Warning: This article contains spoilers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

While the original Beetlejuice Beetlejuice took 36 years to make, it was well worth the wait. The movie is funny, kitschy, gothic, spooky, and entertaining.

As a sequel to a beloved movie, Beetlejuice 2 made plenty of references to the original while developing the characters and the fantastical world. However, this isn’t the only way Beetlejuice Beetlejuice pays homage to its roots. The film also took inspiration from the first movie by including a musical number that viewers will likely never forget.

Beetlejuice 2's "MacArthur Park" Sequence Is The Follow-Up To Beetlejuice's "Day-O" Scene

Beetlejuice's "Day-O" Scene Set High Expectations For Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Since the original film's release, Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O” has become synonymous with the Beetlejuice franchise, appearing in every version of the story. The dinner scene with Delia, Charles, and their guests is among the most iconic Beetlejuice moments. Rather than trying to replicate the “Day-O” scene from the first movie, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice creates its own version of the scene by including a song with a different genre and vocal style – “MacArthur Park.”

The moody pop ballad, written by Jimmy Webb, became an unexpected hit after being recorded by actor/singer Richard Harris in 1968. Though “MacArthur Park” went on to be recorded by numerous other artists, Tim Burton uses that original Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s “MacArthur Park” scene feels like a fever dream, which makes sense with Betelgeuse in charge.

Which Beetlejuice Franchise Musical Moment Is Better

"Day-O" Wins Over "MacArthur Park," But Only By A Small Margin

Both Beetlejuice’s “Day-O” and Beetlejuice 2’s “MacArthur Park” scenes have their merits, but the original musical moment is better. Firstly, the original scene had an element of absurdity because it was unexpected. The scene in Beetlejuice 2 felt like a given based on how iconic the “Day-O” moment was, taking away that element of surprise.

If Burton edited down the “MacArthur Park” scene, the positives might have been strong enough to outweigh the nostalgia, shock factor, and beautiful simplicity of Beetlejuice’s “Day-O” scene.

Additionally, the scene in the original movie only uses a short snippet of the song, offering enough time to get the Beetlejuice characters’ hilarious reactions to the horrifying and funny possession. When it came time for the sequel, Tim Burton had the perfect selection with “MacArthur Park.” The changing time signatures and vivid imagery in the lyrics perfectly fit Betelgeuse’s chaotic personality. The modern dance by the Beetlejuice 2 cast and the cinematography are brilliant. However, the director made a mistake by using the entire 7-minute and 21-second-long song in the sequel.

Though it starts out great, the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice musical moment drags on to the point where it loses its humor and charm. If Burton edited down the “MacArthur Park” scene, the positives might have been strong enough to outweigh the nostalgia, shock factor, and beautiful simplicity of Beetlejuice’s “Day-O” scene. Unfortunately, with the entire song in the movie, the sequel’s musical moment becomes tiring about two-thirds of the way through the sequence, despite how lovable the Deetz family is.

What The Beetlejuice 2 Cast & Crew Has Said About Filming The "MacArthur Park" Scene

The "MacArthur Park" Scene In Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Evolved Over Time

Though “Day-O” is better than “MacArthur Park,” the musical sequence in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is still one of the best moments in the movie, and that’s thanks to the hard work of the cast and crew. Numerous individuals have spoken about creating the “MacArthur Park” scene from conception to finish. Tim Burton tapped Alfred Gough and Miles Millar to write the movie, and Gough told Entertainment Weekly the following:

“We went and listened to [‘MacArthur Park’], and then we just wrote out a musical number based on that. And then we kept evolving it. We were like, 'Yes! That's the crazy, weird, insane thing you need at the end of this movie.'"

Gough’s statement highlights the collaborative creative process, which treated the musical number as a living entity that could evolve rather than remain stagnant. The spontaneous nature of the scene was also mentioned by Burton himself, who told SlashFilm this:

“We didn't really worry about the script or the studio or anybody. We just went and did it. Which is something, like I said, it kind of re-energized the fact of why you like making movies, just kind of it's the unknown. It's not something that is set in stone. It's something that's, we think about it, but then we just don't worry about it. We just do it. And it was quite liberating.”

Burton’s choice of song resonated with the cast as well. In the interview with SlashFilm, Catherine O’Hara, who plays Delia Deetz, stated the following:

"[T]he whole church and the musical number, when I first heard they were doing the whole song and Tim just came up with so many levels of insanity in that number. And I mean, but real stuff going on too with Lydia and Astrid and us. It's just wild and great and surprising."

The chaotic nature of the scene allowed for creative input from the actors, which Jenna Ortega and O’Hara elaborated on in an interview with returning Beetlejuice actor explained that they created their own dance moves. O’Hara told interviewers this:

“I wanted the more… illogical to my mind… dance moves that kind of mean nothing in all modern… not all modern dance, modern dance is amazing.”

Meanwhile, Jenna Ortega credited her co-star with inspiring Astrid and Delia’s choreography throughout the “MacArthur Park” scene. She said the following to Catherine O’Hara:

“You were the inspiration behind the performance art aspect of it. I think it read on the page as a proper dance, and you sparked an idea.”

The common theme across all these interviews is the collaborative environment surrounding the “MacArthur Park” scene. Everyone contributed, building off each other’s work in a beautiful and organic way. The sequence at the end of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a testament to the positive outcomes that occur when all of a cast and crew are allowed to contribute in a meaningful way. Hopefully, others in the industry will follow the example set by the cast and crew of Beetlejuice 2, allowing for more cooperative filmmaking in the future.

Sources: Entertainment Weekly, SlashFilm, and NME