Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: Behind the Scenes in East Corinth

After Tim Burton’s whimsical horror film Beetlejuice premiered in 1988, fans made many pilgrimages to the quiet Vermont town of East Corinth, which stood in as the fictional setting of Winter River. The small town, which has a population of less than 1,500, reprised its role in the long-awaited sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, featuring returning stars Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder.

“No one knew what it would be like,” says production designer Marc Scruton, who previously collaborated with Burton on the Netflix series Wednesday. “Nobody had been back there since the first film, other than the fans. But when I flew there, you could tell it was pretty much unchanged. It was the same town it had always been, and you could see why they’d gone there in the first place.”

Scruton and his team spent 12 weeks in East Corinth rebuilding the Winter River sets, including the iconic Deetz family hilltop house and the town’s main street. The interior sets were created in London at Leavesden Studios. In total, they built 77 sets, most of which needed to accommodate the film’s practical effects.

The film features Ryder’s Lydia Deetz, along with her stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) and her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), as they return to Winter River for a sudden funeral. Lydia’s presence reignites the interest of afterlife spirit Betelgeuse (Keaton) and plunges the family into a comedic, bizarre adventure between life and death, showcasing more of Burton’s fantastical universe, including clever expansions of the afterlife and Winter River’s graveyard.

“Every day was bonkers,” Scruton says. “And because everything was real, you just roamed around in this incredible world and it made you smile. Everybody enjoyed the frivolous craziness of the whole thing.” Here, Scruton discusses returning to East Corinth, developing the film’s stylized afterlife, and the vibrant fan love.

Challenges of Filming in a Small Town

Filming in a small town presented significant challenges, particularly due to the scale of construction required for the film. “We rebuilt the Deetz house on top of the hill and the covered bridge. The street with Maitland Hardware needed to expand into a much bigger row of shops. That’s quite a big undertaking for an area with limited infrastructure. Fortunately, the residents were all very supportive. We had to bring in a lot of people and equipment, filling out all the local hotels with our crew,” Scruton explains.

During the shoot, word spread that they were filming in East Corinth, and fans arrived from all over, necessitating crowd control as they turned up early, often bringing lawn chairs, and some dressed up and even arrived on horseback.

Visiting Local Spots

There was one regular spot the crew enjoyed, called The Little Grille on the Mill in Bradford, which was a short drive away. “It was about the only place that could accommodate our crew’s food demands quickly, and it offered a magnificent view of a waterfall,” Scruton remarked.

Transforming Winter River for the Sequel

Since the first film, Winter River has changed. The story expanded, and aesthetic updates were necessary to keep the essence of the town. “We made it a little trendier. We referenced things like microbreweries in the script. It wasn’t just a pastiche of a cool town, but it needed to feel like a hip place. The Maitland Hardware store was transformed into a coffee shop, along with additional new shops, including a pet grooming parlor and a vintage clothing store,” Scruton elaborates.

Building Real-World Locations

For Winter River’s graveyard, Scruton revealed that while the graveyard and church were constructed in West Wickham, an exceptional valley in London provided the ideal setting. The team designed both the church and the graveyard to create an authentic atmosphere.

Reimagining the Afterlife’s Visuals

Regarding the vibrant afterlife visuals, Scruton mentioned that the first film set the aesthetic guidelines. He focused on maintaining coherence in design elements, such as wall textures and lighting, while ramping up the overall feel for a fresh yet familiar experience.

Scruton also creatively designed the soul train, a representation based on the famous TV series Soul Train, proclaiming it as a fantastic project with high fun levels.

Nature’s Colors in Filming

As for the film’s fall foliage, Scruton commented, “Some was real and some was digitally enhanced, because we filmed during the summer. However, we executed scenes with beautiful fall colors near Boston at just the right time due to scheduling luck.”

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, starring Michael Keaton, Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder, and Jenny Ortega, is now released.