National Film Vault

FILM NOTES

Beetlejuice was released by Warner Bros. in March 1988, directed by Tim Burton in only his second feature film. The production marked an early collaboration between Burton and Michael Keaton and helped establish Burton's signature aesthetic of macabre whimsy within mainstream studio filmmaking. The film performed strongly at the box office and remains a touchstone of late-1980s fantasy comedy.

This cell, titled Char Man and Adam, captures a sequence from the haunted house setting, showing Adam Maitland alone in his familiar checkered shirt against a dark background, then alongside Betelgeuse in his striped costume, before returning to a similar framing of Adam. The three frames together suggest a brief, contained exchange between Alec Baldwin and Michael Keaton's characters within the same continuous scene.