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The ghosts of the Maitlands return home, not knowing how, and find that they can no longer leave it (unless they want to be beset by [[Sand Worm|sandworms]]). Even worse, their house has been sold to the Deetzes -- an eccentric, upscale yuppie family who want to do a complete overhaul. Not knowing what to do, and getting little-to-no real help from the [[Celestial Bureaucracy]] known as the afterlife, Barbara and Adam learn of a being known as Betelgeuse (pronounced, of course, "Beetlejuice"). They release him after [[Speak of the Devil|saying his name]] [[Rule of Three|three times]]. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
ThisThe iconic [[Tim Burton]] movie '''''Beetlejuice''''' remains one of the most popular comedy movies of all time. Though it contains the typical gothic imagery you'd expect from [[Tim Burton]], it also features memorable performances by Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara, Glenn Shadix, [[Winona Ryder]], and [[Michael Keaton]] as the B-Man himself, as well as the musical stylings of both [[Danny Elfman]] and Harry Belafonte. Mix all of these elements together, and it's not hard to figure out why ''Beetlejuice'' soon became a staple of Halloween.
The movie was so popular that [[''Beetlejuice (animation)|it spawned an animated]] [[Recycled: the Series]] on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] and [[Fox Kids]]. It [[In Name Only|bore little'' resemblance to the movie]], however; the Maitlands were eliminated entirely, the title character's name was changed to "Beetlejuice", he and Lydia were ''best friends'', and the stories largely took place in Beetlejuice's home dimension of "the Neitherworld". However, the show kept a lot of the film's manic energy and clever visuals (as well as [[Tim Burton]] as a producer and [[Danny Elfman]] as theme music composer), so it is considered one of the better film-to-TV translations out there. Beetlejuice remained a [[Jerkass]], but at least he was a [[Badbutt|family-friendly]] [[Jerkass]].
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{{AFI's 100 Years 100 Laughs}}
[[Category: Film{{PAGENAME}}]] ▼[[Category:Films of the 1980s]]
[[Category:Hugo Award]]
[[Category:Beetlejuice (film)]]
[[Category:Cult Classic]]
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