Gone But Not Forgotten: Beetlejuice the Animated Series

We’re going to the Neitherworld on a zany adventure with Lydia Deetz for a look back at Beetlejuice, the Animated Series!

It’s showtime! One year after haunting theaters with one of his most iconic films, Tim Burton launched Beetlejuice, an animated series continuing the spooky adventures of the Ghost with the Most and Lydia Deetz, a pair of unlikely friends from both sides of the mortal coil. Throughout the show’s four-season run, Beetlejuice and Lydia explored the Mortal World and the Neitherworld, a supernatural realm populated by ghouls, ghosts, and unspeakable terrors threatening to upset the balance between life and death.

While Beetlejuice features plenty of original stories filled with visual gags, bizarre creatures, and otherworldly locales, select episodes parody iconic characters and horror staples. ABC aired the first three seasons of Beetlejuice on Saturday mornings. Back in my day, the proper start of the weekend began with a stack of pancakes, a few strips of bacon, a glass of Tropicana orange juice, and my friends, Beetlejuice and Lydia, waiting to take me into parts unknown for a creative and funny look at the afterlife.

I remember Lydia and Beetlejuice cruising around Neitherworld in Doomie, the sentient dragster that, when faced with danger, transformed into a werewolf-like monster truck with a thirst for speed. With Doomie gassed up and ready to roll, Lydia and Beetlejuice encountered many of the Neitherworld’s strange inhabitants, including Jacques LaLean, a French skeleton bodybuilder, Ginger the Tap Dancing Spider, the Monster Across the Street, Beetlejuice’s parents, Bea Juice and Nat Juice, respectively, and more!

For Tim Burton fans who wanted more of the undead trickster’s zany antics, Beetlejuice was the perfect way to continue the character’s legacy and reposition Lydia and the Ghost with the Most as inseparable friends. Lydia loves the Neitherworld and enthusiastically summons Beetlejuice throughout the series, curious about where they’ll end up next. Every episode is as unpredictable as the show’s title character, with scares and surprises waiting around every twisted corner of the Neitherworld.

Do you remember Beetlejuice? Do you have a favorite character from the animated series? When was the last time you saw the show? Are you excited about Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opening in theaters this weekend? Let us know in the comments section below!

About the Author

Born and raised in New York, then immigrated to Canada, Steve Seigh has been a JoBlo.com editor, columnist, and critic since 2012. He started with Ink & Pixel, a column celebrating the magic and evolution of animation, before launching the companion YouTube series Animation Movies Revisited. He’s also the host of the Talking Comics Podcast, a personality-driven audio show focusing on comic books, film, music, and more. You’ll rarely catch him without headphones on his head and pancakes on his breath.