Is it Beetlejuice or Betelgeuse?
In order to get Michael Keaton’s character to show up in Beetlejuice, you have to say his name three times. Of course, that can be challenging if you don’t know how to pronounce it, which has contributed to a long-running gag and now, a little confusion on the internet. Following the release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, fans have been asking why his name is spelled differently in the movie’s title treatment than in the actual film itself — and the answer is actually fairly simple. It’s also, for those of us who watched it fairly recently, is kind of addressed in the original movie.
To start: there is some debate amongst fans as to whether “Betelgeuse” or “Beetlejuice” is the correct spelling of the character’s name. His grave, the exorcism flier he sent out, and the captions onscreen during his fake TV ad all spell it “Betelgeuse,” but marketing materials and the title spell it phonetically.
Some fans have speculated that, since he can’t say his own name, he also can’t spell it, and so the words on the flier, the grave, et cetera, were all intentional misspellings to avoid whatever supernatural consequences might come from misbehaving. Others point to the source of his name — a star in the same constellation as Orion — as evidence that his grave is spelled correctly.
If it’s authentic, this version of the original movie’s script — which uses the “Betelgeuse” spelling whenever the character speaks — seems to settle the argument, so we’ll go with that. So — why “Beetlejuice?” There’s an in-universe answer, and a real-world answer.
In-universe, when the Maitlands first encounter Betelegeuse’s grave and flier, Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) mispronounces the name, attempting it phonetically and getting something that sounds more like “Bay-tull-guise.” Whether this just annoyed Betelgeuse, or whether he actually could not be summoned using an incorrect pronunciation, isn’t clear. Either way, in order to coax his real name out of the Maitlands, Betelgeuse conjures up visions of a beetle, and juice, seemingly giving us an in-story reason for the phonetic spelling in the title.
In the real world, it was about as simple: Warner Bros. did not believe audiences would be able to pronounce the name, and thought it would be a hindrance to selling tickets and merchandise. The studio sparred with filmmaker Tim Burton over the title, with some alternatives being offered including House Ghosts, but ultimately Burton managed to keep the title — albeit with a modified spelling.
