PlaidDesign

Beetlejuice is a movie that as a kid I completely ruined on VHS by watching it over and over and over. Because of my love for this masterpiece, I wanted to go BIG; I spent over two full weeks completing not one, not two, not three - OK, you get the idea - I did TEN (10) full separate works. And this one here is what they call the ol' pièce de résistance ... the culmination of all 10 pieces combined. I like artwork that looks one way from a distance, and then reveals cool details as you walk up and take a closer look. I can only hope that fellow fans will enjoy my tribute - my love letter, to be more accurate - to Burton and the exceptional cast and crew of the wonderfully strange and unusual Beetlejuice.

As the headline states, "Please Welcome The Maitlands" ... to The Afterlife, of course, which is also the name of the newspaper the article is published in. I think Barbara and Adam Maitland make one of my favorite movie couples ... so naive, but sweet and well-meaning, and played so earnestly by Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin, respectively. The whole opening of Beetlejuice is full of wide-eyed reactions like this one, as they slowly find out they have inadvertently joined an exclusive club known as the recently deceased.

The absurd and hilarious Delia Deetz in Beetlejuice was the role that introduced me to the brilliant Catherine O'Hara. Between this, SCTV, the Christopher Guest films, and now Schitt's Creek, she has become one of the all-time greats. Catherine is unquestionably one of the funniest human beings on the earth, and one of the main reasons I have watched Beetlejuice hundreds of times ... hence my entire collection dedicated to this masterpiece.

Remember the days when movies only used tangible practical effects instead of CGI for every single little item on screen? Beetlejuice in particular has many scenes that hearken back to really old school stop-motion animation effects, the same techniques that were used in classic action-horror movies like Jason and the Argonauts (1963), and even going way back to King Kong (1933). This is one of the coolest things about Beetlejuice, in my opinion, and this piece is dedicated to the scene where Barbara and Adam Maitland stretch and do horrible things to their faces in an attempt to scare the people who invaded their home after they died ... all done in beautifully weird stop-motion animation.

Winona Ryder was perfect as the "strange and unusual" Lydia Deetz. And speaking of perfection, Beetlejuice's ending is one of the best. If the title of this piece alone doesn't get you singing and/or dancing, please check your pulse to make sure you're alive. But even if you're dead, hey, you're in the right place!

"Sandworms ... ya' hate 'em, right? I hate 'em myself!" - You Know Who (Don't you dare say the "B" word!)

Oh, poor, oddly cute Harry the Hunter from Beetlejuice ... we can only hope his sad soul finds some solace. That said, who knows - maybe he deserved his fate. Who can say?

As if Michael Keaton in his greatest and funniest performance wasn't enough, not to mention the crazy fun story, sublimely weird visuals, and early Tim Burton's cool signature style plastered all over the place, we also get the beloved, late, great scene-stealing Glenn Shadix as the unforgettable Otho Fenlock! I don't know if a movie could pack in much more awesomeness than Beetlejuice contains.

"Come, Mr. Tally Man, tally me banana" ... considering what happens during this song, I suppose the Tally Man himself was not happy with the participants of one of the top two dinner party scenes of all time in film (the other being from The Party, of course). There's nothing I could write that could even come close to describing how genius it was to use Harry Belafonte's "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" in the way it is used in Beetlejuice. All I hope to do with this artwork is spark the memory of this amazing scene. The cool people out there will get it and smile, and the uncool ones ... well, go watch Beetlejuice first, and then we'll talk.