#120 - "Beetlejuice" (1988) with Laramy & Bethany Wells

Say his name three times and he will appear. With his unruly green hair, pinstripe suit and unusual mannerisms, the malicious spirit became a film icon. But before the dark comedy premiered the studio and half of the cast weren't exactly convinced that audiences would be willing to take the wild ride about a bio-exorcist. The original script was vastly different, offering a darker and more deadly take before humor was eventually (and successfully) sprinkled in during production. The unique blend of absurdity and alarm proved to be the perfect mix, with this 80s Flick becoming a surprise hit at the box office, spawning a hit animated series, winning an Oscar, and becoming a Broadway musical. So take a trip with us back to Winter River Connecticut, grab your copy of the “Handbook for the Recently Deceased”, and watch out for the Sandworms as Tim Williams and guest co-hosts Laramy Wells & Bethany Wells discuss “Beetlejuice” from 1988 on this episode of the 80s Flick Flashback Podcast.

Here are some additional behind-the-scenes trivia we were unable to cover in this episode:

• Tom Duffield said "The scene with Alec Baldwin, where Geena’s standing with his head in her hand, he was just kneeling behind a black show card that was cut around his chin. Look closely, it’s all done on camera. It was real quick cut, but that’s all it was."
• The epilogue featuring Beetlejuice and the witch doctor was added during post-production. Another version of the ending showed Beetlejuice in the waiting room with the barber who welcomed Adam at the beginning of the movie (supposedly after he had died), and the barber's rambling drove Beetlejuice crazy.

Sources:

Wikipedia, IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo

https://www.ranker.com/list/beetlejuice-behind-the-scenes/jacob-shelton

https://www.eonline.com/news/1369754/20-strange-and-unusual-secrets-about-beetlejuice-revealed

Some sections were composed by ChatGPT

 

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Episode Transcript

(00:09):
Say his name three times and he will appear.
With his unruly green hair, pinstripe suit and unusual
mannerisms, the malicious spiritbecame a film icon.
But before the dark comedy premiered, the studio and 1/2 of
the cast weren't exactly convinced that audience would be
willing to take the wild ride about a bio exorcist.
In fact, the original script wasvastly different, offering a

(00:31):
darker and more deadly take before humor was eventually and
successfully sprinkled in duringproduction.
The unique blend of absurdity and alarm proved to be the
perfect mix, with this 80s flickgoing on to become a surprise
hit at the box office, spawning a hit animated series, winning
an Oscar, and becoming a Broadway musical.
So take a trip with us back to Winter River, Connecticut.

(00:54):
Grab your copy of The Handbook for the Recently Deceased and
watch out for sand worms as Laramie Wells, Bethany Wells and
I discuss Beetlejuice from 1988 on this episode of the 80s Slit
Flashback Contest. From the director of Pee Wee's
Big Adventure, when 2 ghosts can't talk the living into

(01:14):
leaving their house. What's the good of being a ghost
if you can't frame people away? They call the ghosts Beetlejuice
with the most Can you be scary? What do you think of this?
It's amazing. Michael Keaton is a ghost called
Beetlejuice and the ghost with the most played rated BG now
playing. I'm Tim Williams, the mastermind

(01:49):
behind the mic at the 80s Flick Flashback Podcast.
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(02:12):
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(02:33):
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(03:37):
today's show. Thanks again for tuning in.
Now let's get right into today'sepisode.
Welcome. To the party, pal.
All right, welcome. And everybody, so glad to have
you on this episode of the 80s Flick Flashback Podcast.
And we're in October and it's spooky season.
And is this a horror movie? Not really.

(03:58):
Does it have some scary images? Sure, for PG movie that should
have been rated PG13, but we'll get into that.
We're talking about Beetlejuice from 1988.
But of course, of course, because the sequel just came out
a couple weeks ago. Beetlejuice.
Beetlejuice. I've said his name three times,
but we're safe. So.
But let me introduce our wonderful Co hosts on this
episode. You know them, you love them as

(04:19):
glad to have them both back together again.
Welcome, Bethany Wells. I too am strange and unusual.
And her husband, Laramie Wells. Let's turn on the juice and see
what shakes loose. So let's talk Beetlejuice.
So when did you guys see it for the very first time?
Laramie, I'll let you go first. Which TV station did you watch

(04:41):
this on? You know what?
I actually, I actually think I may have saw this on HBO.
OK. Yeah, I could see that.
Because because I don't think I saw this edited or in a, you
know, with commercial breaks thefirst time I saw it.
So it was either a Blockbuster rental, but for some reason I

(05:01):
really think I saw it like on HBO.
Yeah. I think they ran it pretty heavy
on HBO. Yeah, pretty sure, yeah.
I'm pretty sure that's how I first saw it because I, I do
remember, I do remember seeing this a lot when I was younger.
But yeah, no, I don't think thiswas ATV when I, well, I mean, it
still was TV. Well, it's not TV, it's HBO.

(05:24):
So yeah, there you go. The Home Box Office.
What about you, Bethany? I think I was probably in high
school before I finally saw thismovie, but I know that I loved
the cartoon. They aired reruns of the cartoon
pretty heavily and I watched that.
I think that's where my Beetlejuice nostalgia comes

(05:46):
from. Yeah, I saw this one in the
theater, I'm pretty sure. I don't think it was one I saw
like when it first came out. I think I saw this kind of
either a dollar theater or, you know, just maybe it might have.
That might have been when I was still living on base and saw it
at the Space Theater, but military theater.

(06:06):
But yeah, but I remember seeing it and and really enjoying it.
Of course, being a Michael Keaton fan from like Mr. Mom,
I'd seen that a million times bythat point.
Of course, this is before Batman, but I knew who Michael
Keaton was. I don't think I was upset that
he wasn't in it as much like I would thought that with him him
being the main character. Not in it that much.

(06:29):
I, I think in when my memory tries to go back to it, I
always, I guess I just think about the Beetlejuice scenes and
so. Yeah.
I think he's in it a lot more than he, actually.
Is yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. So when did you last watch it
before we watched it for the podcast it?
Wasn't that long. It wasn't that long.

(06:50):
Ago, we probably rewatched it because we went to go see
Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice not long after it
came out, maybe even the weekendit came out.
And then I think we've rewatchedit to see.
Yeah, and then we've also seen the musical, and so we probably
watched it preparing to go see the musical, so.

(07:12):
Yeah, the kids love it, so I don't know why, but they do.
Yeah, I mean, it's silly, It is fun, it has a lot of silliness
to it, so. This is one of those 80s movies
where you show it to children and it's sometimes you go.
Should I have shown this to a? Child.
Yeah. But for all of those wondering

(07:33):
about the musical, you watch it and you go.
I should not have brought a child to. 100%.
I should not have shown. This in a child but.
But my kids were there anyway, so here we are.
Mommy, what does that mean? We don't talk in the theater.
Right. Good job.

(07:53):
Yeah, we rewatched it before, like Hannah watched it for the
first time. Because of course you want to
see the the sequel because JennyOrtega being in it, she's, you
know, after watching Wednesday on Netflix, she's a big fan.
And so I was like, well, you gotto watch the first one to watch
the second one. So we, we watched it all
together. Yeah, several weeks, right.

(08:14):
Like right before it came out and we went and saw the first
weekend. I had watched it probably maybe
two years ago, I think it was, it was on one of the streamers,
I think. And so I was like, I had, I knew
I hadn't watched it in a long time.
And so I started I, I'm pretty sure I watched it all the way
through, but I think I struggleda little bit kind of watching it

(08:36):
because like I said, I've I'd forgotten how little he was in
it. So the beginning I was like,
it's taking forever to get to when he shows up.
So it's definitely more interesting watching it as an
adult. Like there's a lot of there's a
lot of jokes that I get. I laugh at more now than I did
as a kid. All right, let's talk story,
origin and pre production. This was very interesting.

(08:57):
So after the financial success of Pee Wee's big adventure that
came out in 19 eighty 1985, Burton became a bankable
director and began working on a script for Batman with Sam Hamm.
I am I'm sorry. While Warner Brothers was sorry,
Sam while Warner Brothers was willing to pay for the scripts
development, it was less willingto green light Batman at that

(09:17):
time, Burn had become disheartened by the lack of
imagination and originality in the scripts that he had been
sent, particularly one called Hot to Trot.
And if you've ever seen that movie, you understand why so.
Is that the one with the the talking?
Racehorse race of horse Race horse.
Yep, that's that one. Both white Bob can't go life.

(09:39):
Yeah. Yeah, and John Candy was the
voice of the horse. Yeah.
So Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson formed a partnership with
entertainment attorney Michael Bender, and Beetlejuice was
their first original project. Burden had gotten to know and
worked with McDowell and Wilson previously on ATV movie or TV
episode that he had directed. Burden read their first draft of

(10:00):
Beetlejuice, liked it, but had other projects that kept him
from becoming involved at that time.
The original script was far lesscomedic and much darker.
The mainland's car crash was depicted graphically with
Barbara's arm crushed and the couple screaming for help as
they slowly drown. And instead of possessing the
Deitz's and forcing them to dance during dinner, the

(10:22):
Maitlands cause a vine patternedcarpet to come to life and
attack them by tangling them to their chairs.
The character of Beetlejuice, envisioned in the first draft as
a winged demon who takes on the form of a short Middle Eastern
man, is also intent, yeah on killing the Dietzes rather than
scaring them. And he just wants to sleep with

(10:43):
Lydia instead of marrying her. Oh.
In this version of the script, Beetlejuice only need to be
exhumed from his grave to be summoned, after which he is free
to wreak havoc. When he summoned, he's not
controlled by saying his name three times and wonders the
world freely, tormenting different characters and
different manifestations. In another version of the
script, the film concluded with the Maitlands, Dietzes and Otho

(11:07):
conducting an exorcism ritual that destroys Beetlejuice, and
the Maitlands transformed into miniature versions of themselves
and moved into Adam's model of their home, which they
refurbished to look like their house before the Dietzes moved
in. That's.
Pretty cool. Yeah, so I like, kinda like that
ending maybe a little bit better.
But so then, you know, that's the first draft.

(11:29):
So then it had an extensive rewrite, and it shifted the
tone, the film's tone, eliminating the graphic nature
of the maiden's deaths and further developing the concept
created by McDowell and Wilson that the afterlife is a complex
bureaucracy. It also added to McDowell and
Wilson's depiction of the limbo that keeps Barbara and Adam
trapped inside their home. In the original script, it took

(11:49):
the form of a massive void filled with giant clock gears
that shred the fabric of time and space as they move.
Barbara and Adam would encounterdifferent limbos every time they
leave their house, including theclock world and the Sandworm
world, identified as Saturn's moon Titan.
The rewrite also introduced the motif of music accompanying
Barbara and Adam's ghostly hijinks, although this script

(12:12):
this script specified R&B tunes instead of Harry Belafonte and
was to have concluded with Lydiadancing to When a Man Loves a
Woman instead. Oh, no, thank you.
Yeah, the first draft retains some of Mcdowell's Beetlejuice's
more sinister characteristics, but tone the character down to
make him a troublesome pervert rather than a blatantly

(12:33):
murderous. Beetlejuice's true form was that
of a Middle Eastern man, as I said before, and much of his
dialogue was written as African American Vernacular English,
which is probably not a good idea.
This version concluded with the Dietz's returning to New York
and leaving Lydia in the care ofthe Maitlands, who would Lydia's
help transform their home's exterior into a stereotypical
haunted house while returning the interior to its previous

(12:55):
state. It also featured deleted scenes
such as the real real estate agent Jane trying to convince
the Dietz's to allow her to sellthe house for them, and a
revelation of how Beetlejuice had died centuries earlier.
He had attempted to hang himselfwhile drunk, having been
rejected by a woman, only to mess it up and die slowly by
choking to death rather than a quickly snapping his neck.

(13:16):
He wound up working for Juno before striking out on his own
as a freelance bio exorcist. So very different, Yeah, We went
through many different, different forms before it kind
of became what it was. But its budget was $15 million,
with just $1 million given over to visual effects work.
Considering the scale and scope of the effects, which included

(13:38):
stop motion replacement animation, prosthetic makeup,
puppetry and blue screen, it wasalways Burton's intention to
make the style similar to that of the B movies he grew up with
his child. He said that he wanted to make
the effects look cheap and purposely fake looking.
Warner Brothers. This is my favorite review here.
Warner Brothers disliked the title Beetlejuice and wanted to

(13:59):
call the movie House Ghosts. Oh, that's terrible.
As a joke, Burton suggested the name Scared Sheetless and was
horrified when the studio actually considered using it.
Oh no. Yeah, that would not have that
would not have gone over well that.
Would not have been as catchy. It wouldn't have looked as cute

(14:19):
on a Broadway marquee. And of course they changed the
spelling of Beetlejuice from the, you know, it was named
after the as a star or Orion star or something like that.
I didn't put that in there, but yeah.
So they changed it to actual make the spelling how it's
pronounced Beetlejuice, because it was marketed better than

(14:41):
Beetle Geist. Beetle Geist.
Beetle Geist. Yeah, I did always wonder that
while watching the movie is like, what is his actual name?
Is it Beetlejuice or Beetle Geist?
Maybe we should try that beetle guy.
And now these messages. Are you a fan of movies and TV
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(15:04):
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What seems to be the problem, pal?
There's so much pain in the world, so many issues, I don't
think I can bear it. Hell, friendo, it sounds like

(16:10):
you could use a dose of pop culture roulette.
Pop culture roulette? What's that?
Some sort of pop culture theme podcast or something?
That's right, Sonny boy. When hope seems far, dive into
some PCR. But I already get my
entertainment news from Variety that's pretty good if you're a
shucklehead. PCR gives you news you need
condensed, unfiltered and raw from three Nerd who know a

(16:33):
little something about something.
Wow, OK sign me up. That's the spirit.
Pop culture roulette. New episodes every Monday,
available on all major podcast directories.
Let's jump into casting. This one was a fun one.
So according to Tim Burton, it took a lot of time to convince

(16:56):
cast members to sign on as they thought the script was too
weird. What a Tim Burton script.
Too weird. Gina Davis was the only cast
member who would commit to the project.
At first, Michael Keaton, WidonaRyder, Catherine O'Hara and
Sylvia Sidney all said no at least once.
Producer David Geffen convinced Michael Keaton's manager to

(17:18):
convince Keaton to meet with Burton.
Once Keaton said yes, Burton personally called Sydney and
begged her to the movie, and he flew out to meet O'Hara to
convince her as well. So it took a lot of convincing.
I'm so glad Catherine O'Hara is in this meeting.
We'll start with the star Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice.
Of course, we've talked about him on other episodes, but I'll

(17:40):
do a quick recap. He gained early recognition for
his comedic roles in Night Shiftin 82, Mr. Mom in 83.
He gained wider stardom playing Batman in 89 and Batman Returns
in 92. He also took roles in Clean and
Sober in 88, Much Ado About Nothing in 93, The Paper in 94,
Multiplicity in 96, Jackie Brownin 97, Jack Frost in 98, Herbie

(18:03):
Fully Loaded in 2005, and The Other Guys in 2010.
Of course, he also performed voice roles in the animated
movies Cars in 2006, Toy Story 3in 2010, and Minions in 2015.
But all classics, no notes. Yeah, but did you know that
Burton's original choice for Beetlejuice was his childhood

(18:26):
icon, Sammy Davis Junior? I had heard, I had heard
something about that. Yeah.
I mean, I'm not saying it would have been a bad performance,
definitely would have been a different.
Performance very different, verydifferent.
The producers also considered Dudley Moore and Sam Kinison for
the role, but Geffen suggested Keaton Burden was unfamiliar

(18:49):
with Keaton's work but was quickly convinced.
Sam Kinison, I think could have done it.
I just don't think he was. He would have been enough of a
draw. Not that Michael Keaton was a
huge actor at this time, but. And the other thing is Sam
Kinison would have just been SamKinison.
Yeah, yeah. Like Michael Keaton created the

(19:10):
Beetlejuice character. He wasn't just Michael Keaton
being funny, like Michael Keaton's kind of playing Michael
Keaton in Night Shift and in Mr.Mom.
Like those are gung ho, like those kind of movies where it's
just kind of, you know, he's like a funny guy that talks a
lot. But yeah, this one he really
created is its own character forsure, for sure.

(19:32):
Sammy Davis junior would have been 60.
Yeah, he was too old for the part that was.
I don't know how that would haveworked at all.
Yeah. OK, But Michael Keaton actually
came up much of the characters look.
Keaton told the makeup department he wanted mold on his
face and his hair looking as if he'd stuck his finger in

(19:52):
electric socket. And he requested the wardrobe
department send him clothes fromall different time periods.
So I did watch. He was doing an interview for
Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice and was talking
about how he did like that was alot of that was his own, you
know, suggestions. And he wanted like they kept

(20:13):
making me say I want the hair bigger, like bigger, make it
even more crazy. Like you really wanted to go all
out with the? I love that he said that and the
makeup department basically justwent like, say less because they
did exactly that. Oh, yeah, yeah.
And but he was, you know, I didn't write it down here, but I
think he was actually concerned that Burton wouldn't like it
because it wasn't like when theymet.

(20:35):
Like he talked about it. He met with Tim Burton and he
liked Tim Burton, but he wasn't sure he knew who the character
was. And then like he went home.
And the more he thought about it, there were certain things
that Burton told him. He was like, this could be fun.
And so he signed on, but he didn't tell Burton all of his
ideas. So he did the costume and they
said when he when he came on set, the the crew just went

(20:56):
crazy like oh, it's perfect. Like they were yelling, they
were chanting juice, juice, juice, juice.
And and Tim Burton looked at it.He was like, I get it, it's
cool. I like it so.
Now was that what now? Was it shot in order?
So was that the first costume with the trench coat?
Is that what? Do you know what costume he was
that he walked out on? I don't, I don't know.

(21:16):
Yeah, yeah, I know that he on, like he came in later in
filming, like he wasn't there atthe beginning because we'll talk
about, we'll talk about that andsome of the trivia.
But he only filmed for like two or three days.
Like he said. It was like a whirlwind
shooting. Like he came in, did his scenes
like being completely crazy and then was done.

(21:38):
Like he he didn't spend it wasn't a long shoot for Michael
Keaton at all. So.
And it's so amazing because, youknow, we've already said he's
only in 17 minutes of the movie,but he is such a big energy in
the movie. And it seems like more, it seems
like he's in it so much more than he is.

(21:59):
And I mean, the movie does do a good job of like, building up to
the hype of him. Like the movie's called
Beetlejuice. As soon as you see the name, you
know what's coming. You know what to expect.
And so it feels like his presence is there before he
actually is there. And then.
But yeah, so he he's so perfect in that role.

(22:22):
Yeah, they gave him a few. You know, he has a few early,
like scenes, kind of introductions.
I can't read the paper. Like, you know, what does he
say? They they look good and good and
stupid. Whatever.
Michael Keaton was perfect for the role.
So now we got Alec Baldwin as Adam Maitland.
Baldwin first gained recognitionby appearing on the 6th and 7th

(22:42):
seasons of primetime soap opera Knotts, landing from 84 to 85.
In the early part of his film career, played both leading and
supporting roles in Beetlejuice.Working Girl, also in 88,
Married to the Mob in 88. So 88 was a big year for him.
He was also in Glengarry Glen Ross in 1992.
He played Jack Ryan in The Hunt for October 1990, and then he's

(23:04):
continued to do films such as The Royal Tenenbaums in 2001,
Along Came Polly in 2004, The Departed in 2006, Mission
Impossible Rogue Nation in 2015,and Mission Impossible Fallout
in 2018. He also voiced the title role in
the Boss Baby film franchise. Oh, that's another one.

(23:28):
Glengarry Glen Ross. He's in one scene that entire
movie and he won an Oscar. For it.
Didn't he? Yeah, I think.
So he was not, he was nominated.I don't know.
I don't know if he won for it ormaybe a nominated.
Yet but still. And it was like a scene added to
the movie. But yeah, he's.

(23:49):
Always be closing. Always be.
Closing it is such an iconic. Scene Yeah, I've always liked
Alec Baldwin as an actor like he.
As an actor, very specifically, yeah.
He's. Number one.
Yeah, he never won, just nominated, OK.
So in an interview with GQ, he said he revealed that he was not

(24:10):
confident in the film story. His quote was, I had no idea
what Beetlejuice was about. I thought maybe all of our
careers are going to end with the release of this film.
Thankfully, his confidence inspired the young actor, who
described Burton as sort of a crazy professor, further
encouraging Baldwin. Beetlejuice himself, Michael
Keaton was like a comedy Annie Oakley, he said he was just so

(24:32):
self assured he just tore it up.In fact, the line in which
Keaton speaks in, I'm sorry, theline in which Keaton spits into
his jacket and tells Maitland save that guy for later, was
completely improvised and had Baldwin cracking up so kept him
on his toes I'm sure. Oh yeah, Alec Baldwin, you know,
we're going to just not talk about his personal life.

(24:55):
Yeah, we try not to. Yeah, he.
If someone else in the cast, we're not going to talk about
their personal life either. Yeah, he's got such, he's got
such a wide range of of just things that he can play and you
forget sometimes how funny he can truly be.

(25:17):
And so yeah, it's it was fun watching him in this and then
with the kids like watching thisand we would watch the match
game. So they were still airing that
and they. Did watch the match game.
Well, his version of the Match Game.
Yeah, it was still just. A few years.
Ago Boom. Yeah, it.
Was still yeah, but it's just the innuendos is.

(25:39):
What? Yeah, we.
Let them watch Beetlejuice the Musical on.
So we're not parenting experts here.
No judgement here. There's no judgement on this
budget. It sounded a little judgy there.
I'm. Sorry, I'll take it back.
But yeah, and just like, explain, that's the same guy as
the guy in Beetlejuice. What?

(26:00):
Yeah. Oh yeah.
Oh yeah. Yeah.
That's like it was. It was explaining that when
because we were talking about, when we went to see the sequel,
talking about how he and Geena Davis are not in the sequel.
And I was like, well, that's because they're supposed to be
ghosts. They can't age, they.
They're not like Michael Keaton,who can put on a whole bunch of
makeup. Right.
And still covered up with the same Yeah.

(26:20):
Yeah, the two of them look nothing like they did.
In the. Original movie.
No, because it was 35 years. Ago and the girls had just seen
the Cat in the Hat and I was like, you know, he's the bad guy
in the Cat in the Hat. And that was like 15 years ago.
Yeah, yeah. Oh.
Yeah, that was more than that was like 20 years ago at this

(26:41):
point. Yeah, that was like for Hannah
watching when when we watched the, we watched Beetlejuice a
couple weeks ago and Winona Ryder came on, I was like, you
know, that's the mom from Stranger Things, right?
She was like, like, yeah, that was her as a teenager.
It's like just, yeah, it's just,well.
Lily asked why Lydia from the original movie wasn't in the new

(27:01):
movie. And we were like she.
Was yeah. She is.
She's just older now. Yeah, Yeah, all.
Right, moving right along, we got Geena Davis as Barbara
Maitland. Gina studied drama at Boston
University. She made her acting debut in the
satirical romantic comedy Tootsie in 82 and eventually
starred in the science fiction Through the Fly in 86, one of

(27:23):
her first box office hits. While Beetlejuice brought her,
Prom brought her prominence the romantic the romantic drama The
Accidental Tourist. The Accidental Tourist in 88
earned her the Academy Award forBest Supporting Actress.
She established herself as a leading lady with the road film
Thelma and Louise in 91 and the sports film A League of Their

(27:43):
Own in 92. However, her roles in the box
office failures Cut Throat Island in 95 and The Long Kissed
Goodnight 96, both directed by her then husband Renee Harlan,
were followed by a lengthy breakand downturn in her career.
All right, Tim, host of 80s flick flashback.
You're not going to mention Transylvania 65000?

(28:04):
I try not to, but she was also an Earth Girls were easy.
I wasn't going to bring that oneup either, so.
Yeah, I mean, come on, Transylvania 65000's a that's a
favorite of mine. That's the one that I have to I
have to rewatch. I remember seeing it as a kid,
but I haven't seen it in so long.
So this is a good time to to pull that one back out.
Yeah, that's Goldblum and. You talking about earth?

(28:28):
Girls are easy. No, no, no.
No. Oh yeah, Yeah.
Transylvania 65000 is goldblum with.
That one is Goldblum and Ed Big News.
Ed Biggs. Junior Yeah.
Yeah. OK.
Yeah. So yeah.
For for a minute there. Wait, who's the three in Earth?
Girls are easy. Isn't Goldblum one of them?
Yes, Gold carry. Damon Wayans.
And Goldblum, yeah. So Goldblum then?

(28:50):
Two of them, yeah. And he was the fly.
So where they they might have been romantically linked, I
think they were romantically linked when they did the fly.
So, yeah, OK. Yeah, 3 movies within three
years together, Yeah. I love, I love Geena Davis.
I'm going to say it. American icon Nina Davis.
She's incredible. As far as you know, she's not

(29:12):
from Canada, so she it works this time.
I don't care if they're from Canada, it's so the same.
No, I loved, I loved her and Beetlejuice and I grew up just
loving a league of their own, like.
Oh yeah, I just. Loved that movie and then.
Yeah, that's probably my favorite movie of hers for sure.

(29:32):
And then I didn't see Thelma andLouise until very recently, just
like the last five years or so. And Oh my gosh, that is such a
great movie. Just so good.
But it's outside of your sphere of expertise.
That's out of my decade. Yeah, that's that's why I didn't
bring up Cutthroat Island. But it was on the list, yeah.

(29:57):
So which I remember watching that one, I don't, I think I
watched it when it came on cableand I actually liked it the
first time I watched it. But then every time I tried to
rewatch it, I just couldn't get through it again.
So I don't know, it's just one of those.
Maybe it just hit you just rightthe first.
Time and yeah, it was a you know, it was a Saturday
afternoon. I didn't have anything else
better to do than lay on the couch and eat Doritos and watch

(30:20):
Geena Davis be a pirate. So or Schwash Butler.
Sounds like a great day, yeah? Have you ever seen cut thread
out I? Have not OK.
Matthew Modine and you know Davis, Yeah.
Yep, and it may not go to shock anybody.
I own it. Well, I know where to go if I
want to watch it because I don'tthink it, I don't think it's

(30:42):
streaming anywhere. Yep, I have it on DVD.
All right, so the first choice for the role of Barbara was
Kirstie Alley, but the producersof Cheers wouldn't let her out
of her contract to take the role.
Sigourney Weaver, Linda Blair, Goldie Hawn, Laura Dern and then
the Hamilton were also considered for the role.
Linda Blair would have been funny.

(31:04):
That would have been that would have been an interesting casting
choice for sure. So but yeah, I think I, I liked
Alec Baldwin and Gina Davis as acouple.
Like they were believable as as a couple.
So it was, I think good, good casting there, so.
Kirstie Alley would have been good too though.
Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, I was a big fan.

(31:25):
I'm a big Kirstie Alley fan. Rest in peace.
And then someone we don't reallywant to talk about, We have to
talk about it because he's in the movie.
Jeffrey Jones as Charles Dietz. That's and that's all we got to
talk about. That's it.
We don't need to do. That's it.
We won't talk about his personallife.
Best known for his roles as Emperor Joseph the 2nd and
Amadeus 94. Probably best known as Edward R

(31:47):
Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
He was also in The Devil's Advocate in 97.
He is also in Howard the Duck in86, Without a Clue in 88, The
Crucible in 96, Little Stewart Little 99 and the primary
antagonist of Eddie Murphy and Doctor Dolittle 2 in 2001 So.
He was. He was in Stewart Little.
So he and Geena Davis were both in Stewart Little.

(32:09):
Yeah, Yeah. It's been a while since I've
seen Stewart. Little Yeah, it's been a while
for that. Me too.
So. I am actually a big fan of him
as the the demon bad guy and stay tuned.
Very appropriate. Demon being the appropriate
word. Yeah, I I, I will agree that I
do try to like separate the art from the artist for the most

(32:34):
part. We try our best, yeah.
I do feel like there are certainthings that it skeeves me out
enough. Inexcusable.
Exactly. And that is one of those things,
yeah, yeah. So where?
It. I, and I mean, I still enjoy
watching the movie. It's just I look at him, I go.
Yeah, I'm glad he, I mean, he's in the movie, but he's not like

(32:59):
the primary, you know, he's not like the main lead, so.
Honestly, he's a bigger presencethan the second one, which I
actually. Yeah, yeah.
I didn't understand why. Yeah, that's a whole different.
Conversation. That's a.
That's a different movie. A different movie.
But I was actually surprised in the sequel that he was an actual
character in the movie so. But just to be clear for anyone

(33:23):
who hasn't seen it, Jeffrey Jones is not in.
No, no. Charles is in it, but not
Jeffrey Jones. Exactly.
And we'll leave it at that. All right, moving right along,
Catherine O'Hara as Delia Dietz.I'm trying to say anything
Delia. She is known for her comedy work

(33:43):
on Second City TV from 76 to 84,also in films such as After
Hours in 85, The Nightmare Before Christmas in 93.
Of course, she was the Mom and Home Alone in 1990 and Home
Alone 2, Lost in New York in 92.Her other film appearances
include The mockumentary film was written and directed by
Christopher Guest, Waiting for Guffman in 96, Best in Show in

(34:04):
2000, A Mighty Wind 2003 and ForYour Consideration in 2006.
Yes. I conic yes, American icon
Catherine O'Hara. Yes.
She is anything she is in. She's Canadian.
I don't care, I don't care, I don't care.
Doesn't matter. Yeah, she's a North American

(34:27):
treasure. No, she's a N, She's an American
treasure. That's what I say.
American treasure. It's been so long.
And of course, Moira Rose. Yes, from the.
Yeah, but I, I think I, I honestly, yeah, she's great in
Home Alone and all that, but she's that's great.

(34:47):
She doesn't get to show off in home.
What I will say. Yeah, yeah.
And even though I knew her in Betelgeuse, I think that my
first just realizing how just funny and amazing she was is is
the Christopher Guest movies, possibly a mighty wind being I

(35:09):
love both her and Eugene Levy and that movie you're.
So precious. In.
That movie. So yeah.
And of course, and then I because I actually think I saw A
Mighty Wind 1st and then went back and saw Best in Show and
Waiting for Guffman. Yeah.
Yeah. Before your consideration, I
think the the one we tend to want to forget of that, Yeah.

(35:31):
Mockumentary group, Yeah. But but the other three are
wonderful, yeah. My roommate after college when I
was we were both working at the same place and he was a huge fan
of Waiting for Guffman and had me watch it.
And we, I mean, that was that was my first introduction to
Christopher Guest mockumentaries.

(35:52):
I feel like waiting for Guffman is just so great for people who
have done community theater or. Absolutely kind.
Of theater. Because.
Because as silly and ridiculous as it is, there's so much truth
in it that it is just painfully hilarious.
Yes. Yeah, exactly.
Exactly. Have you ever seen double

(36:13):
negative? I don't think so.
What is that? It's pretty much it's the SCTV
movie. Oh, really?
Yeah, it came out in 1980. I think it's stars John Candy,
but of course she's in it. Eugene Levy's in it, Joe
Flattery's in it. Like all the.
SCTS yeah. Yeah, alum are all in it.

(36:36):
I wrote it down, so I have to stop to look at that.
It could be one of those that I may have seen but didn't know
that was the name of it. Like it might have been on TV
one night or whatever and saw itbut.
Do you own it, Laramie? I do not.
That's not what I own, Oh no. But yeah, John, John, John Candy
and Anthony Perkins, Norman Bates.

(36:57):
Yeah, Yeah. There you go.
Comedy duo I wasn't expecting so.
Comedy duo You know Anthony Perkins, known for dressing up
like his mom is hilarious? Sure, sure.
Did you know that Angelica Houston was originally cast as
Delia Dietz but had to drop out because of illness?
O'Hara quickly signed on, while Burton claimed it took a lot of

(37:19):
time to convince other cast members to sign as they didn't
know what to do with the weird script.
But he but he felt that O'Hara and Jones would make a quote UN
quote cute couple. And then they.
Were that? Yeah.
I'm worried that if Angelica Houston played a part like that,
we wouldn't have gotten her as Morticia Adams.
Yeah, I think we would have gotten a preview of her as.
No, I don't think she would haveplayed Morticia Adams.

(37:41):
Because you feel like she'd donethat before.
I would think yeah, she would have felt like she did it, even
though I know Morticia was essentially written for her for.
That movie. Like she was the main get I I
don't know if she would have done it because she would have
thought it was too similar to Beetlejuice.
I don't know. We don't have to know that
though. Yes.

(38:01):
We live in a much better. Well, never mind.
Different timeline, but you know, happy for Catherine
O'Hara. She met her future husband,
production designer Beau Welch, while making this film.
According to Welch, Tim Burton said he should ask her out near
the end of filming. He said.
It didn't even occur to me that I was even supposed to talk to

(38:21):
actors, but since Tim told me to, I did it.
And then we dated and we're married and here we are today.
So that was that. Is so cute.
I didn't even know I was supposed to talk to actors.
So cute. And then of course, Winona Ryder
as Lydia Dietz following her film debut and Lucas in 86.
She rose to prominence when she starred in Beetlejuice in 88

(38:44):
Major Parts and Heathers in 89, Edward Scissorhands in 1990,
Bram Stroker's Dracula in 92. She earned 2 consecutive Oscar
nominations, Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress for
portrayals as The Socialite in The Age of Innocence in 93 and
Joe March and Little Women in 94respectively.
Her subsequent work included starring roles in Reality Bytes

(39:05):
in 94, How to Make an American Quilt in 95, The Crucible in 96,
Alien Resurrection in 97, Girl Interrupted in 99, and Mr. Deeds
in 2002. She returned to smaller roles in
films such as Star Trek in 2009,Black Swan in 2010, and The And
The Dilemma in 2011. She also portrayed Lois Wilson

(39:28):
in the Hallmark TV movie When Love Is Not Enough in 2010.
Since 2016, she's played Joyce Byers on the Netflix series
Stranger Things, for which she received her third Golden Globe
nomination. Yeah, brought her back to the
limelight, so. The thing we're not talking
about is her being a little sticky fingered at one time,

(39:48):
yeah. Got it.
Just just wanted to be clear that there wasn't something
very, very negative about her that I didn't know.
Several actresses auditioned forthe role of Lydia, including
Sarah Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields, Lori Loughlin, Diane
Lane, Justine Bateman, Rob MollyRingwald, Juliette Lewis and

(40:08):
Jennifer Connelly. Of course, that's how I'll state
those are rumors because, you know, sometimes you get that
information. It's like they just throw a
bunch of people there. But one thing I did see in
several sources was that Alyssa Milano, it came down between the
two of them. I feel like Winona Ryder, much
like there are several actors where I feel like like Tim

(40:32):
Burton created them in a cauldron somewhere.
Yeah. 'Cause she's, she's got the
vibe, she's got like the look and, and just like I said, the
general vibe of just kind of like cute goth girl.
And is her Christina Ricci? Yeah.
The new, newly appointed and Ortega.

(40:54):
Yeah. Like all of these, these women
that that he has just created somehow he did a spell and they
were born. But I just so I as much as I
think Alyssa Milano probably hassimilar, similar looks, I feel
like Winona Ryder really embodies that.

(41:16):
That whole quirky goth weird. Yeah, I said that Burton
actually cast her because of what, because of her work in
Lucas. And I can see that because even
though it's not a very big role in Lucas, she is kind of that
kind of outsider, you know, not,not the cool kid, kind of quiet

(41:39):
to herself kind of role. But but yeah, but this this was
the movie that really to me madeher a star like that was, I
mean, yeah, sure it was, it was undeniable her.
And this was like, OK, this, this, she's going to be huge.
She can carry a move like she proved in this movie.
She can carry a movie. Exactly she is.
She is the main protagonist of this movie.

(42:01):
Oh yeah, yeah. It's really more her story than
anybody else's. I mean, which is why, you know,
in the sequel that's that's kindof some somewhat similar having
with the the second one they started with kind of her.
Yeah, it's. Almost kind of like a passing
the gauntlet to. Ortega.
And Ortega? Yeah.
So according to Winona Ryder in a Harper's Bazaar YouTube

(42:24):
interview, at the very beginningof the movie's production, she
went to the sound stages to meetTim Burton when a guy walked in
who she thought was from the artdepartment and they talked for a
while about things like Edward Gorey and different movies.
After 1/2 an hour, she asked himif he knew when Bert was going
to show up and he said, oh, that's me.
And she was blown away. She had an image in her mind at

(42:46):
that time of a director being much older and more traditional,
and she just felt so comfortablewith him.
At the end of their talking together, she he let her know
that he wanted her do to play the role and she was very
excited. So that's I thought that was
funny. Like, you know, these are
somebody from the art department, which you've ever
seen Tim Burton. He does look like somebody.
He looks like an an art professor at a very liberal arts

(43:09):
school who like people have to take because he teaches like one
course that's required for them and only like one person ever
enjoys the class. That's what Tim Burton looks
like. Right, right.
I did write this note. Lydia's age is never stated, but

(43:29):
Winona Ryder was actually 15 when the movie was filmed.
Barbara refers to Lydia as a quote UN quote little girl, so
it's likely the character is supposed to be between the ages
of 13 and 16. Yeah, I've always kind of gotten
the vibe of like 1415 years old.Yeah, I think especially going
back and rewatching it recently,I wanted to think her think of

(43:53):
her as being older. But I think it's because I
watched Edward Scissorhands a lot like that was I was a big
fan of that movie. So of course she's older than
that one. And I think I kind of blend
those two characters together somewhat a little bit, so.
I get I I was surprised I had togo back and look.
I thought Mermaids was filmed before this because she.

(44:13):
Looked. Oh yeah.
Older in this than she does in mermaids, Yeah.
Or at at the very least. 89 right?
It was like 91. 91 OK, yeah. So yeah.
So yeah, yeah, I would hit the last couple of, that's kind of
the main characters, but a few Iwanted to mention here.
I want to bring up Sylvia Sidneyas Juno.

(44:36):
She was an American stage screeninfo actress whose career
spanned 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens
of leading roles in the 1930s. But obviously, Burton was a huge
fan of hers, which is why he begged her to be in the movie.
The kind of sad part is, you know, the little effect of her
every time she's smoking, you can see the smoke coming out of
her, her neck. But she actually passed away

(44:57):
shortly after this from lung cancer, so not so great irony
there. Robert Goulet as Maxi Dean.
You've been waiting for. That old Saturday Night Live
reference? I don't.
Know. You will know that.
One Yeah. So of course he was.
He originated the role of Sir Lancelot in the 1960 Broadway

(45:19):
musical Camelot, starring opposite established Broadway
stars Richard Burton and Julie Andrews.
He was mainly known as a Grammy award-winning singer.
His career spanned almost 6 decades.
So and then another I would consider cameo is Dick Cavett as
Bernard. His late night talk show, The
Dick Cavett Show ran on ABC from19601974 and then for an

(45:43):
additional year on CBS. Even though he could not beat
Johnny Carson as like the talk show host, he was famous for
attracting guests who normally did not appear on talk shows
such as Katherine Hepburn, Laurence Olivier and the post
Godfather Marlon Brando. This was one of his very few
movies where he was not playing a cameo of a of himself, but it

(46:07):
was actual character so and thiswas interesting.
According to Dick Cavett, Tim Burton tried to film the scene
where the shrimp jumped off the plates and attacked the dinner
party by positioning stagehands 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 so.

(46:30):
It's hard, helped him. I always think that is the
coolest, like like filming. Trick is when you find out that
the way they pulled it off was they just did it.
Back in reverse, yeah. So sometimes you can, yeah,
sometimes you can tell. But when you can't tell us, when
it's really cool, when you realize like, oh, that's how
they did that. So.
But it's such a neat like simpletrick that makes something look

(46:54):
magical when really it's. Just yeah.
Backwards. So they'll mention Glenn
Shaddock says Otho, Otho. Is it Otho Otho?
Yeah. Otho Finlock.
He got his breakthrough film role in Beetlejuice while
appearing in the Groundlings comedy troupe.

(47:14):
Tim Burton went on to cast him in Nightmare Before Christmas
and a 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes.
Throughout the 90s, he had smallroles on iconic television shows
including Cheers, Roseanne, and Seinfeld.
In 2005, he was cast as the Voices of the Brain and Monsieur
Mala in season 5 of the Teen Titans animated series.

(47:35):
His other voice work included the aforementioned Nightmare and
episodes of Jackie Chan Adventures and Justice League
Unlimited, where he played Steven Mandragora.
Mandrag, That's that, right? I'm not 100% sure.
I don't really know what that who that character.
Is OK. All right.
Well, I put those in there for you, Laramie, the Teen Titans
and Justice. League Unlimited?

(47:56):
No, the Teen Titan one on you. But yeah, I don't know about the
Justice League. Yeah.
And then I've. I see, I saw.
You've got a podcast that provesotherwise.
To say. And then one that I saw
beginning to pop up on a lot of 80s groups a couple years ago,
Patrice Martinez played Miss Argentina.

(48:16):
Of course, you can't tell who she is because she's on my
makeup, but she's mainly known for being in three amigos with
Steve Barton, Chevy Chase and Martin Short as the, you know,
the main, which one of the main characters there?
So, but that's what I got as faras cast.
Anybody left out or anybody you wanted to mention or did I?
Tony Cox. Tony Cox.

(48:38):
Tony Cox plays the the the minister, I guess you would say.
A little, a little. Person, of course, you know he's
one of those, one of those, you know, great little people,
actors that you know he's not upthere with, you know, the Billy
Barty and the org Davis. But he's he performs alongside
of them in a lot like he was oneof the Ewoks.

(49:00):
I want to say he was even in Willow.
Of course, most people will knowhim from Bad Santa because I
mean, he's on the cover of that one with with Billy Bob
Thornton. But yeah, Tony Cox plays the.
I don't think he was the voice, but I.
Know he wasn't. Yeah, I did.
He's the one in the suit. Yeah, I saw they they had
somebody else do the voice, but he was OK.

(49:21):
Yeah. Yeah.
And by the way, I looked it up, that character that that he
played in Justice League is apparently was created just for
Justice League like. He's not a not a comic.
Yeah. And that's why you're the host
of moving panels, because you would find that information.

(49:42):
And now these messages. Hey there fellow 80s movie
aficionados, Are you ready to embark on a nostalgia filled
journey to the greatest era of cinema?
Then look no further than the Retro Life for You 80s movie
podcast. Join us every week and we rewind
the VHS team, dust off those Betamax classics and dive head

(50:05):
first into the neon stoked, totally tubular world of the
1980s leaves. From the Brat Pack to action
heroes, we've got it all covered.
Breakfast Club, Ghostbusters, ETin Indiana Jones, and more.
It's like a trip in Doc Brown's Time Machine, but without the De
Lorean. So whether you're a die hard 80s

(50:29):
film buff, we're just curious about the cinematic gems of the
past. Retro Life for You is your
ticket to the ultimate movie time warp.
Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at Retro Life for You
and we can be found anywhere youlisten to your podcast as well
as on our website www.retrolifethenumber4theletteru.com.

(50:56):
What's up dudes, I'm Jerry D of Totally Rad Christmas, the
podcast that talks all things Christmas in the 80s.
Toys, movies, specials, music, books, fashion and fads.
If it was gnarly during Christmas in the 80s, he's got
it covered. Wait, is there a lot of things
to talk about for the 80s and Christmas?
Well, you got the movie giants like Christmas Vacation,
Scrooged and A Christmas Story. There are TV specials like

(51:18):
Muppet Family Christmas, Claymation Christmas Celebration
and a Garfield Christmas Special.
Plus classic shown every year. He also jam out to last
Christmas. Do they know it's Christmas and
Christmas and Hollis? But most of all, it was a time
for the most bodacious, best selling Christmas toys ever like
he man GI Joe Transformers. And Cabbage Patch Kids.
Yes, them too. We cover them all plus much

(51:40):
more, including standard segments like half half,
happiest memory, gagging with the spoon, the other half of the
battle. And chat with the littles.
So tune in the totally rad Christmas everywhere.
You get your podcasts. Turn the clock back and dive
into those warm and fuzzy memories.
Later, dudes. All right, let's talk iconic

(52:02):
scenes, favorite scenes. So if anybody came up and was
just talking about mentioned Beetlejuice in passing would be
the first scene that pops into your head.
How is it not DEO? Yeah, it's either that or I will
say that scene for sure. Also, the scene at the end
where, you know, Lydia has good grades on her report card.

(52:24):
Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Oh, they they let her. Football players.
It's it's another Harry Belafonte scene, but it's still,
it's so like for some reason that always stuck in my head
because I think as a team I was just like, that would be.
The coolest? Thing.
Right, right. Yeah, I think, yeah, the, the

(52:44):
DEO scene is probably the most iconic of all the scenes.
I also think the the scene wherehe transforms into the snake,
the banister like that, that's pretty, that's pretty big.
Any of the sand worm scenes stand out to me.
And then nice model, which I'll,I'll take out the the word in

(53:05):
between, but that, that's iconictoo.
Pretty much any scene with Beetlejuice actually in it.
It's so quotable and ridiculous that you remember it.
Yeah, although Sheena Davis and Alec Baldwin like turning into
their. Oh yeah, ghoulish.
Versions of themselves, that's that's also.

(53:27):
That's a good one too. Yeah, we've got in Covington,
there's AT shirt Store and they always decorate their like shop
window, Yeah, their storefront window on Halloween.
And they've got the two like, mannequins that are Barbara and
Adam in their like, ghoulish form.

(53:47):
Oh, really? OK.
There's like AI want to say there's the sandworm Beetlejuice
or maybe even just like a full bodied Beetlejuice.
The girls get a kick out of it every year.
I want to say I even had the Adam action figure.
Oh yeah, we'll talk. Yeah, I have that in my notes
about the the action figure. So I was going to ask if that if

(54:09):
that was one of your toys as well.
Yeah, I, I, I think I had Adam. I did have a Beetlejuice.
It was one that he had a little lever and the snakes would come
out of his head. Oh yeah, I remember seeing that
one. As you push the lever, I did.
I always wanted the a grave, a tomb.
And it was, it was one that was made like a magic trick, like

(54:30):
you'd put Beetlejuice in it, you'd pull it back and then when
you pulled it up, he'd be gone. Of course, it was just, you
know, a little extra door. But I remember that was always
so cool that I wanted that. Yeah, no, I, I and then I shoot,
I think I even had when McDonald's released some of the
toys and the Happy Meals. I want to say I had a couple of

(54:52):
those too. Yeah, yeah, that's the the blurb
I had was a toy line was released in conjunction with the
film and featured action figuresof most of Beetlejuice's
incarnations, as well as Otho Adam, who's head whose figure
featured him wearing a red baseball cap, even though he
doesn't wear that at all in the movie.
And the shrunken head man from the waiting room whose figure

(55:14):
was named Harry the Haunted Hunter and came with a
detachable head showing what he looked like before his death.
So that was. I did hear about that.
I remember that, not you that. Right, So what?
About the Adam I had to have hadthen was either would have been
either had to have been maybe from the cartoon.
Oh OK, if you're saying the one from the movie didn't have the

(55:37):
ghoulish, you know, him throwinghis hand back into the back of
his head and stretching, Yeah. If that wasn't the case, then
the one I had to have had was either the cartoon version or it
was like I said, maybe a McDonald's Happy meal high end.
I could just swore I had 1 though.
It's possible guys. What about favorite scenes?
Like I had said earlier, Lydia getting to dance with the dead

(56:00):
football players at the end is just, it's fun.
But I, I've always really enjoyed the Lydia character
because as a teen who felt, eventhough I wasn't very, just so
misunderstood and it's so fun and iconic to see that character

(56:20):
doing anything like Winona Ryderdoes such a great job of just
being the perfect teen in that scene.
I'm just. And she was 15, which helps.
Yeah, she was a teen. Yeah, she.
Was a teen. It helped that way.
Yeah, she's. Just but she's so funny and it's
so silly and the dialogue is so funny and silly and it's, it's

(56:44):
just a fun way of like seeing that character.
And under any circumstances she would be like any other teen of
just like so sad and nobody getsher and she's all alone and da
da da da. But then she actually does live
in a house with ghosts and she does get visited by a demon who
tries to marry her. That's the only difference.

(57:07):
Yeah, the scene is still, it's still funny, but it's, you know,
is when she's writing the letterI.
AM. Alone I am.
Utterly. Utterly alone.
So funny. So dramatic.
Yeah, so. Oh, yeah.
But talking about the football players, that's one of my
favorite scenes is when they're in her office.

(57:28):
Hey, coach, can you tell us, youknow, And finally, Coach, I
don't think we survived the bus crash like you think you know.
And then her saying I'm not yourcoach.
He survived. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I've always like the like, I like the Beetlejuice

(57:48):
introduction because I love thatset.
Like I love that they go into the model and the set like it's
it's the fake grass. It's the fake.
Oh yeah. Yeah.
Just about any scene with the model, I always enjoy like even
the one where Beetlejuice is like hanging out at the like the

(58:12):
brothel. Yeah.
Yeah. You know, just, it's just like,
I mean, just to think. And everyone's reaction to it.
Yeah, but just to think, it's, it's this little, like there's
this little model and there's this little guy just walking
around on it. But yeah, the fact that he he
interacts with it like it's a model, like, you know, it is a

(58:32):
model. So I've always just gotten a
kick out of those scenes. Yeah, I like the TV commercial
where he's like the cowboy, comeon down, get, you know, like a
car salesman that, that, that always, you know, just.
I think that once again, that's what appealed to me was like
Michael Keaton just chewing up the scenery as that character.
I mean, everything he did was just so funny, right?

(58:53):
Almost. Literally.
Like, yeah, All right, well, let's we'll talk about some
trivia and maybe think of some other scenes as we go.
All the people in the waiting room and in the office are in
the same condition as they when they died.
And the way they died is shown clearly.
However, the maidlands who drowned are not wet.
Tim Burton knew that was going to be a plot hole, but he chose

(59:16):
to do it anyway because he didn't want to have the actors
wet all the time because he knewit would be too uncomfortable.
So so it. Went I know it's a plot hole, I
just don't care. Yeah, exactly.
So. And it doesn't bother me in the
movie, no. I.
Think it and I think it adds to when they come back to the House
of the beginning because it's not.

(59:36):
Really. You don't realize what's
happened. Yeah, it's not clear they have
that. They really died until like, you
kind of realize it when they realize it, which I thought was
pretty smart. You know, that's talking about
another little scene just that him moving the horse in front of
the mirror. Yeah, like that's.
And her finger being on fire and.
Oh yeah, yeah. While the dinner party sequence

(59:57):
set to deo the Banana Boat Song went on to become one of the
film's most iconic scenes. We've already talked about the
initial plan was to use R&B songs, but actor Jeffrey Jones
said all the pics, including when a man loves a woman, were
too expensive. Every time somebody heard the
words, David Geffen producer Marjorie Lewis told the Ringer,
they raise the price. Ultimately was O'Hara and

(01:00:19):
Jeffrey Jones, who suggested calypso music with Harry
Belafonte's 1956 song being selected.
Jones said. I think it was like $300 to do
it. Though Belafonte initially
thought the film sounded unusual, he agreed to give the
producer the song after he learned they would be using his
original version rather than themany covers that have been
released by the artist, explaining I never had a request

(01:00:42):
like that before. Director Tim Burton feared the
DEO sequence wouldn't go over well, since, in his opinion, he
thought it wasn't very funny. Burton turned out to be wrong.
Audiences loved it and think of it as one of the films, one of
their favorite scenes. So.
Tim Burton's not really known for his comedy.
Though but just you. Know no, I love that and clearly

(01:01:03):
it's so iconic. The scene is still in the
musical, like it's the same songand and they still have those
same reactions. Like you can tell like they when
they were making the musical, they said we can't not have
this. Song Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And it's it was fun. Like re watching it the last

(01:01:24):
time I really paid attention to like their facial expressions
which is so because it's like you can tell they want to have
fun but then they have to also have to look like they don't
understand what's happening. They're also kind of horrified,
like I don't have any control. Because yeah, they're not
controlling their own body. Yeah, yeah.
Because I think that's what I y'all can call me stupid, but I
think a lot of people forget that they are being possessed.

(01:01:48):
Yeah, yeah. In that scene.
I think people tend to forget that because it is such a fun
scene. Yeah.
Yeah. So you do have to look at their
faces to kind of realize they don't know what's going on.
And again, it's because they're being possessed by Barbara and
Adam at the at the time, right? Yeah, I was going to say, I

(01:02:08):
think as a kid I would think I didn't realize that.
I think only as you know, watching it again, I picked up
on that probably better so. But actually kind of works
because it's like supposed to bethat Barbara and Adam are bad at
possessing people, and so they do it in a way where everyone is
just having a really good time. Yep.

(01:02:30):
All right. So I mentioned earlier about,
you know, Michael Keaton came inkind of, you know, mid filming.
So the snake scene had to be filmed before Keaton was cast
and the animatronic snake used bore no resemblance to him.
After Keaton was cast, some additional film was shot for the
scene using a stop motion snake that looked more like

(01:02:50):
Beetlejuice. This was suggested by the studio
to make the sure the audience knew that the snake is actually
Beetlejuice and not some random monster from the afterlife.
I did think this was interesting.
In the film, there's no mention whatsoever of Lydia's mom.
In an early draft of the script,her mother was named Evelyn.
Evelyn and Charles were divorcedand she remained in New York

(01:03:12):
with Lydia's little sister, but came to the house in Connecticut
as a guest at the dinner party. However, no trace of either the
mother or little sister characters or their plot threads
remained in the finished movie. As you guys know, in the musical
adaptation is explained that Lydia's mother, now named Emily
Dietz, had died shortly before the story's events take place
and the death that death is presented as a major reason for

(01:03:35):
Lydia's depression and her interest in the afterlife, which
I think makes more sense. Like I think that was a better
explanation even though it's notexplained at all in the movie.
So again, talking about picking up on things as a kid and then
picking up things on adult. It was not until the musical
that I didn't realize Catherine O'Hara wasn't her mom saying.

(01:03:56):
It wasn't until the musical thatI was like art or actually in
the musical. I went, did they change it?
I don't know. And then I went and rewatched
and I think they do reference. Her.
Yeah, it's like dead. Mom at 1:00.
Point it's like one line which is like you're not my mom or
there's like a there's some interaction with the two of them
where either yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

(01:04:20):
So it it is, it's kind of subtlethere, but if you once again,
it's not a, it's not a major plot point.
So but I think I like. I, I liked it, but I it was, it
wasn't very clear. I I do think it they would have
benefited from at least droppinga hint like there's a whole
musical number. There are a couple of musical
numbers about the dead mom in the musical.

(01:04:42):
OK, the song is called Dead Mom.Yeah, there you go.
Ruby loves it. OK, Mom.
Well, she loves it because like the song is just really good and
she wants to be able to like sing at that level because it's,
it's a very impressive song to sing.
At least that's what I'm tellingmyself.

(01:05:06):
I I really thought this was APG 13 movie along with Spaceballs
and 87, Big and 88 and Caddyshack 2 and 88.
It is notable for containing theF word in the film.
Rated PG during the new PG13 era.
Yeah, 'cause I they hadn't. Quite quite and gotten all the
rules. No.
They hadn't hashed all those outyet.
But I mean, they really pushed some boundaries in this movie.

(01:05:28):
There's. A lot in it that makes you go
like. Yeah, yeah.
It's like most movies of the 80s.
We're like, man, I watched this as a kid.
It was so much fun. Then you watch it with your
kids. You're like, how did my parents
let me watch this? They're like, you know.
Because our parents were not paying attention to what we were
watching, they were doing other things right.
Right. But also we, we also say like,

(01:05:49):
you know, but because it didn't stick with us and it was so over
our heads, it's not like we really knew, understood what was
going on or what was said. Yes, like, and that's why it's
fine that I took my kids to go see the musical.
It's fine they. They won't remember until
they're in therapy in their 30s.I'm just kidding.
The last of the trivia I have isthis film was the first DVD sent

(01:06:10):
out by Netflix in 1998. There you go.
I did I did find that in a couple of different places.
So I thought that was that was worth mentioning.
All right. Box office and critical
reception. Beetlejuice opened theatrically
in the United States on March 30th, 1988, earning $8 million
its opening weekend, which at the time was an Easter weekend

(01:06:32):
record. It took the number one spot at
the box office, beating out other new releases Bright
Lights, Big City with Michael J Fox, which came in at #3, and
The 7th Sign with Demi Moore at #5.
The film eventually grossed $75.1 million worldwide.
It was a financial success, recouping its $15 million budget

(01:06:53):
and becoming the tenth highest grossing film of 1988.
It spawned animated series of Broadway musical and a stage
show at Universal Studio theme parks.
It also won the Academy Award for Best Makeup in 1989.
We of course we know the sequel now, Beetlejuice.
Beetlejuice. But did you know that Burton
initially conceived the sequel, titled Beetlejuice Goes

(01:07:15):
Hawaiian? I.
Know Jonathan Jim's to write a script that would see the Dietz
family opening a tropical resort.
When they discover that the property was built on the burial
ground of an ancient Hawaiian kahuna, they once again find
themselves in need of Beetlejuice's services.
While Keaton and Ryder signed on, the project never came to

(01:07:36):
fruition. Probably for very good reasons.
Yeah. The best?
Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian just sounds like a direct to video
sequel. Sounds like a The Brady Bunch
would have shown up at some point.
Exactly. It's like that Christmas
vacation too, where it's Uncle Eddie's Island.
Yeah. Right, right, all right, so

(01:07:58):
Rotten Tomatoes, it's a 83 on the tomato meter and 82 on the
popcorn meter, which is the audience for now.
So only two only one point separates the two, which is
interesting for IMDb. 7.5 out of10 with viewers and a 71 on
Metacritic. So once again, pretty pretty
close between critics and audiences, which is kind of rare

(01:08:20):
for an 80s movie. But where does it rank for you
on a scale of one to 10? I would say this is 87.9 out of
10. It's it's a solid C student in
my book. I'd probably put it in the 80s.

(01:08:41):
Yeah, I'd probably, I'd probablyput it, it would, but I mean, I,
I really would. I'd probably put it in the 80s.
It's not, you know, a masterpiece.
It's not, you know, it's not great, but.
There are things that don't age well.
Yeah, yeah. But.
Yeah, but it has that that rewatch ability and it of course
is extremely memorable. You know, so many iconic scenes

(01:09:05):
and characters. I mean, there's a reason why
they have been teasing and and everything about a sequel for
years now. And then to finally get one,
I'll be it. It was more of a legacy sequel,
but yeah. But yeah, I mean, yeah, I would
give it. I would put it in the 80s.
I'll give it an 8 point whateverif out of 10.

(01:09:26):
Yeah, I think that's where I ranked it.
I think it's like A8. It's I put a 8 out of 10 on IMDb
for me if it's a bee, you know, out of scale.
So yeah. But it's like I said, it's
rewatchable. It's not one that I want to
watch every year necessarily, but it's still a fun rewatch.
Music in the musical. Yeah, that's a separate podcast.

(01:09:47):
You know, musicals based on 80s movies.
So we'll. Oh, there we go.
That's your. It's its own.
Sub project. Its own its own sub genre that
we'll have to we'll have to lookat.
We got Beetlejuice, we got Footloose, we got.
Hairspray was Hairspray. I think so.
Or maybe early 90s Evil Dead Evil.

(01:10:08):
Dead. Yeah, Evil does get a musical
Back to the Future, of course. Yeah, yeah.
Call it a 80s flick. Flashback Follies.
If you count if you count that one episode of Bob's Burgers,
Working Girl and Die Hard, Yeah,it's a combo musical.
Interesting. Thank you guys so much for

(01:10:31):
joining. It's a pleasure to have you on
the episode as always. Laramie, what you got coming up
this month in October on moving panels?
As, as you know, you do we we handle some kind of scary stuff,
or at least the closest we can get in the comic book world.
But I I think we got a good one.We got a Werewolf by Night that

(01:10:54):
we will be talking about, and we're also going to knock out a
bracket actually breaking down what do we think is the best
horror comic book movie in existence?
And you may or may not be surprised by that outcome.
So yeah, so we got those those happening as well.
Coraline. Yeah.
And then Coraline, which should.Already have.

(01:11:16):
Have dropped by the time this episode comes out, but yeah, we
we got Coraline in there as well.
So yeah, all, all fun, spooky, scary, whatever you want to call
it, stuff in the in the Spooktober month.
Tis the season. All right folks, that's a wrap

(01:11:36):
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(01:12:41):
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