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The Real Ghostbusters was 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 Telecommunications. 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. In 1988 during the show's six year run it was retooled with the Slimer! show that was sandwiched around The Real Ghostbusters and was titled Slimer! and The Real Ghostbusters. The show also received a new opening sequence (which was used for the remainder of the series) when it was re-titled as well. The series continued to develop the franchise's mythology; In "Partners in Slime", Vigo was mentioned, confirming Ghostbusters II is in the continuity of the animated series. However, due to many reasons the show started the Ghostbusters Animated Timeline Canon.

During the show's run (September 13, 1986 – October 22, 1991) a series of comics were made: NOW Comics- The Real Ghostbusters Series for North America, and Marvel Comics Ltd- The Real Ghostbusters Series for the United Kingdom. A Toy line by Kenner was produced through its run as well. There was even a short lived Magazine. In 1997, the franchise was revived with Extreme Ghostbusters. A group of new Ghostbusters joined Egon, Janine and Slimer, who helped to bridge both cartoons.

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Plot

The series' origin is told in the episode "Citizen Ghost", which is a flashback episode. Peter reveals that the suits were replaced with new ones that were in new colors. Gozer was taken out but the old suits had ecto-plasmic residue and Peter was supposed to destroy them. Also in that episode, it is revealed that Slimer stuck around the firehouse and while Peter didn't like him, the others after a few days grew to like him, as he was harmless and valuable to research. Ray names him, to spite Peter, Slimer. At the end of the episode the Ghostbusters are in serious trouble with ghostly versions of themselves that wanted them out of business. Slimer wore them out as they fired at him wasting their ecto energy. Because of that, the Ghostbusters were able to capture the ghosts. Slimer earned his spot as a pet and friend of the Ghostbusters.

"Take Two" explained in a way, the differences between the cartoon and the film. The film according to the episode was made based on events in the cartoon. Inside jokes about the film are all over the episode.

Development

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 Stay Puft 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 silhouette, and a skeletal Red Baron laughing as he flies across the sky, would later be used in the special opening sequence for the 1989 Real Ghostbusters prime time 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 78 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.

Unproduced Scripts

"Funny You Should Scream" By Jina Bacarr [1] Premise: Dr. Teufel (meaning devil) ran a carnival and trapped children in his Fun House a la Pied Piper. What happened: The script was donated to the "cause" the animation writers were fighting with the labor board for recognition to be admitted into the WGA. J. Michael Straczynski had to prove to the board that story editing and writing co-existed in the world of animation as it does in episodic television writing Since the 1930s, animation writers were "required" to belong to the Cartoonists Guild. This Ghostbusters script helped to establish a new precedent and animation writers were finally recognized by the WGA through the Animation Writers Caucus.



The Other Ghostbusters

"The Real" was added to the title over a dispute with Filmation. 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, a revamp of the 1970s live-action series. Despite rumors to the contrary, Columbia was allowed to use the name Ghostbusters for its cartoon, but added "The Real" to snub Filmation. In the episode "The Spirit of Aunt Lois", Dr. Bassingham, a charlatan spiritualist wore an outfit similar to that of Jake Kong. With character designs by Jim McDermott, the animated characters were dramatically redesigned from the way the same characters looked in the movie due to likeness-rights issues.

Season Guide & Episode Guide

For a list of the episodes of the Real Ghostbusters click here.

Main Characters

Dr. Peter Venkman

Dr. Peter Venkman (voiced by Lorenzo Music seasons 1-2 and Dave Coulier seasons 3-7) is the group's first-among-equals. While not their official leader, Venkman often makes the decision whether or not they will take a case. He also provides comic relief and is usually nominated for tasks no one else wants to do.

Dr. Egon Spengler

Dr. Egon Spengler (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) a scientific genius, is the primary source of expertise the group uses to understand (and many times combat) the ethereal realm. A skilled theorist, in many episodes Egon formulates the solution when all hope seems lost.

Dr. Ray Stantz

Dr. Ray Stantz (voiced by Frank Welker) is portrayed as an excitable jack-of-all-trades. He is second only to Egon in sheer intelligence, and leans towards practical applications of science as opposed to Egon's pure research – the engineer to Egon's physicist. He is also a child at heart, cheerful and optimistic (and rather enamored of cartoons and stuffed animals). As the only one of the four who can reliably understand what Egon is talking about, he is usually the one to put his theories into practice.

Winston Zeddemore

Winston Zeddemore (voiced by Arsenio Hall seasons 1-3 and Buster Jones seasons 4-7) is the courage and straight-man of the group; his accuracy with the proton gun is his forte. Of all the Ghostbusters, Winston Zeddemore has the most subtle character development; it is hinted that he is an avid reader and the descendant of a powerful African bloodline. Sometimes his last name is misspelled "Zeddmore"

Janine Melnitz

Janine Melnitz (voiced by Laura Summer seasons 1-2 and Kath Soucie seasons 3-7) is the secretary of the Ghostbusters and has an interest in Egon.

Louis Tully

Louis Tully (voiced by Rodger Bumpass seasons 5-6) is the accountant for the Ghostbusters. Was put in the cartoon to follow along with Ghostbusters II movie.

Slimer

Slimer (voiced by Frank Welker) is the pet of the Ghostbusters and is the only ghost that will stay still for Egon to test and study. In the Kenner toy line known also as the "Green Ghost".

For the full list of characters go Here.

Equipment

Minor Weapons

Items mostly used in one episode

More equipment is listed on project Ghostbusting Equipment 101.

Vehicles

Ecto-1 was the prime vehicle they used.

Ecto-2 was a small open-topped two-seater helicopter.

Ecto-3 was a motorized unicycle and sidecar.

Ecto-4 was a time-distortion jet-like vehicle.

Ecto-Bomber was an airplane.

Ecto-Ichi was an extremely high tech six wheeled Ectomobile used by the Ghostbusters in Japan.





Ecto-Junior was a go kart that the Junior Ghostbusters used. It was also the name of a vehicle used by the Ghostbusters in the episode My Left Fang.

Firehouse





Home Entertainment Releases

The 2005 DVD release of "Ghostbusters II" included two episodes of the series as bonus features: "Citizen Ghost", a story focusing on events set immediately after the first movie, and "Partners in Slime", which featured the psycho-active slime from Ghostbusters II and a brief mention of Vigo the Carpathian.

"The Real Ghostbusters: Complete Collection" was released through Time-Life on December 9, 2008 and includes all 140 Episodes.

"The Real Ghostbusters Vol. 1" (TimeLife) was released on DVD March 31, 2009 in North America

"The Real Ghostbusters Vol. 1" (TimeLife) was released on DVD June 3, 2009 in Australia

"The Real Ghostbusters Vol. 1" (TimeLife) was released on DVD June 15, 2009 in the United Kingdom

"The Real Ghostbusters Vol. 2" (TimeLife) was released on DVD January 26, 2010 in North America

"The Real Ghostbusters: The Animated Series", a series comprised of 10 individual volumes, was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on July 5th and September 6th, 2016 in North America.

"The Real Ghostbusters: The Animated Series", a collection comprised of 10 individual volumes, was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on October 3, 2017 in North America.

Streaming Service Releases

Netflix (March 31, 2017 to present) The episode "Killerwatt" has its original title screen, which is missing from the TimeLife DVD box set and the 2016 DVDs from Sony. Thus, the Netflix copy of "Killerwatt" is the only complete, proper copy of the episode officially/legally available (in the United States, at least). [2]



Foreign Markets‎‎

The Real Ghostbusters Series, much like the films was translated into many languages and with such things, many aspects had to be localized. Slimer's name being one of those aspects.

Trivia

Dana Barrett does not appear in the series.

References in IDW Comics

References

Gallery

Netflix Images

Selected Collages

Selected Primary Canon