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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: May 28, 2013.
Director: Various
Cast: Stephen Ouimette, Alyson Court
Year: 1988-1992
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The Movie:
Tim Burton's film Beetlejuice proved an unlikely success when it hit theaters in 1988, and the cartoon spin off, which ran a good four year run from September 1989 through to May 1992, was an even more unlikely success. Let's face it - usually animated versions of movies not specifically aimed at a younger demographic suck. There are exceptions, of course, but by and large they tend to be horrible. Beetlejuice, which was developed by Canadian animation house Nelvana (the same company that brought us Rock N Rule and the animated bit from the Star Wars Holiday Special!), did not suck. In fact, looking back on it as an adult more than twenty years after it was made, the show remains surprisingly creative and bizarre.
Like the movie it was inspired by and named after, the series focused on the strange relationship between a morose goth girl named Lydia Deetz and that titular ghost friend of hers, Beetlejuice. In the series, they usually leave the 'real world' of Peaceful Pines to explore a strange region called The Neitherworld and inevitably, hijinks ensue. In the movie, you may remember that Beetlejuice was the cause of a whole lot of trouble for Lydia and her family as it was his mission to get them out of the house they moved into. Beetlejuice was also a bit of a horn dog in the movie, and that's very definitely not the case in the kids' version. Here instead, Beetlejuice is Lydia's best pal. Where in the movie her parents, Charles And Delia, were horrible guardians, here they're softened a bit and more accessible/less selfish. They also can't see Beetlejuice - so here we've already seen some fairly drastic changes made to the characters all in the name of making the show more accessible to that younger demographic that meant so much to the networks at the time.
For the most part, the changes work okay so long as you keep that demographic in mind as you revisit the show. There's definitely a formula at work here. Lydia will get into some sort of situation where she could use Beetlejuice's help, she'll chant the chant that makes him appear, he'll appear and then they'll go off on a misadventure together. There are a few spots in the series where Beetlejuice gets to fly solo through The Neitherworld without Lydia tagging along but for the vast majority of the time we see them paling around together. When they wind up in trouble in The Neitherworld, Beetlejuice is almost always able to scam their way out - something that the series did carry over from the movie version; he remains both sneaky and conniving. His man weakness? Sandworms, of course. He hates those things. Oh, and Lydia is the proud owner of a cranky black cat named Percy - he and Beetlejuice don't get along so well.
A few characters not from the movie are introduced here, chief amongst them being Claire, a snobby rich girl who is basically Lydia's archenemy. Claire's sole purpose in life seems to be to constantly humiliate Lydia and to make life as miserable for her as possible. Beetlejuice obviously dislikes her for this reason and as such, she's often the target of his pranks. There's also Doomie, a car that Beetlejuice and Lydia are able to drive around in which has a mind of its own and which isn't afraid to voice its opinions on things. In The Neitherworld, Beetlejuice has some neighbors - Jaques, a bodybuilder skeleton, and a spider named Ginger. They fall into the 'good guys' category and in the 'bad guys' category is a nameless monster who lives across the street with an irritating pet dog named Poopsie.
Much of what made the movie work is still here, which makes it interesting to watch. The animators seem to have taken a lot of Burton's quirky design work to heart when developing the show, so we get that weirdly animated look that has become his trademark over the years, albeit distilled through the eyes and hands of other animators. Danny Elfman's music is used throughout the show, which is obviously a plus, and although the voice of Stephen Ouimette as Beetlejuice isn't quite as raspy and nasty sounding as Michael Keeton was in the movie, it's a good fit. He's still gruff, grumpy and a little bit mean spirited when he needs to be. Ouimette also did the voice of Angel in the 1992 X-Men series among a bazillion other credits. Alyson Court is good as Lydia, she has a quite softness to her voice that sounds like Winona Ryder did in the movie enough to work, but which still lets her bring something a bit unique to the character to make her a step above a carbon copy. Court has gone on to some fame in video game circles as the only actress to voice the Claire Redfield character in the Resident Evil series.
The show's stories, all of which are self-contained, run the gamut from bizarre nonsensical bits to sometimes very clever pop culture parodies (which kind of reminds you of Animaniacs at times). Some of the parodies are obvious by the titles: Robbin Juice Of Sherweird Forest, Wizard Of Ooze, Moby Richard, It's a Wonderful Afterlife. Most of the episodes in the first three seasons were split into two stories, whereas the fourth season showcased longer, full episode length stories. The humor remains fairly deranged and by its very nature, quite morbid, at least by the standards of mainstream children's entertainment. That makes the show all the more unique and appealing. Moments like the scene where Beetlejuice takes out his eyes or plays with worms stand out as strange, and his grungy yellow teeth and long, snake-like tongue give him a fairly seedy vibe. Like every series that lasts long enough to fall, this one has some missteps that go along with the stand out episodes. Did we need to turn Beetlejuice into a baby? No. That was a bad idea. But having Beetlejuice and Lydia play Ebert and Roper? Yeah, that was funny. And it still is.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Shout! Factory's video quality here is okay. Colors look excellent, really popping the way only goofy old cartoons can, and detail is about as good as the source material could probably realistically allow for. There's a little bit of print damage here and there but if you're not looking for it you're probably not going to notice and even if you do, generally you won't care. Some mild compression artifacts show up too. Otherwise the video quality on this set is okay, so long as you don't mind the interlacing.
The no frills Dolby Digital 2.0 sound mix is in English with no alternate language dubs, subtitles or closed captions provided. The audio is clean and clear and you won't have any problems understanding the dialogue. The levels fluctuate a bit here and there and there are a few spots where the effects are a bit loud, but these are minor complaints. Generally the audio sounds pretty good.
Extras? Outside of a static menu and episode selection, not a one.
The Final Word:
Beetlejuice: The Complete Series brings the fan favorite animated series to home video in its complete form for the first time ever. The series itself holds up well, it's funny and it showcases some really creative design work and storytelling. It makes good use of a talented cast of voice actors and as it progresses it delivers some clever skewering of various facets of popular culture. Shout! Factory's set should have had some extras, but having the entire series' run is what matters the most, and here it is, preserved on shiny disc for all of eternity.
