See How Beetlejuice’s Shrunken-Head Guys Are Made: Video (Exclusive)

A lot of craftsmanship went into expanding the shrunken-head characters’ roles in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

PEOPLE has an exclusive behind-the-scenes video, in which director Tim Burton plus actors Michael Keaton, Justin Theroux and more explain how the production created the amusing costars.

Keaton, 73, recalls that Burton, 66, “hit the ground running with the shrunken-head guys” and set out to create more of them after Keaton’s character meets one in the original 1988 film.

Each shrunken-head character ultimately wound up working for the title character, with producer Tommy Harper saying Burton “always loved them and wanted them to have more of a character in this movie.”

“I don’t know, maybe it’s working in a lot of offices and having a lot of jobs,” Burton added of the decision to have the “Shrinkers” work for Betelgeuse. “That represents a certain kind of work force that I’ve been a part of that just felt natural to me.”

“They’re all individual. They’ve got all their different hairstyles. They’ve got all their different expressions,” fabrication supervisor Fiona Barnes said. “A lot of thought went into their lips; are we going to paint that on or are we actually going to have practical stitching? They’re just so full of character, aren’t they?”

Significant work went into creating each character using prosthetics and practical effects rather than digitally animating each character. Producer Harper said Burton never wanted to use computer-generated imagery for them, even when some involved with the new sequel suggested doing so.

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“There’s an energy to that and a spontaneousness to it,” Burton says. “Even though we’re dealing with live effects, we’re still kind of making it up as we went along.”

“That’s the thing. I don’t think people realize why they like it. They don’t consciously know, but there’s that feeling that somebody actually made it, like handmade it,” Keaton adds of the creatures’ appeal.

The 4K UHD and Blu-ray version of the movie contains a director’s commentary version of the film by Burton and a several behind-the-senes featurettes, including an inside look at the movie’s stop-motion artwork.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is on digital Oct. 8, then on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD Nov. 19.