Did You Know?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Adam and Barbara are the only spirits that look "normal", compared to the other deceased in the Netherworld.

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.

Producer Jon Peters thought of casting controversial comedian Sam Kinison as Beetlegeuse, but Kinison's agent never told him about it.

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 scene in which Otho leads a séance and everyone around the table is possessed and dances to the music.

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.

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.

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.

Tim Burton:  [dogs]  The Maitlands' deaths are caused by a stray dog wandering around the bridge their car topples over.

Tim Burton:  [stop-motion animation]  The sculptures, sandworms, and various effects.