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The Movie
- Actor-Inspired Element: The original plan for the dinner party was to have the guests dance to "a song by The Ink Spots," but Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O'Hara suggested the music be calypso.
- Awesome, Dear Boy: Why Michael Keaton took the role and returned for the sequel when it escaped Development Hell; he's stated on numerous occasions that it's his favorite role.
- Celebrity Voice Actor:
- The Japanese version features comedian Norio Nishikawa as Betelgeuse, actress and singer Shizue Abe as Barbara Maitland and Masato Sako as Charles Deetz.
- In the Latin American Spanish dub, Betelgeuse is voiced by actor/singer Henry Salvat.
- Creator Backlash: Alec Baldwin apparently was not happy with his performance.
- Creator's Favorite: This is Michael Keaton's favourite film role of his career.
- Deleted Scene:
- There was originally a scene where Lydia was developing photos of Adam and Barbara in Delia's bed sheets and tries to show them to her dad. Seen here.
- There was supposed to be another encounter with the sandworm when Adam and Barbara were hiding from the Deetzes. Here.
- There was also an alternate version of the scene where Adam tries to leave the house and it didn't include him on Saturn. Here.
- The ending was slightly different than the final film version, as it would've shown Charles and Delia back in New York where they reject Jane's requests of putting the house for sale and pull away from the heroes partying to show the Maitland house, offering a Bookend to the opening titles sequence that ended on its model. Here.
- There was originally a scene where Lydia was developing photos of Adam and Barbara in Delia's bed sheets and tries to show them to her dad. Seen here.
- Executive Veto: Lydia was going to die and continue hanging out in the house with the Maitlands. The studio rejected it as carrying
Unfortunate Implications, telling goth teens they should die and/or that suicide is a good way to resolve your problems. - Follow the Leader: Michael Keaton's iconic and unique performance as Betelgeuse has inspired a wave of fast-talking supernatural characters in the following years such as Maurice, Drop Dead Fred, The Genie and Jim Carrey's portrayal of The Mask just to name a few.
- The Foreign Subtitle:
- Germany inverted it, Dissolute Spirit Beetlejuice.
- Hungary: Beetlejuice - Ghost Story
- Italy: Beetlejuice - Pig Spirit (also a Rhyming Subtitle: Spiritello Porcello, an expression for a dirty, slimy person.)
- Latin America: Beetlejuice, The Super Ghost
- Portugal: Beetlejuice - The Ghosts Have Fun (Brazil's standalone Completely Different Title)
- Looping Lines: While Tony Cox portrayed the preacher on-set, his lines were re-dubbed by veteran actor Jack Angel.
- Mid-Development Genre Shift: In the original script, the film was imagined to be more of a graphic horror rather than a comedy, and instead of marrying Lydia, Betelgeuse was originally going to rape her.
- Referenced by...:
- The Angry Video Game Nerd:
- In his review of NES Accessories, one of the games the Nerd tests out on the Roll N' Rocker is Beetlejuice, given that it was published by LJN Toys, who also created the Roll N' Rocker. Beetlejuice keeps going to the left.
- The Nerd reviewed the Beetlejuice NES game in the 2014 Halloween season.
- Creature Feature's Haunted is very similar plot-wise, with a ghost trying to get rid of the living family "haunting" his house.
- The Nostalgia Critic: In his "Nicktoons" review, while reviewing Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, the Critic says that Oblina looks kind of like Beetlejuice's dildo, if he had one.
- Tiny Toon Adventures: In "The Return of Batduck", Plucky does an impression of Beetlejuice in an unsuccessful attempt to get past Ralph.
- Strip #380 of Pocket Princesses shows Priya dressed as Lydia.
- The Homestar Runner Halloween special "Jibblies 2" features Strong Bad dressed up as Beetlejuice.
- Beetlejuice is the antagonist in one episode of Teen Titans Go! and mentions Winona Ryder.
- A Lawyer-Friendly Cameo version of Betegeuse, in both his human and snake forms, is a boss encounter in Shin Megami Tensei II and its prequel, Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX.
- The Angry Video Game Nerd:
- Romance on the Set: O'Hara met her future husband, production designer Bo Welch, on this film. According to Welch, Burton said he should ask her out near the end of filming:It didn't even occur to me that I was even supposed to talk to actors. But since Tim told me to I did and then we dated and we're married and here we are today.
- Saved from Development Hell: The box-office success created plans for a sequel: Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. A script was commissioned, and Keaton and Ryder both signed on, but Burton lost interest in the project. For decades rumours would occasionally circulate that the project was moving forward only to die down with no progress. In March 2023, Warner Brothers announced that a sequel was finally going into production with Tim Burton directing and Keaton, Ryder and O'Hara returning to their roles from the original movie.
- Star-Making Role: This is the film that jump-started Winona Ryder's career.
- Throw It In!: 90% of Keaton's lines are ad-libbed.
- Vaporware: The scrapped sequel Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. Allegedly, Burton deliberately came up with a ridiculous premise in order to stop the sequel from being made. Kevin Smith was offered the chance to do a rewrite of the script before being attached to the also-unmade Superman Lives. His response to the execs boiled down to "Didn't we say all we needed to say with the first Beetlejuice? Must we go tropical?" However, the script does exist and can be found online.
- What Could Have Been: See the main page.
- Working Title: The Maitlands and, later, House Ghosts. At one point, Tim Burton suggested the title Scared Sheetless as a joke - and was shocked when they actually considered it.
The Animated Series
- Acting for Two:
- Bertha and Claire are both voiced by Tara Strong.
- Ginger and Prudence are voiced by Tabitha St. Germain.
- Adored by the Network: Both ABC and Fox Kids aired the show simultaneously in the 1991-92 season (FOX aired it on weekdays and ABC aired it on weekends), making one of the first Saturday morning cartoons to do so alongside Darkwing Duck which aired on The Disney Afternoon and ABC starting that season. The show's 1992 end is normal, as most cartoons based on films don't last very long (The Real Ghostbusters, The Mask: The Animated Series and Ace Ventura: The Animated Series are the only exceptions).
- Nickelodeon loved the show to death. For most of the 1990's, the show was one of the cornerstones of Nickelodeon's afternoon block (along with Gumby, The Adventures of Tintin, Muppet Babies (1984), Alvin and the Chipmunks and Looney Tunes), and received a lot of promotions and marathons. Cartoon Network also showed the show a lot of love when rights switched over to them in 1998.
- Keep Circulating the Tapes: Rescued. All 109 episodes were released on a 12-disc set by Shout! Factory in 2013. They can be bought here.
- Kids' Meal Toy: The series had six double-sided PVC figures released at Burger King. Sources conflict as to whether this promotion was done in 1989 or 1990.
- Milestone Celebration: "The Neitherworld's Least Wanted," in which BJ's enemies team up to destroy him, was done for the 100th episode of the series.
- Official Fan-Submitted Content: The script for "Brides of Funkenstein" was written by a teenage fan.
- Recycled: The Series
- Role Reprise:
- In the French dub, Mario Santini reprises his role from the movie as Beetlejuice.
- The Brazilian dub also kept Nilton Valério as Beej (though he's replaced in some episodes).
- Screwed by the Network: On the show, some of the episodes were thin metaphors about Executive Meddling and Moral Guardians trying to make Beetlejuice's life (i.e. the show) Lighter and Softer for audiences.
- Similarly Named Works: The episode "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" shares its title with a 2010 British dark comedy film, although the plots are completely different.
- Voices in One Room: Largely averted, according to an interview with Stephen Ouimette. He and Alyson Court would record their lines together, just the two of them, and the rest of the cast would be recorded and added afterward. This makes sense, as BJ and Lydia have more scenes together than any other characters and also have the closest relationship in the show.
- What Could Have Been: See the main page.
The Musical
- Acting for Two: Delia and Miss Argentina were originally played by the same actress. During the curtain call, she comes out wearing the Delia costume and the Argentina sash to represent both characters. The role is split between two actresses as of the show's re-opening. Juno and Maxie Dean are also played by the same actress.
- Approval of God: Both Geena Davis and Catherine O'Hara have seen (and praised) the show. They were even invited onstage after curtain call. O'Hara also introduced the show at the 2019 Tony Awards.
- While Tim Burton didn't directly contribute anything to the production itself (as it is Warner Bros. who own the rights and have a company under their umbrella that tackles theatrical productions), his original sketches and storyboards were made available to Eddie Perfect and the director, and the set and lighting design were based on these.
- Cut Song: A few numbers from the Washington D.C. tryout were taken out before the show hit Broadway. An entire demo album with commentary by composer Eddie Perfect was released in October 2020.
- Lydia originally had another solo entitled "Mama Would", in which she would reminisce on all the cherished memories she had with her late mother.
- Barbara had a heartbreaking solo number named "Children We Never Had", which ended with the revelation of her having suffered a miscarriage in the past. Because of this, she would consider Lydia as the "daughter they didn't have". This song was eventually replaced by the much more energetic "Barbara 2.0".
- The original introductory song for the Netherworld was a hilariously-clichéd pop number named "Everything is Meh", performed by a deceased boy band named Boy Inferno. This number was later dropped and replaced with "What I Know Now", a song for Miss Argentina and the Netherworld ghosts.
- There were several different opening numbers intended for the musical before "The Whole Being Dead Thing" was agreed upon, including "Death's Not Great" (an ensemble number where people describe the downsides of death), "The Hole" (where Beetlejuice bluntly addresses how the Netherworld is nothing like the afterlife anyone's expecting) and "Gotta Get Outta This House" (where Beetlejuice complains about spending eons ignored by the living in the house he haunts, gives a big "The Reason You Suck" Speech towards mortals, and expresses his longing to be able to appear in the living world and to be summoned by having someone say his name three times; this one was ultimately reworked into "Barbara 2.0").
- Otho was to have two songs, "The Box" (which appears to be about him praising an invention that will enable immortality) and "I'm Very Good at Running Cults" (which establishes that he's a cultist leader who repeatedly killed his followers to start over before crossing paths with Delia).
- A scrapped closing number is "Ain't it Strange", which has Beetlejuice point out that he's the one who saved everyone from Juno in spite of his earlier misbehavior and the rest of the cast conceding that they themselves weren't flawless.
- Two different songs were initially written for Beetlejuice and Lydia's initial team up: "You Can Only Work With What You Get" (in which the two openly admit their team up is Teeth-Clenched Teamwork because they work together despite their differences) and "Step Right Up" (a bouncy carnival-esque number of Beetlejuice and Lydia praising their freedom and knocking the living out of the house) which were both replaced with "That Beautiful Sound."
- Charles had two songs cut: a romantic ballad to Delia "Sign Yourself Over To Me" and the melancholic "A Little More Of Your Time" where he reflects on how he feels he failed as a father for Lydia.
- Dawson Casting: Dana Steingold (who's in her mid-thirties) as Sky the Girl Scout. She's also one of the three actresses in the original cast to play Lydia, alongside Sophia Anne Caruso and Presley Ryan.
- Orphaned Reference: In the film's original script, Beetlejuice was a demon from hell with yellow snake eyes. Here, he is again referred to as a demon, and in many of the official marketing pictures such as on posters, Alex Brightman's eyes have been edited to appear yellow.
- Screwed by the Lawyers: When writing the score, Perfect originally wanted to incorporate more of the thematic elements of the famous Danny Elfman score, but was unable to for legal reasons (Elfman did not give his blessing for the Broadway production). Perfect still managed to fit BJ's film leitmotif in certain songs (at the end of "The Whole 'Being Dead' Thing" being the most obvious example).
- What Could Have Been: See the main page.
