Tim Burton’s 1988 classic “Beetlejuice” is a delightful supernatural comedy about a lovable and recently-deceased couple trying (and constantly failing) to scare a very much living family of off-putting city folks from their home — all before the titular bio-exorcist comes in to wreak havoc. Now, after what seems like a lifetime of waiting, Tim Burton is back with a sequel that has become much personal to him in recent years.
That sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” seems to grab inspiration from another, oft-forgotten “Beetlejuice” title — the animated series of the same name, which aired from 1989 to 1991 on ABC. Burton created the show alongside David Geffen (the producer who went on to co-create DreamWorks) and the animation production company behind “Ewoks” and “The Magic School Bus,” among others. In the show, Beetlejuice is best friends with Lydia and they go on spoopy adventures, many of which parody popular films and TV shows. The series was part of a trend in the ’80s to give every popular movie a cartoon spin-off, from “The Karate Kid” and “The Real Ghostbusters” to even “Rambo” and “RoboCop.”
Unfortunately, if you want to check out the show, it’s going to take some effort (and cash) — because like so much older pieces of media, the “Beetlejuice” cartoon is almost impossible to stream.
How to watch the Beetlejuice animated series
The “Beetlejuice” cartoon has been released on home media a few times since its initial broadcast. Most (but not all) of the first season was made available on VHS volumes in 1993. Eventually, Shout! Factory unveiled the whole series on DVD as an Amazon exclusive back in 2013, before Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released its own complete series box set earlier this year. If you somehow don’t like physical media (which, you should, because it’s the only way to actually ensure media preservation), the show is also available to purchase digitally on retailers like Prime Video and iTunes.
Unfortunately, “Beetlejuice” is no longer available to stream for free. At some point, it was available on Hoopla, a service tied to your library card. However, despite the platform still having episode listings for season 1 of the cartoon, it is actually not streaming any of them. This has become a common problem of the streaming era, where older titles are no longer widely available to purchase physically, and streaming licenses are not renewed so they just disappear. Add in the new trend of studios taking titles off streaming to save money on licensing, coupled with the lack of interest in continuing to release physical versions, and titles like this one risk becoming lost media.
Elsewhere, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” is set to reach theaters on September 6, 2024.
