Beetlejuice (TV series): Difference between revisions

* '''Beetlejuice''' (voiced by [[Stephen_Ouimette|Stephen Ouimette]]) - A [[ghost]] and the main and title character of the show. He enjoys eating bugs and is known throughout the Neitherworld as a prankster. He is the oldest son of Gnat and Bee Juice (who nag him to get a job and to keep clean, and who always address his as "Junior"), and he has a "disgustingly cheerful" younger brother, called Donny Juice (who, whether he realizes it or not, gets on his older brother's nerves). Beetlejuice was named after the star [[Betelgeuse]]. Beetlejuice, (often addressed as ''Beej'' or ''BJ'' by Lydia for simplicity's sake, and because the results of his name being said aloud three times), is able to change shape, transform and conjure objects, teleport, and perform other feats of magic, although his powers can be reduced by various circumstances, such as encounters with Sandworms (despite the fact that he has enough power to subdue or [[Odor|repel]] them with ease) or when his head becomes separated from his body. At times, he must pause to think of exactly how to use his powers to escape a precarious situation unscathed. Due to what is later described in the series as his "juice" (his inborn source of magic), whenever Beetlejuice utters aloud a [[figure of speech]], he or his surroundings change to act on the pun (for example, if he says he is tired, he will transform into a tire; if he says he is ''flat broke'', he transforms into a flat disc that falls to the ground and shatters; on one occasion, in reference to his own power, he declares "''This literal translation stuff slays me!''" and giant letters reading "'''Literal Translation Stuff'''" then fall from the sky to crush him). Almost all of his transformations maintain the black-and-white striped pattern he wears on his suit, although sometimes the stripes are coloured depending on the transformation. Though many Neitherworld denizens have some magic, it is Beetlejuice's greatly superior power (no real cause for it is ever given) that affords him the title—albeit mostly self-asserted—of "The Ghost With The Most" (another line borrowed from the movie); in fact, on multiple occasions Beetlejuice was able to effortlessly subdue a number of supernatural beings, and his dis-corporeal, self-sentient brain once claims that Beetlejuice's power is more than enough to conquer the whole Neitherworld. Because of that power, almost everyone in the Neitherworld is fair game for his pranks, though no more so than he himself, since he is not immune to careless use of his power; for example, he was once tricked by his enemies into saying "I'm coming apart at the seams!" which caused him to break into several pieces, which his enemies then stole and scattered to different places in the Neitherworld rendering him helpless (as Beetlejuice can only use his powers when all of his body parts are together). Also, if all of his body parts are not reassembled by sundown, he will "melt away". Thankfully, with Lydia's help, he soon gathered all of his body parts and was able to "pull himself together". Sometimes Beetlejuice will mix up one of his transformations, due to [[homophone]]-based confusion (when Lydia told him to turn into a stake to fight off Count Me-In, he turned into a flank steak). At times, various of his body parts (including his feet and his entire torso) manifested minds of their own, independent of Beetlejuice's control, with his brain and even his entire [[skeletal system]] having abandoning him once. Beetlejuice's main pastime is pulling various pranks on the other denizens of the Neitherworld such as Jacques, Ginger, The Monster Across the Street, Poopsie, the Mayor and in the Living World it is Lydia's rival Claire Brewster. Beetlejuice's pranks on many seem to cause them great embarrassment or damage, but for Lydia however, his pranks are only done to tease her, not to cause harm, which shows he cares for her. Lydia in fact, seems to be the only person who has any control over Beetlejuice. He even said in one episode he would do anything for her, and she in turn reciprocates his feelings. Beetlejuice is also constantly coming up with get-rich-quick con schemes to get money, as he dreads having to get a job, and in later episodes (particularly in the second half of the fourth season), Beetlejuice's greediness becomes so intense that he starts to overlook his friends and family, and even when Lydia openly scolds him, Beetlejuice shows unbelievable reluctance or unwillingness to give up of his schemes. His favourite foods are insects of various types, especially beetles, and worms. Beetlejuice also loves causing mayhem in the Neitherworld and being filthy, and this last makes Beetlejuice have a pathological and psychotic hatred of baths (at one point, when Poopsie once waters him (Beetlejuice) with a hose, Beetlejuice went berserk with fury and was nearly going to eat Poopsie). Despite this cynical and childish attitude, Beetlejuice proveproves to be a profound and insightful person, frequently reciting quotes of philosophical and humanitarian importance (but of course, Beetlejuice [[Hypocrisy|rarely follow his own lessons and lectures]]). The things he hates include Sandworms, cleanliness, and anything "''cute''". He expresses his likes and dislikes via variations on a single [[catchphrase]], as in "''[[Nerd]] humor you know '''I''' love it!''" or "''Sandworms you know '''I''' hate 'em!''" Beetlejuice's origins are rather fuzzy. On one hand, he frequently claims to be dead, a ghost, (having died centuries before—though his references are often hundreds of years apart{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}}), which implies a prior life in the "real world". Yet some episodes show his parents residing in the Neitherworld, and it is apparently there that he was born to and raised by them: there are, for example, photos of him in the Neitherworld as a baby—-showing him with his stock ghostly complexion and bizarre snake-like tongue—-and tales of his youth already manifesting his trademark personality. One possible explanation may relate to his saying something about his parents "making him feel like a kid again" and being unsure how to fix it without his growing up all over again; another is that continuity was not of key importance in the series. He have in fact have been 'reborn' in the Neitherworld after his death in the real world. More likely, the creators probably changed it to avoid scaring off viewers; (in later airings, he is shown in new animation in the opening leaving his grave as a corpse; the original opening for the first three seasons featured him producing stripes on his clothes), or the writers simply were not keeping track of plot details. A number of times, Beetlejuice interacted with Lydia's parents in the "real world" of Peaceful Pines, always under the name of "Mr. Beetleman", and in a couple of instances, he performed a gender change on himself to become a teenage girl about Lydia's age at Lydia's school as "Mr. Beetleman's" younger female relative "Betty Juice", along with once or twice appearing as the male gender "Cousin BJ" claiming to be on Delia's side of the family. In "Out of My Mind" it is revealed that Beetlejuice loves to pull pranks with [[spaghetti]]. In one fourth-season episode ("Substitute Creature"), he appeared at Lydia's school as visiting teacher "Professor Beetleberg".

* '''Lydia Deetz''' (voiced by [[Alyson Court]]) - A Goth girl in her preteens at the start of the series, (she was in the seventh grade, as mentioned in "The Big Face Off", and Lydia's sixth grade graduation speech is mentioned in "Laugh of the Party") and early teens later in the series (at one point she expressly states that she is 14). Lydia (often addressed as ''Lyds'' or ''Babes'' by Beetlejuice) is established as being a creative, bright, lively, sharp, yet [[Eccentricity (behavior)|eccentric]] young girl, but otherwise Lydia's unique outlook on life makes her stand out from most of the other school-girls, which leaves her feeling out of place and alone in the real world, finding it difficult to fit in well with most of her classmates—leading her to frequently visit and seek out reassurance with her closest best friend, Beetlejuice, in the Neitherworld, where she is accepted and loved for who she is as a person. Her regular outfit at home is a long dark purple top, a pair of black leggings, a light purple and pink [[sash]] tied around her waist and black slipper-shoes. Her Neitherworld attire consists of a large spiderweb pattern red poncho, over a full-body black leotard (the ends of the sleeves are like finger-less gloves, and the bottom of the legs double as footwear). Lydia is a talented [[Photography|photographer]], [[sewing|seamstress]], and artist with an [[innate]] [[wikt:affinity|affinity]] and love for all things gross, scary, weird, surreal and macabre, and who celebrates all that is (in the words of her film incarnation) 'strange and unusual'. Despite her love of all things 'strange and unusual', Lydia is also a [[Optimism|positive]], well-mannered, friendly and patient girl (being best friends with Beetlejuice is a testament towards Lydia's saint-like patience), and aside from also being emotionally mature for her age (given what her best friend and her parents are like), Lydia can be accredited as being very responsible for a girl in her [[age group]]. Lydia is also shown to be a [[naturalist]], shown to feel very strongly about [[Environmentalism|environmental issues]] (in ''Spooky Tree'', Lydia cut school and chained herself to a tree in protest of the workmen who were about to chop it down). She has also shown that she is extremely gifted with anything mechanical and understands a lot about cars (she knew what to do to build Doomie, while "Bee-gor" Beetlejuice did not know very much, such as what a [[carburetor]] is). In the series, Lydia attends "''Miss Shannon's School for Girls''" and is in the seventh grade. Lydia is Beetlejuice's best friend; in the events of the pilot episode, ''Critter Sitters'', both she and Beetlejuice have already known each other for a year, as they are celebrating their first anniversary of friendship. Beetlejuice frequently addresses her as "''Lyds''" or "''Babes''" rather than "''Lydia''" though he does use her full name from time to time, like when he is scared, amused, or worried about her; for example: in "Worm Welcome" when Beetlejuice found out that "Worm Your Way" deodorant causes baby Sandworms to go crazy, he was scared Lydia would be eaten by the baby Sandworm, this in turn makes himself shout her name. Lydia knows how to summon Beetlejuice to her presence or make her own way to his: by calling his name aloud three times. (Occasionally she is shown making use of a longer, more elaborate ritual using [[#Episode formula|the aforementioned four-line chant]] to bring him out of the Neitherworld or send herself into it, but this seems not to be a necessity.) Unlike Beetlejuice himself, Lydia is almost universally loved by the Neitherworld cast of the show (although some of them are amazed that she hangs out with Beetlejuice of her own free will), and she once won a Neitherworld award for Cutest Mortal to Ever Visit the Neitherworld. In the pilot episode, ''Critter Sitters'', she is shown summoning him through the longer ritual; as part of the ritual, the colour of her clothing changes, possibly merely by her choice. (Her invariable Neitherworld costume—unless she is in disguise—is a full-length red spiderweb-patterned poncho worn over a black, form-fitting body suit). Lydia is the only person he will heed. Having found herself a kindred spirit in Beetlejuice, Lydia looks up to Beetlejuice in certain ways, admiring his outrageous sense of humour (as she would constantly be seen laughing at his jokes or gags). In one episode, Beetlejuice lent Lydia his funny bone so she could be funny as part of a school show, but without his funny bone Beetlejuice became much more serious and normal; this change in him even disappoints Jacques and Ginger. When Beetlejuice gets his funny bone back however, he becomes his abnormal self again much to Lydia's delight as she hugs him. In some respects, Lydia sometimes has been seen virtually parenting Beetlejuice. It is frequently made clear that Beetlejuice's dedication to her is a source of Lydia's own self-confidence. Although most of Beetlejuice's antics are motivated by self-amusement rather than malice, he can become genuinely hostile if Lydia is threatened, and any who might conceivably threaten their relationship (such as Prince Vince) are the objects of Beetlejuice's profound jealousy and resentment. In the episode "Out of My Mind", it is learned that Beetlejuice actually has a working shrine to Lydia in his mind. Lydia never shows any romantic interest in anyone else except Prince Vince, and that quickly turns into a straight-out friendship. She has hugged Beetlejuice a few times. When Lydia was inside Beetlejuice's head, she gave a donation towards the maintenance of his shrine to her. Her main hobby is reading literary classics such the collective works of writers such as [[Edgar Allan Poe]], [[Stephen King]] and others.