The Mean Girls reboot is officially here, 20 years after the original Lindsay Lohan-led film. The 2024 film (starring Aussie actress Angourie Rice) plays homage to the OG while equally being its own thing, so we’ve compiled the biggest changes between the two. And no, we’re not just talking about the fact that Mean Girls (2024) is a musical.
ICYMI: Mean Girls has been completely rebooted. But it’s not just your regular reboot. It’s a cool reboot, as it’s been transformed into a musical about Cady, Janis and The Plastics.
To give you a quick run-down on the herstory of the Mean Girls content, the 2024 reboot is an adaptation of the Mean Girls musical. The 2017 musical was an adaptation of 2004 teen comedy we all know and love, Mean Girls. And that movie was inspired by Rosalind Wiseman‘s book, Queen Bees and Wannabees.
So with that cycle, and a 20 year gap in between movies, there’s bound to be some big changes.
Of course, when news broke of a Mean Girls reboot, many fans were quick to jump on the hate train before catching a glimpse of the flick, worrying that it would be extremely different from the OG.
If you’re on the fence about copping a glimpse of the 2024 Mean Girls — which is a musical — we did compile a quick list of all the changes between the two films.
The 8 Biggest Differences Between Mean Girls (2004) and Mean Girls (2024)
Again… BEWARE. SPOILERS. So please go watch the movie if ya don’t want it to be ruined for you. Grool? Grool.
8. Jokes/One-liners
Naturally, a lot of the jokes and one-liners that were in the beloved 2004 film have been either changed or completely vetoed from this version. It’s a reboot, honey, not a line-by-line retelling. If you wanted that, just chuck on the OG.
Speaking to PEDESTRIAN.TV, Tina Fey, producer, writer and actor who plays Mrs Norbury AKA the pusher, said that a lot of the jokes were changed to keep the reboot ~fresh~.
“Jokes work best when they’re surprises,” Fey began.
“We wanted new jokes so that they would have a better likelihood of working because if you know what’s coming you’re less likely to laugh.”
The comedian admitted that picking which jokes stayed was both easy and hard.
“It’s never that easy because on stage you get to test [jokes] out,” she continued.
“With film, you have to kind of make your own guesses based on if it made you laugh when you were in a meeting about the movie. You kinda have to put faith in a joke you haven’t tested.
“It’s a bit scarier with film.”
Of course, we don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that there’s a good mix of jokes that have stayed and have been yeeted from the 2024 version.
However, there’s this one bit — involving Damian and Danny DeVito — that’s not in the 2024 version and it’s one of my favourite lines, ever. I will be venting my anger in my personal Burn Book… AKA Twitter.
It can also be argued that a lot of things were changed as they were dated and could be perceived as problematic. This includes the insults in the original Burn Book, the gross coach and student relationships, fat jokes and racial stereotypes, which were made evident during the cafeteria scene.
7. The sabotage of Regina
After Regina successfully grass cut Cady at the Halloween party, we are introduced to the iconic revenge plot.
In the original Mean Girls, the trio conjured up a plan using a good old-fashioned chalkboard list.
In the 2024 version, we do not get the chalkboard. Instead, we get a beautiful musical sequence to the song “Revenge Party”, which was delightfully catchy (and gory) when it came to the lyrics.
Again, I don’t want to spoil too much because this version of Mean Girls should be watched, but some of the revenge plans are fkn unhinged.
6. Regina and Janis’ lore
A very important — IMPORTANT — part of Mean Girls is Regina and Janis’ friends-to-enemies backstory and honestly, this moment of storytelling was told way better in the 2024 version than in the 2004.
In the original Mean Girls, the story was only unravelled through a brief conversation, but in the reboot, Janis and Damian really dug deep into what happened between the ex-friends.
This scene truly helped the reboot stand out. Auli’i Cravalho (Janis) and Jaquel Spivey (Damian) deserve EGOT status just for that!
5. The Burn Book reveal
UGHHH. I love Reneé Rapp (Regina in the 2024 version) BUT the 2004 ate this scene up.
This specific moment in the film is arguably one of the most powerful scenes in teen comedy her-story. Rachel Mcdams‘ performance as Regina in this particular scene lives in my mind rent-free. The outfit. The power plait. The manipulation. She took control of Northshore high with one move. Cady needed a three-step plan.
Although Rapp’s performance as Regina was just as good, the way the scene panned out in the 2024 kinda bombed. It was lacking that oomph. It was too ~ High School Musical ~ vibes. And if this was HSM, Sharpay Evans would eat up Regina up… Respectfully.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t hit as hard as the 2000s. Shoulda kept this bit as close to the OG as possible.
4. Gretchen’s “Stab Ceasar” meltdown
One of my favourite quotes and scenes from the original movie was when Gretchen finally cracked, which was conveyed through a class speech about “stabbing Ceasar”. Unfortunately, this iconic moment did not make it into the 2024 film.
But, Bebe Wood, who portrayed Gretchen in this rendition, performed a beautiful ballad that’ll have you tearing up. The ballad was so raw, emotional and relatable that it’s coming for Billie Eilish‘s “What Was I Made For”.
3. Mrs Norbury and Principal Duvall
Warning, this is a huge spoiler!
Mrs Norbury and Principal Duvall’s relationship is probably one of the most minuscule things from the original Mean Girls, however it meant something to me. IDK what it was, but it was so nice watching them interact on screen.
Thankfully, the new version has seemed to address this unspoken relationship.
Mrs Norbury and Principal Duvall — both reprised by their OG actors, Tina Fey and Tim Meadows — are officially Northshore high’s powercouple.
The relationship is revealed after the Burn Book is revealed to the school, in which Duvall asked Norbury to help the teen girls find a solution to their issues that stemmed from Regina’s sneaky plan.
A happy little change that definitely pays homage to the OG in the most subtle way possible.
2. Janis gym scene
I have no clue what to label this scene, but it’s the one after the Burn Book was revealed to the rest of the school, turning the hallways into a WWE ring.
After reflecting on their behaviour, Mrs Norbury made the students apologise before falling into a crowd of their peers to practise trust.
In this scene, Janis revealed the plan she conjured up with Cady to take down Regina’s it-girl status.
Similar to the Regina and Janis lore, this scene turned into a musical moment which I loved. The ending of the song will floor you, I promise!
1. The talent show
Mean Girls‘ talent show scene is a cinematic masterpiece. It’s chaotic, it’s emotional, and it’s iconic.
Although we would’ve loved to see all the original stuff, the reboot completely gives us a fresh version and it’s fucking good! Everything has been changed, even the beloved Kevin G rap.
Although some people may not like this change, I think this is what makes the 2024 version different.
Again, these are only the major changes that were in the film. If I went into teenie tiny detail about everything — which I could if ya paid me some good dosh — I would. But then this would probably be an article that’s 5000 words long.
Just like any reboot, you can’t expect everything to be exactly the same as the source material.
I believe that if you’re anti-reboot, you should still give Mean Girls 2024 a try. It gives you another insight on how the story unfolds and it gives you another way to enjoy a fucking classic.
When is Mean Girls being released on streaming?
The word on the street is that the film will be released on Paramount+ but the streaming lords have yet to make an official announcement so for now, you’ll just have to keep planning movie dates to relive the magic on a loop.
Now, do yourself a favour and give it a geeze before the TikTok reviewers ruin it for you.
Mean Girls hits theatres on January 11.
Image source: Jojo Whilden/Paramount Pictures
The post The Mean Girls Reboot Has Finally Dropped So Here Are Some Of The Major Changes appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
