Thanks to the resurgence of popularity brought on by its long awaited sequel, many Beetlejuice fans are hoping the old school animated series will make a comeback.
Nearly 40 years after its first installment, Tim Burton’s frightening follow-up Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has hit theaters to the delight of longtime fans.
Because the sequel has seen a ton of success as it had the third biggest domestic opening for a new movie in 2024, some people have wondered if other projects from the franchise could be revived for a new generation.
Thanks to a viral Facebook post, a rumor began circulating that the 1989 Beetlejuice animated series would be rebooted. But, is that rumor true? And where could one even watch such an old cartoon? Here’s everything we know.
Beetlejuice TV series isn’t coming back
A fake poster announcing Beetlejuice: The Animated Series would be premiering on Max was circulated by YODA BBY ABY, an account known for circulating false announcements connected to popular franchises.
The details included a release date somewhere in January 2025 and promised some new characters from Beetlejuice 2 would be joining the original cast.
“Stephen Ouimette, Alyson Court, Tabitha St. Germain, and Elizabeth Hanna return to reprise their iconic roles, joined by Jenna Ortega as the voice of Astrid Deetz in this thrilling continuation where Beetlejuice, Lydia, and her daring daughter Astrid stir up chaos between the living and the dead,” the user wrote.
Unfortunately, there are currently no plans in the works to bring back the cartoon back in any way despite the success the sequel.
Beetlejuice: The Animated Series was created and produced by Burton as a loose continuation of the events of the movie. The director did make some significant changes to the lore, the biggest being the mutual friendship between Lydia Deetz and the titular demon himself.
The show debuted a year after Beetlejuice in 1989 and ran for four seasons, bouncing between ABC and Fox Kids.
Despite being a relatively unknown show nowadays, the series was incredibly popular during its initial run, even scoring a tie win with The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh for an Outstanding Animated Program Daytime Emmy Award in 1990.
However, Burton’s foray into the cartoon world came to an end in 1991 when the show aired its final season.
Will there ever be a Season 5?
There are currently no plans to release Season 5 of the Beetlejuice Animated Series. And, though it’s impossible to completely rule out the chance that the series returns someday, it’s very unlikely.
While Burton himself has never really spoken about the underrated cartoon, he has been quite vocal on his reasons why he decided to return to the franchise for another movie almost four decades later.
“I wasn’t out to do a big sequel for money or anything like that, I wanted to make this for very personal reasons,” Burton explained during a press conference at the Venice Film Festival. “Like I said, I didn’t watch the first movie to prepare for this. I remembered the spirit of it and I remembered everybody here.”
Warner Bros.The director also stressed how he had become very “disillusioned with the movie industry” over the years, so he wanted to make sure his project was something he did “from the heart.”
While the movie version of these characters mean a great deal to Burton, it’s unlikely he will go back to a format that was simply just an extension of his movie, especially now that he’s had the chance to see his fictional friends on the big screen once more.
How to watch Beetlejuice: The Animated Series
You can stream Beetlejuice: The Animated Series Season 1 to 4 on Tubi.
Tubi is a free streaming service, so users can check out all 94 episodes of Burton’s cartoon project for no cost.
Before it was made available on Tubi, the only way fans could watch the animated Beetlejuice series was through the physical media of DVDs.
The show was syndicated during the ’90s after its final season aired and then was available for DVD purchase in 2013.
Beetlejuice: The Animated Series was made available to the public for the first time through streaming days before Beetlejuice 2’s release date on September 6 as a way to hype fans up for the sequel.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is now playing in theaters. For more, check out the guide to the best movies of 2024 so far and all of our favorite horror movies at FrightFest.
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