Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice is a film, directed by Tim Burton and first released in the USA on March 30, 1988. It features two recently deceased ghosts, Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) and his wife Barbara (Geena Davis) seek the help of an obnoxious bio-exorcist, Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) to remove the Deitz family - yuppies who recently moved from the city - who now occupy their old house. The Deitz family consists of Charles (Jeffrey Jones), his second wife Delia (Catherine O'Hara), and moody goth teenage daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder).The name of the film is the phonetic pronunciation of the lead character's name Betelgeuse who shares his name with a large red star in the constellation of Orion. Repeating this name three times is all that is required to summon him and also makes him leave. Adam and Barbara are not his only victims, as scams are his specialty. He used to be an assistant to Juno (Sylvia Sidney), the Maitland's case worker, before getting into trouble. Beetlejuice is rude, vulgar, eats insects, and loves to terrify people.
A typically dark and humorous Tim Burton film, most of Keaton's lines were apparently improvised on set. Notable guest appearances include Robert Goulet and Dick Cavett (Delia's art agent). Songs from Harry Belafonte are featured quite heavily in the movie. The movie paints the picture of hell as stuffy and bureaucratic rather than Dantean, with waiting rooms, oceans of red tape, and required reading ("The Handbook for the Recently Deceased"). People who commit suicide, for example, are bored civil servants (the receptionist Adam and Barbara meet slit her wrists) rather than trees, as in the Inferno. Adam and Barbara are trapped in their house. The world outside is a parched nightmare of sand dunes and a sandworm (Betelguese calls this place Saturn). Lydia is the only one who sees the couple, and is tapped to help them deal with both her obnoxious parents and with the crass and impetuous Beetlejuice.
An animated television series loosely based on the film also called Beetlejuice ran from September 1989 to December 1991, featuring the voices of Stephen Ouimette, Alyson Court, and Tara Strong. Lydia and Beetlejuice are friends, and she frequently visits him at home in the Neitherword. Much of the jokes revolve around toilet humor and visual puns. Beetlejuice had a cast of wacky neighbors including Jacque, a French skeleton fitness buff; Ginger, a tap-dancing spider; the boisterous Texas redneck The Monster Across the Street, and a nasty clown named Scuzzo who is his arch-nemesis.
A sequel to the movie has been in the works for over fifteen years, but it is doubtful anything will come of it, although Michael Keaton has expressed interest in reprising his role.
Beetlejuice is also the name of a recurring guest on the Howard Stern show. He is a black dwarf with an extremely tiny head.