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Featuring numerous scientific gadgets and futuristic technology
The Real Ghostbusters is an Emmy-Nominated American animated television series based on the hit 1984 film Ghostbusters. The series ran from 1986 to 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television), DiC Entertainment and Coca-Cola. "The Real" was added to the title over a dispute with Filmation and its Ghost Busters properties. The series continues the adventures of paranormal investigators Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore, Dr. Ray Stantz, their secretary Janine Melnitz and their mascot ghost Slimer.
There also were two ongoing Real Ghostbusters comics, one published monthly by Now Comics in USA and the other published weekly (originally fortnightly) by Marvel Comics in the United Kingdom, and a popular toy line manufactured by Kenner. The series is currently running on Kabillion On Demand.
A short pilot episode was produced, but never aired in full. Scenes of the pilot can be seen in TV promos that aired prior to the beginning of the series. As with most pilots, the short episode has several striking differences from the finished product. For the most part, the differences come down to a greater faithfulness to the movie: Peter Venkman's design bears a greater resemblance to Bill Murray, the Ghostbusters still use their original uniforms, and Slimer appears as a gluttonous bad guy as he does in the movie. Certain scenes from the pilot would be edited and used in the show's intro, most notably the encounter at the end with the Staypuft Marshmallow Man. Other scenes from the pilot, including a shot of Ray waking up from bed with a Mr. Staypuft doll, the team sliding down the fire pole in sillhouette, and a skeletonized Red Baron laughing as he flies across the sky, would be used in the special intro used for the Real Ghostbusters halloween special, "The Halloween Door".
Maurice LaMarche, the voice of Egon Spengler, described that even though the auditioners did not want him to impersonate Harold Ramis, he did so and got the part. LaMarche mentioned that, supposedly, Bill Murray asked why Lorenzo Music's voice sounded like Garfield and not like himself, and this may have weighed in the replacing of Music, with Dave Coulier replacing him after 65 episodes. This is ironic considering that Bill Murray took over the role of Garfield for the live-action movies. Ernie Hudson was the only actor from the film who auditioned to reprise his role, Winston Zeddemore, for the animated series, but he lost to Arsenio Hall.
After the success of the film, a TV series based on the Ghostbusters began production. At the same time The Real Ghostbusters was being created, Filmation was making a cartoon known simply as "Ghostbusters", which was a revamp of Filmation's 1970s show/concept, The Ghost Busters. (Note that this show's title is written as two words, whereas the 1984 movie's title is usually written as one word; although on the on-screen titles does indeed appear as two words.) Despite rumors to the contrary, Columbia was allowed to use the name Ghostbusters for its cartoon. In the episode "The Spirit of Aunt Lois", Dr. Bassingham, a charlatan spiritualist, wore an outfit similar to that of Jake Kong. The character designs by Jim McDermott, were dramatically redesigned from the way the same characters looked in the movie.
Character designs:
Prior to the series premiere in September 1986, two promo animations were released for public consumption and to drum up interest in the series. These two promotional animations, adapted from a single source, featured character, equipment and vehicle designs which were yet to be finalized.
Tie-ins from the films:
Although the "Ghostbusters" concept was tinkered with, the finalized show does feature many tie-ins from the films. The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man made numerous appearances and one episode featured Walter Peck, the Environmental Protection Agency antagonist from the original film. The uniform change for all the main characters, the change in the design of the containment unit, and Slimer's residency with the Ghostbusters were explained in the episode "Citizen Ghost", which was partially told in flashback to the time right after the movie's events.
After Ghostbusters II hit theaters, the character of Louis Tully was introduced to the show and voiced by Rodger Bumpass. In the episode "Partners in Slime", Peter was covered with the very same psycho-reactive "mood slime" from Ghostbusters II.
In "Citizen Ghost", the Ghostbusters have just finished destroying the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man at the climax of the film. Several episodes later, they are supervising the production of a film based on that incident (the characters scorn the idea of being portrayed by "Murray, Aykroyd and Ramis"), implying that the animated series shows the "real" Ghostbusters, and the two films are an adaptation based on their accounts. At the end of the episode they even attend the premiere and the start of the opening scene of the movie is shown, with a tongue-in-cheek reference to how the cartoon characters bear little resemblance to the real ones by having Peter comment "You know, he doesn't look a thing like me."
"Elementary, My Dear Winston" was the only episode to briefly feature nametags on the Ghostbusters' uniforms like their movie counterparts.
In the episode "Partners in Slime", the psycho-reactive "mood slime" from Ghostbusters II is depicted as being yellow, but in the film it was pink. This episode featured the only direct reference to the events from the second movie, despite the inclusion of a cartoon Louis Tully and a change in Janine's haircut to resemble the one Annie Potts had when the film was made.
Another tie-in was the "Terror Dog" which had first appeared in the movie. Instead of being brown, it was blue, although it's red eyes stayed the same. It was first seen in "Egon's Ghost". However, there was no reference to Zuul or Vinz.
Gozer was mentioned several times throughout the series; Egon said that Cthulhu made Gozer look like "Little Mary Sunshine".
In episode 65 of season 2: "Transylvania Homesick Blues " the Ghostbusters go to Boldavia to meet the mysterious Count Vostak. Count Vostak of Boldavia requests the Ghostbusters join him at his castle. Vampire enthusiasts have always associated this episode with vampires
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