Which Font Appears on the Official Posters of the Beetlejuice Movie?
Beetlejuice is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film starring Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O’Hara, and Winona Ryder.
The movie revolves around Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin), a recently deceased couple that returns as ghosts and begin to haunt their former home. When the unbearable Deetzes (Jeffrey Jones and Catherine O’Hara) and their teen daughter Lydya (Winona Ryder) move into the old home, Barbara and Adam are determined to scare them away.
But the new home inhabitants prove difficult to frighten. Disappointed, Adam and Barbara seek the help of Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a devious bio-exorcist from the Netherworld.
Beetlejuice was directed by Tim Burton and produced by The Geffen Company, with Warner Bros. Pictures taking charge of its distribution. The film was a critical and commercial success, grossing $74.2 million at the box office from a $15 million budget.
Beetlejuice Font
All official Beetlejuice movie posters, including the film’s logo, are set in a font known as Caslon Antique.
Caslon Antique is a decorative American typeface designed in 1894 by Berne Nadall. The font was initially called “Fifteenth Century” but was eventually renamed “Caslon Antique” in the mid-20s by Nadall’s font foundry Barnhart Bros. & Spindler.
Caslon Antique was designed to evoke nostalgic memories of the Colonial era. During this period, printers reused metal type over and over, until the faces became chipped and damaged.
Another fun fact about Caslon Antique is that, besides the name, the font shares no similarity with the more popular Caslon family of typefaces by William Caslon I. The name change from “Fifteenth Century” to “Caslon Antique” was a marketing maneuver Nadall implemented to boost the font’s popularity.
Note that William Caslon I’s broad family of fonts enjoyed immense popularity around this period. Nadall probably reckoned that the best way to eat into that fame was by roping in the name ‘Caslon’ to his typeface.
Caslon Antique is the go-to font for designers looking to infuse some old-fashioned or gothic look into their projects. The font comes in four main weights. They include;
• Caslon Antique Regular
• Caslon Antique Bold
• Caslon Antique Italic
• Caslon Antique Bold Italic
Besides these variants, the Corel font foundry produces its own version of Caslon Antique. The font is marketed under the name “Casablanca Antique.”
It’s also worth noting that not all the elements in the Beetlejuice lettering are modeled after the Caslon Antique typeface. For instance, the letter “j” seems to have been modified by the movie’s graphic designer.
Besides Beetlejuice, Caslon Antique has found its way into many other design projects. The font is used on the cover album of the musical group The Sisters of Mercy and in the opening credits of Jacques Rivette’s film La Belle Noiseuse. It’s also the main cover font of the books A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Where to Download the Caslon Antique Font
Caslon Antique is available for download on the 1001 Fonts and DaFont Free websites. You can also get the font on Fonts Geek and WFonts. Caslon Antique is free for personal use. However, you may need to pay a license before applying the font on commercial purposes.