From its debut in 1988 to today’s revival, the Beetlejuice franchise has captivated audiences and spun off into an entire little universe of its own. We all have Tim Burton to thank, as well as amazing actors who have brought these characters to life throughout the years.
While there’s so much talk about the film with the release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice earlier this month, there’s still a lot even diehard fans don’t know about the franchise.
Whether you’ve just seen Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in theaters or finished a rewatch of the orginal, here are some of the lesser-known facts.
Screenwriter Michael McDowell had a “darker” vision of the film to start
Instead of leaning into the mischievous nature of the titular character, McDowell’s original script focused on the darkest elements of his nature instead. The overall mood was much more grim than comedic. The changes would have made the film more horror-heavy and definitely less widely consumed.
Tim Burton wanted an iconic performer to play Beetlejuice
Michael Keaton has truly perfected the role, but he actually wasn’t Burton’s first pick. He originally envisioned Sammy Davis Jr. playing the iconic bio-exorcist, though studio executives would ultimately shut the idea down. Sam Kinison and Dudley Moore were others considered for the role.
Everyone wanted to play Lydia Deetz
Lydia Deetz was a coveted role in the Beetlejuice franchise, with actresses including Juliette Lewis, Molly Ringwald, and Sarah Jessica Parker among the other actresses vying for the part. The runner-up to Winona Ryder was Alyssa Milano.
Catherine O’Hara met her husband on the set
Catherine O’Hara only happened to be on the film because of Huston’s circumstances. Production designer Bo Welch also wasn’t originally part of the team but stepped in when first-choice designer Anton Furst was busy on another film’s set. They met during filming and married in 1992. They share two children.
Executives weren’t crazy about the title at first
Warner Bros. asked the team to consider other, more catchy titles. Scared Sheetless and House Ghosts were other film titles that were floated. It would have made the tone of the Beetlejuice franchise much different than it is today.
The “Day-O” scene almost didn’t make it
Both executives and filmmakers were unsure how funny the scene, featuring Harry Belafonte’s “Day-O” (The Banana Boat Song), would be to audiences, but ultimately decided to keep it in. It’s now one of the most beloved scenes in the original.
Jenna Ortega was offered the role of Astrid days after Wednesday premiered
The experience of working with Tim Burton on Wednesday helped Jenna Ortega land a role she didn’t even know existed yet. Burton offered her the role of Astrid, Lydia’s teen daughter, after being impressed by her work on the series. After reading the script on the side of a road, she was totally sold.
The actors all had to stand on an angle when filming the underworld scenes
Because there weren’t any flat floors in the Underworld scenes, you had to approach everything from an angle. Mark Scruton, who headed up production design, told HGTV, “We wanted it to be like you’ve been at a party and you’ve had a bit too much to drink.”
“One thing we did with the floors, all the checkerboard floors are distorted and deliberately designed to go against the perspective of the sets,” he shared. “So even if the floor wasn’t raked or angled or anything else, you’d feel like they are. Regular people would walk on the set and lose their footing because their eyes couldn’t figure out what they were looking at!”
The first time Jenna Ortega met Michael Keaton, he was already dressed as Beetlejuice
In an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Ortega revealed she met Michael Keaton in full costume.
“He came up behind me. I was getting a hair and makeup test, and I got a tap on the shoulder, and I turned around—and it was a jump scare, for sure,” Ortega told Fallon. “He was like, ‘Oh, hey, I’m Michael,’ and he had… molds peeling off his face.”
“It was cool, until I met him for a second time out of hair and makeup,” she continued. “I introduced myself again because I forgot that I had already met him.”
Anjelica Huston was supposed to play Delia
Anjelica Huston has already portrayed so many iconic roles, and this could have been another. While she was originally cast as Delia, she had to drop out of the film due to health complications. Thus, we ended up with the great Catherine O’Hara.
Beetlejuice makes an impact with minimal screentime
Beetlejuice only appears in 17.5 minutes of the original 92-minute movie. Michael Keaton pushed for a similar amount of time to “maintain balance” in the sequel.
He told GQ, “The idea was, no, no, no, you can’t load it up with Beetlejuice, that’ll kill it. I think the Beetlejuice character doesn’t drive the story as much as he did in the first one. He’s more part of the storyline in this one as opposed to the first one, which is a case of, this thing comes in and drives the movie a little bit.”
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