while, or are a horror lover who has never seen it, we suggest giving Sleepy Hollow a spin this year to celebrate its anniversary.

Featured Image: Paramount Pictures

The post Celebrating 20 Years of Tim Burton’s SLEEPY HOLLOW appeared first on Nerdist.

This is a big anniversary year for DC Comics’ Dark Knight. Not only does Batman turn 80 years old, but it’s also the thirtieth birthday of the Tim Burton 1989 blockbuster Batman. And that little film then launched the character into perennial movie stardom. Of course, one of the most iconic elements of the original Batman film is its Batmobile, which roared through the streets of Gotham City with a sleek, Art Deco design.

Now, that film’s Batmobile is coming to life as an all-new LEGO collector’s set which will blow your mind. The new set arrives at LEGO Retail Stores and LEGO.com on November 29. Appropriately enough for Batman, this new set launches on Black Friday. Although for Bruce Wayne, every Friday is a black one. And all the other days of the week too.

LEGO / DC Comics

The 1989 big screen Batmobile is built from over 3,300 pieces, and measures over 23” (60cm) long and sits on a rotating display plate. The sleek design makes this set a highly rewarding build that is perfect for displaying in the home of any Batman aficionado. This LEGO set includes three new-for-2019 minifigures based on characters from the film. Of course, there’s Michael Keaton’s version of the Dark Knight, who sports a new and unique cape. Then there’s Jack Nicholson’s iteration of the Joker, with a new face and torso decoration. And Gotham Gazette photographer Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) is also on hand, featuring a brand new torso and legs.

LEGO / DC Comics

The Tim Burton big screen Batmobile comes with a new-for-2019 wraparound windshield element and decorative grappling hooks on both sides of the vehicle. Place the Batman minifigure into the car by opening the slide-open cockpit before turning the car’s turbine exhaust to make the two machine guns hidden under the hood pop up. The Batmobile also comes with detailed Bat emblems on the wheel trim and a set of specially designed tires for the front wheels.

LEGO / DC Comics

There have been many live-action Batmobiles going back over fifty years, to the time of Adam West’s reconfigured Lincoln Futura from the Batman ’66 TV series. Then of course there was the Alien inspired car from Batman Forever, and Christopher Nolan’s tank version, better known as “the Tumbler.” But for my money, the coolest of all the cinematic Batmobiles is the one from the pair of Tim Burton films. It’s simply the sleekest and most Gothic of all of them, and no big screen Bat ride has ever come close to matching its coolness.

Although the coolest of all the Batmobiles is still the one from the early ’90s Batman: The Animated Series, but in terms of live-action ones, the prize goes to designer Anton Furst’s version.

LEGO / DC Comics

The 1989 Batmobile is launching as part of LEGO Black Friday events and those who purchase the set between November 29th and December 5th will receive an exclusive mini replica of the original model as a free gift available in limited quantities. This new Batmobile will set you back  $249.99 US, and  $299.99 Canadian. For more images of this awesome collector’s LEGO set, check out our images in the gallery below.

The new LEGO version of the Tim Burton Batmobile from the 1989 film

LEGO / DC Comics

The limited edition version of the new LEGO Batmobile

LEGO / DC Comics

Minifigures for Vicki Vale, Batman, and the Joker.

LEGO / DC Comics

Batmobile cockpit

LEGO / DC Comics

Back view of the LEGO Batmobile

LEGO / DC Comics

The LEGO 1989 Batmobile's custom Bat-tires

LEGO / DC Comics

Side view of the new LEGO 1989 Batmobile

LEGO / DC Comics

The back view of the Batmobile LEGO build with erupting flames coming out of the back.

LEGO / DC Comics

LEGO minifigure of Michael Keaton's Batman

LEGO / DC Comics

LEGO minifigure of Jack Nicholson's version of the Joker, aka Jack Napier

LEGO / DC Comics

The new LEGO Batmobile collector's build, along with minifigures of Batman, the Joker, and Vicki Vale

LEGO / DC Comics

The box art for the new LEGO version of the Tim Burton Batmobile from the 1989 film.

LEGO / DC Comics

Images: LEGO / DC Comics

The post LEGO Reveals New BATMAN ’89 Batmobile Collector’s Set appeared first on Nerdist.

Coming straight from Tim Burton’s 1989 ground breaking film, Batman officially joins the Mezco Designer Series. The MDS Deluxe 1989 Batman stands approximately 6” tall and features 12 points of articulation, and features an oversized head. It comes packaged in a window box, perfect for display. He also  features an all-new movable eye function, so he can give the bad guys his legendary side-eye glance!

Equipped complete with his trusty Batarang and grappling gun, as well as 6 interchangeable hands, the Mezco Designer Series Batman includes a posable leather-like cape so he can recreate many dynamic poses from the film. You can check out several images of the new (and frankly adorable) figure down below.

This year marks thirty years since Michael Keaton first donned the cape and cowl of the Dark Knight in Tim Burton’s Batman, changing superhero cinema forever. And although there have been many great cinematic Caped Crusaders since 1989, for many fans no one can truly top Michael Keaton’s original portrayal of Bruce Wayne. He should even play older Bruce in a Batman Beyond movie! Now for all the hardcore fans of the first cinematic Batman, Mezco Toyz are giving them their due.  This rendition of the Dark Knight is a true, adorable treat.

Now that we’re getting a 6″ version of Bat-Keaton, here’s hoping that Mezco Toyz gives us similar iterations of Jack Nicholson’s Joker, Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman, and Danny De Vito’s Penguin to complete the Tim Burton era Batman characters. Heck, throw in Jim Carrey’s Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones’ Two-Face while you’re at it. We don’t think that lil’ Keaton Bats deserves to sit on the shelf alone with that signature pout! He needs his iconic rogue’s gallery with him!

You can pre-order the MDS Deluxe Batman for $38 at this link. It is expected to ship from Dec of this year to February of 2020.

Images: Mezco Toyz

The post BATMAN ’89 Deluxe Action Figure Coming from Mezco Toyz appeared first on Nerdist.

Thirty years ago this week, Tim Burton’s Batman absolutely changed the game for summer blockbusters forever. Maybe more importantly, Batman also changed how big tentpole movies would be marketed to the public for all time. After Batman, the studios realized that not every movie’s poster or billboard needed elaborate art to sell itself, but instead easily identifiable logos; Hollywood began treating films like brands to buy into rather than stories to experience. But more even than this, the Batman marketing told the world you had to see this film, or else be excluded from the cultural conversation.

Batman was hardly the first summer mega-blockbuster. That honor goes to Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. And although Jaws had a similar pre-release marketing onslaught, its campaign was mostly images of a shark looking to eat an unassuming swimmer. It told you exactly what the movie was about in one simple image illustrating a story beat; Star Wars and subsequent blockbusters took the same route. Star Wars had something like six different release posters, all showcasing the multitude of characters and vehicles the movie would unleash on audiences.

With Batman, Warner Bros knew they had a kind of built-in awareness that few movies did at the time, given the character’s status as a cultural icon. The Bat-Signal emblem was one of the most famous logos in the world already; they leaned into it hard.

Both the teaser poster and the final movie poster showcased the exact same image: a raised version of the Bat symbol, redesigned with a metallic sheen. It let you know that this was still the Batman you remembered, but that something was different. The symbol wasn’t just plain fabric like Adam West’s old chest emblem. This was sleek and sexy, and definitely more modern. It was telling the audience: This was something you already love, but updated for today.

In early 1989, before the film’s release, the Bat-Signal was everywhere. It was as ubiquitous as the golden arches of McDonald’s or the Coca-Cola logo. By releasing posters and billboards months ahead of the film’s release, it signaled that Batman was an event years in the making, and an event you had to be a part of. And wisely, by putting the release date squarely on the poster as the only identifiable text, it drilled into everyone’s brains exactly the day they needed to start lining up at their local movie theaters.

The campaign worked beyond Warner Bros’ wildest dreams. Before the movie came out, “Batmania ’89” had swept the country, and T-shirts with the Bat logo were selling like hotcakes. News reports showed men with the symbol shaved into the sides of their heads. The black and gold logo was seen on cereal boxes, baseball caps, and on the backs of jackets. There were stickers, coffee mugs—you name it. If there was something they could attach that Bat-Signal to, they did.

The image of the Bat-Signal was also the cover of Prince’s soundtrack album, which was No. 1 on the charts for six consecutive weeks, and which sold over 11 million copies worldwide. Now, Prince was a popular artist in 1989, but his previous albums outside of Purple Rain didn’t sell nearly as well as his Batman soundtrack did. A lot of that can be traced to the fact that anything with the Bat-Signal on it was selling like crazy to the masses.

My own personal anecdote for how serious the hype machine for Batman was, and the power of that symbol, can be found in my freshman year high school yearbook. At least five of my classmates sketched a drawing of the Bat-Signal next to words, “June 23” in their messages. Now, everyone at my school knew I was a big comic book nerd, but those kids who drew these symbols in my yearbook were “normies” who didn’t know the difference between the ’60s TV Batman and what was soon to come their way. They were proof positive that marketing campaign had worked beyond all measure.

The effects of the Batman marketing campaign were instant. The following year’s Dick Tracy poster had a similar simple graphic: a profile of the character’s face with the famous yellow fedora. Jurassic Park’s ad campaign stuck to the dinosaur head logo, and in the summer of ’93 that was slapped onto everything. But nothing ever quite matched the success story of Batman in terms of its pre-release marketing.

The legacy of the marketing campaign can still be felt today, even if the simple strategy pioneered by Batman isn’t used as frequently anymore. 2006’s Superman Returns tried to use the S-shield as the cornerstone of its marketing, but it didn’t work nearly as well. And there are just too many blockbusters, both in theaters and on television, for one movie to suck all the air out of the room quite like that ever again.

But you can still see vestiges of that successful strategy from 30 years ago in many of the Disney live-action remake films, for example. The early marketing for this summer’s Aladdin? It was just an image of the magic lamp, but given a sparkly new coat of paint, and that film did gangbusters at the box office. The legacy of 1989’s biggest blockbuster movie lives on.

Images: Warner Bros / Walt Disney Company / Universal Pictures 

The post How BATMAN’s Bat-Signal Changed Movie Marketing Forever appeared first on Nerdist.

The most adorable elephant in all the land is about to soar into theaters and our hearts this Friday in Disney’s Dumbo! We sat down with stars Colin Farrell and Eva Green to ask all about what they did before they became A-listers. Plus, Danny DeVito finally addresses the Detective Pikachu rumors! All this and more on a brand new episode of Nerdist News Edition.

The post DUMBO’s Stars Explain Their First Paid Acting Gigs appeared first on Nerdist.

By the time I found myself prepping for an evening viewing of Disney’s live-action Dumbo remake, most of my standing curiosities about the movie—how Burtony will Tim Burton get with this one? How buck-wild will Danny DeVito and Michael Keaton go? How likely is it that they actually do “Pink Elephants on Parade”?—had effectively been drowned out by one reverberating question: How much will I cry?

If you’re like me, you’ve come to terms with the fact that crying at least a few tears at a Dumbo remake is an inevitability. I can promise you that Burton’s firmly maudlin take on the animated classic will earn a couple of sniffles. I may have had to choke back a whimper the moment you catch sight of the innocent newborn elephant’s Disney-grade baby blues, and again at the eventual separation of the sweet li’l fella and his loving mama. But that Dumbo didn’t leave me a blubbering mess seems like a shortcoming. If the legacy of the original was in any way factored into the appeal of a remake, the studio must’ve been hoping to smudge some mascara.

So why then, even as the get-’em-sobbing moments struck all my most sensitive nerve endings—cute animals, mom-and-child stuff, the pangs of being a social outcast—did Dumbo fall shy of undoing the past six months of CBT? Ultimately, that does come back down to how my other curiosities were satisfied.

Surrounding Baby Dumbo is a cast of characters as starkly hit-or-miss as your standard gallery of circus acts. We’ll start with the high points: Danny DeVito, doing a sweeter variant of the very same scrappy blowhard shtick on which he founded his career, is a joy to watch without exception. His second-rate circus ringleader is not totally bright, not totally honest, and not at all without a soft spot that he’s ever eager to keep concealed. He is by far the best thing Burton’s human race has to offer, which is a failing only in that the lion’s share of the emotional narrative is shouldered elsewhere.

Namely, the Farrier family (Colin Farrell and young Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins): a good-hearted clan who are programmed by the script to be serious to a fault. Surrounded by brighter performances by DeVito, Eva Green (as an acerbic French acrobat), Alan Arkin (as a big time investor who wants a circus but settles for a hotdog), and Michael Keaton (who is doing a whole thing here that is far too much to limit to parenthetical), the Farriers wind up being a part of the movie to deal with until something more fun comes along. But then there’s the other end of that spectrum: Keaton, who, as millionaire entertainer V. A. Vandevere, is so off the wall that even his pronunciation of words like “protégé” and “schedule” are downright jostling.

The film by and large hits Farrier-grade dourness and Vandevere-level mania, never quite finding true peace with either extreme. Human-exclusive material doesn’t have the narrative weight to warrant its tone, and the absolute mayhem of the film’s largest set pieces seem like Burton indulging his wishes for a different film altogether. And at the bizarre nexus of these moods is an all-bubbles version of “Pink Elephants on Parade.” For the life of me, I didn’t know what to do with myself during.

Overall, Dumbo seems to be bouncing between a series of polarities. It’s never quite sure how sad or happy it must be, nor how lifelike or cartoonish, nor how beholden to or independent from its forebear. But chaos theory allows that it does hit some positive marks amid this cataclysm. The sweetest are generally anchored to Dumbo himself; the most joyful to DeVito. And let it be said that when the little elephant flies, it can be genuinely thrilling. So yes, be they happy or sad, a few tears are bound to find you upon your reunion with Dumbo. Adjust your eyeliner accordingly.

2.5 out of 5

The post DUMBO Is a Mixed Bag of Tearful Lows and Wacky Highs (Review) appeared first on Nerdist.

From the lengthy list of Disney’s continually growing cast of animated characters, only one will make you believe an elephant can fly. The long-anticipated live-action adaptation of Disney’s Dumbo is officially headed to the big screen later this month with director Tim Burton at the helm–you could call him the film’s ringleader, in a sense.

And when Nerdist, along with a small group of outlets, had the chance to visit the set of Dumbo, we learned a slew of interesting tidbits from costume designer Colleen Atwood, production designer Rick Heinrichs and producers Justin Springer and Derek Frey, all of which made us even more ready to believe.

There are nods to the original cartoon all along the way.

When it came time to start building the world of Dumbo with costumes, the biggest reference point was the source material itself. According to Atwood, she and her team went back to the 1941 animated film constantly, not just for shaping each costume element but also in the overall color scheme that the thoroughly impressive and extensive wardrobe employs. “The cartoon is really important to me as far as the telling of the story in the sense of the graphic and the color palette,” Atwood told us. “There are nods to the cartoon all the way along.” In fact, the second show that Max Medici’s (Danny DeVito) struggling circus puts on in the film directly references the famous scene featuring all those clowns and fire engines.

You won’t see any characteristic Tim Burton “black-and-white stripes” in the costume design.

Atwood and Burton are frequent co-collaborators — she’s worked on over 10 films with the director, supplying the looks for films like Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Sweeney Todd, Sleepy Hollow, Big Fish and Edward Scissorhands–and she told us that she’d found ways to honor Burton’s commonly-recognized aesthetic while also trying to avoid certain Burton-esque costume tropes. “With Tim, you kind of pay homage to Tim. He’s a singular vision and a true artist in his own way,” Atwood said. But don’t think that means that any of those tell-tale black-and-white stripes will show up; Atwood mentioned she decided to leave out that pattern this time around.

Even Dumbo needed his own wardrobe.

Dumbo might be a mostly computer-generated character, but even he needed a few different looks handmade for the film. Atwood told us the costumes teams physically created outfits for Dumbo, including pieces like a large baby bonnet, which were then scanned by the visual effects team for Dumbo to “try on” and “wear,” but also in order for Burton to have a sense of what Dumbo’s costumes would look like in person.

Footage of real-life elephants informed the overall design of Dumbo.

Heinrichs shared that the process of designing Dumbo started with studying elephants and how they move in the real world. However, when it came time to actually start working on what the character would look like, the visual effects team used the cartoon as a reference point while adding more realistic qualities into the mix. Dumbo doesn’t just have those big ears, for example; he has those big baby-blue eyes, too, but Heinrichs says that Dumbo’s expressiveness isn’t that far off from the faces baby elephants pull from time to time.

Dumbo is the only animal with any magical qualities.

Of course, there are a lot of real-life physics to consider when creating a flying elephant, but Heinrichs said that they were constantly trying to walk a fine line between the classic storybook elements of the original animation and the logistics of Dumbo’s ability to fly. Dumbo will have a bit of a “learning curve” when it comes to trying to figure out how to use his abilities — there won’t be any soaring right off the bat, as Springer and Frey noted. Nor are there any talking animals to lend words of advice or cruelly tease the big-eared pachyderm.

There are live animals thrown into the mix too.

While several other animals were created as CG elements, including Dumbo’s mom Mrs. Jumbo, there are real animals in the film as well, although the movie isn’t necessarily overrun by them. In the story itself,  Medici’s circus has fallen on hard times and has had to ditch a lot of its animal acts, but there will be real animal actors, like poodles and horses, mixed into the story.

None of the movie was shot on location.

The film was completely shot at Pinewood Studios and the Cardington hangars, on which sets were built for Medici’s circus as well as V. A. Vandevere’s (Michael Keaton) impressive mega-circus known as Dreamland, and aerial artist Colette’s (Eva Green) luxurious apartment.

Burton cast real circus performers to add a greater sense of authenticity to the film.

Although several of the main actors in Dumbo don’t necessarily have a lot of circus experience, the same isn’t true for the supporting cast, many of whom were hand-selected by Burton in order to integrate their actual skills into the story. Springer and Frey shared an anecdote about the director casting for the film based on a performance from a circus act he saw. Part of the fun of the film will be picking out those bonafide performers who are lending their talents to make the magic world of Dumbo feel more grounded in reality.

Keep your eyes peeled for movie posters starring Eva Green’s character Colette.

If you pay close attention, you’ll be able to spot the Old Hollywood-style film posters in Colette’s apartment that Heinrichs and his team designed to showcase her long-ranging career. These are movies you won’t be able to rent, unfortunately, but you’ll be able to see posters for such made-up flicks as The Curtain Falls, Naughty but Nice, and Canary in a Coal Mine.

Two intertwining perspectives make up the plot of the film.

The major difference between the original movie and Burton’s will be the addition of a “human counterpart to Dumbo’s story.” Although most of the story is still from Dumbo’s POV, as it was in the original animated movie, his journey is now intertwined with the family who discover his secret, including Holt Farrier (Colin Farrell) and his two young children. Springer and Frey said that over the course of the film, the two stories inform one another thanks to the family’s experience with Dumbo.

Dumbo will premiere in the U.S. on March 29.

Images: Disney

The post 10 Things We Learned on the Set of Tim Burton’s DUMBO appeared first on Nerdist.

Tim Burton’s upcoming remake of the Disney animated classic Dumbo seems designed to wreak havoc on our tear ducts. To date, every trailer, clip, and image has pulled at the heartstrings. It’s easy to do: Dumbo is a sad story, about a young circus elephant separated from his mother, ostracized from his peers for his large ears, and made miserable by the show that profits on his insecurities.

If you’ve seen the original cartoon, you’ll know that perhaps the saddest moment comes when Dumbo visits his mother, who’s being held captive after attacking a group of boys who bothered her son. She sings Dumbo the lullaby “Baby Mine,” as she rocks him to sleep. It’s a lovely, haunting tune, and it’s getting an update for the new film. Grammy-wining band Arcade Fire is creating new music for the film, and now we have our first extended listen at their cover of “Baby Mine.” 

Along with footage from the film, we hear the enchanting vocals from lead singer Régine Chassagne, who sings out the familiar lyrics: “Baby mine / don’t you cry / Baby mine / dry your eyes.” If you’re able to get through this whole teaser without welling up, congratulations: you have no soul.

This isn’t the only version of “Baby Mine” featured in Burton’s Dumbo remake. Earlier trailers used a cover of the song from Norwegian popstar Aurora. It’s unclear if her version will be in the film as well, or how both or either will fit into the narrative. Unlike the original, it appears the animals in this version will not speak or sing, so it’s likely the song will play over scenes or will be saved for the end credits.

The trailer also hints that the film features “new music” from Arcade Fire. Danny Elfman is doing the score, so we can probably expect new lyrical music from the Canadian band. We can’t wait to hear what they come up with, and can’t wait to cry ourselves to sleep when Tim Burton’s Dumbo soars into theaters on March 29.

Images: Disney 

The post Arcade Fire Covers “Baby Mine” from DUMBO, and It’s a Tearjerker appeared first on Nerdist.

It’s been 27 years since Danny DeVito and Tim Burton first collaborated together, on 1992’s Batman Returns and 16 years since their most recent team-up on Big Fish in 2003, but if you ask DeVito what it feels like to return to another film with the director, you get the sense that almost no time has passed. “It’s always the same. It feels like we don’t see each other for a really long time, and then you just pick up. He’s that kind of friend.”

Nerdist, along with a small group of other journalists, had the chance to sit down with DeVito on the set of Burton’s latest directorial effort, a live-action version of Disney’s classic film Dumbo, where the actor discussed how it felt to reunite with his longtime associate on his latest project how it felt to finally be the “good guy” against co-star Michael Keaton for a change.

In this version of Dumbo, set in 1919, DeVito plays Max Medici, the ringmaster and owner of a humble circus who finds himself desperate to keep his business — and his livelihood — afloat. In a last-ditch effort to attract more ticket-buyers, he decides to purchase an elephant for his new act, not realizing that she’s pregnant, or that her baby will change everything. “He has a big pressure, in the beginning, to keep the circus alive, because it was a very, very tough time. They were fading, the little circuses, because all the big ones were taking over. We get a windfall when I buy Mrs. Jumbo.”

According to DeVito, when Burton called him up to ask him to be in the film, he referred to it as “the completion of the circus trilogy.” Direct lines connect Medici and Big Fish‘s ringmaster Amos Calloway, and even the Penguin to some extent. But DeVito told us that Medici is still different than the other circus-themed characters he’s played for Burton in the past. “He’s a showman. He’s like a Barnum. He’s not as slick and maybe not as savvy, but he’s a showman. He’s a barker. He’s a guy who wants to get people in and have a good time and enjoy themselves.”

Burton wasn’t the only person DeVito’s reunited with for this project, however. Dumbo also gave him the opportunity to act against his former Batman Returns co-star Michael Keaton, albeit with the roles largely reversed this time around: it’s a fact DeVito couldn’t help but note with some personal relish when asked about it. “It’s really fun that Michael’s here and it’s also very interesting. We’ve done a couple of movies together, Michael and I, but the last movie with Tim and Michael and I, of course, we were both in suits, right? I was in the penguin suit, he was in the Batman suit. He was playing the good guy in that movie. I’m the good guy in this movie. So it’s a little bit of an evolution here.”

Ultimately, it was clear from our conversation with DeVito that whenever Burton asks him to lend his talents to another project, he’ll say yes without hesitation. “I love Tim and I would do anything to be in a movie with him. But what are we going to do next? Who knows? Something really weird. Really. That’s an understatement.”

Dumbo is currently slated for a U.S. release on March 29.

Images: Disney

The post DUMBO’s Danny DeVito Talks Reuniting With Michael Keaton and Tim Burton appeared first on Nerdist.

Over the last few years, Disney’s efforts in live-action have mined the company’s early days of animation. Now, with Dumbo, the studio is breathing new life into its fourth-ever animated feature film with the help of legendary director, producer and artist Tim Burton. With an appreciation of the original film and a perennially strange onscreen representation of the world as we know it, Tim Burton is the perfect fit to bring this elephant-size tale back to life. And if you ask the cast of Dumbo — including Colin Farrell, Danny DeVito and Joseph Gatt — they’ll tell you that they can’t picture anyone else for the gig, either.

“Genuinely, when I heard he was doing it, I was like, ‘Oh my god. What a dream gig to do,'” Farrell said on the set of Dumbo. “And that was before reading the script. And then I read the script and it’s so sweet. And Tim’s really good at figuring out the balancing act between honoring the sweetness of the original story or the intent of the kind of allegorical element of what a baby flying elephant represents with kind of real-world emotional concerns of families and friendships and damages of war.”

For Gatt, Burton’s stress-free set environment was really significant. “I don’t think I’ve worked with a director that cares about everything so much. He cares so much about the actors being comfortable in what they’re doing and feeling safe. He’s put together such a great cast. And we’re all the same. Sometimes, you have to kind of like catch yourself, because you’re sitting there and Tim’s there and Danny DeVito and Michael Keaton and Colin [Farrell] and you’re hanging out and you’re having fun. Should it be this easy? Should it be this much fun? But it is. It really is.”If you ask longtime collaborator Danny DeVito, however, he’ll tell you that Burton is a director whose world he has always wanted to inhabit, regardless of the story.”I’ll get emotional thinking about like, how much I care about him,” Devito said. “Always spirited, always an artist, always thinking about the craft, always just painting with his mind and so, I feel like I’m part of a kind of, some kind of color scheme in Kandinsky’s world or something, where I just feel like you want to go. And you see him work. Right from the very beginning, even with Batman [Returns]. … From that, he’s never changed, not a bit.”Farrell was also highly effusive about Burton’s level of care and his engagement in every single facet of the filming process; Burton wants to be as heavily involved in the making of this movie as he possibly can be.”He’s so invested emotionally and intellectually, obviously, but physically invested in the making of the film,” Farrell says. “To watch him on the set and how engaged he is and how frenetic at times his energy can be, and how he moves and it’s just a joy and he’s just really kind to everyone. And I think any of the crew would jump through hoops for him. I certainly know I would, and the cast would.”Dumbo is slated for a U.S. release on March 29.

Images: Disney

The post The Cast of DUMBO Celebrate Tim Burton’s Vision and Kindness appeared first on Nerdist.

Over the last few years, Disney’s efforts in live-action have mined the company’s early days of animation. Now, with Dumbo, the studio is breathing new life into its fourth-ever animated feature film with the help of legendary director, producer and artist Tim Burton. With an appreciation of the original film and a perennially strange onscreen representation of the world as we know it, Tim Burton is the perfect fit to bring this elephant-size tale back to life. And if you ask the cast of Dumbo — including Colin Farrell, Danny DeVito and Joseph Gatt — they’ll tell you that they can’t picture anyone else for the gig, either.

“Genuinely, when I heard he was doing it, I was like, ‘Oh my god. What a dream gig to do,'” Farrell said on the set of Dumbo. “And that was before reading the script. And then I read the script and it’s so sweet. And Tim’s really good at figuring out the balancing act between honoring the sweetness of the original story or the intent of the kind of allegorical element of what a baby flying elephant represents with kind of real-world emotional concerns of families and friendships and damages of war.”

For Gatt, Burton’s stress-free set environment was really significant. “I don’t think I’ve worked with a director that cares about everything so much. He cares so much about the actors being comfortable in what they’re doing and feeling safe. He’s put together such a great cast. And we’re all the same. Sometimes, you have to kind of like catch yourself, because you’re sitting there and Tim’s there and Danny DeVito and Michael Keaton and Colin [Farrell] and you’re hanging out and you’re having fun. Should it be this easy? Should it be this much fun? But it is. It really is.”

If you ask longtime collaborator Danny DeVito, however, he’ll tell you that Burton is a director whose world he has always wanted to inhabit, regardless of the story.

“I’ll get emotional thinking about like, how much I care about him,” Devito said. “Always spirited, always an artist, always thinking about the craft, always just painting with his mind and so, I feel like I’m part of a kind of, some kind of color scheme in Kandinsky’s world or something, where I just feel like you want to go. And you see him work. Right from the very beginning, even with Batman [Returns]. … From that, he’s never changed, not a bit.”

Farrell was also highly effusive about Burton’s level of care and his engagement in every single facet of the filming process; Burton wants to be as heavily involved in the making of this movie as he possibly can be.

“He’s so invested emotionally and intellectually, obviously, but physically invested in the making of the film,” Farrell says. “To watch him on the set and how engaged he is and how frenetic at times his energy can be, and how he moves and it’s just a joy and he’s just really kind to everyone. And I think any of the crew would jump through hoops for him. I certainly know I would, and the cast would.”

Dumbo is slated for a U.S. release on March 29.

Images: Disney

The post The Cast of DUMBO Celebrate Tim Burton’s Vision and Kindness appeared first on Nerdist.

It’s been 27 years since Danny DeVito and Tim Burton first collaborated together, on 1992’s Batman Returns and 16 years since their most recent team-up on Big Fish in 2003, but if you ask DeVito what it feels like to return to another film with the director, you get the sense that almost no time has passed. “It’s always the same. It feels like we don’t see each other for a really long time, and then you just pick up. He’s that kind of friend.”Nerdist, along with a small group of other journalists, had the chance to sit down with DeVito on the set of Burton’s latest directorial effort, a live-action version of Disney’s classic film Dumbo, where the actor discussed how it felt to reunite with his longtime associate on his latest project how it felt to finally be the “good guy” against co-star Michael Keaton for a change.In this version of Dumbo, set in 1919, DeVito plays Max Medici, the ringmaster and owner of a humble circus who finds himself desperate to keep his business — and his livelihood — afloat. In a last-ditch effort to attract more ticket-buyers, he decides to purchase an elephant for his new act, not realizing that she’s pregnant, or that her baby will change everything. “He has a big pressure, in the beginning, to keep the circus alive, because it was a very, very tough time. They were fading, the little circuses, because all the big ones were taking over. We get a windfall when I buy Mrs. Jumbo.”According to DeVito, when Burton called him up to ask him to be in the film, he referred to it as “the completion of the circus trilogy.” Direct lines connect Medici and Big Fish‘s ringmaster Amos Calloway, and even the Penguin to some extent. But DeVito told us that Medici is still different than the other circus-themed characters he’s played for Burton in the past. “He’s a showman. He’s like a Barnum. He’s not as slick and maybe not as savvy, but he’s a showman. He’s a barker. He’s a guy who wants to get people in and have a good time and enjoy themselves.”Burton wasn’t the only person DeVito’s reunited with for this project, however. Dumbo also gave him the opportunity to act against his former Batman Returns co-star Michael Keaton, albeit with the roles largely reversed this time around: it’s a fact DeVito couldn’t help but note with some personal relish when asked about it. “It’s really fun that Michael’s here and it’s also very interesting. We’ve done a couple of movies together, Michael and I, but the last movie with Tim and Michael and I, of course, we were both in suits, right? I was in the penguin suit, he was in the Batman suit. He was playing the good guy in that movie. I’m the good guy in this movie. So it’s a little bit of an evolution here.”Ultimately, it was clear from our conversation with DeVito that whenever Burton asks him to lend his talents to another project, he’ll say yes without hesitation. “I love Tim and I would do anything to be in a movie with him. But what are we going to do next? Who knows? Something really weird. Really. That’s an understatement.”Dumbo is currently slated for a U.S. release on March 29.

Images: Disney

The post DUMBO’s Danny DeVito Talks Reuniting With Michael Keaton and Tim Burton appeared first on Nerdist.

Given the continued growth of vinyl sales around the world and seemingly endless opportunities to celebrate benchmark moments in popular culture, Christmas sometimes feels like a year-round holiday for audiophiles and record collectors. But what that deluge of material sometimes does is overshadow or obscure titles, special editions and other releases that family and friends would absolutely love but sadly somehow missed as higher-profile or better-promoted titles filled their shopping carts and emptied their wallets. As the holidays fast approach, Nerdist decided to dig through some of the year’s most exciting (and in some cases, least well known) music releases that the nerds in your life don’t yet know will be among their favorite gifts when they unwrap them in the weeks to come.

BATMAN – ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SCORE — $25/$35

For those too young to have been stricken right in the S on their chests by John Williams’ theme for the 1978 Superman, it was instead Danny Elfman’s score for Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman that set the sonic template for superhero movies. Mondo is releasing his music on vinyl for the first time in both regular and deluxe editions featuring 180-gram colored LPs in elaborate packaging.Copies go on sale on the Mondo website the week of Thanksgiving and ship immediately.

BERNARD FEVRE – ORBIT CEREMONY 77 — $13

Black Devil Disco Club was little more than a footnote in disco’s illustrious history, but the man behind the moniker, French electronic music pioneer Bernard Fevre, has been mining his older work for reissues that bring new meaning to “obscure,†including this unreleased sci-fi themed library album full of quirky, cosmic grooves that sound both contemporary and timeless, are sure to blow minds as the soundtrack to the greatest space odyssey never told.Check out Medical Records’ Bandcamp for links to limited-edition vinyl copies that come with an mp3 download of the full album.

BLACK PANTHER: THE ALBUM — $29.98

Even if Avengers: Infinity War caused the most carnage, Black Panther changed the superhero landscape more dramatically than any of Marvel’s other 2018 movies. This is thanks to Ryan Coogler and a collection of themed songs curated by critical and commercial darling Kendrick Lamar. Pick up a copy of the soundtrack on deluxe double 180-gram etched vinyl.Hollywood Records has a dedicated site where you can order the album on vinyl or digital.

HASBRO STUDIOS PRESENTS ’80s TV CLASSICS: MUSIC FROM THE TRANSFORMERS — $24.98

By now, every Optimus-Prime’s-death-fearing Transformers fan has acquired at least one copy of the soundtrack to the 1986 animated movie, but Enjoy the Ride Records has quietly released an even more obscure and exciting piece of the franchise’s musical legacy: a collection of cues from the original animated series, remastered from the original tapes by composer Robert J. Walsh and pressed on to character-themed colored vinyl.Save 15% off of the price in honor of the late Robert J. Walsh with the promo code “RestInPower” when you check out at the Enjoy the Ride website.

JOHNNY JEWEL – THEMES FOR TELEVISION — $20

If, like for me, last year’s Twin Peaks: The Return left you on a high you’re still coming down from, check out this collection of previously unreleased music Chromatics producer Johnny Jewel composed for David Lynch to use on the series, which bridges the gap between the industry’s synth-electronic renaissance and original Peaks composer Angelo Badalamenti’s menacing soundscapes.Order your copy from Jewel’s Italians Do It Better website.

THE SEARCH FOR ANIMAL CHIN SOUNDTRACK — $26.98

A few years before the events of mid90s, Powell Peralta’s iconic Bones Brigade skate team starred in this cult classic movie about the search for a mystic with a gift for grinding. The soundtrack LP, first released for Record Store Day 2018, features mp3s of every track, a fold-out poster, and a download of the film itself.Visit Kanine Records to purchase your own copy of this vintage skate curio.

SPIDER-JAZZ: KPM CUES USED IN THE AMAZING ANIMATED SERIES — $32.69

The 1967 Spider-Man animated series remains a great time capsule both of the way the character was conceived and a bygone style for kids’ cartoons. Tireless crate digger Jonny Trunk searched high and low through KPM’s music libraries for the tracks for this compilation of music from the show, even if legal restrictions kept him from being able to include the title (or even the Marvel superhero’s name) on its cover.If Google can’t connect you with a seller, Discogs provides a list of folks with copies to spare of this animated artifact.

SUSPIRIA (MUSIC FOR THE LUCA GUADAGNINO FILM) — $26.24

There were many who considered Luca Guadagnino’s remake of Dario Argento’s nightmarish classic a fool’s errand, even with his longtime collaborator Tilda Swinton in tow. But even after Guadagnino proved naysayers wrong with a film that both honors the original and stands beside it as its own masterpiece, Thom Yorke’s first feature-length score continues to ring in the ears of everyone who saw it, from solemn piano dirges to operatic choruses guaranteed to conjure something, even in real life.Order a copy of Yorke’s score on the XL Recordings website.

TENEBRAE (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) — $36

Claudio Simonetti’s main theme for Tenebre ranks among the best pieces of horror disco (yeah, it’s a thing) ever recorded. In May, Waxwork Records released the definitive vinyl edition of his work with Fabio Pignatelli and Massimo Morante for Dario Argento’s giallo classic, featuring remastered sound, an expanded track listing and a die-cut gatefold jacket inspired by one of the film’s most memorable—and terrifying—sequences.Waxwork Records’ website has copies available now for sale.Which of these do you already have, and what do you think of our suggestions? Have better ones? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: Mondo, Medical Records, Hollywood Records, Enjoy the Ride, Johnny Jewel, Kanine Records, Trunk Records, XL Recordings, Waxwork Records

Need more gift ideas?

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• Gift ideas for music nerds
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• Gift ideas for Star Wars fans
• Gifts under $50

The post 10 Gift Ideas Sure to Make Music Nerds’ Heads Spin appeared first on Nerdist.

Tim Burton has been creeping us out since the ’80s so it’s only fitting that the first trailer for his reimagining of Dumbo is nothing less than terrifying. The live action Disney remake looks like it will leave us all as emotional wrecks, just like the original. The adaptation also happens to star Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito which has a lot of the internet wondering about whether this is a covert Batman Returns continuation. Basically, the first full-length trailer‘s bringing out the weird, wonderful, and very very sad, so we’ve composed a collection of some of the best responses just for you.

I pretend I’m not hurt, I walk about the world like I’m having fun.

https://twitter.com/JosephGNevin/status/1062903486847836160Joseph Nevin is leading the “WHHHHYYYYYYYYY DISSSNEYYYY???” packhttps://twitter.com/Teedro1214/status/1063054646292475904Mike Towndrow is seriously regretting watching the trailer outsidehttps://twitter.com/annetdonahue/status/1063133492169519104Anne T. Donahue is rightfully furioushttps://twitter.com/rrocknrollaa/status/1063121739100565504and Angie may be the most sensible of us all

Wait a minute this looks familiar…

https://twitter.com/dominicknero/status/1063112411262189569Dom Nero arguing for the most important constitutional right of all: the right to head canon.https://twitter.com/DLdocumentary/status/1063093075503763456We’re really into this theory by Disneyland Doc though surely the fact that Dumbo can fly makes him the Grayson?https://twitter.com/sleepyskunk/status/1062895081609289728For all the jokes, this still does look very similar to the art deco wonderland of Batman Return‘s Gotham.https://twitter.com/Todd_Spence/status/1006954419580125184Thanks Todd for reminding us, yet again that there is only one true Batman.

It is a little… weird.

https://twitter.com/Steph_I_Will/status/1062939431815073792A very fair and logical question being raised here by Steph.https://twitter.com/karthik_rus/status/1062987194015526912Very factual and good content from Karthik.https://twitter.com/NeuroticHeroic/status/1062938706179428354I just really don’t like this at all, I’m sorry.https://twitter.com/snaxx1990/status/1063106683428368384THIS IS THE BEST DUMBO RELATED TWEET! CONFIRMED WINNER!!Did you see some really great Dumbo content we somehow missed? Just can’t wait to see Pennywise  Dumbo enter the circus in March next year? Jump on your fave flying mammal and let us know!

Featured Image: Disney

The post The Internet Reacts to Sad Clown Dumbo appeared first on Nerdist.

Tim Burton has been creeping us out since the ’80s so it’s only fitting that the first trailer for his reimagining of Dumbo is nothing less than terrifying. The live action Disney remake looks like it will leave us all as emotional wrecks, just like the original. The adaptation also happens to star Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito which has a lot of the internet wondering about whether this is a covert Batman Returns continuation. Basically, the first full-length trailer‘s bringing out the weird, wonderful, and very very sad, so we’ve composed a collection of some of the best responses just for you.

I pretend I’m not hurt, I walk about the world like I’m having fun.

https://twitter.com/JosephGNevin/status/1062903486847836160Joseph Nevin is leading the “WHHHHYYYYYYYYY DISSSNEYYYY???” packhttps://twitter.com/Teedro1214/status/1063054646292475904Mike Towndrow is seriously regretting watching the trailer outsidehttps://twitter.com/annetdonahue/status/1063133492169519104Anne T. Donahue is rightfully furioushttps://twitter.com/rrocknrollaa/status/1063121739100565504and Angie may be the most sensible of us all

Wait a minute this looks familiar…

https://twitter.com/dominicknero/status/1063112411262189569Dom Nero arguing for the most important constitutional right of all: the right to head canon.https://twitter.com/DLdocumentary/status/1063093075503763456We’re really into this theory by Disneyland Doc though surely the fact that Dumbo can fly makes him the Grayson?https://twitter.com/sleepyskunk/status/1062895081609289728For all the jokes, this still does look very similar to the art deco wonderland of Batman Return‘s Gotham.https://twitter.com/Todd_Spence/status/1006954419580125184Thanks Todd for reminding us, yet again that there is only one true Batman.

It is a little… weird.

https://twitter.com/Steph_I_Will/status/1062939431815073792A very fair and logical question being raised here by Steph.https://twitter.com/karthik_rus/status/1062987194015526912Very factual and good content from Karthik.https://twitter.com/NeuroticHeroic/status/1062938706179428354I just really don’t like this at all, I’m sorry.https://twitter.com/snaxx1990/status/1063106683428368384THIS IS THE BEST DUMBO RELATED TWEET! CONFIRMED WINNER!!Did you see some really great Dumbo content we somehow missed? Just can’t wait to see Pennywise  Dumbo enter the circus in March next year? Jump on your fave flying mammal and let us know!

Featured Image: Disney

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The latest classic animated Disney film getting the “live-action” treatment is the Mouse House’s 1941 classic Dumbo, this time directed by Tim Burton with a score by Danny Elfman. Although fans were skeptical when it was announced, based on the decidedly mixed reaction that Burton’s Alice in Wonderland received several years ago, the emotional first teaser trailer gave just about everyone the feels. Folks seem to be genuinely excited for this new take on everyone’s favorite flying elephant.Now, a new trailer has dropped, giving us a more expansive glimpse into Dumbo’s colorful circus world.

The new Dumbo will have Burton working with many of his favorite collaborators: Eva Green, who appeared in both Dark Shadows and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, and both Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito in something of a Batman Returns reunion (too bad they couldn’t find a part for Michelle Pfeiffer). Working with Burton for the first time is Colin Farrell, who plays a war veteran and former circus star whose two children befriend Dumbo.Dumbo is the latest in a very successful line of live-action adaptations of animated classics, which has become as sure-fire a brand for Disney as Star Wars or Marvel. 2019 sees not only the release of Dumbo, but also the live-action adaptations of Aladdin and The Lion King. And there are definitely more in the pipeline, as plans have been announced for Mulan, The Little Mermaid, and several others. This train isn’t slowing down anytime soon, folks.You can view several newly released images from the film down below in our gallery:What did you think of the latest trailer for Dumbo? Be sure to let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: Walt Disney Company

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This year marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Tim Burton classic about everyone’s favorite “bio-exorcist,” Beetlejuice. Although it wasn’t Burton’s first film—that would be the eternally delightful Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure—in many ways it was the film that set the standard for what a Tim Burton movie is expected to be. Darkly comic, classically spooky, and with a visual style that involves lots of swirls and pinstripes. Without Beetlejuice, Michel Keaton would have never been our cinematic Batman, there would have been no Winona Ryder dancing in the snow in Edward Scissorhands, and we’d definitely have no The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Now, Warner Bros. Consumer Products is partnering up with Hot Topic stores for the official launch of an extensive Beetlejuice merchandise program timed to Warner Bros. Pictures’ rerelease of the fan favorite film in theaters around the world during the first weekend in October this year. Among all the cool new Beetlejuice merchandise is clothing, accessories, collectibles, home décor, beauty, and beyond, all available now at Hot Topic. For all the Funko Pop! fans out there, there will also be an  exclusive: Funko Beetlejuice & Lydia Deetz Pop! figures, which are now available at Hot Topic stores and online.

Also included in this collection are Beetlejuice-themed beauty products, including a Handbook for the Recently Deceased eyeshadow palette. For non-makeup users who want the Handbook for the Recently Deceased displayed proudly in their home, there’s also a Handbook-themed notecard set. For a good look at some of the new Beetlejuice items, be sure to check out our gallery down below.

Are you excited for these new items featuring “the ghost with the most?” Be sure to let us know down below in the comments.

Images: Warner Bros/Hot Topic

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The legacy of Walt Disney Animation’s 1941 feature Dumbo is nothing if not complicated. These 77 years on, many of us remain duly freaked out by the film’s trippy-as-all-hell “Pink Elephants on Parade” sequence, rightfully vexed by its racially problematic Jim Crow character, and exceedingly overwhelmed with grief by the scene of Dumbo’s mother rocking her baby to sleep from inside a jail cell. Whatever new measures Disney’s live-action Dumbo remake intends to take in reviving the time-worn story, they’ll likely need to involve an overhaul of some of these concerns.

Our first look at the new film, directed by Tim Burton, is admittedly brief, but it does leave a taste of the sort of melancholy that enveloped the original Dumbo—but hey, maybe I’m just triggered by the sight of an elephant eye peeking out into the moonlit world through a tiny barred window (honestly, that cartoon did a number on me).

What we can expect is that our new Dumbo will experience a bit more kindness than his hand-drawn predecessor, as Burton looks to be painting his human characters with a more sympathetic brush than did Dumbo OG; Colin Farrell plays the calf’s hired caretaker, and Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins play Farrell’s two kids, and the whole family seems like good people. That isn’t to say that Michael Keaton’s circus owner or Danny DeVito’s ringleader won’t provide some expected cruelty, but we have yet to see what either one is planning to dole out.

In any event, we’re looking forward to more from Disney and Burton’s live-action Dumbo. Hopefully not drug trip scenes and racist characters, but whatever else they’ve got in store.

Images: Disney

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• Check out Andy Serkis’ live-action Jungle Book remake, Mowgli
• Keanu Reeves takes on a Russian jewel heist in Siberia
• Domnhall Gleeson stars in a haunted house story, The Little Stranger

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On March 30th, 1988 Tim Burton’s masterpiece Beetlejuice, starring Michael Keaton as the “Ghost with the Most,” was summoned to theaters. Thirty years later the film is just as original and inventive as the day it was released. A big reason why is its wholly unique depiction of the afterlife, where rather than becoming angels or demons in Heaven or Hell, the dead must roam Earth for a period of time, exactly as they were the moment they died. And based on the movie’s amazing netherworld waiting room scenes that can mean a very uncomfortable post-life existence.

So to celebrate three decades of our favorite bio-exorcist, we’re ranking the dead characters who met untimely deaths to determine who had it the worst. That means we’re less concerned with how much they suffered during their death and more about how uncomfortable it made them after. We’re not worried about their spot on the waiting list though, because what’s the rush? Seriously, don’t steal someone’s ticket unless you’re looking for a new look.

CAUSE OF DEATH UNKNOWN

There are three characters seen in the waiting room whose cause of death aren’t obvious so they can’t be accurately ranked.

Witch Doctor

The Witch Doctor who shrinks Beetlejuice’s head for taking his spot in line doesn’t show any signs of how he died, which means it might not have been too bad other than he seems relatively young. He doesn’t have to deal with any major hindrances, unless he regrets his large headdress.

The Preacher

Seated next to the Magician’s Assistant, there are no clues about his cause of death. His purple skin could have something to do with how long he has been deceased rather than how he died (choking?), but that’s unclear. His clothes seem relatively comfortable, and his biggest issue is an eternity with that awful haircut, so he’s in great shape other than realizing his life’s work might have been a total waste.

The Green Man

In trying to figure out this alien-looking character’s death we thought maybe his green skin was a hint. Um….maybe don’t Google “gangrene.” (Trust us. Trust. Us.) Some kinds of anemia can cause a person’s skin to turn that color, but that might be a stretch. There’s some sort of weird black thing resembling a hand or monster sticking out of his chest, but we can’t be sure what it is. Out of the three unknown deaths he seems to have had it the worst.  We can pretend that when he died he was wearing the mask from the Jim Carrey movie.

PRETTY GOOD FOR DEAD

Barbara and Adam Maitland

Cause of Death: Drowning after a car crash
Suffering: They were likely unconscious when they drowned, so very little.
Afterlife Status: We’re including them only to point something out–look at these two whiny dead babies! They look totally normal, they are wearing their favorite clothes, and their skin hasn’t even started turning a weird color yet. Who has it better than these two? I’m alive right now and I don’t look this good.

Juno

Cause of death: Lung cancer?
Suffering: Likely extensive.
Afterlife Status: Her clothing seems to reflect her new career as a dead case worker rather than what she probably had on when she died, so she’s looking stylish. The slit in her throat, from where she seems to have had a laryngectomy in life, doesn’t stop her from speaking normally now, nor does it stop her from smoking. She exhales through her neck, but that actually looks badass. Overall not a bad situation, other than having to deal with incompetent dead idiots who allow themselves to be photographed and lose their damn handbook!

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED…

Chicken Bone Man

Cause of death: Choking on a chicken bone at a chicken restaurant
Suffering: Short but terrible.
Afterlife Status: He’s dressed for a night out which isn’t that bad (you’re always better off being overdressed than under), but he is forced to wear a bib, which isn’t a great look. Oh, yeah, and he has a massive chicken bone sticking sideways in his throat. But when you’re dead that probably looks much worse than it is, and he can get around easily. Not to mention, he doesn’t have to worry about telling the story about how he died over and over again.

The Football Players

Cause of Death: Bus crash that killed the entire team
Suffering: They are severely cut up and mangled, so it was probably gruesome and awful, though it appears they died quickly since they still have all their equipment on rather than hospital gowns.
Afterlife Status: They are stuck wearing all their gear which is a bummer because taking off your pads after a tough game feels amazing. While initially clueless, they finally figure out what really happened to them, leading to one of the best, most hilarious lines in the film: “I don’t think we survived that crash.”

Open-Heart Surgery Guy

Cause of death: Died during heart surgery
Suffering: None during the fatal operation, since he would have been under anesthesia. Prior to surgery it might have been tough.
Afterlife Status: A big gaping wound in your chest isn’t great, but it isn’t nearly as bad being stuck in a hospital johnny. Those are always awful, they never stay shut, and you always feel naked. Oh, and you know how people say, “Wear clean underwear in case you are in a car accident?” because people are weird? That would appear to have less to do with the paramedics seeing your dirty drawers and more about having them on full display when you’re dead.

ETERNALLY ANNOYED

Sleeping Bag-Rattlesnake Lady

Cause of death: Bitten by a rattlesnake in her sleeping bag
Suffering: Bad. Really bad.
Afterlife Status: As if the shock of being bitten by a venomous snake in your sleep isn’t terrible enough, it means your hair stands straight up after you die, you are stuck living in your sleeping bag, and the freaking rattlesnake who killed you gets to hang out there too. Imagine what it would be like to do a potato sack race for an hour. How awful would it be to have to do it all the time?

Magician’s Assistant Sawed-in-Half

Cause of death: Accidentally (hopefully) cut in half by a magician who definitely heard from OSHA
Suffering: Brutal and careless.
Afterlife Status: Literally split in two. How does she get around? Can she place her top half on her legs? How easily can she stay together like that? Can her legs just go off when they want, turning her into a stump with a face? That’s all terrible, but she’s also dressed like a magician’s assistant. There’s a reason those costumes are so flashy–they only work on a stage.

(Question: Was she was murdered? She was murdered, right? If you get murdered you should get some perks in death, you shouldn’t also suffer because the magician was jealous the audience liked you more than him.)

Harry the Hunter

Cause of death: Measles….or the Witch Hunter shrunk his head
Suffering: Yes.
Afterlife Status: The good news is he can get around, he’s wearing clothes he likes, and he can even hunt if he likes. The bad news is he’s got a head the size of a lemon, he can’t speak, and it’s hard to be around him. He’s maybe the funniest looking character in the netherworld, and even among the dead he stands out as weird.

WORSE THAN DEATH

Char Man

Cause of death: Burned live, possibly after smoking in bed.
Suffering: When you hold your hand over a candle it hurts, so burning alive probably suuuuuucks.
Afterlife Status: Some people just never learn, but I guess there’s no reason for him to stop smoking now. What’s it gonna do? Kill him? This guy looks…..it’s not great. The only thing he has going for him is he can walk around, and he doesn’t need clothes since anything he’d want to cover up burned away.

Scuba Diver (and Shark)

Cause of death: Looks like a shark bite
Suffering: There’s a reason Jaws is terrifying.
Afterlife Status: It would be bad enough to die while scuba diving and then having to wear a bathing suit and carry a tank with you after, but look at that photo carefully. He killed the shark by stabbing it in the head, so they both died together, meaning he is also stuck with the shark. That’s impossibly annoying, not just because it makes getting around a pain in the leg, but because you don’t even get to enjoy the fact you took the bastard out with you. The lesson? Careful getting revenge, because in the afterlife it can come back to bite you.

Roadkill Man

Cause of death: Run over by a very large automobile
Suffering: Oh dear god.
Afterlife Status: Even the scuba diver could get himself a George Costanza scooter if he wanted. This poor guy has to be strung up like linen to get around. And he still has to work! It’s amazing his predicament didn’t flatten his sense of humor.

But what do you think? Who has it worse in death? It won’t kill you to share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

Images: Warner Bros.

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Beetlejuice was only director Tim Burton’s second movie, but it did a lot to establish the director’s gothic-lite sensibility for an entire generation of fans. Although by today’s standards the film seems pretty tame, a comedy about death and the afterlife was pretty out there for a Hollywood studio like Warner Brothers 30 years ago. I mean, this is a movie where two of the attractive young leads die in a terrible accident in the first half of the movie, and the teenage protagonist is your quintessential goth girl–not exactly what was expected in the era of Pretty in Pink.

But as dark as it was for its time, the ending was originally going to be a whole lot darker. In an interview with Yahoo, via the AV Club, Beetlejuice co-writer Larry Wilson revealed he once entertained a much more disturbing and bleak ending that had Winona Ryder’s character Lydia Deetz actually dying in a fire, just so she could live as a spirit with Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis’ ghostly characters. A few people told Wilson that having a teenager die to achieve happiness was maybe not the message you want to send out to impressionable high school goths, so wiser heads prevailed in the end.

The ending we got in the final film is classic; Lydia parties with her new ghostly housemates and gets down to the magical sounds of Harry Belafonte’s “Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora).” I simply can’t imagine that a scene where Lydia dies a horrible death would have been better than the ending that we got. I’ve included it above to remind you of how very awesome it is. Seriously, just watch it right now; it’s guaranteed to make your day just a little bit better.

What do you make of Beetlejuice’s original, darker ending? Be sure to let us know your thoughts below in the comments.

Images: Warner Brothers

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Though the world of Batman is often deemed as dark, gritty, and without festivity of any kind, some of the Caped Crusader’s most memorable moments have taken place during the holiday season. In fact, one of the earliest episodes of the iconic Batman: The Animated Series was a Christmas special! There’s something particularly striking and fun about the juxtaposition of the Dark Knight’s serious aesthetic with the joyous merriment of Christmas. So much so that we’ve found one of the best and most magical Christmas movies of all time in none other than Batman Returns.

From the moment we see Oswald Cobblepot in a cage in front of an outlandish white Christmas tree, before his parents even send him floating through a twisted snowcapped winter wonderland, you know that this version of Gotham is different. Gone is the noir drenched in gangster lore from Tim Burton’s first movie, instead replaced with a strange brightness, one that lives only to juxtapose the dark grit of Gotham and serve the director’s goth-pop aesthetic.

Whilst most Christmas movies follow a basic feel-good formula about personal growth or gratitude, Batman Returns uses the trappings and wrappings of the season to subvert our expectations of what to expect from a holiday classic. No one has a redemption arc in this festive folly, with the Penguin inverting the usual outcast-turned-good-by-Christmas-cheer trope that we’ve seen in stories like The Grinch and Home Alone. Batman never truly opens up to Selina and fails to save her. Catwoman gets her revenge but can’t save herself or her chance at happiness. Though the characters might not be filled with cheer, their surroundings most certainly are, as Burton luxuriates in the candy-striped creepiness of Christmas.

From the red and white of the Penguin’s umbrella to the snow-covered streets of Gotham, the director is dedicated to keeping us steeped in the Christmas spirit. Even Max Schreck’s prototype power plant is Christmassy, with its red-and-white-striped smokestacks. Speaking of Max Schreck, with his tousled white hair, red bow tie, and nefarious plans to steal all of the energy from Gotham’s girls and boys, he plays very well as an evil inversion of everyone’s favorite jolly fat man, Santa Claus.

It’s not just subtle touches that run through the cult classic; some of the movie’s most memorable set pieces are also more festive than a reindeer drinking eggnog in a snow globe full of pine trees. The peak of Batman Returns’ Christmas sensibilities is actually pretty early on in the film during Gotham’s tree lighting ceremony. The machiavellian Max Schreck is poised to once again trick the citizens of Gotham with a heartfelt speech in front of the towering tree until he’s interrupted by the appearance of a giant red and green present. And in one of the best Batman moments ever put to screen, City Hall is attacked by festive villains exploding out of an oversized Christmas gift. It’s pure Christmas movie perfection.

If Christmas circus gangs jumping out of giant Christmas presents isn’t Christmassy enough for you, then don’t worry because Batman Returns also includes a recurring character called “The Ice Princess” who wears a sequined bodice and generally exudes Christmas spirit. There’s also an integral moment including a baby in a Santa suit, as well as some great shots of different Gothamers struggling with presents, including Bruce Wayne’s BFF himself, Alfred Pennyworth.

Tim Burton’s creative catalog always has a way of looking slightly Christmasy, what with his love of outlandish fairytale settings, decedent outfits, and commitment to stripes. So it’s unsurprising that he managed to make one of the all-time greats when it comes to holiday movies. The film’s setting and aesthetic are a one of a kind xmas experience, and the film’s dark satire of corporate culture is perfect If you’re tired of the same old saccharine fare this Santa season. So if you’re ready for a wholly unique festive film then it’s time to dust off Batman Returns, go back to Gotham, and live your best goth Christmas life!

Have we sold you on Returns as a Christmas classic? Are you just excited to revisit the Batman: The Animated Series Christmas Special? Can’t wait to unwrap your batarangs? Let us know in the comments!

Images: Warner Bros.

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Jack Skellington’s journey is relatable, and the music Danny Elfman wrote for the film underlines the skeleton’s emotions and struggles. Elfman’s rich score and thoughtful lyrics complete Burton’s world and director Henry Selick‘s vision. Nightmare Before Christmas wouldn’t be as iconic without the songs. Period.

Though I can happily listen to the entire soundtrack without skipping a tune, some of Elfman’s compositions for the movie rise to the top. This is how I’d rank all 11 songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas, from bottom to top:

11. “Finale/Reprise”

10. “Making Christmas”

9. “Kidnap the Sandy Claws”

8. “Jack’s Obsession”

7. “Poor Jack”

6. “Sally’s Song”

5. “Town Meeting Song”

4. “Oogie Boogie’s Song”

3. “This Is Halloween”

2. “Jack’s Lament”

1. “What’s This”

How would you rank the songs of The Nightmare Before Christmas? Scare up some thoughts and share them in the comments below!

Images: Disney, Giphy

Amy Ratcliffe is an Associate Editor for Nerdist. Follow her on Twitter and keep up with her Disney food adventures on Instagram.

The post Ranking All the Songs in THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS appeared first on Nerdist.

If you live near a major city, chances are high you can plan a day completely around nerd-inspired activities. Very high. Filming locations, unique museums, themed shops and bars–metropolitan areas have some or all of these and more. With a little digging, you can make a list tailored to your interests in cities you’re visiting or in your own backyard.

We’re here to help you find some to-dos, starting with five geeky, easy to get into places (so no Magic Castle) to visit in Los Angeles, California.

1. Go for a Hike

Head north of the city to visit the recognizable alien-looking landscape of Vasquez Rocks. Most notably, this park was home to the hilariously slow and epic battle between Captain Kirk and the Gorn in Star Trek: The Original Series. It’s also been used as a filming location for titles such as Planet of the Apes, the 2009 Star Trek, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, and more.

2. Become a Witch or Wizard

Live your magical dreams and immerse yourself in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood. You can visit Hogsmeade, go on a doozy of a ride inside Hogwarts, hear a frog choir, and drink butterbeer at various temperatures and consistencies. Oh, and you can buy school robes and wands. Accio fun!

3. Embrace the Weird

If seeing a gallery of portraits featuring the dogs of the Soviet space program sounds like something you’d enjoy, go to Culver City and enter The Museum of Jurassic Technology. Permanent exhibits highlighting the cosmonaut canines, stereographic radiographs of flowers, microminiatures, and pre-scientific cures and remedies fill its winding halls. The museum is a blend of fascinating, informative, and what the heck did I just see.

4. Go on a Comic Book Shop Crawl

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZjWgHIAIjY/

Los Angeles is a sprawling city, and it’s dotted with a number of terrific comic book shops. Each place has its own vibe and flavor. Set aside a chunk of a day to stop into places like Meltdown Comics, House of Secrets, Blastoff Comics, The Comic Bug, and many more. If you’re a new resident to the area, this is a great way to try on different shops and see where you’d like to start a pull list.

5. Visit a Themed Bar

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYdnvfBATgA/

Want to enjoy a cocktail while viewing magic? Or in a Tim Burton inspired setting? Or in a science fiction bar? You can find all those places in Hollywood: Black Rabbit Rose, Beetle House, and Scum and Villainy Cantina, respectively. Kick back, soak in the atmospheres, and hang with fellow members of fandom.

Extra Credit Stops
Griffith Observatory
Warner Bros. Studio Tour
The Paley Center for Media

What geektastic activities do you recommend around Los Angeles? What other cities would you like to see us cover? Share your notes in the comments.

Images: Kyle Anderson, Vincent Diamante

Amy Ratcliffe is an Associate Editor for Nerdist. Follow her on Twitter and keep up with her Disney food adventures on Instagram.

Travel to more nerdy locales with these stories!

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In Rick and Morty, the fact that Rick has a portal gun means he can travel to any and all parallel dimensions he chooses. Infinite opportunities to go to an infinite number of places. What the show does so well is turn this very heady scientific concept into an excuse for gags, often reaping worlds defined by one specific (and ridiculous) characteristic–you’ll of course recall the world-on-a-cob that sent our heroes into such a panic. but one of our favorites of Rick and Morty‘s realms are the filmmaker-themed dimensions and planets we’ve gotten to see, most notably the season one episode “Rick Potion #9“‘s Cronenberg World.

After a disastrous misuse of a love potion, Rick and Morty have accidentally turned all of Earth into pulsing, disgusting mutants, which Rick affectionately names “Cronenbergs” after some of the nightmare creatures seen in the movies of David Cronenberg (The Fly, Videodrome, Naked Lunch, etc.). Of course, this wasn’t the only time they’ve done this. Without calling him out by name, season three’s second episode, “Rickmancing the Stone,” takes Rick, Morty, and Summer to a Mad Max-esque post-apocalypse that might as well be called George Miller World.

This got us thinking: which other famous directors should have their own sensibilities-themed parallel dimension in Rick and Morty and what would they look like? We have seven that we think would be especially squanchy.

GUILLERMO DEL TORO WORLD

We love the movies of Guillermo del Toro and his macabre take on fairy tales, speculative fiction, Gothic horror, and historical fantasy. So what would an entire world based on his imagination look like? We’ve gotten a bit of a glimpse via an opening credits sequence of The Simpsons a couple of years ago, but we’re expecting most people in Del Toro World to fall into three different categories: ghostly apparitions, sentient fish people, or teeth-gnashing fairies. Really, it could also be called Rachel Heine World.

J.J. ABRAMS WORLD

Few directors have shown us as many different visions of futuristic worlds in as concerted an amount of time as J.J. Abrams, who gave us modern takes on both Star Trek and Star Wars, not to mention homespun sci-fi in things like Super 8 and Mission: Impossible 3. It’d be a pretty spectacular thing to behold if Rick and Morty went to Abrams World, but unfortunately they wouldn’t be able to see any of it, because there’s an omnipresent band of blinding light at exactly eye level any direction they look.

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN WORLD

Dark, mysterious, intense, and often upsetting, the films of Christopher Nolan have kept our minds guessing and our hearts pounding for nearly 20 years. It’d be a pretty exciting prospect for the mad scientist and his grandson to check out. They wouldn’t be able to trust their memory, or their senses, not least because there’s a constant, oppressive drone everywhere they go. Yas, folks, because what you think is a Christopher Nolan World is actually a Hans Zimmer World. The horror.

TIM BURTON WORLD

I’ve changed my mind. THIS is Rachel Heine World. Tim Burton World is a whole world made up of drooping dead trees surrounding cookie cutter houses, and fashion from the Wednesday Addams-meets-The Cure’s-Robert-Smith collection. Actually sounds pretty great, and we could see Rick making all sorts of jokes about moody Goth kids, and Morty could want to stay forever because of the alluring introverted Lydia Deetz-type who hides behind her hair.

STANLEY KUBRICK WORLD

Imagine stepping out of a portal and finding that everything is incredibly far away from you. Pretty weird, but even weirder is when you start walking toward a thing, and it remains as far away from you, no matter how long you walk. And then turn around and see all the things you’d just seen had moved slightly, as though the architect of that world wished you to be disoriented constantly, never able to fully find your footing. And then sometimes it felt like you were looking through a fish eye lens. That, friends, is Stanley Kubrick World. Quake with unease.

MICHAEL BAY WORLD

It’s just really loud and there are way too many explosions. Also there’s a sense that you’re constantly being leered at and Rick doesn’t care for that one bit. And neither would we, really. So maybe they shouldn’t do this one. It’d be worse than a world where everything is on the cob

What director’s world would you like to see in Rick and Morty? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: Adult Swim/Paramount/Warner Bros/Disney

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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