Great Character: Beetlejuice (“Beetlejuice”)
The Great Character theme for the month: Supernatural. Today: Beetlejuice from Beetlejuice written by Michael McDowell and Warren Skaaren, story by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson.
Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. Repeating this macabre moniker of the pale paranormal troublemaker thrice times made this loony cartoony ghoul appear visibly alive in Beetlejuice’s director Tim Burton’s 1988 comedy horror fantasy follow-up to his cult classic debut — Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. Actor Michael Keaton, from two other Burton feature films: Batman and Batman Returns, exploded with manic mastery as the black and white striped suit madman with the hysteric hybrid energy of a caffeine fiend in the body of a creepy crack-head from the afterlife.
This ghost story was conjured up by the likes of Larry Wilson (The Addams Family) and Michael McDowell (The Nightmare Before Christmas), who is also the scribe who did double duties with Warren Skaaren (Batman) on the screenplay. Michael Keaton’s personification of Beetlejuice transformed his two weeks of filming and mere 17 minutes of screen time as the green hair soul into a pop icon franchise that included a Beetlejuice Saturday Morning Cartoon, action figure toys, Halloween costumes and theme park attractions.
Beetlejuice IMDB:
A couple of recently deceased ghosts contract the services of a “bio-exorcist” in order to remove the obnoxious new owners of their house.
The recently deceased married couple Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis) need the Beetle Man to haunt their new obnoxious homeowners Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara) and Charles Deetz (Jefferey Jones) out of the house they left behind. But, unfortunately for them the protagonist and antagonist duality co-exists within the character of Beetlejuice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYlj-btwi6o
The Deetz’s gothic teenaged daughter Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder) is the only living roommate in the Maitland’s old home who can see these peculiar poltergeists, and helps their haunting antics as a form of teen rebellion. The Maitland’s are warned about the grotesque mess they may find themselves in by hiring the shameless Beetlejuice — but in this regard, listening wasn’t their strong suit.
BEETLEJUICE: These aren’t my rules. Come to think of it, I don’t have any rules.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io0PZTAcBes
The unpredictable fervor with which Beetlejuice jolts across his new haunted house becomes not the midnight shocker that would send the Deetz family packing, but instead the freak-of-nature they attempt to exploit like a circus sideshow.
BEETLEJUICE: Let’s turn on the juice and see what shakes loose.
Even with the “family-friendly” PG rating in the United States, Beetlejuice still exudes filthy boorish levels of behavior that most parents would probably prefer that their young children didn’t duplicate. Crotch-grabbing, “F-Bomb” profanity, horny hormones of the highest order and a wandering palm that appears uninvited to the female anatomy are just a few of Beetlejuice’s sleazy savage conducts. His amplified bravado willfully rides the borderline of outlaw anti-hero and undisciplined pre-pimple adolescents.
BEETLEJUICE: Go ahead, make my millennium.
To keep his anti-hygiene demeanor Earth-bound instead of Hell Below, Beetlejuice attempts to marry Lydia with every dearly departed prank he can muster as his spooky spectacles meet a morbid match from the Maitlands.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHmyJqXxmL8
For his clearly defined appearance, his warp speed rapid ridiculing and his grandstanding and scene stealing with less movie minutes than secondary characters — Beetlejuice is supernaturally a GREAT CHARACTER in the Tim Burton school of cinematic surrealism.
Such a fun character and a classic example of a Trickster.
Thank you, Jason, for this post. What’s your favorite bit from the movie? Please join us in comments to discuss Beetlejuice.
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