Actor Jeffrey Jones was the one to suggest the Belafonte song, and the cast spent five days filming the choreographed number. Tim Burton’s original musical choice was a song by doo-wop singers The Ink Spots, but Catherine O’Hara convinced him that a calypso song would bring more energy to the scene.
#Beetlejuice day o movie#
What’s really amazing about it is how close it came to not making it into the movie at all. If there’s one scene from Beetlejuice that stands out in everyone’s minds, it’s got to be the musical possession scene featuring Harry Belafonte’s Day-O (The Banana Boat Song). Instead of being trapped inside the model town with sandworms all around him, they sent him to purgatory in the afterlife waiting room. Test audiences ended up liking Keaton’s portrayal as Beetlejuice so much that Burton ended up going back and giving the character a less grim ending. He allegedly based his performance on the character Chop Top from Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Tim Burton left much of the character’s development up to Keaton, simply saying Beetlejuice had “lived in every time period, but was of no time period.” Keaton used the creative freedom to add various elements to Beetlejuice - the crazy hair, the mold, and the false teeth were all his ideas. The first time he showed up in costume, everyone on the soundstage started chanting “Juice! Juice! Juice!” Keaton credited the crew for encouraging his creativity on set. It took barely two weeks for him to film all his scenes, much of which was ad-libbed. Tim Burton was sold after meeting Keaton, so much so that he brought Keaton on board to be his Batman.īeetlejuice is tied with Batman for Michael Keaton’s favorite role ever.Ĭonsidering the movie is named after his character, Michael Keaton has a surprisingly small amount of screen time as Beetlejuice - only 17 minutes. Studio head David Geffen of Geffen Records and Geffen Pictures fame lobbied for Michael Keaton, who was best known at the time for his role in the romantic comedy Mr. Producers also considered Dudley Moore (of Arthur and “10” fame) and comedian Sam Kinison for the role (Kinison’s manager never bothered to inform him of the studio’s interest). wasn’t the only unique casting option for Beetlejuice. Burton also had his eyes on another singer for a key role: He originally wanted Rat Pack member Sammy Davis, Jr. ’60s crooner Robert Goulet and talk show host Dick Cavett were given roles as the Deetz’s snobby friends, and Tim has said he hounded ’30s actress Sylvia Sidney incessantly until she agreed to play the salty undead social worker Juno. Juliette Lewis auditioned for the part, as well, but it ended up going to a 16-year-old Winona Ryder after Burton saw her acting debut in the 1986 coming of age flick Lucas.īurton stacked the cast with his favorite celebrities from previous eras. The role of goth teenager Lydia Deetz was difficult to fill, as well… Sarah Jessica Parker, Brooke Shields, Jennifer Connelly, and Molly Ringwald all turned down the role. Catherine O’Hara wasn’t originally set to be in the movie at all – the role of Delia Deetz went to Anjelica Huston initially, but she had to withdraw from the film due to illness. The director ended up flying out to meet O’Hara and convince her to take the part. Geena Davis was on board from the start, but Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, and Michael Keaton all initially passed on the film. Tim Burton had to work his ass off to get all the actors he wanted for Beetlejuice. Let’s take a look back on the movie and some of the lesser known facts about how it was made and whether a Beetlejuice sequel is actually going to happen. Made on a modest budget in 1988, the film raked in $73 million (160 million adjusted for inflation) and was the 10th biggest box office hit of the year. Not only was it one of director Tim Burton’s seminal early works, it also features excellent performances from Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin, and more.
For a quirky little comedy about ghosts, Beetlejuice has done quite well establishing itself as a timeless classic.
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