| | | | Beetlejuice
(1988) |
ho would have ever guessed that death is the problem and not the solution?
As morbid as it sounds, on real stressful days everyone's pondered the possibilites of a care-free existance in the afterlife. A place where you don't have to think, only relax; where you don't have to work, only play. Sounds fantastic, doesn't it? Well, it would... if it were true. But it's not... according to Tim Burton.
The film starts by giving us a peek into the comfortable lives of Barbara and Adam Maitland(Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin). The two are happily in love and live in a quaint but beautiful town called Winter River in Conneticut. Othen than the facts that Barbara has to clean their entire country mansion herself and that Jane Butterfield, a nosy friend, barges into their home at 6:45 a.m., life seems to be full of sunshine and smiles. Emphasis on the word "life".
A trip to the hardware store ends up being more trouble then it's worth, to say the least. Crossing the bridge that seperates the town from the countryside, a dog walks right out in the middle of the road. Barbara swerves suddenly and before they know it the couple are dangling over the side of the bridge. Teeter-tottering on a plank of wood, the couple then crash into the water as doom-and-gloom type music plays, cluing the viewer to the fact that the Maitlands have just met their demise.
“ | | DELIA:If you don't let me gut out this house and make it my own I will go insane and I will take you with me! | ” |
Or have they? They are unaware of their deaths until they end up back home where they are welcomed by a burning fireplace which wasn't there when they left. Wanting to warm her hands, Barbaras finger catches fire, but oddly enough she doesn't feel it. The couple are then completely perplexed, and their front yard does not help matters. It seems that the entire outside world has turned into a massive planet-like desert with humongous sandworms always willing and able to gobble a person up in one bite.
Think that is horrible? There's more. the Maitlands no longer have a reflection in the mirror, and resting on their coffee table is a book that wasn't there before:The Handbook For The Recently Deceased.Hmmm, maybe they didn't survive that crash after all.
“ | | LYDIA:Live people ignore the strange and unusal. I myself am strange and unusual. | ” |
The Maitlands are confined to their home and as if that were not bad enough a new family is moving into their house. And that wouldn't be so bad if the family were more like the Maitlands...but they're not.
Meet the Deitz's. The Deitz's are comprised of Charles, Delia, and Lydia. Charles(Jeffrey Jones) is a happy-go-lucky man who's made an investment in the house and never walks away from equity. Delia(Catherine O'Hara) is an eccentric, flaky sculpturist with crimson red hair and lips, and an oh-so-chic New York ensamble. Lydia(Winona Ryder)is the goth daughter and the only sane person out of the whoel bunch. Otho(Glenn Shadix) is Delia's home decorater who has big plans to change the flower-wallpapered home with beautiful, flamboyant colors like Mauve and Floridian Blue-Green.
What are the Maitlands to do? The Deitz's seem like some afterlife punishment, except for Lydia, who is also the only one that can see them.
The Maitlands have a couple of options to help their situation. The first is some guy named Betelgeuse. Adam finds an advertisment that reads:
“ | Betelgeuse The Bio-Exorcist.
Troubled by the Living?Is death the problem and not the solution? Unhappy with eternity? Having difficulty adjusting? Call Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse. | ” |
Their other option is to draw a door on the wall and knock three times. When they do, the door opens up to a waiting room with ghoulish patients such as a guy with a shrunken head, a man with a chicken-bone in his throat, and a magicians sawn-in-half assistant, just to name a few, all waiting to talk to Juno the case worker.
Juno basically says they have to get rid of the Deitz's themselves, and the rest of the movie basically deals with that. The Maitlands befriend Lydia, but Beetlejuice has his eye on her too and pulls such nasty tricks as turning into a snake and getting Lydia to marry him. The Maitlands pull some tricks of their own also like the memorable scene wher they possess Delia and her guests and make them dance the Calypso while singing Day-O by Harry Belefonte.
The film takes the viewer on many twists and turns and the viewer is happy to see the two families compromise their lifestyles and co-exist happily while a levitating Lydia sings Shake Shake Senora in the livingroom.
And as for Beetlejuice? Well, lets just say his head isn't as puffed up with confidance as it used to be.
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I know it seems like I say this about every movie that I write about, but Beetlejuice really is one of my faves.
I was 7 when it came out and I bought everything Beetlejuice I could find. I had everything from the doll to the soundtrack to the Cracked Magazine that parodied the movie. I even used to tape the Beetlejuice cartoons that came on every week (I still think those were some of the cutest cartoons ever).
Everybody involved with the production of Beetlejuice did a fabulous job. There certaintly has never been a movie like it since. I would love for there to be a sequel!
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Michael Keaton had repeatedly expressed his interest in doing a Beetlejuice sequel. Several scripts have been written, with the most promising being the one where Beetlejuice goes Hawaiian. Tim Burton has said that he was not interested in directing it.  -Thanks to Kiriakos Tzeiranis
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Winona Ryder (Lydia Deitz) is actually a blonde but has been dying her hair since age 11. Her favorite book is "Catcher In The Rye". She claims she owns every paperback edition and translations. Winona smokes a pack of cigarettes a day. She graduated from Petaluma High School with a 4.0 GPA.
The receptionist in the waiting room is Miss Argentina! -Thanks to Robyn Munro
The family's surname Deitz is likely to be a reference to Eileen Dietz, who was Linda Blairs stunt double and the dreamface of the demon in The Exorcist (1973).
Michael Keaton's (Beetlejuice) hobbies are flyfishing and riding horses on his California ranch. Although not related to Diane Keaton, he changed his last name to Keaton because he couldn't use his real name of Michael Douglas. Michael studied speech at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.
Winona Ryder was of course the lead in Heathers, and was in the film, "1969", along with actors Kiefer Sutherland and Robert Downey Jnr. -Thanks to Micheala Loves 80s
Betelgeuse is the name of a star making the eastern shoulder of the constellation Orion. The stars diameter at any time lies somewhere between some 550 and 920 times that of the sun, making Betelgeuse one of the largest stars known. Its name is derived from the Arabic word bat al-dshauza, which means "the giants shoulder".
Catherine O'Hara (Delia Deitz) was part of the group Northern Lights who sang "Tears Are Not Enough" which was on the quintessential 80's "We Are The World" album.
Catherine O'Hara, the moved-in wife, was also the voice for Sally in the most famous Tim Burton film, "Nightmare Before Christmas." Beetlejuice's headware is later used in that same movie. -Thanks to Daniel Davis
Jeffrey Jones can also be seen in two more Tim Burton movies: "Ed Wood" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", which also features the popular actor Johnny Depp, who stars in many of Tim Burton's movies and who used to date Winona Ryder. -Thanks to Bryan Woolley
Beetlejuice wears 8 different costumes through the course of the movie: convict suit; cowboy clothes; tour bus drivers uniform; plaid shirt and slacks; 1940's detective attire; a bathrobe; a black and white striped suit; a pink tuxedo.
Winona Ryder's birth name is Winona Laura Horowitz. Born in the city of Winona, Mn. -Thanks to Jason
At the end, Beetlejuice metamorphoses into a bizarre creature with a merry-go-round on his head. On the top of this merry-go-round is a smiling skull which became Jack Skellington in 1993's The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Glenn Shadix & Michael Keaton met again for just one scene in the comedy "Multiplicity" released in 1996. -Thanks to Kiriakos Tzeiranis
Glenn Shadix (Otho) worked on broadway for 17 years before he got into movies. He was also Father Ripper in "Heathers" and Lionel Spalding in "Dunston Checks In". He also provided the voice of The Mayor in "The Nightmare Before Christmas".
When Barbara and Adam are in their case worker's office, through the blinds you can see Elwood and Jake from the Blues Brothers. -Thanks to Ari Silver
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Winona Ryder used her own clothing for her costumes. -Thanks to Summer
In the movie they use stop motion animation. This is where they take an object and move it a tiny bit at a time, taking two takes per move. (The sculptures and the beetlesnake are stop motion animations.)
It is rumoured that Sammy Davis Jr. was originally considered for the role of Beetlejuice. -Thanks to Karim
The movie was originally planned to be a more 'traditional' horror movie which was to be directed by Wes Craven. However, when the decision to take more of a black comedy approach was made, Tim Burton was brought in and he had the script re-written. Wes Craven instead went on to write Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. -Thanks to K.d!
Beetlejuice was originally planned as a supernatural drama entitled "The Maitlands" about a deceased couple dealing with the troubles of the afterlife. The scenes were scripted much more morbidly than they appear (most notably the waiting room scenes, which were supposed to be particularily ghoulish), and most of the characters were much darker. Only when Keaton began filming his scenes and asked for creative freedom did Burton realize the potential of a dark comedy.
Michael Keaton spent only two weeks filming his part in the film. He only appears in 17.5 minutes of the films entire 92 minute running time.
The house that the family lived in was built for the movie and torn down afterwards. The school that Lydia went to was actually an old church. -Thanks to Rebecca Provencal
When Otho (Shadix) visits the house he wears red shoes ...when he crosses the bathroom they turn white! Spooky! -Thanks to Olivier
Looking into the mirror, the ghosts prove that they have no reflections, but are later reflected in the attics windows.
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|  |  |  | | Beetlejuice
Locations |
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The town of East Corinth, Vermont was used for the exterior location shots. A miniature replica was also built of the town and used in the movie.
The miniature town now resides at the East Corinth Library, which is the brick building in the town shots (The building that Mr. Deitz comments about the 'nice parking' when he sees it through his binoculars.)
The hilltop that the Maitlands house was built on in plainly visible when one drives into the town of East Corinth off to the left hand side of the road. The Maitland's house itself was just a facade built for the exterior shots.
The building used as a school house at the end of the movie for Winona Ryder, is in actuality the town's Mason's Hall. The entire second floor of that building is actually a theater space with a stage and a kitchen area.
The covered bridge that the Maitlands met their fate on was constructed specifically for the movie, and the road leading to it and from it doesn't even exist.
While filming the opening credit sequence of the 'bird's eye view' of the town. The residents were asked to stay indoors while the helicopter made it's passes.
East Corinth is every bit as cute and quaint in real life as it seems in the movie. [Thanks to Elizabeth Durkee]
Most of the interior shots were filmed at Culver Studios in Southern California.
Can you help? Do you know any of the Vermont filming locations used for Beetlejuice? [Please send them in]
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This soundtrack is truly original and unforgettable. Leave it to the incredible Tim Burton to put together one of the most un-80's soundtracks ever in the 80's which is still so easily recognizable today.
Who can ever forget the oh-so-kewl belefonte reggae tunes? Burton has a knack for merging completely different styles (Beetlejuice and Belefonte, Batman and Prince) into one amazing project.
The original score, which was also very memorable, was composed by the wonderful Danny Elfman. The Tracks are:
1. The Main Titles
2. Travel Music
3. The Book/Obituaries
4. Enter...the Family/SandWorm Planet
5. The Fly
6. Lydia Discovers?
7. In The Model
8. Juno's Theme
9. Beetle-Snake
10. Sold
11. The Flier/Lydias Pep Talk
12. Day-O(The Banana Boat Song)--performed by Harry Belafonte
13. Incantation
14. Lydia Strikes A Bargain
15. Showtime!
16. laughs
17. The Wedding
18. The Aftermath
19. End Credits
20. Jump In The Line(Shake,Shake Senora)--performed by Harry Belafonte
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