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Beetlejuice 2 Confirms Delia Deetz Kept Her Biggest Promise To Charles After The 1988 Original Movie

By Jordan Williams

Updated Nov 11, 2024

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A subtle detail in Beetlejuice 2’s returning original characters, their Winter River house looks quite different in the sequel from how it was in the 1988 horror-comedy classic. Over the past few decades, the house has seen some remodeling, and feels much emptier after Charles died and the Maitlands “moved on.”

The appearance and aesthetic of the Winter House was an important plot point in Tim Burton’s 1988 Beetlejuice movie. After the Maitlands died, they were shocked to find new residents in their home, with matters being made worse by the fact that Beetlejuice’s Deetz family had such a different style, taste, and demeanor from their own. Whereas the Maitlands opposed the Deetzes’ yuppie, New York art scene style, Delia disliked the Winter River home’s quaint, rustic, old-fashioned aesthetic. However, this is exactly what Charles wanted, so he offered Delia a compromise that she surprisingly honored for the next 36 years.

Delia Kept Her Promise To Charles To Leave The Office Alone

Delia Hasn't Remodeled The Winter River House's Office Or Attic In Beetlejuice 2

When Delia told Charles that she needed to “gut this house” and make it her own in order to keep her sanity, he agreed on one condition: leave the office alone. The office was where Charles wanted to escape to for solitude in the house, and its design and style embodied the rustic sentiment that he sought when moving away from the city. Though the Winter River house is almost unrecognizable from how Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis’ Adam and Barbara Maitland originally had it, Beetlejuice 2 confirms Delia still kept her promise to not touch Charles’ office decades later.

Beetlejuice never reveals exactly what prompted Charles to move Delia and Lydia from New York City to Winter River, other than wanting "peace and quiet."

Though the house seemingly went through additional remodeling in the years after Beetlejuice’s 1988 ending, Delia also never touched the attic where the Maitlands spent their ghostly afterlife. The attic and the office appear to be the only two spaces that Delia left alone; the Maitlands’ original decorations still hang on the walls with the town model displayed in the attic, while Charles’ office is decorated with stuffed birds and maintains its rustic style in Beetlejuice 2. These details may be small, but they go a long way to show how Delia honored Charles and the Maitlands’ wishes and memories.

Why Delia Hated The Winter River House So Much In The Beetlejuice Movies

Delia Felt Like A Fish Out Of Water In Winter River

The Deetz house covered by a black veil in Beetlejuice 2

One of the bits that Beetlejuice 2 doubles down on from the original movie is Delia’s hatred for the Winter River house. After Charles Deetz tragically dies, Delia declares that she has to get out her anger for the wrongs that the deceased did to her before she’s able to move forward. When Astrid asks what Charles ever did to her that was so bad, Delia responds that he bought the Winter River house. This mimics Delia's feelings from the 1988 movie, in which she resented Charles for taking her from the city to "the sticks."

Delia-and-Beetlejuice-from-Beetlejuice-Beetlejuice

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Though Delia made an effort to enjoy the house more through her remodeling, it was clear that Catherine O’Hara’s character was always a product of the city. She enjoyed the constant movement, artistic culture, modernity, and eccentricities of the big city, which she couldn’t find in Winter River’s small town. At her home in the city, she could be surrounded by new, modern designs and styles that would inspire her artistic pursuits. Ultimately, she didn’t fit in with Winter River or that house, and she didn’t really care to in either Beetlejuice or Beetlejuice 2.

Did Delia Actually Live In The Winter River House After Beetlejuice's 1988 Ending?

Lydia & Delia Aren't Living There When Beetlejuice 2 Begins

It's unclear how much longer the Deetzes lived in the Winter River house full-time after Tim Burton's 1988 movie. The original horror-comedy ends with the Maitlands and Deetzes peacefully co-residing in the Winter River house, with Delia still succeeding in her sculpting career while in Connecticut. However, at that point, Lydia is still in high school. Given Lydia is only about 16 years old in Beetlejuice, she likely had about two more years left of school left in Winter River before she even had the option to leave town.

When Beetlejuice 2's story kicks off, Lydia and Delia are seemingly both living in New York City again. The 2024 sequel never reveals whether Lydia went to college after high school, but it's possible that she moved to the city and began capitalizing on her ghost-seeing gift there shortly after graduating. Still, even if they weren't living there full-time, it's clear that the Deetzes still used the Winter River house over the years, as Delia further remodeled it, Charles filled his office with more stuffed birds, and Lydia even used the attic to store Richard's old belongings after his death.

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Delia and Charles likely got a place in the city again shortly after Lydia's departure. Teenage Lydia was miserable in New York City, which seems to be part of why Charles bought the Winter River house in the first place. Once Lydia found happiness at the house with Barbara and Adam's ghosts, Delia and Charles most likely agreed to stay as long as Lydia wanted to remain there. However, once she left, the Deetzes may have found it best to return to the city, be closer to Lydia again, and also give the Maitlands more privacy for their remaining afterlife.

Delia's Death Sets Up An Ironic Winter River Twist For Beetlejuice 3

Will Delia Be Stuck In The House She Hates For Her Afterlife?

Delia, Astrid, and Lydia looking at the ground in Beetlejuice 2 — Warner Bros. Pictures

Delia has hated the Winter River house since Charles bought it, but she might be doomed to spend much of her afterlife there. In a shocking twist, Delia dies shortly before Beetlejuice 2’s ending, but it’s unclear whether her ghost will be stuck in the Winter River house as some ironic punishment. After Barbara and Adam Maitland died in the 1988 movie, they were sentenced to spend the first 125 years of their afterlife in the Winter River house, and were unable to leave the premises without being transported to the sandworm-infested moon of Saturn.

Beetlejuice 2 Character Deaths
Character	How They Die In Beetlejuice 2
Charles Deetz	Eaten by a shark after a plane crash
Delia Deetz	Bitten by venomous snakes during a ceremony at Charles' grave
Le Tigre	Fell down a manhole in New York City
Bob	Soul-sucked by Delores
The Janitor	Soul-sucked by Delores
Rory	Eaten by the sandworm

While Charles and Delia Deetz both die in Beetlejuice 2, the sequel doesn't reveal whether their ghosts have been given the same geographical constraints as the Maitlands. Beetlejuice 2 only sees Charles' ghost wandering through the Neitherworld, with Delia's ghost only appearing in the Neitherworld briefly before Betelgeuse brings her to the cemetery-adjacent Winter River church for the "MacArthur Park" wedding dance sequence. Since Delia's ghost is allowed to enter the church, it's possible that her ghostly perimeter is confined to the cemetery where she died.

It's unlikely that Delia will be able to haunt her New York City home that she doubtlessly prefers.

Delia didn't like Winter River's town much better than she liked the house itself, so being stuck in the cemetery, which she can't alter or remodel throughout her afterlife, might be an even worse fate. If Beetlejuice 3 happens due to the massive success of the 2024 sequel, then it seems likely that Delia and Charles' ghosts will return by having their ghosts haunt Winter River. Whether that's in their house or at the church remains to be seen after Beetlejuice 2, but it's unlikely that Delia can haunt her New York City home that she doubtlessly prefers.