Trivia
Tim Burton originally wanted Sammy Davis Jr., a favorite star of his since childhood, to play the role of Betelgeuse but studio executives didn't like that idea at all.
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In the wedding scene, Lydia's dress is a bright red. According to the old rhyme about wedding dress colors, it's "Married in red, better off dead."
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During the sequence where Adam and Barbara enter Juno's office and see her speaking to a recently deceased football team, a movie theater full of ghosts can be seen through Juno's office window. When the film was first released in theaters, the scene created the illusion that the audience were themselves being watched by the ghosts. Among the ghosts in the audience are a red skeleton and a green skeleton (identical to the ones seen in Tim Burton's later movie, Mars Attacks!), a woman with red hair, and two men in suits and Ray-Ban style sunglasses.
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Michael Keaton spent only two weeks filming his part in the film, which lasts 17.5 minutes out of the 92-minute running time. It is Keaton's favorite film of his own.
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The original script was a horror film, and featured Beetlejuice as a winged, reptilian demon who transformed into a small Middle Eastern man to interact with the Maitlands and the Deetzes. Lydia was a minor character, with her six year old sister Cathy being the Deetz child able to see the Maitlands. Beetlejuice's goal was to kill the Deetzs, rather than frighten them away, and included sequences where he mauled Cathy in the form of a rabid squirrel and tried to rape Lydia. Subsequent script rewrites turned the film into a comedy and toned down Beetlejuice's character into the ghost of an wise cracking con-artist rather than a demon.
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As the Geffen logo rolls during the intro, soundtrack composer Danny Elfman is heard singing "Day-o, he say day-ay-ay-o." This was added during post-production and is heard on the released soundtrack.
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The title character of Beetlejuice is named for a bright red star in the constellation of Orion, Betelgeuse. The studio disliked the title and wanted to call the film "House Ghosts". As a joke, Tim Burton suggested the name "Scared Sheetless" and was horrified when the studio actually considered using it.
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The only cast member who would initially commit to the project was Geena Davis. Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, and Sylvia Sidney all said no at least once. Producer David Geffen convinced Michael Keaton's manager to convince Michael to meet with director Tim Burton. Once Michael said yes, Tim Burton personally called Sylvia Sidney and begged her to do the movie, and he flew out to meet with Catherine O'Hara to convince her as well.
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Catherine O'Hara was a replacement for an ill Anjelica Huston as Delia. On the set she met her future husband, production designer Bo Welch.
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The original plan for the dinner party was to have the guests dance to "a song by The Ink Spots," but Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O'Hara suggested the music be calypso.
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When Adam and Barbara are in the office, a voice on the PA systems announces the arrival of Flight 409 ("Flight 409 is arriving at Gate 3"). On October 6, 1955 United Airlines Flight 409 crashed into a mountain over Wyoming killing all passengers and crew aboard. It was the worst crash in history to that point. To this day, no one knows why it crashed.
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A toy line was released in conjunction with the film, featuring action figures of most of Beetlejuice's incarnations, Otho, Adam (whose figure featured him wearing a red baseball cap), and the Shrunken Head Man from the waiting room, whose figure was named "Harry the Haunted Hunter" and came with a detachable head showing what he looked like before death.
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Adam and Barbara are the only spirits that look "normal", compared to the other deceased in the Netherworld.
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Juliette Lewis auditioned for the role of Lydia. Lori Loughlin, Diane Lane, Sarah Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields, Justine Bateman, Molly Ringwald and Jennifer Connelly all turned down the same role.
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The snake scene had been filmed before Michael Keaton was cast as Betelgeuse, and the animatronic snake used bore no resemblance to the actor. After Keaton had been cast, some additional film was shot for the scene, using a stop-motion snake that looked more like Betelgeuse. This was suggested by the studio to make sure the audience knows the the snake is actually Betelgeuse and not some random monster from the afterlife.
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The number 3 is used '3' times: The number of times to say commands ("Betelgeuse", "home"), the number of times to knock on the door to get to the other side, and the number of first class intersessions allotted.
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Producer Jon Peters thought of casting controversial comedian Sam Kinison as Beetlegeuse, but Kinison's agent never told him about it.
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Just before the dinner party scene, Delia mentions to Lydia that one of their guests is a writer for 'Art in America 'magazine. In the very last scene, when Delia shows Charles her latest sculpture, there is a copy of 'Art in America' behind him, with a picture of Delia and several of her sculptures on the cover.
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When Glenn Shadix (who played Otho) died in September 2010, the last song performed at his memorial service was "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)," which was used to great effect in the dinner party scene where everyone around the table is possessed and dances to the music.
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Along with 1987's Spaceballs and 1988's Big and Caddyshack II, notable for containing "the F word" in a film rated PG during the PG-13 era.
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Betelgeuse reveals a hideous (albeit unseen) face to Adam and Barbara. Originally, Betelgeuse's "scary face" was going to be seen, and an elaborate makeup effect was created to that end, but ultimately went unused.
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According to Dick Cavett, Tim Burton tried to film the scene where shrimp jump off the plates and attack the dinner party by positioning stage hands beneath the table and throwing them. Cavett suggested placing the shrimp on their faces, filming them as they fell off, then running the film in reverse - which Burton did.
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In the first waiting room scene several methods of death are shown. These include: A camper who was bitten by a rattle snake; a diner who choked on what looks like a chicken bone; a surfer who was attacked by a shark; a girl who was cut in half at the torso; and a smoker who is a burn victim. In addition to the "New Arrivals" in the room, several "workers" show other causes of death which include: The Receptionist slitting her wrists; a worker who was flattened by a bus or truck; a file clerk who is seen hanging from a noose all while Juno appears to have succumbed to a slit throat. The only deaths we actually see on camera are the Maitlands who show no sign of drowning in the afterlife.
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Not surprisingly, the movie's impressive box-office success created plans for a sequel: Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. A script was commissioned and Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder both signed on to reprise their respective roles, but Tim Burton lost interest in the project and went on to direct Batman and Batman Returns instead. As late as 1996, Warner Bros. was still trying to get the original sequel concept into production but a finished film has yet to materialize.
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At the dinner party, Otho states that people who commit suicide end up as "civil servants" in the afterlife. The character played by Patrice Martinez/Miss Argentina, who apparently slit her wrists, confirms this, as she is spending her death as the receptionist. Further, in the back room as the Maitlands are being led to their door, there is another man hanging from his noose and the man aiding them obviously stepped in front of a bus.
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All the people in the waiting room and in the office are in the same condition as when they died and the way they died is shown clearly. However, the Maitlands, who were drowned, are not wet. This was done deliberately since the director felt that keeping the actors wet all the time would be too uncomfortable.
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Director Trademark
Tim Burton:
[dogs]
The Maitlands' deaths are caused by a stray dog wandering around the bridge their car topples over.
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Spoilers
Betelgeuse/Beetlejuice's name is spoken exactly 15 times in the film--8 from Barbara, 2 from Juno, and 5 from Lydia. Adam also says his name a few times but mispronounced it.
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