Beetlejuice

***Beetlejuice*** is a 1988 American fantasy horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton, written by Michael McDowell, Warren Skaaren, and Larry Wilson, produced by The Geffen Company, distributed by Warner Bros., and starring Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara, Winona Ryder, and Michael Keaton as the titular character. The plot revolves around a recently deceased couple who, as ghosts haunting their former home, contact Betelgeuse an obnoxious and devious "bio-exorcist" from the Netherworld, to scare away the house's new inhabitants.

*Beetlejuice* was a critical and commercial success, grossing US$74.7 million from a budget of US$15 million. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and three Saturn Awards: Best Horror Film, Best Makeup, and Best Supporting Actress for Sylvia Sidney. The film's success spawned an animated television series, video games, and a 2019 stage musical.

Although the upcoming fanfilm takes more inspiration from the stage musical, a few elements from this film are used in the fanfilm.

## Plot

In Winter River, Connecticut, Barbara and Adam Maitland decide to spend their vacation decorating their idyllic country home. As they are driving home from a trip to town, Barbara swerves to avoid a dog, and the car plunges into the river. After returning home, she and Adam notice they now lack reflections and find a *Handbook for the Recently Deceased*.

They begin to suspect they did not survive the car accident. When Adam attempts to leave the house, he ends up in a strange and otherworldly desert-like landscape populated by enormous sandworms. The encounter lasts only a few seconds for him, but after being rescued by Barbara, she claims that he was gone for two hours.

The house is sold, and the new owners, the Deetz family, arrive from New York City. Charles Deetz is a former real estate developer; his second wife Delia is a self-proclaimed sculptor; and his teenage goth daughter Lydia, from his first marriage, is an aspiring photographer. Under the guidance of interior designer Otho, the family transforms the house into a pastel-toned work of postmodern art.

Consulting the *Handbook*, the Maitlands travel to an otherworldly waiting room populated by other distressed souls where they discover the afterlife is structured according to a complex bureaucracy involving vouchers and caseworkers. The Maitlands' caseworker Juno informs them they must remain in the house for the next 125 years on the pain of a dire fate. If they want the Deetzes out of the house, it is up to the Maitlands to scare them away.

Although Adam and Barbara remain invisible to Charles and Delia, Lydia can see the ghost couple and befriends them. Against Juno's advice, the Maitlands contact the miscreant Betelgeuse, Juno's former assistant and a now freelance "bio-exorcist", to scare away the Deetzes.

However, Betelgeuse quickly offends the Maitlands with his crude and morbid demeanor: they reconsider hiring him, though too late to stop him from wreaking havoc on the Deetzes. The small town's charm and the supernatural events inspire Charles to pitch his boss Maxie Dean on transforming the town into a tourist hot spot, but Maxie wants proof of the ghosts. Using the *Handbook for the Recently Deceased*, Otho conducts what he thinks is a séance and summons Adam and Barbara, using their wedding clothes, but they begin to age and decay as Otho had unwittingly performed an exorcism instead.

Horrified, Lydia summons Betelgeuse for help; but he will only help her on the condition that she marries him, enabling him to freely cause chaos in the mortal world. He saves the Maitlands and disposes of Maxie, his wife, and Otho, then prepares a wedding before a ghastly minister. The Maitlands intervene before the ceremony is completed, with Barbara riding a sandworm through the house to devour Betelgeuse.

Finally, the Deetzes and Maitlands agree to live in harmony within the house. Betelgeuse is stuck in the after-life waiting room. He steals a number ticket from a witch doctor who shrinks his head in return.

## Cast

* Alec Baldwin as Adam Maitland
* Geena Davis as Barbara Maitland
* Michael Keaton as Betelgeuse (pronounced *Beetlejuice*)
* Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz
* Jeffrey Jones as Charles Deetz
* Catherine O'Hara as Delia Deetz
* Sylvia Sydney as Juno
* Glenn Shadix as Otho
* Robert Goulet as Maxie Dean
* Dick Cavett as Bernard
* Maree Cheatham as Sarah Dean
* Annie McEnroe as Jane Butterfield
* Patrice Martinez as Ms. Argentina

## Production

### Development

Following the financial success of *Pee-wee's Big Adventure* (1985) Tim Burton became a "bankable" director and began working on a script for *Batman* with Sam Hamm. While Warner Bros. was willing to pay for the script's development, they were less willing to green-light *Batman*. Burton had become disheartened by the lack of imagination and originality in the scripts that had been sent to him, particularly *Hot to Trot*. David Geffen handed Burton the script for *Beetlejuice*, written by Michael McDowell (who wrote the script for "The Jar", an episode of *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* directed by Burton).

Larry Wilson was brought on board to continue rewriting work with McDowell, though Burton replaced McDowell and Wilson with Skaaren due to creative differences. Burton's original choice for Betelgeuse was Sammy Davis Jr. The producers also considered Dudley Moore and Sam Kinison for the role; but Geffen suggested Keaton. Burton was unfamiliar with Keaton's work, but was quickly convinced. The role of Lydia Deetz was auditioned for by several actresses such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields, Lori Loughlin, Diane Lane, Justine Bateman, Molly Ringwald, Juliette Lewis and Jennifer Connelly. Alyssa Milano was the runner-up for the role of Lydia Deetz. Burton cast Ryder upon seeing her in *Lucas*. Anjelica Huston was originally cast as Delia Deetz but later dropped out due to illness. O'Hara quickly signed on, while Burton claimed it took a lot of time to convince other cast members to sign, as "they didn't know what to think of the weird script."

*Beetlejuice*'s budget was US$15 million, with just US$1 million given over to visual effects work. Considering the scale and scope of the effects, which included stop motion, replacement animation, prosthetic makeup, puppetry and blue screen, it was always Burton's intention to make the style similar to the B movies he grew up with as a child. "I wanted to make them look cheap and purposely fake-looking", Burton remarked. Burton had wanted to hire Anton Furst as production designer after being impressed with his work on *The Company of Wolves* (1984) and *Full Metal Jacket* (1987), though Furst was committed to *High Spirits*, a choice he later regretted. He hired Bo Welch, his future collaborator on *Edward Scissorhands* (1990) and *Batman Returns* (1992). The test screenings were met with positive feedback and prompted Burton to film an epilogue featuring Betelgeuse foolishly angering a witch doctor. Warner Bros. disliked the title *Beetlejuice* and wanted to call the film *House Ghosts*. As a joke, Burton suggested the name *Scared Sheetless* and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it. Exterior shots were filmed in East Corinth, Vermont.

### Writing

McDowell's original script is far less comedic and much darker; the Maitlands' car crash is depicted graphically, with Barbara's arm being crushed and the couple screaming for help as they slowly drown in the river. A reference to this remained, as Barbara remarks that her arm feels frozen upon returning home as a ghost. Instead of possessing the Deetzes and forcing them to dance during dinner, the Maitlands cause a vine-patterned carpet to come to life and attack the Deetzes by tangling them to their chairs.

The character of Betelgeuse—envisioned by McDowell as a winged demon, who takes on the form of a short Middle Eastern man–is also intent on killing the Deetzes rather than scaring them, and wanted sex from Lydia instead of wanting to marry her. In this version of the script, Betelgeuse only needs to be exhumed from his grave to be summoned, after which he is free to wreak havoc; he cannot be summoned or controlled by saying his name three times, and wanders the world freely, appearing to torment different characters in different manifestations. McDowell's script also featured a second Deetz child, nine-year-old Cathy, the only person able to see the Maitlands and the subject of Betelgeuse's homicidal wrath in the film's climax, during which he mutilates her while in the form of a rabid squirrel before revealing his true form.

In another version of the script, the film was to have concluded with the Maitlands, Deetzes, and Otho conducting an exorcism ritual that destroys Betelgeuse, and the Maitlands transforming into miniature versions of themselves and moving into Adam's model of their home, which they refurbish to look like their house before the Deetzes moved in.

Co-author and producer Larry Wilson has talked about the negative reaction to McDowell's original script at Universal where he was employed at the time:

> I won't name names here, but I worked at Universal Studios at the time. I was director of development for the director Walter Hill. I had a very good relationship with a very prominent executive at Universal. He liked me, and he liked what I was doing with Walter, and the material I was bringing in.
>
>
> I gave him *Beetlejuice* to read, and I gave it to him on a Friday, and on Monday his assistant called me and said well, he wants to meet with you. My initial reaction was wow! He'd read it. He must have loved it or he wouldn't have wanted to see me so soon. But I went into his office, and he literally said "what are you doing with your career?"
>
>
>
> "This piece of weirdness, this is what you're going to go out into the world with? You're developing into a very good executive. You've got great taste in material. Why are you going to squander all that for this piece of shit", was basically what he was saying. It goes to show, right? Shortly after that, we sold it to the Geffen Company.
>
>

Skaaren's rewrite drastically shifted the film's tone, eliminating the graphic nature of the Maitlands' deaths while depicting the afterlife as a complex bureaucracy. Skaaren's rewrite also altered McDowell's depiction of the limbo that keeps Barbara and Adam trapped inside of their home; in McDowell's script, it takes the form of a massive void filled with giant clock gears that shred the fabric of time and space as they move. Skaaren had Barbara and Adam encounter different limbos every time they leave their home, including the "clock world", and the Sandworm's world, identified as Saturn's moon Titan. Skaaren also introduced the *leitmotif* of music accompanying Barbara and Adam's ghostly hijinks, although his script specified R&B tunes instead of Harry Belafonte, and was to have concluded with Lydia dancing to "When a Man Loves a Woman".

Skaaren's first draft retained some of the more sinister characteristics of McDowell's Betelgeuse, but toned down the character to make him a troublesome pervert rather than blatantly murderous. Betelgeuse's true form was that of the Middle Eastern man, and much of his dialogue was written in African-American Vernacular English. This version concluded with the Deetzes returning to New York and leaving Lydia in the care of the Maitlands, who, with Lydia's help, transform the exterior of their home into a stereotypical haunted house while returning the interior to its previous state. It also would have featured deleted scenes such as the real-estate agent, Jane, trying to convince the Deetzes to allow her to sell the house for them (having sold it to them in the first place—Charles and Delia decline), and a revelation on how Beetlejuice had died centuries earlier (that he had attempted to hang himself while drunk, only to mess it up and died slowly choking to death, rather than quickly by snapping his neck) and wound up working for Juno before striking it out on his own as a "free-lance Bio-Exorcist".

Retrospectively, McDowell was impressed at how many people made the connection between the film's title and the star Betelgeuse. He added that the writers and producers had received a suggestion the sequel be named *Sanduleak -69 202* after the former star of SN 1987A.

### Filming

While the setting is the fictional village of Winter River, Connecticut, all outdoor scenes were filmed in East Corinth, a village in the town of Corinth, Vermont. Interiors were filmed at The Culver Studios in Culver City, California. Principal photography began on March 11, 1987.

### Soundtrack

The *Beetlejuice* soundtrack, first released in 1988 on LP, CD, and cassette tape, features most of the score (written and arranged by Danny Elfman) from the film. Geffen reissued the original 1988 soundtrack on vinyl in 2015, which was later re-mastered and pressed to vinyl by Waxwork Records in 2019 for the 30th anniversary of *Beetlejuice*. The soundtrack features two original recordings performed by Harry Belafonte used in the film: "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" and "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)". Two other vintage Belafonte recordings that appeared in the film are absent from the soundtrack: "Man Smart, Woman Smarter" and "Sweetheart from Venezuela". The soundtrack entered the *Billboard* 200 albums chart the week ending June 25, 1988, at No. 145, peaking two weeks later at No. 118 and spending a total of six weeks on the chart. This was after the film had already fallen out of the top 10 and before the video release later in October. "Day-O" received a fair amount of airplay at the time in support of the soundtrack.

The complete score (with the Belafonte tracks included) was released in both the DVD and the Blu-ray as an isolated music track in the audio settings menu; this version of the audio track consists entirely of "clean" musical cues, uninterrupted by dialogue or sound effects.

## Sequel

In February 2022, a sequel produced by Brad Pitt's studio Plan B Entertainment alongside Warner Bros. was reported to be in development, to be directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, based on a story by Seth Grahame-Smith. The film stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O'Hara, reprising their roles from the original film, and Jenna Ortega, Monica Bellucci, and Willem Dafoe, newcomers to the series.

## In other media

### Animated series

Due to the film's financial success, a *Beetlejuice* animated television series was created for ABC. The series ran for four seasons (the final season airing on Fox), lasting from September 9, 1989, to December 6, 1991. Burton served as the show's developer and executive producer.

The character of Betelgeuse was later prominently featured in the *Teen Titans Go!* episode "Ghost with the Most" which aired in October 2020 as part of the show's sixth season. In this appearance, he was voiced by Alex Brightman, reprising his role from the Broadway musical.

### Video games

* *Adventures of Beetlejuice: Skeletons in the Closet* is a video game released for MS-DOS in 1990.
* *Beetlejuice* is a video game developed by Rare and released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991.
* *Beetlejuice: Horrific Hijinx from the Neitherworld!* is a video game created by Rare and published by LJN for the Nintendo Game Boy. It is based on the animated series.
* A *Beetlejuice*-themed fun pack for the toys-to-life video game *Lego Dimensions* was released on September 12, 2017. The pack includes a Beetlejuice minifigure and constructable Saturn's Sandworm, and adds a *Beetlejuice*-themed open-world area and battle arena to the game. In the *Beetlejuice*-themed open-world area, Betelgeuse is voiced by Christopher Swindle, Adam Maitland is voiced by Jeff Shine, Barbara Maitland and Delia Dietz are voiced by Krizia Bajos, and Harry the Head-Shrunken Hunter is voiced by Tom Kane. Betelgeuse also features prominently in an episode of *Teen Titans Go!* included as part of the game. In the *Teen Titans Go!* episode, when the Titans travel to the Lego world, Raven manages to summon Betelgeuse by saying his name three times and she gets to go to the *Beetlejuice* world and Betelgeuse says if Raven wants to win the Lego building competition, she should resort to cheating and use magic. However, Betelgeuse actually tricks her into making a giant gargoyle that the Titans have to fight.

### Stage musical

In 2016, work began on a Broadway stage musical adaptation of the film directed by Alex Timbers, produced by Warner Bros., with music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect and the musical book written by Scott Brown and Anthony King. The musical was debuted by readings starring Christopher Fitzgerald, Kris Kukul (musical director), and Connor Gallagher (choreographer). The musical premiered at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. for a limited run from October 14 to November 18, 2018, with Alex Brightman in the title role.

In December 2019, it was announced that the production would play its final performance at the Winter Garden on June 6, 2020. The producers were unable to find another theater to house the show due to the COVID Broadway shut down in March 2020. The show reopened at the Marquis Theatre on April 8, 2022 and closed on January 8, 2023 at a financial loss having been unable to recoup its $21 million investment. Subsequent productions opened across the world, including a North American national tour.

## Trivia

* Despite the fact that the fanfilm is moreso based on the musical, some elements are taken from this film, such as:
	+ Jane Butterfield makes an appearance despite not showing up in the musical.
	+ Sarah Dean's name was restored to Sarah after being changed to Maxine in the musical.
	+ Upon being summoned, Betelgeuse says, "Attention K-Mart shoppers!"
	+ Lydia's initial outfit bears a resemblance to Lydia's outfit in this film.
	+ Juno appears earlier in the fanfilm to talk to the Maitlands, whereas in the musical she first appears halfway through Act 2 and barely interacts with the Maitlands.
	+ The Maitlands' introductory scene is very similar to this film's opening scene, while the ending is a near shot-for-shot recreation of this film's ending.
	+ Two of the clones summoned by Betelgeuse are based on both his and Lydia's appearances in this film.
	+ Delia mentions being a sculptor, which she was in this film.