Beetlejuice (1988) Movie | Alec Baldwin | Geena Davis | Jeffrey Jones | Review And Facts

[Music] e e e hello guys welcome to my channel in this video we are going to review Beetlejuice movies so join us as we dive into the world of movie review exploring the depths of Beetlejuice movie get ready to embark on an ethic Journey filled with interesting facts as we explore movie review and fact so whether you're a season with movie review or just curious about Beetlejuice movie review so then hit that subscribe button and join our community don't forget to turn on notifications so you never miss out on our latest Adventures now let's dive in Beetlejuice is a 1988 American Dark Fantasy horror comedy film 34 directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay by Michael McDow and Warren scarn based on a story by McDow and Larry Wilson the film stars Alec Baldwin Gina Davis Jeffrey Jones Katherine O'Hara Winona Ryder and Michael Keaton as the title character the first installment of the beetle juu franchise the plot revolves around a recently deceased couple as ghosts they are not allowed to leave their house they contact Beetlejuice a charismatic bio Exorcist to scare The house's new inhabitants away the film prominently features music from Harry balafon albums Calypso and jump up Calypso Beetlejuice was released in the United States on March 30th 1988 by Warner Bros the film was a critical and Commercial Success grossing $75 million on a $15 million budget it won the Academy Award for best makeup and three Saturn Awards best horror film best makeup and best supporting actress for Sylvia Sydney the film success spawned an animated television series video games and a 2018 stage musical a sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is scheduled for theatrical release on September 6th 2024 beetlejuice's budget was $15 million with just $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 that of the be movies he grew up with as a child he said that he wanted to make the effects look cheap and purposely fake looking 18 Burton wanted to hire Anton first as production designer after being impressed with his work on the company of wolves 1984 and Full Metal Jacket 1987 but first was committed to High Spirits a choice he later regretted 19 he hired Bo Welch his future collaborator on Edward Scissor Hands and Batman Returns the test screenings were met with positive feedback and prompted Burton to film an featuring Beetlejuice foolishly angering a witch do 20 Warner Bros disliked the title Beetlejuice and wanted to call the filmhouse ghost as a joke Burton suggested the name scared sheetless and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it 21 while the setting is the fictional Village of winter River Connecticut all outdoor scenes were filmed in East Corin a village in the town of Corin Vermont 22 Interiors were filmed at the Culver studios in Culver City California principal photography took place from March 11th to June 11th 1987 Burton's original choice for Beetle Juice was Samy Davis Jr The Producers also considered Dudley Moore and Sam Kennison for the role but jeffin suggested Keaton Burton was unfamiliar with Keaton's work but was quickly convinced 20123 several actresses auditioned for the role of Lydia de including Sarah Jessica Parker Brook Shields Lori llin Diane Lane Justine baitman Molly Ringold Juliet Lewis and Jennifer Connelly 14 Alyssa Milano was the runner up for the roles 15 Burton cast Rider upon seeing her in Lucas Angelica hustin was originally cast as Dad Deets but dropped out because of illness 14 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 16 Burton also felt that Ohara and Jones would make a cuute c full Beetle Juice's budget was $15 million with just $1 million given over to visual effects work considering the scale and scope of the effects which included stop motion replacement animation cthe makeup puppetry and blue screen it was always Burton's intention to make the style similar to that of the be movies he grew up with as a child he said that he wanted to make the effects look cheap and purposely fake looking 18 Burton wanted to hire Anton first as production designer after being impressed with his work on the company of wolves 1984 and Full Metal Jacket 1987 but first was committed to High Spirits a choice he later regretted 19 he hired Bo Welch his future collaborator on Edward Scissor Hands and Batman Returns the test screenings were met with positive feedback and prompted Burton to film an epilog featuring Beetlejuice foolishly angering a witch do 20 Warner Bros disliked the title Beetlejuice and wanted to call the film house ghost as a joke Burton suggested the name scared sheetless and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it 21 while the setting is the fictional Village of winter River Connecticut all outdoor scenes were filmed in East Corin a village in the town of Corin Vermont 22 Interiors were filmed at the Culver studios in Culver City California principal photography took place from March 11th to June 11th 1987 Beetle juu was met with a mostly positive response based on 104 reviews collected By Rotten Tomatoes Beetlejuice holds an 82% overall approval rating with a average rating of 710 the website's critical consensus reads brilliantly bizarre and overflowing with ideas Beetlejuice offers some of Michael Keaton's most deliciously manic work and creepy funny fun for the whole family 28 on Metacritic the film has awaited average score of 71 out of 100 based on 19 reviews 29 audiences surveyed by cinemascore gave the film a B on a grade scale of a to F 30 Pauling kale called the film a comedy classic 21 while Jonathan rosenbalm of Chicago Reader gave a highly positive review rosenbalm felt Beetlejuice had originality and creativity absent from other films 31 Vincent cambi of the New York Times called it a farce for our time and wished Keaton had more screen time 32 danan how of the Washington Post felt Beetlejuice had the perfect balance of bizarreness comedy and horror 33 Janet Maslin of the New York Times gave the film a negative review writing that the film tries anything and everything for effect and only occasionally manages something marginally funny and is about as funny as a shrunken head 34 Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars writing that he would have been more interested if the screenplay had preserved their Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis sweet Romanticism and cut back on the slapstick eert called Katon unrecognizable behind pounds of makeup and said his scenes don't seem to fit with the other action 35 in his book comedy horror films a chronological history 1914 2008 Bruce G Halen Beck praised the film's Lively script assured Direction offbeat casting and delightfully off-kilter Edward gory like look citing the Explorer with the shrunken head and the animated sandworm as particularly memorable visuals so to set the scene we open as Adam matland Alec Baldwin plays with his Model Town as he and his wife Barbara Gina Davis holiday at their holiday home it is a beautiful time for all write up until they swerve to miss a dog and are killed in the crash not that they know they are dead for a while they try to find purpose in the afterlife but that is shattered when a new family Charles Jeffrey Jones dilia Katherine Ohara and Lydia Deets Winona Ryder arrives they want to change everything but there might be hope when the daughter catches a glimpse of the couple looking from a window but when they can't get anyone to leave they do something everyone was warned against they say Beetlejuice Beetlejuice beetlejuice Michael Katon then we have the cast who are just having a blast on screen Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis make a great double act as the recently deceased matlins and they do an excellent job of making you sympathetic to the Dead the Deets are not the worst people you have ever met but they are just abno ous which makes a good Counterpoint for the narrative Winona Ryder does become the moral center of the film as it progresses and I think that was the right choice the big surprise for me was how little Beetlejuice is actually in the movie with him only getting two big sequences though he floats around in the margins for a lot of the proceedings whatever the case Michael Keaton shoes every bit of scenery that he can get his hands on watching him switch streams 180° in the middle of a scene is so jarring yet apt for the character he was playing where I am not sure if the film has held up over the years comes down to more of the narrative and themes more than anything else The Narrative itself is straightforward in such a way that there is a rigidity here that I was not expecting however that was more interesting than anything else but more than this there was an uncomfortable gness around parts of death including the mannerisms of said deaths which sometimes you understand why it is played for Laughs yet other times it feels macabra even even in a film like this Beetlejuice is the epitome of Tim Burton's art and one of his best films with his second feature working from a screenplay by Michael McDow and Warren scaran Burton essentially established the mode that has dominated his work ever since a mix of satire black comedy gothicism horror expressionism and Camp the movie also displays Burton's crowning weakness an inability to sustain and develop a narrative simply put the story is not the strong point of beetle juw sure the premise is undeniably novel when a nice couple Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis die and become ghosts they enlist the help of the crazy bio Exorcist Beetlejuice Michael Keaton in order to scare the insufferable new residents Jeffrey Jones and Catherine ohhara out of their house but that premise is pure High concept succinct and interesting but designed more to generate humorous situations and entertaining set pieces than to tell an involving story or create well-developed characters this goes to show that Tim Burton has always been a commercially Savvy and very Hollywood filmmaker in Beetle Juice however the insubstantial story adds to the film's manic and frenetically imaginative tone which is one of its most appealing qualities the worlds Burton creates in his films tend to feel as though they've been made on the Fly that they're at the whim of Burton's every fancy for example in Beetlejuice Burton gives us an inexplicable yet arresting vision of sandworms on one of the moons of Saturn just outside the door if the ghosts leave their home in this sense Beetle Juice seems like it's sprung from the mind of a slightly deranged yet brilliant boy Burton's imagination was still a flame burning strongly if strangely this is before his style solidified into a kind of weird brand to be stamped onto conventional narratives as in the case of Burton's tired Alice and Wonderland for all my talk about Burton though it is really Michael Keaton who makes this movie of lasting appeal I think Keaton's Beetlejuice pron Ed Beetle Juice is the best coup Burton ever put on screen surpassing anything Johnny Depp has ever done for him with wild dirty green hair shadowy eye sockets and sickly marks along the side of his head and neck Beetlejuice is memorable just to look at but Keaton's performance Nails it he makes his dead weirdo never stop shifting and moving jerkily bugging his eyes and licking his lips always trying to Weedle a deal with people in an aggressive pushy used car salesman sort of way like Anthony Hopkins Hannibal Lecter and the Silence of the Lambs Keaton's Beetlejuice is the star of the movie despite his limited screen time and like in Lambs the rest of the film builds up Keaton's performance since everyone spends a great deal of time talking about the character when he's not around his main entrance the camera hides him when he's reading the paper during his first scene and we only see him head on on a television screen before this moment is one of those great onscreen flights of manic energy it reminds me of when when Robin Williams first gets on the air in Good morning Vietnam or when his Genie busts out of the lamp in Aladdin expect that Keaton's Beetlejuice is much more vile and perverted than anything Robin Williams did in those movies Heaton's performance also puts the lie to the idea that the much touted Birdman parallels Keaton's career for Katon had a successful comedic career before and after Batman the rest of the cast is exceptional creating a collection of memorable humorous types Alec Baldwin and Davis make the nice ghost couple Adam and Barbara matland endearing and just a little quirky when the characters could easily have been forgettable Jeffrey Jones and Katherine O'Hara are also great as the insufferable new residents Charles and deia Deets Jones makes his New York real estate magnate both likable in his efforts to find some peace and quiet in New England and annoying in his money grubbing real estate schemes O'Hara's stepmother with her hideous trendy tastes and an intense desperation to show off to her art Urban friends again achieves the fine line of irritation at first and understanding eventually when knower writer is Lydia Deets the gothic teenage daughter who is able to see the ghost the weird Outsider with Insight she sort of the quintessential Tim Burton child character but Lydia thankfully doesn't escape the film's satiric barbs lastly Glenn Shad makes AO deia's artsy know-it-all consultant into yet another funny Vivid if not fully three-dimensional character it is to The film's Testament that scenes such as the mland in the underworld or the dinner party possessed dance are great fun even if the brilliant Beetlejuice isn't in them in fact the only weak aspect of this film might be the underdeveloped story Edwood has greater emotional depth and Sleepy Hollow has more impressive missen scene but almost every feature Burton's made since Beetlejuice resembles it in one way or another but if it's Burton's Touchstone it's also the high point of Michael Keaton's career the plot follows Adam Alec Baldwin and Barbara Gina Davis a couple who after dying a tragic death attempt to scare away the new family that have come to inhabit their home after numerous failed attempts they decide to hire Beetlejuice Michael Katon a bio Exorcist from the Nether world when an almost offensively 80s family of yepes come in to wreck a simple family home they threaten to engulf the entire town into their pretentious lifestyle a chaotic destructive force yet they are never portrayed as evil it could have been so easy for director Tim Burton to give into the 80s trend of the stereotypically unredeemable villains who the audience love to hate such as the now redeemed judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit 1988 however the family's need for status and worship is a compulsion they are conditioned to do their own good trampling anyone else in the process and this makes sense the 8S were an intensely individualistic time one that promoted extroversion and financial superiority this aspect has been sazed in several film including American Psycho 2000 it tracks then that Burton would see the Tendencies of this time as a threat to his world built on authenticity and creative Integrity however the underlying optimism which distinguishes this from Burton's more pessimistic films such as Edward soran's 1990 lies in the ending the new family is incorporated into the old house with the strangeness of the Nether world peacefully coexisting with the protan this is also a weirdly optimistic view of death which is not uncommon for Burton the horror of death is demystified and dismissed right from the start when Adam and Barbara unsuccessfully attempt to scare the family with realistically gory depictions of death Burton warns each of us upfront reality does not matter for instance suicide depiction changes from a disturbingly realistic man in a closet to a disgruntled yet colorful employee a mere Cog in the bureaucratic machine Michael Keaton only has 14.5 minutes of screen time as the titular character this is common with a lot of movie villains Dr Hannibal Lecter Darth Vader and Pinhead all have under 20 minutes of screen time and it can only work when the Charisma of the performance colors the rest of the film his absence serves to enhance his Menace the movie succeeds because the rest of the cast is just as brilliant Katherine Ohara as dilia particularly shines in her role and provides the best moment in the film a dinner possession scene in fact Beetle Juice continues in the Glorious tradition of the comedy horror musical combination seen in the Rocky Horror pictur Show 1975 and Little Shop of Horrors 1986 with the terrifying and hilarious the day o scene O'Hara leads the rest of the cast in a memorable display of physical comedy while never neglecting the horror element after all this is a possession scene and there are few more horrifying Concepts than having something take over your body the body horror is driven home by the iconic shrimp hands which perfectly in line with the be movie aesthetic of the film abruptly put an end to the number Beetlejuice is an incredible film it weaves solid social commentary with deeply personal fears and is propelled forward by strong performances a solid script and an impressive production this is Tim Burton at his strongest Beetlejuice is a farce about what happens to us after death it's a Bugaboo farce at the start the camera seems to be flying over an idilic New England town but the town changes into a miniature town on a table and Adam Alec Baldwin the hobbyist who has carved it takes a spider off a little rooftop Adam and his wife Barbara Gina Davis are a devoted though regretfully childless young couple who have been happy in their cozy old barn-like house an eccentric pile of angles and Peaks while fending off Realtors who want to sell it for them the two drive into town on an errand passing through a picture postcard covered wooden bridge but on the way back as they go through the bridge Barbera swerves to avoid hitting a dog and the director Tim Burton Reveals His first great gag the car hangs over the edge of the quaint Red Bridge kept from plunging into the river by the weight of the dog on a loose plank when the dog gets bored and trots off the car Falls the next we see of Adam and Barbara they're ghost tame Sweet Home loving ghosts not very different from how they were in Life the movie doesn't really get going until a New York family who are far more ghoulish by the house and start redecorating turning it into a high tech space to show off the slinky wife's Huge works of sculpture which are like petrified insects myff Adam and Barbara want to scare these Intruders away but they're too mild to do the job themselves so they call upon the services of the Ruddy little demon Beetlejuice pronounced Beetlejuice who is played by Michael Katon and who rises from the graveyard in the tabletop town the movie had perked up when the New Yorkers arrived because dilia the sculptor The Madwoman who's the new lady of the house is played by the smudge faac blonde Katherine Ohara late ofv and the possessor of the freakiest blue-eyed stair since early Jean Wilder she has sexy evil eyes dilia is too macabra and up to be phased by ordinary apparitions even the decaying Beetle Juice himself he might be a carnival attraction this way to the exed hipster barely distracts her but Katon is like an floating head he isn't on screen nearly enough when he is he shoots the film Skyhigh and maybe because of the slow start and the teasing visual design the whole movie seems to take place in a hand painted nowhere with the real town and the toy town misting Keen creates a Lust For more Hot Licks he appears here with a fringe of filthy hair greenish rotting teeth snagged and an ensemble of monkey rags and he keeps varying in size like the star Beetle Juice when he's let loose and the transformation start along with the gravity defying stunts I wanted more and more of them the end is subdued the final scenes have a plot logic that you can't really fault but logic isn't what you want and you feel as if the comedy Blitz is suddenly over without your having fully grasped that it was ending the last part isn't very well directed and neither are the scenes where oar's dilia decides that having a haunted house will bring her some social cache Burton may not have found his storytelling skills yet or his structure either but then he may never find them this movie is something to see even if it's a blossoming chaos and the jokes sometimes leave you behind when Burton picked Robert gouet and Dick Cavit for small roles he probably wanted them to make fun of their images but they don't appear to know how and the writers Michael McDow Larry Wilson and Warren scarin haven't steered them still the best of WC Fields was often half gummed up and that doesn't seem to matter 55 years later the satire of a waiting room in the social services bureaucracy of the afterlife which is staffed by suicides is like great early animation it features a spectral effect linking cigarettes and death so creepily that the audience sucks in its breath and laughs when a raspy voiced social worker played by Sylvia Sydney lights up she exhales smoke through her nose her mouth and her slip Throat the movie with its toy town is like redroom cities it's an artwork that has no depth but Jangles with energy Tim Burton takes stabs into the irrational the in congruous the plain nutty and though a lot of his moves don't connect enough of them do to make this spotty dissonant movie A comedy classic the story is Bland it involves the parental love that Adam and Barbara developed for the sculptor's stepdaughter Winona writer but its blandness is edged with near genius Michael Keaton has never been so uninhibited a comic his physical Assurance really is demonic he's a case of the beey wheezys the idea for Beetlejuice developed when Michael McDow a horror novelist and occasional television writer for Tales from the dark side sold the rights to some of his Southern Gothic novels to a former Studio development executive named Larry Wilson and his producing partner Michael Bender Wilson had left his executive career to return to screenwriting and asked McDow to become his writing partner for a feature film ghost themed films were popular in the early 1980s Wilson suggested writing a psychedelic ghost comedy but wasn't sure where to start while McDow and his life partner theater historian Lawrence celik brainstormed ideas in their Boston home they grew so annoyed by the pretentious yepy family next door they wish they could summon a real ghost to drive them away this gave them an idea ghosts who can't stand the humans whove moved in and will do anything to scare them out they decided to give the ghost Wilson's traits mild mannered introverts and give the humans mcdows snobbish artist the ghosts were too nice for an effective scare so they concocted a hired Gunslinger character a deadly demon summoned by ghosts to do their Dirty Deeds like an exorcist of living people Wilson loved this new angle because it allowed for crazy ideas the zier the better they threw in references to things they loved psychedelic rock bands Spanish language horror movies slapstick cartoons and classic comedies like topper and death takes a holiday they titled it Beetle Juice an alternate spelling of a star in the constellation of Orion the literal translation of Beetle Juice from Arabic is the armpit of Orion when they were done Wilson sent it to his friend and execute Universal Pictures Wilson expected positive feedback instead he was questioned on why wasting left a promising career as an executive to push out nonsensical crap representing his writing Talent Wilson happened to teach a UCLA extension story analysis class where he showed the beetle jeice script to his smartest student a story development assistant at Jeff and film company named margorie Lewis Lewis loved it recommending it to Jeff and president Eric eer Jeff and bought it at their asking price of $100,000 including the screenwriters services for revisions jeffin had a distribution partnership with Warner Bros Wes Craven who had a development deal with Warner was attached to direct after filming deadly friend Craven claims he was yanked after 2 months of work because Wilson's old boss Disney Studio chair Jeffrey kenberg told them that he couldn't do comedy Marjorie Lewis suggested another up-and-comer Warner had under contract Tim Burton to direct Burton made a short film she loved called Frank and meie and scored a hit with peewee's big adventure during this time Burton was doing TV gigs because Warner only offered him dumb cookie cutter comedies he had no interest in directing like the talking horse comedy hot to trot Burton pushed for his own story idea he called a cross between To Kill a Mocking Bird and a Godzilla flick but Warner only wanted him for things they already approved one he accepted was the long just dating Batman movie he begun cultivating with writer Sam ham jeffin sent Burton the beetle Jews script Burton judged it structureless and nonsensical yet undeniably imaginative and perversely funny it was abstract but absurd in the best of ways with bizarre characters and unusual situations that he took comfort in exploring Burton knew something this stupid and formless would provide the perfect platform where he could inject any idea into Burton informed Wilson and McDow that he wanted to do it but he was waiting on Batman however he hired them as screenwriters for an adaptation of Ray bradberry's short story the jar he was directing for NBC's Revival of Alfred Hitchcock presence Jeff and next contemplated Frank Oz once he completed Little Shop of Horrors for them meanwhile McDow and Wilson worked with the Jeff and exec on a multitude of revisions the screenwriters began to feel demoralized by removing everything they felt made their story unique Oz became mired in Creative issues on little shop that extended the production and according to the Beetle Juice contract if a director wasn't assigned by a specified time that was fast approaching writes reverted back to the screen writers Warner wouldn't Greenlight Batman leaving Burton available he was doing more TV work he directed an episode of fairy tale theater and assisted animator friend Brad Bird with Design Concepts for an episode of Amazing Stories called family dog later its own TV series when approached again for Beetlejuice Burton didn't like the latest revision but agreed if they were started with the edgier original script he enjoyed Warner wanted a light comedy with the wit of Albert Brooks and the wsy of Frank cpra Burton wasn't interested in making that movie so they questioned every decision and script meetings he compared to court dispositions grilled for hours over every detail when the writers started second guessing their own decisions things became increasingly counterproductive sensing it in past McDow left to write another ghost comedy High Spirits but remained available as a consultant he'd work with Burton again for a Nightmare Before Christmas Burton's agent Mike Simpson recommended another client of his Warren scarin a script Doctor Who specialized in story structure Burton spent a weekend with scaran in Austin Texas sightseeing while discussing ideas the studio approved of scarin thinking he'd keep Burton from getting too bizarre scarin simplified the storyline made it more familyfriendly and decluttered the film of extraneous characters and subplots in the original script Beetlejuice was a bloodthirsty shape-shifting demon whose main form resembled a smallish Middle Eastern man with the personality of Groucho marks Burton reconceived Beetlejuice as a Vegas style lounge lizard scaran revamped the Beetlejuice character with traits drawn from Native American trickster mythology more of a mischievous imp performance artist Beetlejuice is now introduced in the first half of the film through a TV commercial advertising his bio exorcism Services scarin combined the two de's daughters into one aging her up to a teenager at the Studio's request to appeal to that demographic and made her the character audiences would identify with he gave background history for the deas that Jones and Ohara expressed concern about beetlejuice's child rape attempts were softened considerably now wanting Lydia purely for marriage to break his curse the scripts ending where Lydia dies in a fire and stays to live as a ghost with the mands was changed to a happier ending for all but Beetlejuice the final story Adam and Barbara maitlin love their large home in the small town of winter River Connecticut despite no children to fill it After experiencing a freak accident they discover a handbook for the recently deceased in their home explaining that they're now ghost bound to their house for the next 125 years they're appalled when their house is bought by unpleasant New Age manhattanites the Deets family real estate Speculator Charles and his tacky sculptor wife dilia and their goth daughter Lydia the deas begin renovating the house in the godest way possible the maand determined to scare the deas away but the new owners are pleased with having a haunted house to boast to show off the business associates and eventually turn into a tourist attraction the maand summon Beetlejuice a zy ghoul advertising bio Exorcist services to get rid of the living however he often does more harm than good for those who've hired him after overs spending for Little Shop of Horrors Jeff and kept beetlejuice's budget at $13 million while mostly set in one location it detours into fantasy Realms Purgatory the sand planet and Beetle juices microverse within the maand town model shot in Culver City with exteriors in East Corin Vermont only $1 million of its budget was for its 300 Optical effects Burton hired Crafts People Who specialized in lowbudget effects Alan Monro storyboarded with Burton's desire for a grungy handmade look similar to the inventive fantasy films he loved growing up effects were mostly done live using advantageous camera angles and techniques that minimized overbuilding sets and props some trickier backs were shopped to outside cost conscious companies for physical and stop motion animation work when it came time to Casting Burton wanted Sammy Davis Jr for Beetle jeers David jeffin erupted at this countering with Michael Keaton Burton was unfamiliar with Katon but when they met Burton Saw Beetlejuice within him a Livewire with Manic mannerisms and big expressionistic eyes Burton was sold Katon was not he'd been in a slump since Mr Mom and didn't want to sink his career care further the story was nonsensical and his character grossly offensive he didn't want to play any character who groped a child's breast Burton told Katon that it was a work in progress and completely open to comical improvisation Katon liked Burton but turned it down they reached out to other actors including Sammy Davis Junior Davis read only five pages before proclaiming it a piece of junk slasher movie not worth his time the casting Department continued to try Katon but his manager Harry Colby rejected them David Jeff and himself called Colby saying Katon was rejecting an Oscar nomination cajoling him into another meeting with Burton they met at a local Mexican eering and something clicked Burton mentioned that Beetlejuice can exist in all times and places Heaton asked for time to think he visited the Wardrobe and makeup department for costumes from different time periods weird teeth and crazy wigs adding an off-kilter walk and manic energy he felt in invigorated Beetlejuice created his own reality and actor's dream Burton liked the look sending Katon to make up artist V Neil to enhance the original concept drawings depicted Beetlejuice like a hobo the Neil thought they should go wild using new air brushing techniques Burton likes coating actors under makeup because they lose themselves behind a mask Neil thought Beetlejuice should look like he crawled out from under a rock applying mold and moss growing on his face neck and hands very various wigs were dyed to find the greenish yellow look while acrylic nails provided a grungier appearance improvisation was openly encouraged Keaton's dialogue came mostly during conversations with Burton working funny exchanges into the film interest from other actors was similarly muted because of the incomprehensible story concept Burton had to beg each actor to ignore the rough script and explain his vision before they'd accept the first thought of but the last cast it took time for David jeffin to approve Pro was mcdow's friend from Alabama Glenn shadex as the flamboyant interior designer AO who Burton viewed playing Gertrude Stein in her play Dr Fess lights the lights Angelica hustin agreed to play dilia but dropped out when her Father John Huston became Gravely ill Katherine o' had been asked several times to come meet for a different role but kept blowing it off until David jeffin persuaded her when in Los Angeles she got lost and missed the meeting she flew back to Toronto and delightfully received a phone call they offered her the deia role in addition O'Hara got a husband Shad introduced her to production designer Bo Welch who she developed a crush on and would try to talk to every day Welch thought Burton would frown if he fraternized with the actors until one day Burton casually suggested he should ask her out he did they married in 1992 and remained together today Sylvia Sydney initially turned down pling Juno calling the script the most disgusting thing she'd ever read Burton's earnestness during a personal call won her over Burton also won over Jeffrey Jones who also had qualms about the script Gina Davis who Burton enjoyed in the fly was the only immediate yes as Barbara though her 6ot height limited their options for husband Adam significantly Mark Harmon and Jeff Daniels were asked the role that would go to Alec Baldwin Adam Maitland but turned it down Baldwin didn't like his Bland character and tried to make it whack or one idea was to do an impression of Robert Cummings throughout but Burton wouldn't allow it stating that the Mark's Brothers wouldn't be as funny if every other character in their films were just as wacky Burton liked Winona Ryder for her strong presence in Lucas he was told her parents said no because it seemed satanic they pursued many other choices Alyssa Milano says she was the alternate when the casting director finally convinced Ryder's parents to accept when Ryder came to audition she sat in a room with a guy who struck up a conversation asking her about music and movies until she wondered when Tim Burton was going to show the guy in the room sheepishly admitted he was Burton entire scenes came from brainstorming with the cast and crew scaran suggested musical interludes to spice up the humor the Motown classics he wanted were pricey so they pursued less expensive oldies scaran took the Deets dinner party scene where an ornate Floral Design rug sprouts bindes and wraps up the guest and made it a Charming invol AR dance sequence his song Choice was if I didn't care by The Ink Spots but during rehearsals O'Hara thought reggy songs might be more fun Jeffrey Jones recalled the names of some Calypso songs he knew growing up and a cember procured a cassette of Harry bons day o AK the Banana Boat Song after several days they showed Burton who approved the music change because the maand being on vacation made it plausible they choose Calypso David jeffin called Harry bant personal to secure the rights it was so cheap reportedly $300 he decided to buy several of his songs they replaced the end song Percy sledges When a Man Loves a Woman with ble fonts jump in the line Burton worried that few would find it funny but preview audiences loved it becoming synonymous with the movie as well as the actors in the scene day o played at Glenn shad's Memorial in 2010 preview audiences found the first cut difficult to follow re-shoot were ordered by Warner to connect plot points better scenes where the Maitland's attempt to escape their home into different dangerous Dimensions were made into one recurring desert landscape with ghost eating sandworms Burton thought throwing too many effect sequences ruined the story's pacing and minimized the potency of various surprises Burton wasn't keen on the script's ending of Beetlejuice chased by a sandworm for eternity in the Model Town preview audience reactions confirmed his suspicions they like the character and wanted something more upbeat they added an introductory scene of Beetlejuice reading the paper looking for work and filmed two alternate endings showing Beetlejuice in the waiting room in one the witch doctor shrinks beetlejuice's head and in the other Beetlejuice is stuck listening to the recently deceased old Bill the barber who shop neighbors the maand hardware store jabbering incessantly until beetlejuice's head pops off preview audiences preferred the shrunken head ending added scenes came at the expense of early scenes showing more of the the closeness of the Maitland's relationship Danny Elfman returns as Burton's go to composer one Studio exec thought elfman's score was too dark but audiences ranked the film highly with elman's score and poorly without it so it remained Warner felt Beetlejuice too high concept to Market with no defined genre or sellable story even those involved in making the film were skeptical it would find an audience given it's a weird little film with lowgrade effects work they determined to dump it to a thousand theaters and recoup what they could in its opening weekend they pulled teens in malls if they'd rather see a film called Beetle Juice or some variation with ghosts in the title they determined house ghosts was most accessible Burton sarcastically responded why not call it scared sheetless the studio actually considered that until Burton threatened he jump out the window David jeffin stepped in and insisted on no title change critics were mixed but the public loved it beetle debuted at hash one at the US box office where it remained four consecutive weeks it earned $73 million in its us theatrical run becoming the 10th highest grossing film of 1988 enough for Warner to immediately Greenlight Burton's Batman its makeup effects won its soulle Oscar nomination Beetlejuice began Burton's consideration as an Ur his prior film had given credit to PeeWee Herman's style of Comedy but now is recognized as a signature Burton film a sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is scheduled for theatrical release on September 6th 2024 Beetle Juice's budget was $15 million with just $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 that of the be movies he grew up with as a child he said that he wanted to make the effects look cheap and purposely fake looking 18 Burton wanted to hire Anton first as production designer after being impressed with his work on the company of wolves 1984 and Full Metal Jacket 1987 but first was committed to High Spirits a choice he later regretted 19 he hired Bo Welch his future collaborator on Edward Scissor Hands and Batman Returns the test screenings were met with positive feedback and prompted Burton to film an epilog featuring Beetlejuice foolishly angering a witch do Tony Warner Bros disliked the title Beetlejuice and wanted to call the film house ghost as a joke Burton suggested the name scared sheetless and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it 21 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 22 Interiors were filmed at the Culver studios in Culver City California principal photography took place place from March 11th to June 11th 1987 Burton's original choice for Beetlejuice was Sammy Davis Jr The Producers also considered Dudley Moore and Sam Kennison for the role but jeffin suggested Katon Burton was unfamiliar with Keaton's work but was quickly convinced 1 1823 several actresses auditioned for the role of Lydia Deets including Sarah Jessica Parker Brook Shields Lori llin Diane Lane Justine baitman Molly ringal Juliet Lewis and Jennifer Connelly 14 Alyssa Milano was the runner up for the role 15 Burton cast Rider upon seeing her in Lucas Angelica hustin was originally cast as dadet but dropped out because of illness 14 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 16 Burton also felt that Ohara and Jones would make a cute couple fet's budget was $15 million with just $1 million given over to visual effects work considering the scale and scope of the effect which included stop motion replacement animation prosthetic makeup puppetry and blue screen it was always Burton's intention to make the style similar to that of the be movies he grew up with as a child he said that he wanted to make the effects look cheap and purposely fake looking 18 Burton wanted to hire Anton first as production designer after being impressed with his work on the company of wolves 1984 and Full Metal Jacket 1987 but first was committed to High Spirits a choice he later regretted 19 he hired Bo Welch his future collaborator on Edward Scissor Hands and Batman Returns the test screenings were met with positive feedback and prompted Burton to film an epilogue featuring Beetlejuice foolishly angering a witch Dr 20 Warner Bros disliked the title Beetlejuice and wanted to call the film house ghost as a joke Burton suggested the name scared sheetless and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it 21 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 22 Interiors were filmed at the Culver studios in Culver City California principal photography took place from March 11th to June 11th 1987 Beetlejuice was met with a mostly positive response based on 104 reviews collected By Rotten Tomatoes Beetlejuice holds an 82% overall approval rating with an average rating of 710 the website's critical consensus reads brilliantly bizarre and overflowing with ideas Beetlejuice offers some of Michael Keaton's most deliciously manic work and creepy funny fun for the whole family 28 on Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100 based on 19 reviews 29 audiences surveyed by cinemascore gave the film a V on a grade scale of a to F 30 Pauling kale called the film a comedy classic 21 while Jonathan Rosen BAL of Chicago Reader gave a highly positive review Rosen Bal felt Beetlejuice had originality and creativity absent from other films 31 Vincent cambi of the New York Times called it a farce for our time and wished Katon had more screen time 32 desan how of the Washington Post felt Beetlejuice had the perfect balance of bizarreness comedy and horror 33 Janet Maslin of the New York Times gave the film a negative review writing that the film tries anything and everything for effect and only occasionally manages something marginally funny and is about as funny as a shrunken head 34 Roger eert gave the film two out of four stars writing that he would have been more interested if the screenplay had preserved their Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis sweet Romanticism and cut back on the slapstick eert called Katon unre iable behind pounds of makeup and said his scenes don't seem to fit with the other action 35 in his book comedy horror films a chronological history 19142 2008 Bruce G alen Beck praised the film's Lively script assured Direction offbeat casting and delightfully off-kilter Edward gory like look citing the Explorer with the shrunken head and the animated sandworm as particularly memorable visuals so to set the scene we the open as Adam matland Alec Baldwin plays with his Model Town as he and his wife Barbara Gina Davis holiday at their holiday home it is a beautiful time for all right up until they swerve to miss a dog and are killed in the crash not that they know they are dead for a while they try to find purpose in the afterlife but that is shattered when a new family Charles Jeffrey Jones dilia Katherine O'Hara and Lydia Deets Winona Ryder arrives they want to change everything but there might be hope when the daughter catches a glimpse of the couple looking from a window but when they can't get anyone to leave they do something everyone was warned against they say Beetlejuice Beetlejuice beetlejuice Michael Katon then we have the cast who are just having a blast on screen Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis make a great double act as the recently deceased maelin and they do an excellent job of making you sympathetic to the Dead the Deets are not the worst people you have ever met but they are just obnoxious which makes a good Counterpoint for the narrative Winona Ryder does become the moral center of the film as it progresses and I think that was the right choice the big surprise for me was how little Beetlejuice is actually in the movie with him only getting two big sequences though he floats around in the margins for a lot of the proceedings whatever the case Michael Keaton chws every bit of scenery that he can get his hands on watching him switch streams 180° in the middle of a scene is so jarring yet apt for the character he was playing where I am not sure if the film has held up over the years comes down to more of the narrative and themes more than anything else The Narrative itself is straightforward in such a way that there is a rigidity here that I was not expecting however that was more interesting than anything else but more than this there was an uncomfortable glibness around parts of death including the mannerisms of said deaths which sometimes you understand why it is played for Laughs yet other times it feels macabra even in a film like this be juice is the epitome of Tim Burton's art and one of his best films with his second feature working from a screenplay by Michael Mcdowell and Warren scarin Burton essentially established the mode that has dominated his work ever since a mix of satire black comedy gothicism horror expressionism and Camp the movie also displays Burton's crowning weakness an inability to sustain and develop a narrative simply put the story is not the strong point of Beetlejuice sure the premise is undeniably novel when a nice couple Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis die and become ghosts they enlist the help of the crazy bio Exorcist Beetlejuice Michael Keaton in order to scare the insufferable new residents Jeffrey Jones and Katherine ohhara out of their house but that premise is pure High concept succinct and interesting but designed more to generate humorous situations and entertaining set pieces than to tell an involving story or create well-developed characters this goes to show that Tim Burton has always been a commercially Savvy and very Hollywood filmmaker in Beetle however the insubstantial story adds to the film's manic and phenetically imaginative tone which is one of its most appealing qualities the worlds Burton creates in his films tend to feel as though they've been made on the Fly that they're at the whim of Burton's every fancy for example in Beetlejuice Burton gives us an inexplicable yet arresting vision of sand worms on one of the moons of Saturn just outside the door if the ghost leave their home in this sense Beetlejuice seems like it's sprung from the mind of a slightly deranged yet brilliant boy Burton's imagination was still a flame burning strongly if strangely this is before his style solidified into a kind of weird brand to be stamped onto conventional narratives as in the case of Burton's tired Alice and Wonderland for all my talk about Burton though it is really Michael Keaton who makes this movie of lasting appeal I think Keaton's Beetlejuice pronounced beetle juu is the best C Burton ever put on screen surpassing anything Johnny Depp has ever done for him with wild dirty green hair shadowy eyes sockets and sickly marks along the side of his head and neck Beetlejuice is memorable just to look at but Keaton's performance Nails it he makes his dead weirdo never stop shifting and moving jerkily bugging his eyes and licking his lips always trying to Weedle a deal with people in an aggressive pushy used car salesman sort of way like Anthony Hopkins Hannibal Lector and the Silence of the Lambs Keaton's Beetlejuice is the star of the movie despite his limited screen time and like in Lambs the rest of the film builds up Keaton's performance since everyone spends a great deal of time talking about the character when he's not around his main entrance the camera hides him when he's reading the paper during his first scene and we only see him head on on a television screen before this moment is one of those great onscreen flights of manic energy it reminds me of when Robin Williams first gets on the air and Good morning Vietnam or when his Genie busts out of the lamp in Aladdin expect that kon's Beetlejuice is much more vile and perverted than anything Robin Williams did in those movies Keaton's performance also puts the lie to the idea that the much touted Birdman parallels Keaton's career for Keaton had a successful comedic career before and after Batman the rest of the cast is exceptional creating a collection of memorable humorous types Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis make the nice ghost couple Adam and Barbara matland endearing and just a little quirky when the characters could easily have been forgettable Jeffrey Jones and Katherine Ohara are also great as the insufferable new residents Charles and dilia de Jones makes his New York real estate magnate both likable in his efforts to find some peace and quiet in New England and annoying in his money grubbing real estate schemes O'Hara's stepmother with her hideous trendy taste and an intense desperation to show off to her artsy Urban friends again achieved the fine line of irritation at first and understanding eventually when owner writer is Lydia Deets the gothic teenage daughter who is able to see the ghost the weird Outsider with Insight she's sort of the quintessential Tim Burton child character but Lydia thankfully doesn't escape the film's satiric barbs lastly Glen shadex makes AO deia's art scene knit all consultant into yet another funny Vivid if not fully three-dimensional character it is to The film's Testament that such as the matlins in the underworld or the dinner party possessed dance are great fun even if the brilliant Beetle Juice isn't in them in fact the only weak aspect of this film might be the underdeveloped story Edwood has greater emotional depth and Sleepy Hollow has more impressive Miss CN scene but almost every feature Burton's made since Beetlejuice resembles it in one way or another but if it's Burton's Touchstone it's also the high point of Michael Keaton's career the plot follows Adam Alec bald and barbaraa Gina Davis a couple who after dying a tragic death attempt to scare away the new family that have come to inhabit their home after numerous failed attempts they decide to hire Beetlejuice Michael Keaton a bio Exorcist from the Netherworld when an almost offensively 80s family of yepes come in to wreck a simple family home they threaten to engulf the entire town into their pretentious lifestyle a chaotic destructive force yet they are never portrayed as evil it could have been so easy for director Tim Burton to give into the80s trend of the stereotypically unredeemable villains who the audience loved to hate such as the now redeemed judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit 1988 however the family's need for status and worship is a compulsion they are conditioned to do their own good trampling anyone else in the process and this makes sense the80s were an intensely individualistic time one that promoted extraversion and financial superiority this aspect has been sad ized in several film including American Psycho 2000 it tracks then that Burton would see the Tendencies of this time as a threat to his world built on authenticity and creative Integrity however the underlying optimism which distinguishes this from Burton's more pessimistic films such as Edward soran's 1990 lies in the ending the new family is incorporated into the old house with the strangeness of the Nether world peacefully coexisting with the protagonists this is also a weird optimistic view of death which is not uncommon for Burton the horror of death is demystified and dismissed right from the start when Adam and Barbara unsuccessfully attempt to scare the family with realistically gory depictions of death Burton warns each of us upfront reality does not matter for instance suicide depiction changes from a disturbingly realistic man in a closet to a disgruntled yet colorful employee a mere Cog in the bureaucratic machine Michael Keaton only has 14 .5 minutes of screen time as the titular character this is common with a lot of movie villains Dr Hannibal Lecter Darth Vader and Pinhead all have under 20 minutes of screen time and it can only work when the Charisma of the performance colors the rest of the film his absence serves to enhance his Menace the movie succeeds because the rest of the cast is just as brilliant Katherine ohhara as dilia particularly shines in her role and provides the best moment in the film a dinner possession scene in fact Beetlejuice continues in the Glorious tradition of the comedy horror musical combination seen in the rocky horror pictures show 1975 and Little Shop of Horrors 1986 with the terrifying and hilarious the day o scene ohhara leads the rest of the cast in a memorable display of physical comedy while never neglecting the horror element after all this is a possession scene and there are a few more horrifying Concepts than having something take over your body the body horror is driven home by the iconic shrimp hands which perfectly in line with the be movie aesthetic of the film abruptly put an end to the number Beetlejuice is an incredible film it weaves solid social commentary with deeply personal fears and is propelled forward by strong performances a solid script and an impressive production this is Tim Burton at his strongest Beetlejuice is a farce about what happens to us after death it's a Bugaboo farce at the start the camera seems to be flying over an idilic New England town but the town changes into a miniature town on a table and Adam Alec Baldwin the hobbyist who has carved it takes a spider off a little rooftop Adam and his wife Barbara Gina Davis are a devoted though regretfully childless young couple who have been happy in their cozy old barn-like house an eccentric pile of angles and Peaks while fending off Realtors who want to sell it for them the two drive into town on an errand passing through a picture postcard covered wooden bridge but on the way back as they go through the bridge Barbara swerves to avoid hitting a dog and the director Tim Burton Reveals His first great gag the car hangs over the edge of the quaint Red Bridge kept from plunging into the river by the weight of the dog on a loose plank when the dog gets bored and trots off the car Falls the next we see of Adam and Barbara their ghost tame Sweet Home loving ghosts not very different from how they were in Life the movie doesn't really get going until a New York fan family who are far more ghoulish by the house and start redecorating turning it into a high tech space to show off the slinky wife's Huge works of sculpture which are like petrified insects myff Adam and barber want to scare these Intruders away but they're too mild to do the job themselves so they call upon the services of the Ruddy little demon Beetlejuice pronounced Beetlejuice who is played by Michael Katon and who rises from the graveyard in the tabletop town the movie had perked up when the New Yorkers arrived because deia the sculptor the mad woman who's the new lady of the house is played by the smudge faced blonde Katherine Ohara late ofv and the possessor of the freakiest blue-eyed stair since early Jee Wilder she has sexy evil eyes dilia is too macabra and upy to be phased by ordinary apparitions even the decaying Beetle Juice himself he might be a carnival attraction this way to the exed hipster barely distracts her but Katon is like an exploding head he isn't on green nearly enough when he is he shoots the film Skyhigh and maybe because of the slow start and the teasing visual design the whole movie seems to take place in a hand painted nowhere with the real town and the toy town misting Katon creates a Lust For more Hot Licks he appears here with a fringe of filthy hair greenish rotting teeth snagged and an ensemble of Mucky rags and he keeps varying in size like the star Beetle Juice when he's let loose and the Transformations start along with the gra gravity defying stunts I wanted more and more of them the end is subdued the final scenes have a plot logic that you can't really fault but logic isn't what you want and you feel as if the comedy Blitz is suddenly over without you're having fully grasped that it was ending the last part isn't very well directed and neither are the scenes where oar's deia decides that having a haunted house will bring her some social cache Burton may not have found his storytelling skills yet or his structure either but then he may never find them this movie is something to see even if it's a blossoming chaos and the jokes sometimes leave you behind when Burton picked Robert gouet and Dick Cavit for small roles he probably wanted them to make fun of their images but they don't appear to know how and the writers Michael McDow Larry Wilson and Warren scarin haven't steered them still the best of WC Fields was often half gummed up and that doesn't seem to matter 55 years later the satire of a waiting room in the social Services bureaucracy of the afterlife which is staffed by suicides is like great early animation it features a spectral effect linking cigarettes and death so creepily that the audience sucks in its breath and laughs when a raspy voice social worker played by Sylvia Sydney lights up she exhales smoke through her nose her mouth and her sliit throat the movie with its toy town is like redroom cities it's an artwork that has no depth but Jangles with energy Tim Burton takes ABS into the irrational the in congruous the plain nutty and though a lot of his moves don't connect enough of them do to make this spotty dissonant movie A comedy classic the story is Bland it involves the parental love that Adam and Barbara developed for the sculptor's stepdaughter Winona writer but its blandness is edged with mere genius Michael Keaton has never been so uninhibited a comic his physical Assurance really is demonic he's a case of the beey wheezys the idea for Beetlejuice developed when Michael McDow a horror novelist and occasional television writer for Tales from the dark side sold the rights to some of his Southern Gothic novels to a former Studio development executive named Larry Wilson and his producing partner Michael Bender Wilson had left his executive career to return to screenwriting and asked McDow to become his writing partner for a feature film ghost themed films were popular in the early 1980s Wilson suggested writing a psychedelic ghost comedy but was wasn't sure where to start while McDowell and his life partner theater historian Lawrence celik brainstormed ideas in their Boston home they grew so annoyed by the pretentious yepy family next door they wished they could summon a real ghost to drive them away this gave them an idea ghosts who can't stand the humans who've moved in and will do anything to scare them out they decided to give the ghost Wilson's traits mild-mannered introverts and give the humans mcdows snobbish artists the ghosts were too nice for effective scare so they concocted a hired Gunslinger character a deadly demon summoned by ghosts to do their Dirty Deeds like an exorcist of living people Wilson loved this new angle because it allowed for crazy ideas the zier the better they threw in references to things they loved psychedelic rock bands Spanish language horror movies slapstick cartoons and classic comedies like topper and death takes a holiday they titled it Beetle Juice an alternate spelling of a star in the constellation of Orion the literal translation of Beetlejuice from Arabic is the armpit of Orion when they were done Wilson send it to his friend and exec Universal Pictures Wilson expected positive feedback instead he was questioned on why wasting left a promising career as an executive to push out nonsensical crap representing his writing Talent Wilson happened to teach a UCLA extension story analysis class where he showed the Beetle Juice script to his smartest student a story development assistant at Jeff and film company named Marjorie Lewis Lewis loved it recommending it to Jeff and president Eric Eisner Jeff and bought it at their asking price of $100,000 including the screenwriters services for revisions Jeff and had a distribution partnership with Warner Bros Wes Craven who had a development deal with Warner was attached to direct after filming deadly friend Craven claims he was yanked after 2 months of work because Wilson's old boss Disney Studio chair Jeffrey kenberg told them that he couldn't do comedy Marjorie Lewis suggested another up-and-comer Warner had under contract Tim Burton to direct Burton made a short film she loved called Frank and weenie and scored a hit with peewee's big adventure during this time Burton was doing TV gigs because Warner only offered him dumb cookie cutter comedies he had no interest in directing like the talking horse comedy hot to trot Burton pushed for his own story idea he called a cross between To Kill a Mocking Bird and a Godzilla flick but Warner only wanted him for things they already approved one he accepted was the long just dating Batman movie he begun cultivating with writer Sam ham jeffin sent Burton the beetle Jews script Burton judged it structureless and nonsensical yet undeniably imaginative and perversely funny it was abstract but absurd in the best of ways with bizarre characters and unusual situations that he took comfort in exploring Burton knew something this stupid and formless would provide the perfect platform where he could inject any idea into Burton informed Wilson and McDow that he wanted to do it but he was waiting on Batman however he hired them as screenwriters for an adaptation of Ray Bradberry short story the jar he was directing for NBC's Revival of Alfred Hitchcock presence Jeff and next contemplated Frank Oz once he completed Little Shop of Horrors for them meanwhile McDow and Wilson worked with a Jeff and exac on a multitude of revisions the screenwriters began to feel demoralized by removing everything they felt made their story unique Oz became Meed in Creative issues on little shop that extended the production and according to the Beetlejuice contract if a director wasn't assigned by a specified time that was fast approaching writes reverted back to the screenwriters Warner wouldn't Greenlight Batman leaving Burton available he was doing more TV work he directed an episode of fairy tale theater an assisted animator friend Brad Bird with Design Concepts for an episode of Amazing Stories called family dog later its own TV series when approached again for Beetlejuice Burton didn't like the latest revision but agreed if they restarted with the edgier original script he enjoyed Warner wanted a light comedy with the wit of Albert Brooks and The Whimsy of Frank Capra Burton wasn't interested in making that movie so they questioned every decision in script meetings he compared to court dispositions grilled for hours over every detail when the writers started second guessing their own decisions things became increasingly counterproductive sensing it impass McDow left to write another ghost comedy High Spirits but remained available as a consultant he'd work with Burton again for a Nightmare Before Christmas Burton's agent Mike Simpson recommended another client of his Warren scaran a script Doctor Who specialized in story structure Burton spent a weekend with scar in Austin Texas sightseeing while discussing ideas the studio approved of scarin thinking he'd keep Burton from getting too bizarre scarin simplified the storyline made it more familyfriendly and decluttered the film of extraneous characters and subplots in the original script Beetlejuice was a bloodthirsty shape-shifting demon whose main form resembled a smallish Middle Eastern man with a personality of Groucho Marx Burton reconceived Beetlejuice as a Vegas style lounge lizard scarin revamped the Beetlejuice character with traits drawn from Native American trickster mythology more of a mischievous imp performance artist Beetlejuice is now introduced in the first half of the film through a TV commercial advertising his bio exorcism Services scarin combined the two de's daughters into one aging her up to a teenager at the Studio's request to appeal to that demographic and made her the character audiences would identify with he gave background history for the deces that Jones and Ohara expressed concern about beetlejuice's child rape attempts were softened considerably now wanting Lydia purely for marriage to break his curse the script's ending where Lydia dies in a fire and stays to live as a ghost with the mands was changed to a happier ending for all but Beetlejuice the final story Adam and Barbara Maitland love their large home in the small town of winter River Connecticut despite no children to fill it After experiencing a freak accident they discover a handbook for the Recently deceased in their home explaining that they're now ghost bound to their house for the next 125 years they're appalled when their house is bought by unpleasant New Age manhattanites the Deets family real estate Speculator Charles and his tacky sculptor wife dilia and their goth daughter Lydia the deas begin renovating the house in the godest way possible the maitlands determined to scare the deas away but the new owners are pleased with having a haunted house to boast to show off to business associates and eventually turn into a tourist attraction the maand summon Beetlejuice a zeni ghoul advertising bio Exorcist services to get rid of the living however he often does more harm than good for those who've hired him after overspending for Little Shop of Horrors jeffin capped beetlejuice's budget at $13 million while mostly set in one location it detours into fantasy Realms Purgatory the sand planet and Beetle juices microverse within the maand town model shot in Culver with exteriors in East Corin Vermont only $1 million of its budget was for its 300 Optical effects Burton hired Crafts People Who specialized in lowbudget effects Alan Monroe storyboarded with Burton's desire for a grungy handmade look similar to the inventive fantasy films he loved growing up effects were mostly done live using advantageous camera angles and techniques that minimized overbuilding sets and props some trickier effects were shocked to outside cost contous companies for physical and stop motion animation work when it came time to Casting Burton wanted Sammy Davis Jr for Beetle Juice David jeffon erupted at this countering with Michael Katon Burton was unfamiliar with Katon but when they met Burton Saw Beetlejuice within him a live wire with Manic mannerisms and big expressionistic eyes Burton was sold Katon was not he'd been in a slump since Mr Mom and didn't want to sink his career further the story was nonsensical and his character grossly offensive he didn't want to play any character who groped a child's breast Burton told Keaton that it was a work in progress and completely open to comical improvisation Katon liked Burton but turned it down they reached out to other actors including Sammy Davis Jor Davis read only five pages before proclaiming it a piece of junk slasher movie not worth his time the casting Department continued to try Katon but his manager Harry Colby rejected them David Jeff and himself called Colby saying Keaton was rejecting an Oscar nomination cading him into another meeting with Burton they met at a local Mexican eery and something clicked Burton mentioned that Beetle Juice can exist in all times and places Paton asked for time to think he visited the Wardrobe and makeup department for costumes from different time periods weird teeth and crazy wigs adding an off-kilter walk and manic energy he felt invigorated Beetle Juice created his own reality and actor's dream Burton liked the look sending Katon to make up artist The Neil to enhance the original concept drawings depicted Beetlejuice like a hobo the Neil thought they should go wild using new air brushing techniques Burton likes coding actors under makeup because they lose themselves behind a mask Neil thought Beetlejuice should look like he crawled out from under a rock applying mold and moss growing on his face neck and hands various wigs were dyed to find the greenish yellow look while acrylic nails provided a grungier appearance improvisation was openly encouraged Keaton's dialogue came mostly during conversations with Burton working funny exchanges into the film interest from other actors was similarly muted because of the incomprehensible story concept Burton had to beg each actor to ignore the rough script and explain his vision before they'd accept the first thought of but the last cast it took time for David jeffin to approve was mcdow's friend from Alabama Glenn Shad as the flamboyant interior designer AO who Burton viewed playing Gertrude Stein in her play Dr Fus lights the lights Angelica hustin agreed to play dilia but dropped out when her Father John Huston became Gravely ill Katherine o' had been asked several times to come meet for a different role but kept blowing it off until David jeffin persuaded her when in Los Angeles she got lost and missed the meeting she flew back to Toronto and delightfully received a phone call they offered her the deia role in addition O'Hara got a husband shadex introduced her to production designer Bo Welch who she developed a crush on and would try to talk to every day Welch thought Burton would frown if he fraternized with the actors until one day Burton casually suggested he should ask her out he did they married in 1992 and remain together today Sylvia Sydney initially turned down plain Juno calling the script the most disgusting thing she'd ever read Burton's earnestness during a personal call won her over Burton also won over Jeffrey Jones who also had qualms about the script Gina Davis who Burton enjoyed in the fly was the only immediate yes as Barbara though her six- foot height limited their options for husband Adam significantly Mark Harmon and Jeff Daniels were asked the role that would go to Alec Baldwin Adam maand but turned it down Baldwin didn't like his Bland character and tried to make it wackier one idea was to do an impression of Robert Cummings throughout but Burton wouldn't allow it stating that the Mark's Brothers wouldn't be as funny if every other character in their films were just as wacky Burton liked Winona Ryder for her strong presence in Lucas he was told her parents said no because it seemed satanic they pursued many other choices Alyssa Milano says she was the alternate when the casting director finally convinced Ryder's parents to accept when Ryder came to audition she sat in a room with a guy who struck up a conversation asking her about music and movies until she wondered when Tim Burton was going to show the guy in the room sheepishly admitted he was Burton entire scenes came from brainstorming with the cast and crew scaran suggested musical interludes to spice up the humor the mtown classics he wanted were pricey so they pursued less expensive oldies scarin took the deet dinner party scene where an ornate Floral Design rug sprouts vinds and wraps up the guest and made it a Charming involuntary dance sequence his song Choice was if I didn't care by the inkpots but during rehearsals O'Hara thought regy songs might be more fun Jeffrey Jones recalled the names of some Calypso songs he knew growing up and a cember procured a cassette of Harry balon's day o AK the Banana Boat Song after several days they showed Burton who approved the music change because the maitlands being on vacation made it plausible they choose Calypso David jeffin called Harry bant personally to secure the rights it was so cheap reportedly $300 he decided to buy several of his songs they replaced the end song Percy sledges When a Man Loves a Woman with ble fonts jump in the line Burton worried that few would find it funny but preview audiences loved it becoming synonymous with the movie as well as the actors in the scene day o played at Glenn shad's Memorial in 2010 preview audiences found the first cut difficult to follow re- shoots were ordered by Warner to connect plot points better scenes where the Maitland's attempt to escape their home into different dangerous Dimensions were made into one recurring desert landscape with ghost eating sandworms Burton thought throwing too many effect sequences ruined the story's pacing and minimized the potency of various surprises Burton wasn't keen on the script's ending of Beetlejuice chased by a sandworm for eternity in the Model Town preview audience reactions confirmed his suspicions they liked the character and wanted something more upbeat they added an introductory scene of Beetlejuice reading the paper looking for work and filmed two alternate endings showing Beetlejuice in the waiting room in one the witch doctor shrinks beetlejuice's head and in the other Beetlejuice is stuck listening to the recently deceased old Bill the barber who shop neighbors the maand hardware store jabbering incessantly until beetlejuice's head pops off preview audiences preferred the shrunken head ending added scenes came at the expense of early scenes showing more of the closeness of the Maitland's relationship Danny Elfman returns as Burton's go to composer one Studio exec thought elfman's score was too dark but audiences ranked the film highly with elfman's score and poorly without it so it remained Warner felt Beetlejuice too high concept to Market with no defined genre or sellable story even those involved in making the film were skeptical it would find an audience given it's a weird little film with low grade effects work they determined to dump it into a thousand theaters and recoup what they could in its opening weekend they pulled teens in malls if they'd rather see a film called Beetlejuice or some variation with ghosts in the title they determined house ghosts was most accessible Burton sarcastically responded why not call it scared sheetless the studio actually considered that until Burton threatened he jump out the window David jeffin stepped in and insisted on no title change critics were mixed but the public loved it Beetlejuice debuted at hash one at the US B box office where it remained four consecutive weeks it earned $73 million in its us theatrical run becoming the 10th highest grossing film of 1988 enough for Warner to immediately Greenlight Burton's Batman it makeup effects one its Soul Oscar nomination Beetlejuice began Burton's consideration as an Ur his prior film had given credit to PeeWee Herman's style of Comedy but now is recognized as a signature Burton film 21 while the setting is the fic Village of winter River Connecticut all outdoor scenes were filmed in East Corin a village in the town of Corin Vermont 22 Interiors were filmed at the Culver studios in Culver City California principal photography took place from March 11th to June 11th 1987 Burton's original choice for Beetlejuice was Sammy Davis Jr The Producers also considered Dudley Moore and Sam Kennison for the role but jeffon suggested Katon Burton was unfamiliar with Keaton's work work but was quickly convinced wning 2013 several actresses auditioned for the role of Lydia de including Sarah Jessica Parker Brook Shields Lori Laughlin Diane Lane Justine baitman Molly Ringold Juliet Lewis and Jennifer Connelly 14 Alyssa Milano was the runnerup for the role 15 Burton cast Rider upon seeing her in lcas Angelica hustin was originally cast as Dad Deets but dropped out because of illness 14 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 16 Burton also felt that Ohara and Jones would make a cute couple Beetle's budget was $15 million with just $1 million given over to visual effects work considering the scale and scope of the effects which included stop motion replacement animation cthe makeup puppetry and blue screen it was always Burton's intention to make the style similar to that of the be movies he grew up with as a child he said that he wanted to make the effects look cheap and purposely fake looking 18 Burton wanted to hire Anton first as production designer after being impressed with his work on the company of wolves 1984 and Full Metal Jacket 1987 but first was committed to High Spirits a choice he later regretted 19 he hired Bo Welch his future collaborator on Edward Scissor Hands and Batman Returns the test screenings were met with positive feedback and prompted Burton to film an epilogue featuring Beetlejuice foolishly angering a witch Dr 20 Warner Bros disliked the title Beetlejuice and wanted to call the film house ghost as a joke Burton suggested the name scared sheetless and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it 21 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 22 Interiors were filmed F Med at the Culver studios in Culver City California principal photography took place from March 11th to June 11th 1987 Beetlejuice was met with a mostly positive response based on 104 reviews collected By Rotten Tomatoes Beetlejuice holds an 82% overall approval rating with an average rating of 710 the website's critical consensus reads brilliantly bizarre and overflowing with ideas Beetlejuice offers some of Michael Keaton's most deliciously manic work and creepy funny fun for the whole family 28 on Metacritic the film has awaited average score of 71 out of 100 based on 19 reviews 29 audiences surveyed by cine mascord gave the film a be on a grade scale of a f 30 Paul and kale called the film a comedy classic 21 while Jonathan Rosen BAL of Chicago Reader gave a highly positive review Rosen Bal felt beetlejus had originality and creativity absent from other films 31 Vincent Camy of the New York Times called it a farce for our time and wished Katon had more screen time 32 danan how of the Washington Post felt Beetlejuice had the perfect balance of bizarreness comedy and horror 33 Janet Maslin of the New York Times gave the film a negative review writing that the film tries anything and everything for effect and only occasionally manages something marginally funny and is about as funny as a shrunken head there 34 Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars writing that he would have been more interested if the screenplay had preserved their Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis sweet Romanticism and cut back on the slapstick eert called Katon unrecognizable behind pounds of makeup and said his scenes don't seem to fit with the other action 35 in his book comedy horror films a chronological history 19142 2008 Bruce G Halen Beck praised the film's Lively script assured Direction offbeat casting and delightfully off-kilter Edward gory like look citing the Explorer with the shrunken head and the animated sandworm as particularly memorable visuals so to set the scene we open as Adam maand Alec Baldwin plays with his Model Town as he and his wife Barbara Gina Davis holiday at their holiday home it is a beautiful time for all right up until they swerve to miss a dog and are killed in the crash not that they know they are dead for a while they try to find purpose in the afterlife but that is shattered when a new family Charles Jeffrey Jones dilia Katherine O'Hara and Lydia Deets wiona Ryder arrives they want to change everything but there might be hope when the daughter catches a glimpse of the couple looking from a window but when they can't get anyone to leave they do something everyone was warned against they say Beetlejuice Beetlejuice beetlejuice Michael Keaton then we have the cast who are just having a blast on screen Alec bald and Gina Davis make a great double act as the recently deceased matlins and they do an excellent job of making you sympathetic to the Dead the Deets are not the worst people you have ever met but they are just obnoxious which makes a good Counterpoint for the narrative Winona ryer does become the moral center of the film as it progresses and I think that was the right choice the big surprise for me was how little Beetlejuice is actually in the movie with him only getting two big sequences though he floats around in the margins for lot of the proceedings whatever the case Michael Keaton chews every bit of scenery that he can get his hands on watching him switch streams 180° in the middle of a scene is so jarring yet apt for the character he was playing where I am not sure if the film has held up over the years comes down to more of the narrative and themes more than anything else The Narrative itself is straightforward in such a way that there is a rigidity here that I was not expecting however that was more interesting than anything else but more than this there was an uncomfortable gness around parts of death including the mannerisms of said deaths which sometimes you understand why it is played for lasts yet other times it feels macabra even in a film like this Beetlejuice is the epitome of Tim Burton's art and one of his best films with his second feature working from a screenplay by Michael McDow and Warren scarin Burton essentially established the mode that has dominated his work ever since a mix of satire black comedy goth iism horror expressionism and Camp the movie also displays Burton's crowning weakness an inability to sustain and develop a narrative simply put the story is not the strong point of Beetlejuice sure the premise is undeniably novel when a nice couple Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis die and become ghosts they enlist the help of the crazy bio Exorcist Beetlejuice Michael Keaton in order to scare the insufferable new residents Jeffrey Jones and Katherine O'Hara out of their house but that premise is pure High concept succinct and interesting but designed more to generate humorous situations and entertaining set pieces than to tell an involving story or create well-developed characters this goes to show that Tim Burton has always been a commercially Savvy and very Hollywood filmmaker in Beetlejuice however the insubstantial story adds to the film's manic and frenetically imaginative tone which is one of its most appealing qualities the worlds Burton creates in his film mes tend to feel as though they've been made on the Fly that they're at the whim of Burton's every fancy for example in Beetlejuice Burton gives us an inexplicable yet arresting vision of sandworms on one of the moons of Saturn just outside the door if the ghosts leave their home in this sense Beetle Juice seems like it's sprung from the mind of a slightly deranged yet brilliant boy Burton's imagination was still a flame burning strongly if strangely this is before his style solidified into a kind of weird brand to be stamped onto conven itional narratives as in the case of Burton's tired Alice and Wonderland for all my talk about Burton though it is really Michael Keaton who makes this movie of lasting appeal I think Keaton's Beetlejuice pronounced Beetlejuice is the best coup Burton ever put on screen surpassing anything Johnny Depp has ever done for him with wild dirty green hair shadowy eye sockets and sickly marks along the side of his head and neck Beetle Juice is memorable just to look at but Keaton's performance Nails it he makes his dead weirdo never stop shifting and moving jerkily bugging his eyes and licking his lips always trying to Weedle a deal with people in an aggressive pushy used car salesman sort of way like Anthony Hopkins Hannibal lecor in the Silence of the Lambs Keaton's Beetlejuice is the star of the movie despite his limited screen time and like in lamps the rest of the film builds up Keaton's performance since everyone spends a great deal of time talking about the character when he's not around his main entrance the camera hides him when he's reading the paper during his first scene and we only see him head on on a television screen before this moment is one of those great onscreen flights of manic energy it reminds me of when Robin Williams first gets on the air in Good morning Vietnam or when his Genie busts out of the lamp in Aladdin expect that Keaton's Beetlejuice is much more vile and perverted than anything Robin Williams did in those movies Keaton's performance also puts the lie to the idea that the much touted Birdman parallels Katon career foron had a successful comedic career before and after Batman the rest of the cast is exceptional creating a collection of memorable humorous types Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis make the nice ghost couple Adam and Barbara maitlin in bearing and just a little quirky when the characters could easily have been forgettable Jeffrey Jones and Katherine O'Hara are also great as the insufferable new residents Charles and deia deeds Jones makes his New York real estate magnate both like in his efforts to find some peace and quiet in New England and annoying in his money grubbing real estate schemes O'Hara's stepmother with her hideous trendy taste and an intense desperation to show off to her artsy Urban friends again achieves the fine line of irritation at first and understanding eventually when knower writer is Lydia Deets the gothic teenage daughter who is able to see the ghost the weird Outsider with Insight she sort of the quintessential Tim Burton child character but Lydia thankfully doesn't escape the film's satiric barbs lastly Glenn shadex makes AO deas artsy knit all consultant into yet another funny Vivid if not fully three-dimensional character it is to The film's Testament that scenes such as the mands in the underworld or the dinner party possessed dance are great fun even if the brilliant Beetle Juice isn't in them in fact the only weak aspect of this film might be the underdeveloped story Edwood has greater emotional depth and Sleepy Hollow has has more impressive missen scene but almost every feature Burton's made since Beetlejuice resembles it in one way or another but if it's Burton's Touchstone it's also the high point of Michael Keaton's career the plot follows Adam Alec Baldwin and Barbara Gina Davis a couple who after dying a tragic death attempt to scare away the new family that have come to inhabit their home after numerous failed attempts they decide to hire Beetlejuice Michael Katon a bio Exorcist from the Netherworld when an almost offensively 80s family of yepes come in to wreck a simple family home they threaten to engulf the entire town into their pretentious lifestyle a chaotic destructive force yet they are never portrayed as evil it could have been so easy for director Tim Burton to give into the 80s trend of the stereotypically unredeemable villains who the audience loved to hate such as the now redeemed judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit 1988 however the family's need for status and worship is a compulsion they are conditioned to do their own good trampling anyone else in the process and this makes sense the80s were an intensely individualistic time one that promoted extroversion and financial superiority this aspect has been sazed in several film including American Psycho 2000 it tracks then that Burton would see the Tendencies of this time as a threat to his world built on authenticity and creative Integrity however the underlying optimism which distinguishes this from Burton more pessimistic films such as Edward sisan 1990 lies in the ending the new family is incorporated into the old house with the strangeness of the Netherworld peacefully coexisting with the protagonists this is also a weirdly optimistic view of death which is not uncommon for Burton the horror of death is demystified and dismissed right from the start when Adam and Barbara unsuccessfully attempt to scare the family with realistically gory depictions of death Burton warns each of us upfront reality does not matter for instance suicide depiction changes from a disturbingly realistic man in a closet to a disgruntled yet colorful employee a mere Cog in the bureaucratic machine Michael Keaton only has 14.5 minutes of screen time as the titular character this is common with a lot of movie villains Dr Hannibal Lecter Darth Vader and Pinhead all have under 20 minutes of screen time and it can only work when the Charisma of the performance colors the rest of the film his absence serves to enhance his Menace the movie succeeds because the rest of the cast is just as brilliant Katherine Ohara as dilia particularly shines in her role and provides the best moment in the film a dinner possession scene in fact Beetle Juice continues in the Glorious tradition of the comedy horror musical combination seene in The Rocky Horror pictur Show 1975 and Little Shop of Horrors 1986 with the terrifying and hilarious the day o scene O'Hara leads the rest of the cast in a memorable display of physical comedy while never neglecting the horror element after all this is a possession scene and there are few more horrifying Concepts than having something take over your body the body horror is driven home by the iconic shrimp hands which perfectly in line with the be movie aesthetic of the film abruptly put an end to the number Beetlejuice is an incredible film it weaves solid social commentary with deeply personal fears and is propelled forward by strong performances a solid script and an impressive production this is Tim Burton at his strongest Beetlejuice is a farce about what happens to us after death it's a Bugaboo farce at the start the camera seems to be flying over an idilic New England town but the town changes into a miniature town on a table and Adam Alec Baldwin the hobbyist who has carved it takes a spider off a little rooftop Adam and his wife Barbara Gina Davis are a devoted though regretfully childless young couple who have been happy in their cozy old barn-like house an eccentric pile of angles and Peaks while fending off Realtors who want to sell it for them the two drive into town on an errand passing through a picture postcard covered wooden bridge but on the way back as they go through the bridge Barbara swerves to avoid hitting a dog and the director Tim Burton Reveals His first great gag the car hangs over the edge of the quaint Red Bridge kept from plunging into the river by the weight of the dog on a loose plank when the dog gets bored and trots off the car Falls the next we see of Adam and Barbara there GES tame sweet H loving ghosts not very different from how they were in Life the movie doesn't really get going until a New York family who are far more ghoulish by the house and start redecorating turning it into a high tech space to show off the slinky wife's Huge works of sculpture which are like petrified insects myff Adam and Barbara want to scare these Intruders away but they're too mild to do the job themselves so they call upon the services of the Ruddy little demon Beetlejuice pronounced Beetlejuice who is played by Michael Katon and who rises from the graveyard in the tabletop town the movie had perked up when the New Yorkers arrived because dilia the sculptor the madom who's the new lady of the house is played by the smudge faced blonde Catherine Ohara late ofv and the possessor of the freakiest blue-eyed stair since early Jean Wilder she has sexy evil eyes dilia is too macabra and to be phased by ordinary apparitions even the decaying Beetle Juice himself he might be a carnival attraction this way to the exed hipster barely distracts her but Katon is like an exploding head he isn't on screen nearly enough when he is he shoots the film Skyhigh and maybe because of the slow start and the teasing visual design the whole movie seems to take place in a hand painted nowhere with the real town and the toy town misting Heaton creates a Lust For more hot liit he appears here with a fringe of filthy hair greenish rotting teeth snagged and an ensemble of Mucky rags and he keeps varying in size like the star beetlejus when he's let loose and the Transformations start along with the gravity defying stunts I wanted more and more of them the end is subdued the final scenes have a plot logic that you can't really fault but logic isn't what you want and you feel as if the comedy Blitz is suddenly over without you're having fully grasped that it was ending the last part isn't very well directed and neither are the scenes where oar's dilia decides that having a haunted house will bring her some social cache Burton may not have found his storytelling skills yet or his structure either but then he may never find them this movie is something to see even if it's a blossoming chaos and the jokes sometimes leave you behind when Burton picked Robert dlet and dick cavet for small roles he probably wanted them to make fun of their images but they don't appear to know how and the writers Michael McDow Larry Wilson and Warren scarin haven't steered them still the best of WC Fields was often half gummed up and that doesn't seem to matter 55 years later the satire of a waiting room in the social services bureaucracy of the afterlife which is staffed by suicides is like great early animation it features a spectral effect linking cigarettes and death so creepily that the audience sucks in its breath and laughs when a raspy voiced social worker played by Sylvia s syney lights up she exhales smoke through her nose her mouth and her slit throat the movie with its toy town is like red groom cities it's an artwork that has no depth but Jangles with energy Tim Burton takes stabs into the irrational the incongruous the plain nutty and though a lot of his moves don't connect enough of them do to make this spotty dissonant movie A comedy classic the story is Bland it involves the parental love that Adam and Barbara developed for the sculpture stepdaughter when writer but its blandness is edged with near genius Michael Keaton has never been so uninhibited a comic his physical Assurance really is demonic he's a case of the beey wheezys the idea for Beetlejuice developed when Michael McDow a horror novelist and occasional television writer for Tales from the dark side sold the rights to some of his Southern Gothic novels to a former Studio development executive named Larry Wilson and his producing partner Michael Bender Wilson had left his executive career to return to screenwriting and asked McDow to become his writing partner for a feature film ghost themed films were popular in the early 1980s Wilson suggested writing a psychedelic ghost comedy but wasn't sure where to start while McDow and his life partner theater historian Lawrence selet brainstormed ideas in their Boston home they grew so annoyed by the pretentious yepy family next door they wish they could summon a real ghost to drive them away this gave them an idea ghosts who can't stand the humans who've moved in and will do anything to scare them out they decided to give the ghost Wilson's traits mild mannered introverts and give the humans mcdows snobbish artists the ghosts were too nice for an effective scare so they concocted a hired Gunslinger character a deadly demon summoned by ghosts to do their Dirty Deeds like an exorcist of living people Wilson loved this new angle because it allowed for crazy ideas the zier the better they threw in r refences to things they love psychedelic rock bands Spanish language horror movies slapstick cartoons and classic comedies like topper and death takes a holiday they titled it Beetle Juice an alternate spelling of a star in the constellation of Orion the literal translation of Beetle Juice from Arabic is the armpit of Orion when they were done Wilson sent it to his friend an exec Universal Pictures Wilson expected positive feedback instead he was questioned on why wasting left a promising career as an executive to push out nonsensical crap representing his writing Talent Wilson happened to teach a UCLA extension story analysis class where he showed the Beetlejuice script to his smartest student a story development assistant at jeffin film company named margorie Lewis Lewis loved it recommending it to Jeff and president Eric eer Jeff and bought it at their asking price of $100,000 including the screenwriter services for revisions Stan had a distribution partnership with Warner Bros Wes Craven who had a development deal with Warner was attached to direct after filming deadly friend Craven claims he was yanked after two months of work because Wilson's old boss Disney Studio chair Jeffrey kenberg told them that he couldn't do comedy Marjorie Lewis suggested another up-and-comer Warner had under contract Tim Burton to direct Burton made a short film she loved called Frank and weeny and scored a hit with peewee's big Adventure during this time Burton was doing TV gigs because Warner only offered him dumb cookie cutter comedies he had no interest in directing like the talking horse comedy hot to trot Burton pushed for his own story idea he called a cross between To Kill a Mocking Bird and a Godzilla flick but Warner only wanted him for things they already approved one he accepted was the long just stating Batman movie he begun cultivating with writer Sam ham jeffin sent Burton the beetle Jew script Burton judged it structureless and nonsensical yet undeniably imaginative and perversely funny it was abstract but absurd in the best of ways with bizarre characters and unusual situations that he took comfort in exploring Burton knew something this stupid and formless would provide the perfect platform where he could inject any idea into Burton informed Wilson and McDow that he wanted to do it but he was waiting on Batman however he hired them as screenwriters for an adaptation of Ray Brad very short story the jar he was directing for NBC's Revival of Alfred Hitchcock presence Jeff and next contemplated Frank Oz once he completed Little Shop of Horrors for them meanwhile McDow and Wilson worked with a Jeff and exec on a multitude of revisions the screenwriters began to feel demoralized by removing everything they felt made their story unique Oz became myed in Creative issues on little shop that extended the production and according to the Beetle Juice contract if a director wasn't assigned by a specified time that was fast approaching writes reverted back to the screenwriters Warner wouldn't Greenlight Batman leaving Burton available he was doing more TV work he directed an episode of fairy tale theater and assisted animator friend Brad Bird with Design Concepts for an episode of Amazing Stories called family dog later its own TV series