WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Beetlejuice 2 (2024)!Among the most entertaining new features ofBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceis the afterlife’s call center full of shrunken-head deceased individuals, but their status compared to Betelgeuse creates a mystery for the Tim Burton sequel. While Betelgeuse, Lydia Deetz, Delia Deetz, Charles Deetz, and Little Jane Butterfield are the onlyreturning original characters inBeetlejuice 2, the sequel does still pay homage to some missing figures from the 1988 horror-comedy. For instance,Bob and the call center workers inBeetlejuice 2pay tribute to Harry the Hunter, the franchise’s first shrunken-head character before Betelgeuse himself was cursed with that fate.
InBeetlejuice’s original ending, Michael Keaton’s titular character was sent back to the Neitherworld waiting room, where he sat between a witch doctor and Harry the Hunter. After Betelgeuse tried to switch ticket numbers with the witch doctor, the deceased man punished him by using magic to give Betelgeuse a shrunken head, suggesting Harry had previously made a similar mistake. InBeetlejuice 2,Betelgeuse’s head size has somehow reverted back to its original state, but, oddly, he didn’t fix that issue for the many employees working under him with the same complication.
Betelgeuse Found A Cure, But Didn’t Share It With Bob?
Considering Betelgeuse somehow found a way to get his head back to its original size after the 1988 film, it’snot clear why he didn’t opt to introduce this strategy to Bob and the other employeesof the Afterlife Call Center. Bob and the others remain with small heads and sewn-shut mouths throughoutBeetlejuice 2, with Bob only being able to let out an upsetting scream before death when his thread is torn off byMonica Bellucci’s character Delores.
Bob is portrayed by Nick Kellington inBeetlejuice 2.
It can be surmised that Betelgeuse was put in charge of the afterlife’s shrunken-head population due to his experience as one, but the question remains of why his head was fixed but theirs wasn’t. On the other hand, Betelgeuse may have directly sought out those in the afterlife with shrunken heads to work for him. With sewn-shut mouths, Betelgeuse wouldn’t really have to listen to Bob and his other employees, and he knew that they would simply do their jobs and remain loyal to him. Therefore,Betelgeuse may have actively avoided getting them back to their original states.
SinceHarry the Hunter doesn’t return inBeetlejuice 2, there’s also no indication of whether he was able to undo his shrunken head as well. Tragically, Bob died beforeBeetlejuice 2’s endingand the other shrunken-head call center employees were last seen running loose throughout the real world, so the sequel doesn’t give much hope for Betelgeuse’s colleagues to fix their heads either. Considering how expansive the afterlife’s world became inBeetlejuice 2compared to the 1988 movie, it’s surprising there was no mention of an official solution to the dead’s shrunken-head problem.
Oneunanswered question afterBeetlejuicecentered on how Michael Keaton’s character would return his head to its original size in the sequel. While the sequel could have opened on Betelgeuse finally having this problem fixed after getting his number called in the Neitherworld waiting room,Beetlejuice 2leaves this detail unaddressed. Rather, when Keaton returns, he looks exactly as he did throughout the majority of the 1988 film, anddoesn’t even directly reference that he, himself, once had a shrunken head like Bob.
Considering the 2024 sequel doesn’t reveal how Betelgeuse got his original head size back, it’s all the more difficult to explain whyBeetlejuice 2’s dead character Bob and his colleagues didn’t have theirs reversed as well.
It was previously theorized that the afterlife may have a room specifically dedicated to growing back the dead’s shrunken heads, or thatBetelgeuse could simply use his own powers to return his head to normal size. The latter seems to be the most likely answer, unless the witch doctor was forced to reverse the hex he put on Betelgeuse shortly after the 1988 film. Considering the 2024 sequel doesn’t reveal how Betelgeuse got his original head size back, it’s all the more difficult to explain whyBeetlejuice 2’s dead characterBob and his colleagues didn’t have theirs reversed as well.
How & Why Did Bob Get A Shrunken Head?
Regardless of the mysteries surrounding how Betelgeuse fixed his head size and why the others couldn’t have his issue reversed,Beetlejuice 2leaves yet anotherunanswered question about how Bob got his shrunken head in the first place.Beetlejuice’s 1988 ending showed that Betelgeuse’s shrunken head occurred after he annoyed the witch doctor sitting next to him, who took revenge by sprinkling magical dust on Michael Keaton’s mischievous “bio-exorcist.” The question thus remains of whether Bob was also given his shrunken head by the same witch doctor, had this affliction all along, or perhaps got it from Betelgeuse’s powers.
How Old Bob Is In Beetlejuice 2
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice introduced Bob, Betelgeuse’s most loyal employee who risked his life to help his boss, and as expected, he was very old.
Considering he can’t speak and only wears the standard Afterlife Call Center uniform or Betlegeuse’s iconic pinstripe outfit, Tim Burton’s sequel doesn’t give much information about the beloved new character’s backstory. It’s not confirmed exactlyhow Bob died beforeBeetlejuice 2, but the closing credits do reveal that he was born in 1372 and (officially) died in 2024. This opens up thesad possibility that Bob has had a shrunken head for the nearly 700 years that he’s been dead, or that it happened to him sometime over the 36-year gap betweenBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceand the original movie.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Cast
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the sequel to the original Tim Burton classic that starred Michael Keaton and Wynona Rider in a horror-comedy that involved ghosts trying to scare off new homebuyers from taking their house. The sequel brings back Michael Keaton as the hilarious and sleazy ghost with selfish intentions, now joined by Jenna Ortega in a new role.
Beetlejuice
Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice stars Michael Keaton as the titular “bio-exorcist”, an obnoxious spirit who specializes in driving living occupants out of homes. When Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) die suddenly, they pass into the spirit realm, and must stay in their home. However, in the living world, the Deetz family purchases the house and moves in, prompting the Maitlands to enlist the help of Beetlejuice to drive them away.
