Beetlejuice (1989-91)
A powerfully magical neurotic ghost and his young human friend make mischief in the regular world and the neitherworld for friends, family, and enemies alike.
Easily one of the best parts about this series is that there are a great many amusing gags squeezed into each episode, mostly bizarre slapstick, haunting pranks, and so many puns. Some of the puns are even pretty clever and satisfying. It’s useful that the characters are already introduced from the film in an expanded universe with new and consistent characters.
With there being so many jokes it’s an inevitable hazard that some of them aren’t so great, which isn’t too bad since they’re brief so there will be others immediately. Some are also repeated, occasionally in the same episode which isn’t ideal. The humour focused on grossness are kinda lazy but at least reinforce the character.
A few episodes parody classic literature or film genres which is done effectively and it’s fun to see what gets changed for jokes. The series provides many unusual animation opportunities due to the bizarre unpredictability of the universe. Some of the other best episodes are when it reflects on itself as a show, breaking the fourth wall, and in one case suggesting the show is a show being made in the show for the neitherworld to watch.
It’s hard to binge due to the similarities between the episodes, this isn’t as bad for the themed ones. It’d work a lot better in short bursts so it’s a wonder it wasn’t picked up again for early morning kids viewing. One narrative element which doesn’t send the best message is that Beetlejuice is casually mean to his friends to the point of physical abuse and isn’t chastised enough to stop, in one episode even showing it as justified because his friends would be worse people without being constantly beaten down; it’s not good subtext in those cases.
5/10 -Can’t find a better example of average-
-The design for the Monster Across the Street is based on that of Gossamer from the Looney Tunes cartoons.
-The CGI adverts in a different animation style to the rest of the show were originally to be stop-motion animation similar to the style used in the film but it was considered too expensive.
