Few directors in the industry garner the same level of respect and attention as filmmaker Tim Burton. Known for his wild, intriguing, and vivid imagination and visual concepts, the man who brought to life Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, and The Nightmare Before Christmas has forever changed how a modern day macabre live action fairy tale could be told on screen.

Now, Burton and a cast of legends will be resurrecting characters from one of his signature films and one of the biggest cult antiheroes to ever hit the screen with Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!

Growing up, I idolized Burton. As a director who always wore his heart on his sleeve, bucked traditional and conventional visuals, and had a penchant for making the outsider underdog his hero, I found myself inspired and awed by the stories he would craft and the worlds he would bring to life, relating to the misfits at the center of each narrative. I had an official 27×40 double-sided Sleepy Hallow poster adorning my college bedroom, and rocked a Hot Topic Edward Scissorhands hoodie (in honor of one of my favorite films of all time). His career through the late ‘80s and early ‘00s was virtually immaculate, with every film he produced and directed being one I adored. So for me the idea of sitting down with him to discuss the process of taking one of the sacred icons from his filmography and bringing it back was a notion I couldn’t possibly fathom I’d ever get the chance to do.

That said, also admittedly, the idea of bringing back a beloved classic icon from my childhood was one I hesitated to get excited about. But thankfully, Burton felt the same way, opting to only bring back The Ghost with the Most when the time was right, and the cast was almost fully complete, and thank goodness for that. Because we’re getting the whole band back together: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, and Burton reunited in the Neitherworld, alongside some brilliant newcomers like Willem Dafoe, Monica Belluci, and Jenna Ortega.

As fans, it’s easy enough for us to get excited (yours truly more than most even!) at what we’ve seen and heard about the anticipated sequel. But what was it like for Burton to come back to this world, tell this new story, and revisit these characters 36 years later? We were fortunate enough to sit down with the living legend himself alongside multiple press outlets, honored and humbled by his presence after years of idolizing his work, to discuss returning to the world of Beetlejuice!

Here’s what he had to say:

Comedy and Improvisation

When asked about how he made the comedy in the film feel contemporary and relevant today, Burton stated, “It’s a bit like the first movie. I tried to treat this movie like the spirit of the first movie, where you know… there was a lot of improv that went on. And so I very lucky to work with people like Michael and Catherine that were very good at improv. So, you know, we just tried to do it in the spirit of that. Do it quick. Shoot quickly. All the actors contributed. Justin, Willem, everybody contributed to their character. They really took it from the page and made it something else. So that was whole vibe of the movie. Practical effects, sets, quickly, with all these great improv. And it gave it an energy, which is part of what the vibe of the film is for me, you know… Kind of re-energizing me to why I like making movies. You know, just working with creative people back and forth and just making stuff up on the set. So a lot of it was, you know- you can’t really do that all that much in a lot of movies, or you don’t want to. But for this property that’s part of the spirit of it.

On Michael Keaton’s Return

When discussing how Michael Keaton hadn’t skipped a beat in decades, Burton went on to say, “We didn’t do anything, right? It was like, truly, like demon possession, I feel like a time warp… He just it was unnerving. It was great, it was exciting, but it was really also disturbing… It was great. I mean, that’s what filled its energy, you know. We make up stuff every day, you know, and which is kind of hard to do when you’re dealing with all live effects. So, you know. But we did it, you know. And I worked with these effects people who, in the spirit of the movie, would make these things very quickly… But Mike and I talked about this from the very beginning, that that was very important to the spirit. Especially with all the technology, with all this stuff, whatever. We just wanted to kind of not think about a sequel or anything… just go and just make the movie. And so, like you said, that energy and what he brought back to it was amazing and crucial.”

Supernatural Soundtracks

When asked about what inspired him to use the song “MacArthur Park” in a crucial scene in the film, Burton stated, “I have my own bizarre playlist. Everybody has a playlist, right? So… I don’t know. It wasn’t in the script or anything. It’s just something that I felt, I don’t know. It just fit the spirit of it. It was a song I liked it. It was emotional, operatic, and it’s sort of bizarrely romantic and grand. And so it just felt like, given the character of him and his sort of multitalented, multilingual, whatever, thing that Beetlejuice has… that was the beautiful thing. We didn’t really worry about, like, the script or the studio or anything. We just went and did it, which was something, like I said, it kind of re-energized why you like making moves. Just kind of unknown. It’s not something that is set in stone. It’s something that’s, you know, we think about, we just don’t worry about, we just do it. And it was quite liberating.”

A Worthy Possessor Successor

Burton was asked at what point he felt like he had a great sequel on his hands. “I don’t think that way. And all I know about it is that I feel very (and I don’t feel this way about a lot of films) I feel very passionate. I feel very, you know, emotional about it and stuff. But I never, I never know, even, even after it comes out, I don’t know how these things go. So all I know is how I feel about it and so… but I felt that way from the first day of shooting. You know. I felt, seems like Catherine and Winona… I just felt I almost didn’t care how it turned out. You know what I mean? I just felt very strongly personal about it.”

A Long 36 Year Journey

A sequel to Beetlejuice was something long talked about since the success of the first film in 1988. So when asked about the speed bumps along the way in making the film, Burton stated, “Obviously, as you said, it’s been asked from the very beginning, right? But nothing clicked, and truly, it couldn’t have happened until now. It was only till fairly recently where I just go… Okay, I love the Lydia character. That was the character that I connected with, you know, as a teenager I remember… so I go, like, ‘Well, what happened to this person 35 years later? You know, it’s a bit like 35 up. You know what weird thing… would you go from cool teenager to some kind of fucked up adult?… and what relationships do you have? Do you have kids? And what’s your relationship?’ …it’s not something I could have done back then. It’s only something you do once you experience those things yourself. And so for me, it became a very personal movie. Like, you know, kind of a weird family movie, you know, about a weird family or weird family movie, or, I don’t know which way you want to look at it. But that became the emotional hook: the three generations of, you know, mother, daughter, granddaughter, life, death. Just basic, normal things that we all experience. And then, especially if you’re lucky enough to get older a little bit, you know, you kind of, you feel those things. So that’s where it really started and, you know, it really could only have happened for me after all this time”

Burton was then asked about what it was like to continue the visual style of the original, especially considering modern VFX sensibilities today. “Michael [and I] talked about it, and I said, ‘Listen, I’m only gonna make this one in the spirit of the first one, you know.’ But I didn’t even watch the first one because, I guess, like I said, I didn’t really understand why it was a success… so I didn’t feel like it was gonna help me. So I truly didn’t watch it… but I remember the feeling of it, and, you know, it’s hard to kind of go back and recreate, you know, feelings. Especially in this industry where it goes well, you know, all the bells and everything. So to go back to simple, shoot it quickly… All the actors contributed… the script was there. And it was good script… all the actors contributed to that. And then, you know, even with the effects guys… [they were] equally as important as the actors, in terms of getting, like, making things puppets quickly, you know, and doing it all, you know… So it was all set up… And I didn’t realize this until the very end of that. We ended up actually shooting in the same amount of time as the first one. So I wasn’t planning that particularly, but it sort of ended up that way, which was part of the DNA of the film. Whatever it was, this is just do it in that kind of spirit.”

Will Burton Resurrect Other Creations of His in the Future?

Burton was then asked if there were other signature creations of his he’d like to revisit someday. “No. In fact, I think I would say the opposite, in a funny way, because I’ve done that a little bit. And I don’t feel… I feel if I do something next… I want to do something where I think I almost got out of making movies after my last one, because I just didn’t feel the whole studio thing. I just didn’t feel, you know… so I went off and did a TV thing — Wednesday — in Romania, just to kind of recleanse, so to speak, or re-energize, whatever… So I, you know, I had no just burning desire to make [more] sequels… I just wanted to make this movie. So I think I’ve recalibrated the way I’m going to approach things in the future.”

Babyjuice, Babyjuice, Babyjuice

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice contains several practical effects. One of which is rumored to be a “Beetlejuice” baby. When asked about the soon to be iconic prop, Burton stated, “We went to a toy store and bought some dolls… this was the fun of making the movie… we obviously sculpted the head, but we truly took basically a baby from a store and put some moved it around… raw puppets, and again, real old school this stuff. And it was important. I mean, it was important all the way through that that was one of the sort of rules of engagement

Script to Screen

Burton was asked about if anything had changed significantly from script to screen. “Yeah, no. It wasn’t anything really big. I think it was more just subtle things. And that’s the beauty of it… having all that stuff there, having sets, and having everybody there. It just ups the energy in terms of the set, and therefore what you’re making. And again, just you get rid of all the white noise of business and studio anything, and you just get right into it. And that, again, just reenergized.”

Beetlejuice the Hero?

When asked about whether he considered making Beetlejuice, as a character, more heroic to coincide with franchisability for the character, Burton said, “No. I mean, there’s always… my whole career is like, people have said, ‘this is too dark.’ Which I never saw… You know. I’ve seen much darker films than my films. I don’t really know what they’re talking about. You know what I mean? But I think I both love the fact that, you know, [Beetlejuice] was politically incorrect then, and he’s politically incorrect now. So I’m just laughing because I was asked the other day, ‘So how has Beetlejuice’s character evolved?’ And [Michael and I] just started laughing because he doesn’t! That’s the point!

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice?

Upon being asked about the prospects of a third film, Burton replied, “I mean, if we follow the model from now, I would be making that one when I’m over 100,” he joked. “No, I mean, like I said, for me, I wasn’t really personally interested. If you said it to me, I would run the other direction… I don’t know. Not right now because I’m finishing this one, basically.”

Beetlejuice Balancing Act

When asked about whether or not it was a balancing act to partially splice a horror film with a comedy/family film in the Beetlejuice movies, Burton said, “I mean, yes and no. I mean, like I said, my whole career, people go, ‘this is too scary’… I know how I always felt, and I grew up myself watching monster movies. So I would believe everybody, adults and kids, have the different [preferences]. Some kids can watch this stuff. Some kids can’t. You could, I could. Others can’t. My daughter can’t. You know… so the point is I never felt like I know exactly. I just know myself, and I knew what I felt as a child and all that sort of thing. So I always feel parents get more worried about their kids, and kids can handle more than they, the parents, think they can handle. So that’s always been my approach.”

Jenna Ortega Joins the Cast

Burton was asked about how it was working with Ortega for this film, and welcoming her to the series. Burton stated, “That’s why she was Wednesday, because she is Wednesday. That’s why. No question about that at all. But she’s really integral to this. Because she’s dark. She’s our entrance into this world, you know. She’s kind of the anchor in the film, you know. It’s actually really a story about her, if you really want to boil it down. Her and her mother. So, you know, she’s a really beautiful addition. Like I said, I had the beauty of Michael and Catherine and Winona. But then they have the beauty of Jenna and the other cast members; Willem, Monica, Justin. You know, that really became part of a weird family.

Unused Ideas from the First?

Burton was then asked (by us) whether or not there were any unused ideas from the first film that haunted him for 36 years that he was finally able to put into this sequel. “No, I don’t think there was anything that I felt like, ‘Oh, we didn’t do this, or didn’t do that.’ It was, like I said, just in the spirit… maybe there were things, but they left me. But I felt satisfied for this one, you know. And coming up, I mean, there was lots of dead people that I thought of, which we didn’t use for this one, because they might have been a little too politically incorrect. But we’ll see next time.”

Beetlejuice for Gen-Z’ers

When asked about what it’s like re-introducing Beetlejuice to the Gen-Z generation, Burton stated, “Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, it’s interesting. I don’t know yet, you know, because it’s not out. So I don’t really know. But it’s funny, because the only example I have is my own daughter. She never saw the original Beetlejuice, and she’s 16… but I was very interested, as somebody who hadn’t seen the original, if they could understand it, or get it, or get the vibe of it. And, you know, they know you’ve not seen it. I think they felt they got it, you know. And again, because Jenna is sort of this voice of reason… Like kids do, they call their parents into question. Which is great, you know? And so, I don’t know yet specifically how that would work… it wasn’t about making it a sequel, like you have to tick all these boxes off, you know. Some boxes are ticked in some aren’t. But it was just about making this sort of standalone, I mean, based on characters and everybody’s situations. But hopefully you can see it without having to see the first one.”

Where There’s a Willem, There’s a Way

When asked about if Willem Dafoe’s “police actor” character was based on any real life inspirations, Burton said, “I think there’s, you know, a little bit of Jack Lord from Hawaii Five-O. Maybe a little mixture of things.But it’s more the idea. I mean, because I’ve worked with enough actors to know [what they’re like].”

Is This the Real Life?

Burton was asked, given the livelihood of the Neitherworld, whether he found the real world boring. “No, I would not say boring. I find what things people call ‘normal’… I don’t even know what that word means. I don’t know. When somebody says it, I get a bit queasy. I don’t know what they actually mean by ‘normal.’ But no… I mean, I did grow up being terrified of things like school, my parents, or things that are kind of not mundane. But just real life stuff. It’s the party stuff.”

Resurrecting The Maitlands

When asked about whether or not there was ever a version of the film that included Barbara and Adam Maitland, Burton said, “Well, just because they’re ghosts, and, you know, even though they all look great, I just felt like it wasn’t… like I said, I love working with those guys. I love the first one. I love, you know, all the cast… but it really wasn’t [right for the story]. I just, I didn’t think about it because I wasn’t out to make a sequel, per se. So I didn’t really want to just throw stuff in just to throw it in. You know? Even in this respect, because, for me, just given the scenario, them being ghosts, and all that, sort of thing, it just felt like I like the way we did it.”

Title for the Third Film?
When asked if a third movie would be called Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Burton quipped, “No. It’ll be called Beetlejuice: The Sands of Time.”

Trauma and Toxic Relationships

Burton was asked about the film’s theme of overcoming trauma and toxic relationships, and how to approach the topic with levity. “We’ve all had them,” he joked. “I know I have… No, that was the beautiful thing. I mean, Michael and I, we talked about this. It’s like we talked about a lot of the commentary, but not [making it] too serious. It’s like, we don’t preach to you about everything, but there was a lot of personal elements for me about that. And again, as I said, it’s only time can show you what your own experiences are in life… I couldn’t have made this back in 1989 you know, because I didn’t know anything. And now I feel things after 30 years of going through a bunch of good and bad, ups and downs that you can only know [now]… You know, like when I made Big Fish. I could not have made that film before my father died, you know. I could only make that after having those feelings that surprised me. So it’s the same with this.”

Hearing the Theme The First Time

The final question Burton was asked was what it was like to experience hearing the Beetlejuice theme for the first time. “It was incredible. Because, you know, it was new. It was, back in the day, when you still record to a big screen and the orchestra would be on hand to play. You know. That was all kind of sectioned off. But a full orchestra playing those early days was quite exciting… playing to the film up on the screen. You know, I was very excited. So, to hear that. See that… that was a time that I kind of miss, you know, that kind of very special experience.”

---

Funny enough, “special experience” was exactly what came to mind once the incredible morning with the maestro of the macabre concluded. It truly was a special experience for me, indeed. And were time travel possible, I’d go back to my college-self 20 years ago, and tell him that one of his biggest dreams would actually come true one day. All thanks to the imagination of Tim Burton!

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice hits theaters September 6!