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Heartwarming / Beetlejuice

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    The Movie 

  • In the movie, the reason the Maitlands decide to let the Deetzes stay? Because they like Lydia. So in the end, the Maitlands are acting practically like a second set of parents and use their ghostly powers to play music for her - it's a wonderful way to cap the film off.
    • Doubly so when you remember that in the beginning of the film, it's heavily implied that they'd been trying to have a child of their own. Being dead, they can't do that now, but Lydia fills that void in their lives... er, afterlives.
    • The Maitlands seem to be doing most of the hands on parenting of Lydia at the end of the film. They are the ones who greet her when she comes home from school. And Adam was the one that helped her study for her math test. The movie is ultimately about a couple that were unable to have a child because of infertility but were still able to become a parent to one that needed them.
    • Their first meeting together cemented that the two ghosts would get along great with Lydia when she says the handbook mentioned people like her, who are "Strange and unusual," can see the supernatural. Barbara casually says in response "You look like a regular girl to me," demonstrating they see nothing abnormal or wrong with the type of person Lydia is and thus show her nothing but acceptance.
    • Barbara not wanting to use Beetlejuice's services because he didn't want to bring a perverted man around a young girl.
    • When Beetlejuice is banished the Deetzes and the Maitlands smile at each other as if content to co-exist. The Deetzes are pretty happy that the Maitlands care for Lydia.
    • The Deetzes allowing the Maitlands to Co Parent. The Deetzes weren't great parents, but what makes them good parents is recognizing this about themselves and seeing that Maitlands are the parent's Lydia needs and allowing them to co-parent. They stay in Lydia's life and care about her but accepted help where they needed it.
  • Lydia agreeing to marry Beetlejuice to save the Maitlands. And after, once they were saved, the Maitlands doing everything they could to save Lydia from Beetlejuice.
  • In the scene when Betelgeuse first menaces the Deetzes, he's pretty cruel to Otho and Delia. But when he starts threatening Charles, Lydia begs him to stop. As much as her family situation has had its ups and downs for the girl, she loves her father and doesn't want him hurt.
  • The cover art for the handbook for the recently deceased. It depicts a couple holding hands and gazing at a setting sun, obviously symbolising how their time has passed and they're now passing on together. Considering how many people don't get to die alongside their loved ones (well, except for one particular couple), it's quite sweet to look at.
    • At the end of the movie, Charles is seen glancing at a companion piece to the handbook that serves as a guide to living people and ghosts co-existing. The fact that there is such a book is heartwarming enough, but the cover is not unlike the first book, but with a living couple also standing outside the cloud. One suspects it's for the rare occurrence when the dead and living do co-exist, and only given to those who swear there is no such thing as life after death.
    • The same scene has a morbidly cute couple moment as Delia startles him by holding a Beetlejuice bust up in his face. Charles screams and falls out of his chair, Delia pauses to consider this reaction for a moment, before smiling and cheerfully declaring "He likes it!"
  • After Betelgeuse is pounced upon by the sand worm and everyone seems to be okay, the Deetzes get their first good look at Barbara and Adam as people instead of ghosts, and the four exchange shy smiles in a silent, awkward hello. It's an extremely sweet moment.
  • Delia's behavior towards Lydia near the end. When Beetlejuice starts terrorizing them and their company, Charles and Delia call Lydia over to them. It's also worth noting that Delia is holding onto Lydia more than her husband is. Also, when Beetlejuice was defeated, she tries to go over to Lydia, but stops because she's startled by the undead reverend. It's sweet to see that despite them not getting along throughout the movie, Delia actually cares about her stepdaughter.
    • And prior to that, after Beetlejuice attacks the Deetzes and Ortho in his snake form, both Charles and Delia started growing concerned about Lydia's well-being and wonders if staying at their new home is good for Lydia. It shows that even though Charles and Delia were both dismissive towards Lydia early on, they actually do care about her.
  • When Adam is summoned next to Barbara, who is currently being turned into a horrific corpse, he doesn’t flinch at all. He just caresses his wife’s cheek lovingly and then takes her hand.
    • When the exorcism is clearly starting to go wrong, none of the guests want it to continue and protest about what is happening.
  • The football team ghosts appear to partake in the dance party ending. Even though they're dead, it doesn't mean they can't have some fun.
  • A small one, but when Lydia mentions to Betelgeuse she wants to "get in", he appears to drop his facade for a moment and show some genuine concern for the girl. While you can argue it's part of his plan, he offers to talk to her once he's freed, if she wants.
  • Lydia treats the Maitlands as her co-parents, since it seems they reward her for getting good grades. Her parents are clearly aware of this too, since when they give her her reward for passing grades, Charles looks up and says, "Sounds like Lydia got an A on the math test!"
    • It's bittersweet when you realize that the Maitlands apparently can't conceive.
  • The Deetzes hold a dinner party. The Maitlands possess the adults and make them sing and dance calypso-style against their will. However, they leave Lydia alone.

    The Animated Series 

  • Pretty much any moment shared between BJ and Lydia, especially if BJ is helping her out. Their entire relationship is just one big Crowning Friendship of Heartwarming. Highlights include:
    • In "Skeletons in the Closet", due to Beetlejuice's compulsive lying, his closet becomes overflowing with ghostly skeletons that are set loose on the Neitherworld, revealing every lie he ever told. It's later revealed that they can only be defeated by telling the truth. Lydia realizes that all he needs to tell is one truth, about anything, so she makes it easy for him.
      Lydia: Who's your best friend?
      Beetlejuice: Well, I... shucks, Lydia, you're my best friend.
    • In "Spooky Tree", Lydia chains herself to a tree to prevent it from being chopped down. When she gets tired, Beetlejuice offers to take over for her. It's small, but considering that earlier BJ said he didn't care what happened to the tree, it says a lot.
      • Then BJ goes out of his way even further in making the tree come to life, so it can move itself and be saved. The tree causes him a lot of trouble, but BJ keeps on going - all for Lydia.
    • There are a number of episodes, including "Laugh of the Party" and "Stage Fright," which include scenes where Beetlejuice looks at Lydia with what can only be described as an adoring gaze. Usually this happens when she's not looking, but since it's animated, this is clearly intentional. Whatever his faults, he dotes on his Morality Chain.
    • In "Keeping Up With the Boneses," Lydia gets taken as 'collateral' to make BJ pay his credit card bills. He doesn't have the money, so his only recourse is to return everything he bought. There's a brief debate about whether to listen to his head (which tells him to "Run away!") or his heart (which urges him to "Save her!"). Unsurprisingly, his heart wins.
    • Beetlejuice gets essentially cloned during the episode "Spitting Image." It's heartwarming enough that both sides fight for Lydia's attention; but then after spending the episode bickering, the two agree to merge into one - because they realize Lydia's not happy and they just can't have that. She hugs him in response.
    • In "Worm Welcome," just look at the expression on his face when he realizes Lydia's in trouble. He even helps her save a baby sandworm, creatures he hates above all else.
    • In "It's A Wonderful Afterlife," Beetlejuice wishes away his afterlife, and everyone's lives seem leagues better due to the fact that he's not around. Everyone, that is, except Lydia, who is absolutely miserable without him. She has no friends, no confidence, her parents barely even notice her, and literally everyone in her class, even Bertha and Prudence, makes fun of her. Just seeing her like this - and learning that he can never see her again - makes Beetlejuice want his old life back. And he was pretty much OK with everything else up until that point.
    • "Robbin Juice of Sherweird Forest" shows Beetlejuice as his greedy old self, wanting to keep the money he stole. However, when Lydia is kidnapped, Beetlejuice is willing to give up this same money - yes, all of it - in order to find her.
      Alan Airedale: I can't sing without my lute.
      BJ: Here! *points to the money* Take all the loot you want - just tell me what's happened to Lydia!
    • In "Pest O' The West," BJ is on the fence about taking on Bully the Crud - but the moment Bully makes a move towards Lydia, BJ gets serious.
      • BJ then pulls a Big Damn Heroes in storming into the wedding between Bully and Lydia (unwilling on her part), grabbing Lydia and getting her as far away from Bully as possible, placing himself in front of her.note 
      • A subtle one happens when BJ is running away from the town (and Bully). His horse points out he should go back and save Lydia. BJ's response? That Lydia can take Bully. He's not saying this to reassure himself, he genuinely believes that Lydia can outsmart Bully. Yes, he saw that she wouldn't be able to, but the fact he has such confidence in her is pretty sweet (then again, as in the note above, who knows? He might be speaking from experience)
    • "Out Of My Mind" reveals that Beetlejuice has a huge shrine to Lydia in his head. It's heartwarming... and a little creepy.
      • This episode is also the one and only time in the series that they fight, which is how Lydia finds out about the shrine in the first place. Prior to this, she had told Beetlejuice she wouldn't speak to him again until he apologized. He had become absolutely inconsolable, even weepy, and very nearly apologizes in the end (which, for him, is a big deal).
    • Notice that whenever Beetlejuice pulls a prank on Lydia, it's harmless and borders more on teasing, which they both just laugh off. This is common in any friendship, but remember that this is Beetlejuice we're talking about here.
      • One moment of this that stands out is in "Scare and Scare Alike". Beetlejuice and Lydia celebrate Scary Fools' Day by pulling numerous pranks on each other. At one point it looks like he takes it a step too far by ripping up an essay that she had been working on for weeks, only for her to discover that the ripped pages are all blank, and her real essay is back on her desk, completely unharmed. She smiles and acknowledges that it was a good prank.
      • Right after this prank, Lydia tries to playfully get back at Beetlejuice by dressing up as a sandworm in an attempt to scare him just when he's about to go to bed. At first, he seems annoyed, but that expression quickly changes into an Aside Glance with a fond smile that just seems to say, "Adorable, ain't she, folks?"
    • When BJ is upset about not receiving any awards in "Awards to the Wise," Lydia makes him a best friend trophy. Later, when his neighbors decide to honor him as being the "Most Hated Guy in the Neitherworld," he pulls out her trophy, saying he's already received the greatest honor he could ever get.
    • In "A Ghoul and His Money," Beetlejuice receives a massive amount of cash in exchange for agreeing to never 'juice' anyone again. He takes Lydia to dinner at a very fancy restaurant, which requires him to magic them into some appropriate clothes; he looks a bit dorky (and actually somewhat resembles his brother Donny), but he puts her in an extremely flattering red gown. The rich jerks who patronize the restaurant enjoy taunting him since they know he can't retaliate without giving up all the money, and he grits his teeth and puts up with it. The kicker which finally sends him over the edge? One of them insults her.
    • In the episode "In the Schticks," both BJ and Lydia get sentenced to centuries of labor after they try to pull a scam. When Lydia's sentence is read, BJ freaks out and begs the judge to let her go (he even says please); when this doesn't work, he pleads with her to "juice yourself home" and let him take the fall alone. She refuses, so he spends most of the rest of the episode fighting to rescue her. It's the most selfless we see him be in the entire series.
    • Lydia, thanks to an obnoxious commercial, has a bit of anxiety over her appearance in "Beauty and the Beetle," and point-blank asks Beetlejuice if he thinks she's ugly. The expression on his face shows that he is clearly baffled that she would ask him that, and he regrets to tell her that "you're not even pretty ugly."
      • Then, near the end of the episode, Lydia tells BJ that she thinks he’s beautiful. He makes an over-the-top grossed out reaction at first, then gives her this precious expression and asks, “You really think so?”
    • An odd example exists in "Ghost Writer in the Sky," when Beetlejuice writes an autobiography filled with lies about his friends and neighbors. The exception is Lydia, who isn't mentioned at all. She's angry about the omission, naturally, but Beetlejuice is forced to admit that the reason he didn't write about her was because he couldn't think of a single negative thing to say about her - not even a lie.
    • In "Time Flies," they cause Grandfather Time to stop and screw up the flow of time. BJ is thrilled, since this lets him play pranks on helpless victims who can't retaliate. But then Lydia explains that if they don't set things right, time will cause them to have never met. Aghast at the idea of forgetting "my Lydster," he immediately agrees.
    • In "Oh Brother," she very nearly convinces BJ to tell his brother Donny that he loves him. He doesn't like "the L-word;" what he actually ends up saying is that he doesn't hate him, which is closer than he gets with anyone (except once). But the only reason he even does that much is because she asked. As he puts it, "Anything for you, Babes."
    • Lydia pulls out all the stops to save Beetlejuice in "The Neitherworld's Least Wanted," getting her own Big Damn Heroes moments as she works to rescue his assorted parts from the enemies who have stolen them. It's probably not a coincidence that she's taken prisoner near the end of the episode and tied up right next to the glass case containing his heart.
    • In "Brinkadoom," Lydia walks around playing a loud, obnoxious musical instrument to keep the residents of the eponymous village awake so the place doesn't vanish. Beetlejuice is extremely amused by her efforts.
      Beetlejuice: *fondly* You gotta love her.
    • Multiple episodes show that they keep pictures of each other on hand. Lydia is seen taking several of BJ, and has at least one in a frame. Taking the series in total, BJ seems to have a picture of Lydia in every room of his house, as well as a full size poster of her in his jacket.
  • The episode "Ghost To Ghost" reveals that despite his various pranks on them, Beetlejuice has a soft spot for Lydia's parents. This is reiterated in "How Green Was My Gallery," where he seems genuinely eager to help Delia with her art career, and goes to great lengths to help Lydia rescue her when she gets into trouble.
  • In "Beetlejuice's Parents," Beetlejuice introduces Lydia to his mother and father. His mother, Bee, immediately adores Lydia, which is cute by itself. Later in the episode, Beetlejuice kisses his mother on the cheek; he's a big tough ghost, sure, but he loves his mom. He loves his dad too - setting aside his terror of sandworms to save him from one. When the episode ends with both of his parents demonstrating that they've learned to spin their heads just like him, he's absolutely delighted.
  • "A-Ha!" proves just how much BJ cares about Doomie. He loses his composure when he thinks Doomie's been stolen, and even finally admits to Lydia that he's worried about their Cool Car.
    • "Doomie's Romance" rather explicitly paints BJ and Lydia in the roles of Doomie's parents. (This does make a certain amount of sense, since they built him together.) BJ is a stern, oddly disciplinarian father while Lydia is more of a nurturing, encouraging mother. They bicker Like an Old Married Couple over how they're raising their child, but BJ can't hold out against the joint effect of Lydia and Doomie's sad faces. At the end, when all goes well for their "son", the pure joy on both their faces as they hug is adorable.
  • Just about all of the interactions between BJ and Ramon in "Beetledude". They almost immediately forge an Uncle and Nephew-type dynamic. Even Lydia can't help but comment how adorable it is.

    The Comic Books 
  • In "This Is Your Lice," Beetlejuice is devastated when a hypnotist alters Lydia's personality to the point where she doesn't remember him or anything about their friendship. But she finally remembers that she always has fun with him "because you really like me, and I guess I like you too!" It's almost impossible not to smile at how completely overjoyed he is by this — or how thoroughly he lets the hypnotist have it for hurting Lydia.
  • In "The Neitherworld Beauty (You've Gotta Be Kidding!) Pageant", we're actually given a glimpse on how Beetlejuice and Lydia met in this continuity, as he fondly looks back on it. Sure it was his way of buttering her up so she could enter the pageant, but it's still pretty sweet to see how their friendship started.
    Beetlejuice: I was thinking back to when you Deetzes moved into this old haunted house and about the first time I saw your folks… or at least thought about sawing them! But mostly I was remembering when I first laid my eyes on you. I tried my best to scare the daylights out of you—(the nightlights, too!) but you just laughed! I knew I'd found a friend! Soon, we were snug as bugs in a rug.
  • In "Scuzz-O," something Charles says has Lydia and Beetlejuice thinking that he's going to sell the house and she'll have to move away. Beetlejuice persuades Lydia to buy a Neitherworld lottery ticket with a prize of fifty million dollars - and, to ensure that she wins and can stay in her house, he sells himself into two thousand years of labor for the devil. She voids the contract on a technicality, but thanks him for going to such extremes to help her, calling the gesture "very sweet."
  • Beetlejuice kissing Lydia on the cheek under the "missile toad" in "Get Me to the Church on Slime" could be seen as this. He's so grateful to her for saving the day that he can't come up with a better way to express it, and she just kind of giggles.

    The Musical 
  • Although Delia and Lydia obviously don't get along (and while many jokes are made about the forced nature of their relationship), it's clear that Delia truly does care about her and want to connect with her. Every moment they're onstage together involves some genuinely sweet moments, despite how much Lydia can't stand Delia.
    • In many performances, when Lydia seems to be returning Delia's knock-knock joke, Delia seems both astonished and thrilled that Lydia is attempting to connect with her. The uncertain smile that blooms on her face after Lydia says "knock knock" is so sweet.
    • When Lydia shows an interest in photography, Delia suggests that they clear out the attic together and turn it into a darkroom as a bonding exercise. It's a genuinely thoughtful suggestion, and in some performances Lydia even hesitates for a moment before she recommits to pushing Delia away.
    • When Lydia learns that Charles and Delia are engaged, Delia is the one who acknowledges Lydia's feelings and attempts to reach out to her (however misguided that attempt may be). She's also the one to express regret at her and Charles' actions once Lydia is out of the room, despite how excited she was to get engaged earlier.
    • When Juno threatens Lydia, Delia jumps in front of her, attempting a karate pose and shouting, "Yeah, I'm a part of this too! I don't get it, but I'm a part of it!!!" Sure, some of it's about Delia craving attention and wanting to belong - but she's still willing to put her life on the line to protect the family she's not even sure wants to keep her around.
  • Lydia and Beetlejuice's duet, "That Beautiful Sound", can be seen as this. While the two are terrorizing the neighborhood by scaring everyone who happens upon the house (such as a Girl Scout, the mailman, a neighbor delivering a pie, and the pizza guy), its still a pleasant moment for the pair to hang out, even though they later turn on each other: it serves as one of the few times we see Lydia genuinely having fun since moving to the new house, and Beetlejuice, for once, has someone to hang out and scare people with. Both are clearly having a blast being their macabre, morbid selves, and we see a glimpse of their amicable friendship from the animated Beetlejuice where the two are Birds of a Feather.
  • While it obviously Crosses the Line Twice, Beetlejuice calls Lydia "dear" after she "agrees" to marry him.
  • Lydia's Act 2 solo, "Home", is largely a tearjerker as she breaks down after becoming lost in the Netherworld while looking for her mom. However, once Charles catches back up with her and they finally have an honest talk about how they've both been feeling, and he promises to be more honest going forward, the song takes a turn for the triumphant:
    Lydia: I'm gonna go back home!
    Adam, Barbara, Delia and Dad
    It's messy but they're all that I have, I'll make the best of being flesh and bone
    Mama, I'm going home!
  • While "Creepy Old Guy" Crosses the Line Twice by its very nature, it can be oddly sweet to see Beetlejuice's reaction to everyone fawning over him (even though it is a trick) and preparing him for a wedding, complete with a haircut and fancy outfit change. After spending the entire musical talking about how lonely he is, it's quite nice to see him feel appreciated and cared about, at least before he gets (albeit, deservedly) stabbed in the back.
  • The ending is this in spades:
    • The Maitlands, Mr. Deetz and Delia all gather around Lydia to protect her from Juno, who plans to take her back to the Netherworld. Despite all of them clearly not standing a chance against such a powerful demon and they are all in various stages of terror, all of them are willing to fight to keep their daughter-figure alive.
    • Beetlejuice's Heel–Face Turn right after is this. After being alive for a mere few minutes, he realizes how amazing it is and stands up to Juno (who is his abusive mother in this iteration) for Lydia's sake. When he's seemingly tossed through the Netherworld Portal, he suddenly bursts back in and saves Lydia from Juno by riding the sandworm, which eats her. Lydia is saved, and Beetlejuice gives the group a farewell before leaving to the Netherworld willingly.
    • Beetlejuice's farewell to the adults are all not especially reciprocated given his prior actions, but he gives Lydia a sincere goodbye hug, and even though she makes a jab at his smell, she seems a bit sad about it as well.

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