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Make the "ghost with the most" proud and check out these awesome "Beetlejuice" details! Welcome to Watchmojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the little-known facts about Tim Burton’s beloved horror comedy.
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00:00Is why I won't do two shows a night anymore, babe. I won't I won't do well
00:06What do we got here tonight kids welcome to watch mojo and today?
00:10We're counting down our picks for the little-known facts about Tim Burton's beloved horror comedy
00:24Number 20 most of the cast needed convincing to sign on once you cover up the wallpaper
00:29Knocked out a few walls this place might just be livable Tim Burton was still relatively unknown when Beetlejuice was being made at the time
00:36He'd only directed one other movie Peewee's big adventure
00:39So we can understand why most of the actors took one look at this weird script and said no, thanks my good friend
00:45Hi, Mario
00:47Michael Keaton turned down the role twice before Burton finally talked him into it Alec Baldwin was worried the movie could actually kill his career
00:54Reportedly only Gina Davis said yes right away
00:57Considering that the movie was a financial success and has since become a classic
01:01We're guessing the entire cast is glad they took a chance on it. Go ahead make my millennium
01:08Number 19 Beetlejuice almost had a very different title I
01:16Say we open it
01:17Maybe we should knock first
01:19Tim Burton butted heads with Warner Brothers execs over many things throughout the production and the film's title was no exception
01:25The studio didn't like the title Beetlejuice and instead wanted to call the movie house ghosts claiming that name did better with test audiences
01:31Why do you know how to pick him? Let me ask you something this relationship really solid
01:35Do I have a shot at her at all? Excuse me? Sure. Am I overstepped my bounds?
01:38Just tell me come on at a meeting Burton jokingly suggested
01:41They changed the title to scared sheetless when the studio actually gave that idea serious thought
01:46Burton said he'd jump out the window if they went with it in the end
01:49The director held fast and got to keep the name Beetlejuice. We can probably all agree. That was absolutely the right move
01:57You two kids pick me you didn't have to but you pick me it makes me want to kiss you guys
02:06Number 18 the meaning behind the wedding dress I am
02:11utterly
02:14You might assume that putting Lydia in red for the wedding scene was just part of Burton's unique aesthetic
02:18But many fans think it's actually a reference to a poem that dates back to Victorian times
02:23The rhyme is meant to help young brides choose a dress color. It starts married in white
02:28You have chosen all right married in gray. You will go far away
02:31You get the gist one line reads married in red. You'll wish yourself dead. Are you?
02:37Of
02:43Course they're dead they're ghosts
02:45No, I mean they're gone split out of your afterlife kids
02:49Lydia actually mentions wanting to be dead, especially after she gets to know the Maitland's the dress color could be a coincidence
02:55But knowing how much thought Burton puts into the look of his films, we'd bet it was intentional
03:00Call the caterers got a great fan. Oh, we're gonna need witnesses
03:05Would you number 17 an 80s TV star almost played Barbara happy vacation, honey
03:13Manchurian tongue oil, where did you get this Helen got it for me in Oslo?
03:17Although it's now one of her most famous roles
03:19Gina Davis wasn't the first choice for Barbara Maitland among the actresses who were considered were Laura Dern
03:25Sigourney Weaver and Goldie Hawn, but at the top of the list was Cheers star Kirstie Alley
03:30Miss Rebecca how Sam Malone Sam Rebecca how how do you do?
03:39And to you
03:40She had joined the sitcom after Shelley longs departure and reportedly couldn't get out of her contract to film Beetlejuice
03:46Alley went on to star in Cheers for six more years until the series ended in 1993 and has successful film career
03:52Meanwhile Davis turned in a flawless performance as one half of the naive but lovable Maitland couple
03:58Ultimately it was a win-win for everyone
04:05Number 16 Burton had a specific look in mind for the effects
04:14You might be surprised to hear that the budget for Beetlejuice only included 1 million dollars for special effects even adjusted for inflation
04:22That's still less than 3 million dollars in today's money. Not a lot for a movie. That is mostly effects
04:27You don't have an appointment. Do you? Well, we didn't know how to make one appointment for what? What do you want?
04:32We need some help. Huh already
04:34You just bit the big one two months ago and you want help but that didn't bother Tim Burton who was inspired by Godzilla
04:40Movies he watched as a kid and the legendary stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen
04:44Burton purposefully gave Beetlejuice a b-movie feel with effects that looked intentionally cheap and homemade
04:50Now those effects are part of what makes the movie seem so timeless
04:53Yeah, deliver me from L.L.Bean
04:59I know what you two are up to and you're not gonna get away with it. Number 15. The epilogue was added at the last minute
05:13Women I
05:14Don't know what her problem is
05:17Even though he's troublesome and actually kind of dangerous
05:20Audiences can't help but fall in love with Beetlejuice in the first cut of the film
05:23It was unclear what happens to the character after the sandworm attack
05:27But in response to positive viewer feedback at test screenings Burton decided to add a new final scene
05:32Showing that the ghost with the most came out alive or at least in one piece
05:37You do that very nice work, let me ask you something how do you get him down so small? Hey, there goes Elvis. Yo King
05:45Audiences loved the first waiting room scene so much that the director set the epilogue there in it
05:51Beetlejuice makes the mistake of provoking the witch doctor and ends up with a shrunken head
06:06Number 14 Catherine O'Hara wasn't the first Delia
06:09a
06:10little gasoline
06:12blowtorch
06:13No problem today. It's hard to imagine anyone other than O'Hara in the role of Delia Dietz
06:18However, Angelica Houston was actually the first person cast for the part
06:22This makes sense since Houston's look seems to fit well with Burton's aesthetic
06:26But when Houston had to bow out due to an illness producer David Geffen invited O'Hara to audition
06:34Last night you were
06:37unhinged
06:38You're like some desperate howling demon
06:41She flew to LA but got terribly lost looking for Burton's office and never made it to the audition
06:46Fortunately, the studio offered her the role
06:48Anyway, if you don't let me cut out this house and make it my own I will go insane and I will take you with me
06:57Yeah, well, you know maybe the house could use a little remodeling
07:01But why don't you just leave this room alone?
07:04Okay, it worked out for everyone since O'Hara is not only perfect in the part
07:08She also met her future husband production designer Bo Welsh on the set and as for Angelica Houston
07:13She get a chance to shine three years later in the Addams Family film adaptation as Morticia
07:18Number 13 the number three shows up everywhere. What about that guy in the flyer, you know beetle?
07:25Don't even say his name. You don't want his help
07:28Everyone knows you have to say Beatles use his name three times to summon or get rid of him
07:32But that's not the only use of the number three in the film
07:35Sharp-eared viewers might have also noticed that Barbara says home three times to get herself and Adam out of the model town
07:50Barbara how did you do that?
07:51Hope you like Italian on top of that the pair must knock on their hand-drawn door three times to enter the netherworld
07:57And they get exactly three sessions with her caseworker
08:00Juno their house even has three floors and after the Dietz's move in the Maitland spend nearly all of their time on the third floor
08:06For some reason probably known only to Tim Burton. The number three has special significance in this strange universe
08:13knock three times
08:19Number 12 Michael Keaton may have been inspired by another horror comedy
08:28Once and for all
08:33A lot of horror fans can't help but notice similarities between the character of Beetlejuice and that of chop-top from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre
08:39too, I
08:41Wanna I want to buy some
08:44Radio ad time since that movie came out in 1986 and Beetlejuice was filmed in 1987
08:49It's not crazy to think that Keaton based his performance at least a little bit on Bill Moseley's turn as the cannibal
08:55Plenty of sources have speculated that this is the case though Keaton has apparently never confirmed it
09:00Beetlejuice doesn't actually kill anyone in his movie. So in that regard, he's somewhat less sinister than the sadistic chop-top
09:16Number 11 Beetlejuice made history
09:19There's a better way to rent movies as many as you want for just 20 bucks a month and no late fees
09:24Remember when Netflix used to come in the mail the company started as a mail-order DVD rental service all the way back in March
09:30Of 1998 what was the first movie they sent to a customer you guessed it
09:35Beetlejuice go to netflix.com
09:37Make a list of the movies you want to see and in about one business day
09:41You'll get three DVDs
09:43Keep them as long as you want without late fees
09:45Many people don't realize that the company continued mailing out rental DVDs until September 2023
09:50Though of course the service became far less popular when streaming came around in that 25-year span
09:56Netflix made more than 5 billion DVD shipments and allowed its customers to keep the last round of discs that were sent out and to think
10:02It all started with this campy classic
10:12Number 10 many young stars were considered for the role of Lydia. Well, I read through that handbook for the recently deceased
10:20Says
10:21Live people ignore the strange and unusual
10:24What do Sarah Jessica Parker Brooke Shields and Molly Ringwald have in common?
10:28They were all reportedly under consideration to play Lydia along with Jennifer Connelly
10:32Juliet Lewis and Diane Lane the decision ultimately came down to Winona Ryder and Alyssa Milano. Come on
10:39Come on, he's just in town for a few days. It's no big deal
10:41If you say so, I'll just remember what you always tell me when I meet someone's parents mind your manners
10:46Call him sir, and don't wear a miniskirt
10:49Well Ryder was fairly unknown at the time
10:52Milano had already had a starring role on Who's the Boss for several years
10:55Ryder eventually won the part of course and Milano has since speculated how different her life might have been if she had been chosen instead
11:01She may have been great as Lydia Dietz, but Ryder seems born to play her. God. How can you stand that woman?
11:07Cut it out! I'm a child for God's sakes.
11:18Number nine, Beetlejuice is named after a star
11:33The title of the movie might be Beetlejuice
11:35But the character is technically named Beetlejuice after a bright red star in the constellation Orion
11:41The red giant derives its name from an Arabic phrase that means hand of Orion
11:45We can understand why the studio went with a simpler spelling for the name
11:51It's him, Beetlejuice
11:53Even within the world of the movie the characters joke about his name being hard to pronounce
11:58Interestingly, his name is spelled not just two different ways, but three. In the film's title card
12:03There's a space between Beetle and Juice. This seems to just be a mistake since even in the original marketing posters
12:09There's no space between the two words
12:11Number eight, a background detail references a real-life tragedy
12:20This way, honey
12:21You have to pay really close attention to catch this one. When Barbara and Adam first enter the netherworld
12:27They find that it's not so different from a busy disorganized DMV office
12:31A woman's voice can be heard giving directions over a PA system
12:45The flight 409 that she mentions is a reference to a real United Airlines flight that tragically crashed in Wyoming
12:52Killing 66 people. That accident happened back in 1955 and Beetlejuice takes place in the 80s
12:58So, why are the victims just now arriving in the afterlife? Time is wibbly-wobbly in this world
13:03It passes differently depending on where you are
13:05This means that people from many different eras could potentially reach the netherworld at around the same time
13:21Number seven, Beetlejuice almost got a sequel right away
13:28They said there's a couple of projects that you can rewrite because at this point the script for Chasing Amiens started circulating
13:34People were like, oh we can write after all
13:36There have been rumors of a Beetlejuice sequel for years and it almost happened right after the first film came out
13:41Burton brought on screenwriter Jonathan Gems to write it and he created Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian
13:46So I went into Warner Brothers and said we have three projects we could throw your way
13:49I said, all right, what are they? And they said one is a remake of an Outer Limits episode called The Architects of Fear
13:56The second is Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian
13:58It featured the Dietz's moving to Hawaii and building a resort on an ancient burial ground
14:03Beetlejuice would have saved the day by winning a surfing contest
14:06However, Burton and Keaton got too busy with Batman Returns
14:09Over the years the script went through a series of rewrites
14:12The studio even approached Kevin Smith to do one, though we turned it down. In the end, it never got made
14:17Which is probably for the best. To which I was like really didn't we say all we needed to say with the first Beetlejuice?
14:23Must we go tropical? Number six Michael Keaton improvised a lot. Well, where is he? What do we do?
14:35Looks like we dig Barbara
14:38Keaton had a major role in creating the character of Beetlejuice and Burton was happy to go along with it
14:42The ghost look was almost entirely Keaton's idea, though the iconic striped suit was Burton's doing. Where are you?
14:50Help them, please
14:52I
14:55Can help
14:56You gotta help me. What? Burton also encouraged him to improvise which Keaton did brilliantly
15:01In fact, he was so funny. He nearly killed co-star Alec Baldwin
15:05Thanks to all the improvisation many of Beetlejuice's most famous lines weren't even in the original script
15:10Keaton is a comedic genius and when you set him free, you never know what you're going to get
15:15I got a card around here somewhere here here who I have to kill here. Hold that for me, would you?
15:22You don't have to kill anybody
15:25Learn to throw your voice for your friends fun at parties number five. The original script was very different
15:31Nobody says the B word. Come on. Do you take this woman to be your wedded wife?
15:43Believe it or not
15:44Beetlejuice wasn't originally conceived as a comedy the first version of the script was a lot darker
15:49The character of Beetlejuice was totally different
15:52Instead of a deceased human. He would have been a demon with wings who took the form of a Middle Eastern, man
15:57He was a lot less funny and a lot more malevolent
15:59The Maitland's car crash would have been more gruesome and the film would have ended with Lydia dying in a fire
16:04In another ending that was considered
16:06Beetlejuice is destroyed during an exorcism
16:08The Maitland's are shrunk down and move into the model version of their house after multiple rewrites
16:13We finally got the Beetlejuice we know and love. She's a little bit nervous
16:17Maybe I should answer for her. Okay
16:19I'm Lydia Dietz and I'm of sound mind. The man next to me is the one I want you ask me. I'm answering
16:25Yes, I love that man of mine number four. The movie contains Easter eggs for Burton's future films
16:31How long do you suppose we were waiting there three months?
16:36I'd almost given up on you. I was about to leave. I do have other clients
16:42Are you Juno our caseworker? Yes, I
16:45Evaluate individual cases and determine if help is needed
16:49Deserved and available Tim Burton's mind is a dark and mysterious place. He's constantly doodling often while filming
16:57Occasionally, he imagines new characters years before they actually appear in a movie in a bizarre scene in Beetlejuice
17:03Adam and Barbara are summoned to Juno's office and behind them is an audience of the dead watching through a window
17:08When you get out of here, all right, get down here men's room. Are you kidding?
17:16I'll be right back among them our pair of red and green skeletons
17:20Just like those in 1996 is Mars attacks later in the film
17:23We get a glimpse of a skull that looks a lot like Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas
17:29Coincidentally, Michael Keaton is also wearing bat wings in the scene
17:32Despite the fact that Burton didn't yet know he'd be working on Batman. I'm not going to kill you
17:37I want you to do me a favor. I want you to tell all your friends about me
17:43I'm Batman number three Michael Keaton wasn't Burton's first choice to play Beetlejuice
17:49That is why I won't do two shows a night anymore, babe. I won't I won't do well
17:56What do we got here tonight?
17:58We can't imagine this movie with anyone other than Keaton in the title role
18:02But it almost didn't happen Burton had a very different actor in mind for the part. That's right
18:07Sammy Davis jr. Comedians Dudley Moore and Sam Kinison were also under consideration
18:12It was Geffen company head David Geffen who recommended Keaton Burton wasn't familiar with Keaton's work
18:18Though the actor had already starred in several movies and appeared on numerous TV shows
18:21It turned out that Keaton's manic energy and comedic brilliance were exactly what the character needed
18:27Well, we got the uh, the Maitland's ah, I think they've got enough exercise for a night
18:34Number two the most famous scene was almost cut. Oh, so are you doing this?
18:47If you only remember one scene from Beetlejuice, it's probably the dinner party scene
18:52Amazingly, it almost didn't make the final film Burton didn't think the scene was funny and wanted to cut it
18:57But thankfully test audiences loved it
19:07The scene also almost featured a very different soundtrack
19:10The original plan was to use the 1939 song if I didn't care
19:14Catherine O'Hara came up with the idea to use Calypso music instead Dale was the perfect choice
19:19It gave Harry Belafonte a late career boost and was even played at Otho after Glenn Shadix's funeral when filming the finale
19:25The crew puppeteering the shrimp kept missing the actress faces. Dick Cavett came up with the idea to shoot in reverse
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19:53Number one Beetlejuice is barely in Beetlejuice
20:04Babs
20:05Lots of iconic characters have relatively little screen time in their movies
20:09Darth Vader is on screen for less than 12 minutes in the original Star Wars and Hannibal Lecter gets just 16 minutes in the Silence
20:15Of the Lambs. The same is true for Beetlejuice
20:28The Troublesome Ghost only appears for about 17 minutes out of the hour and a half long film
20:33That's probably for the best
20:35The character is so over-the-top that watching him for too long would be exhausting
20:39Michael Keaton only had to spend two weeks on set filming
20:42Beetlejuice makes quite an impression considering how little we see of him and always leaves us wanting more. What are your qualifications?
20:48Well, I attended Juilliard. I'm a graduate of the Harvard Business School. I travel quite extensively
20:53I lived through the Black Plague and I had a pretty good time during that
20:56I've seen the Exorcist about 167 times and it keeps getting funnier every single time
21:01I see it. Which Beetlejuice facts surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments. Hey, these aren't my rules
21:08Come to think of it, I don't have any rules
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