Danny DeVito said he was thrilled when he got a call from old friend Tim Burton to film a secret cameo Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

DeVito played a role billed simply as ‘Janitor’ in the blockbuster sequel to the 1988 supernatural comedy classic Beetle juice. This is the fifth time that the iconic actor has collaborated with the legendary director.

DeVito’s first role in a Burton film came in 1992 Batman returnswhere he played Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin opposite Michael Keaton’s Batman/Bruce Wayne.

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DeVito then appeared in Burton’s 1996 sci-fi comedy Mars attacks! followed by the director’s fantastic 2003 drama Big fish and its 2019 live-action version of Stupid.

In a recent Zoom call with daughter Lucy DeVito about their new holiday comedy A sudden case of ChristmasDanny DeVito told me that production tried to keep the cameo a secret for as long as possible.

However, the cat jumped out of the bag when some sharp-eyed fans paused the film’s first trailer at the right second to see the actor’s blue face.

Danny DeVito said Burton contacted him to make the cameo just as production was underway A sudden case of Christmaswhich recently made its debut on premium video on demand and DVD.

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“I was traveling after our movie and Tim contacted me,” DeVito recalls. “I said, ‘Okay, you guys are taking me to London where he was shooting the movie. So I got rid of it straight away A sudden case of Christmas Unpleasant Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and I spent four days with him. I loved that part.”

Fortunately for DeVito, he was recently able to reunite with Burton when the director received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame a day earlier Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was released in theaters on September 6.

The ceremony for Burton’s star – which was held at 6600 Hollywood Boulevard, across from Hollywood Toys & Costume – was also attended by Keaton and his colleagues. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice castmates Winona Ryder and Monica Bellucci.

“It was great. I was very happy for Tim. I loved being there and walked around with my little cell phone taking pictures of him and Monica. Everyone was there,” DeVito says enthusiastically. “It was a really great party and our stars are not far apart. I’m a little further west, on the same street. We are very proud to be part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”

Note: The following section contains a spoiler from Danny DeVito’s scene in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

VFX Supervisor Reveals How Danny DeVito Deflated in ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’

In Beetlejuice BeetlejuiceDanny DeVito’s caretaker is the first deceased person in the afterlife that Delores (Monica Bellucci) encounters, who has literally put herself back together to get revenge on her ex-husband Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton).

Delores is a soul sucker, a character who has the power to take the breath away from anyone she encounters. Unfortunately for DeVito, the janitor is Delores’ first victim and after she sucks out his soul, the character’s entire body deflates and looks like a windsock with no air in it.

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In a recent interview with the awards, timed with the release of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD, Angus Bickerton, the film’s visual effects supervisor, said Neal Scanlon, the film’s creative supervisor, achieved the scene through the use of practical special effects.

“It’s all the genius of Neal Scanlon and his team,” Bickerton explained in a recent Zoom call. “In fact, the soul-sucking idea was (creating) a concertina (in the shape of a body) that would fold and flatten into a kind of empty sack.”

Bickerton noted how Scanlon worked with Tim Burton on the idea for the soul-sucking effect, which ends with the empty janitor – and later another of Delores’ soul-sucking victims – falling flat on the ground.

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“Tim had the idea that (the janitor’s body) would be compressed that way,” Bickerton noted. “It all happened through wires and pipes that went into a prosthesis.”

To complete the soul-sucking scene, Bickerton added, Scanlan’s crew added some “gas and steam vent effects” that were “real elements and not CGI.”

As for the deflated version of the Janitor, the acting great doesn’t know what happened to it after the film wrapped, but he wouldn’t mind adding the prop to his collection.

“I’ve got to get that,” DeVito said, smiling. “I have a lot of Tim’s stuff that I got from his sets. We made five films and he played a role in them too Hoffabtw,” DeVito noted.

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Hoffa was, of course, directed by DeVito, who also appeared in the film in a supporting role opposite Jack Nicholson’s title character. However, unlike DeVito for Burton’s films, Burton did not have to learn any lines for the Jimmy Hoffa biopic, as he played a corpse in an open casket during a mass funeral scene.

You can see more of how the practical visual effects were achieved in the bonus footage in the new 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray versions of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. The featurettes are also available in the digital proprietary version of the film.

A sudden case of Christmas– starring Danny DeVito and Lucy DeVito – is available on digital streaming via previous video on demand and DVD.

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