I Can't Believe I Completely Missed Beetlejuice’s Most Ironic Adam & Barbara Death Detail For 20 Years (& I Love It Now)

I Can’t Believe I Completely Missed Beetlejuice’s Most Ironic Adam & Barbara Death Detail For 20 Years (& I Love It Now)


Summary

  • Adam & Barbara’s ironic bumper sticker in Beetlejuice leads to their demise, defying their claim to brake for animals.
  • Tim Burton’s film avoids his trend of dead dog characters, with the dog surviving the Maitlands’ crash.
  • The mystery of the dog in Beetlejuice’s opening sequence remains unsolved, potentially setting up a return in Beetlejuice 2’s afterlife.



After rewatching Beetlejuice countless times, I finally caught a detail about Adam and Barbara’s deaths that makes their early demise hilariously ironic. While there can certainly be some harsh realities of rewatching Beetlejuice over 35 years after its original release, such as real-world developments with cast members in the years sense, I enjoy giving the horror-comedy multiple viewings because of how many new details I catch each time. When really looking deeper into the smaller details of Beetlejuice’s scenes, I’m able to notice fun Easter eggs and jokes that add another amusing layer to the movie.


In fact, Beetlejuice’s opening sequence is filled with clever foreshadowing and hilarious subtle details. For instance, when Barbara and Adam (Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin) present each other with gifts, the wrapping paper on Barbara’s gift has beetles on it. However, this cheeky detail doesn’t compare to the laugh I had to let out upon finally noticing the ironic bumper sticker seen on Barbara and Adam’s yellow car before they tragically plunge to their deaths, which I had somehow missed for the first 20 years of watching Beetlejuice on repeat.


Adam & Barbara Have A Car Bumper Sticker That Says “I Brake For Animals”

Ironically, Their Failure To Do This Is What Kills Them


It took longer than I’m happy to admit to finally notice the detail, but Adam and Barbara’s car has a bumper sticker that reads “I Brake for Animals.” The bumper sticker is largely out of focus throughout the opening sequence, but with higher quality resolution in more recent releases of Beetlejuice, it’s easier to read the ironic statement on the Maitlands’ car. Despite the “I Brake for Animals” sticker being the only decoration on their car, it hilariously turns out to not be true, and is the ultimate cause of their demise.

If Adam and Barbara had heeded the claim on their car, then they may have avoided their tragic deaths in Beetlejuice’s opening sequence.


Adam and Barbara do not, in fact, brake for animals in Beetlejuice. Rather than slam on the brakes when a small dog wanders in front of their car, the couple swerves off a bridge and plummet to their deaths. Even just about a minute earlier when Adam and Barbara suddenly stop on the road, it’s to say hello to their neighbor rather than avoid hitting the dog crossing the street in front of them. If Adam and Barbara had heeded the claim on their car, then they may have avoided their tragic deaths in Beetlejuice’s opening sequence.

Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz in Beetlejuice 2

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It’s a hilarious detail from the classic Tim Burton movie that I wish I had been aware of on earlier rewatches. In addition to making Adam and Barbara’s deaths more ironic, it highlights their naive nature while also foreshadowing that despite their good intentions, the Maitlands will find themselves going down the path of more chaos and danger when in desperate situations. For instance, although the Maitlands intend to peacefully ensure that Beetlejuice’s Deetz family leaves their house, their desperate resolution to recruit Beetlejuice’s help ends up endangering and harming Lydia, who they deeply care about.


Barbara & Adam’s Ironic Beetlejuice Deaths Thankfully Avoided A Grim Tim Burton Trend

Beetlejuice Isn’t Part Of Tim Burton’s Dead Dog Character Trend

After Beetlejuice, a curious trademark was established in that several Tim Burton movies feature dead dogs. Oddly, these are most prominent in his animated movies, with The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, and Frankenweenie each having a deceased dog as the protagonist’s closest companion. With Burton’s original Frankweenie short film having been released in 1984, Beetlejuice having an important dog character could have very easily culminated in a tragic twist.


However, since the dog ultimately survived Barbara and Adam’s car crash completely unharmed, Beetlejuice avoided being Tim Burton’s first full-feature movie with a prominent dead dog character. The dog never actually appears again after stepping off the loose board on the bridge, with Beetlejuice’s recurring “animal” then becoming the dangerous Sandworms in the afterlife’s Saturn location. However, given Tim Burton’s continued fascination with dog characters in his afterlife-related stories, it remains to be seen whether Beetlejuice 2’s story will end up following this trend.

Michael Keaton's Beetlejuice with Barbara and Adam in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice (1988)

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I’m Still Wondering What Happened To The Dog After Beetlejuice’s Opening Sequence

The Dog Never Reappears In Beetlejuice

The dog standing on the wood plank in the bridge during Adam & Barbara's Beetlejuice death scene


Though not among the biggest burning questions about Beetlejuice, I’ve still been curious about what happened to the dog and who the pup actually belonged to in Winter River. He’s seen walking near the Maitlands’ house, crossing the road when they wave hello to their neighbor Ernie, and manages to escape the fall from the bridge, only to never be seen again by the Maitlands or Deetzes. Since nobody would know that the dog was involved in Barbara and Adam’s fatal car crash, the dog likely just returned home or continued wandering Winter River.

In an earlier draft of
Beetlejuice
‘s script, the dog was given the name “Rocket” and was revealed to belong to a newspaper boy named Jimmy.


It would have been a fun nod to the opening if the dog appeared when Lydia rides her bike around Winter River in Beetlejuice’s ending, but it’s more reassuring to believe that he simply got home safe and stopped wandering in front of moving vehicles. Despite some dark Beetlejuice theories suggesting Jane sent the dog to sabotage the Maitlands so she could sell their house, the small town seems to just feel secure letting their dogs roam. Still, with 36 years passing since Beetlejuice, the dog could potentially return in Beetlejuice 2’s afterlife realm as an update on his fate.

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