Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to Include Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O”

One of the most memorable scenes in the original Beetlejuice focuses on a dinner party that descends into chaos, as its guests all burst out into uncontrollably singing Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song),” with star of the original movie and upcoming sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice confirming the song is featured in the new movie. The actor only briefly addressed the use of the song in the new film, so it’s unclear of it will play a significant part of the upcoming adventure or if it will merely be heard as an Easter egg in honor of the original movie’s legacy. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is set to hit theaters on September 6th.

“‘Day-O’ is in the movie,” O’Hara confirmed to the Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast. Of the new movie, O’Hara continued, “It was just very, just really loose and fun and lovely, and Michael Keaton was so happy to be there, and Jenna is so cool. Jenna Ortega is such a cool young woman … Winona [Ryder] looks exactly the same!”

In addition to returning cast members, the new film adds Monica Belucci and Willem Dafoe. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was directed by Tim Burton.

At one point in the scene in the original movie, all of the dinner guests have their faces grabbed by shrimp that come to life. Dick Cavett played one of these guests and, back in 2018, he shared insight into how the scene came to life, including how it was his suggestion that made the shrimp sequence possible.

“It’s safe to say this, I think I made a contribution to the film,” Cavett revealed to Yahoo!. “There was a scene at the table. My contribution had to do with the attacking shrimp. They kept shooting it, but the guys under there couldn’t really see where their hand was going and they poked each other in the face. And there were minor injuries… what I recall is saying, ‘Why don’t you shoot it in reverse?’… I was hailed as a genius, though I’m sure several others would have thought of it.”

The final moments of the original film also featured Lydia dancing to Belafonte’s “Jump in the Line (Shake, Señora),” cementing the singer’s connection to the franchise.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will hit theaters on September 6th.

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