Two weekends ago, I was lucky enough to find some VHS tapes of Ghostbusters II which contained special bumpers from ABC.  Today, while at home for Thanksgiving, I found the holy grail.  This tape was my first look at Ghostbusters (the film, my first intro to the franchise was The Real Ghostbusters).

This taping was recorded from ABC 7 in Chicago (WLS) in 1987.  Enjoy the bumper and, for those in the states, have a happy Thanksgiving!

What do you get when you mash-up one of the most quotable movies with a syncopated beat? A fresh and original remix by Dave Thomas.  Truly amazing, very creative!

Some exciting details are beginning to emerge regarding The Real Ghostbusters DVD collection from Time Life.

Let’s talk packaging, shall we?  The Real Ghostbusters DVD collection will use Steelbook packaging for the DVDs.  The Real Ghostbusters DVDs will be housed in 5 separate Steelbook cases, which will then be put in the Firehouse box.   Images for this box set will be coming soon.

Listed below is a complete list of the 21 commentaries and 88 introductions included in the Real Ghostbusters DVD collection.

Disc 1

#1 Visual Commentary Track “GHOSTS R US” with Len Janson (writer & story editor), Kevin Alteri (director & storyboard supervisor), Dan Riba (storyboard artist), hosted by Andy Mangels [23:38]

#4 Visual Commentary Track “SLIMER, COME HOME” with Dan Riba (storyboard artist) and Gabi Payn (character designer), hosted by Andy Mangels [23:44]

Disc 2

#10 Visual Commentary Track “TAKE TWO” with J. Michael Straczynski (writer & story editor), Joe Medjuck (executive producer), and Michael C. Gross (executive producer), hosted by Andy Mangels [23:45]

Disc 3

#20 Visual Commentary Track “ADVENTURES IN SLIME AND SPACE” with David Gerrold (writer), hosted by Andy Mangels [22:22]

Disc 4

#22 Visual Commentary Track “VENKMAN’S GHOST REPELLERS” with Richard Mueller (writer) and James Eatock (publisher of cereal: geek magazine) [22:22]

Disc 6

#33 Visual Commentary Track ” DON’T FORGET THE MOTOR CITY” with Dennys McCoy & Pam Hickey (writers) [22:22]

Disc 7

#41 Visual Commentary Track “THE COLLECT CALL OF CATHULHU” with Marsha Goodman (voice director & voice casting) and James Eatock (publisher of cereal: geek magazine) [22:22]

Disc 8

#45 Visual Commentary Track “EGON ON THE RAMPAGE” with Marc Scott Zicree (writer), Maurice La Marche (voice of “Egon”), and Laura Summer (voice of 1st “Janine”), hosted by Andy Mangels [22:25]

Disc 9

#53 Visual Commentary Track “THE SCARING OF THE GREEN” with Michael Edens (writer) and Michael Swanigan (storyboard artist), hosted by Andy Mangels [22:21]

Disc 11 (7 eps +1 commentary +6 intros = 186 minutes)

#63 Visual Commentary Track “THE CABINET OF CALAMARI” with Michael Edens (writer), Michael Swanigan (storyboard artist), and James Eatock (publisher of cereal: geek magazine), hosted by Andy Mangels [21:47]

Disc 12

#71 Visual Commentary Track “THE DEVIL TO PAY” with Dennys McCoy & Pam Hickey (writers), hosted by Andy Mangels [22:22]

Disc 13

#76 Visual Commentary Track “EGON’S DRAGON” with Kathryn Drennan (writer), hosted by Andy Mangels [22:24]

#79 Visual Commentary Track “BABY SPOOKUMS” with Len Janson (writer & story editor), hosted by Andy Mangels [22:58]

Disc 14

#85 Visual Commentary Track “HALLOWEEN II 1/2″ with Dennys McCoy & Pam Hickey (writers), hosted by Andy Mangels [22:22]

Disc 16

#99 Visual Commentary Track “THE BROOKLYN TRIANGLE” with Richard Mueller (writer) and Derdad Aghamalian (color key artist), hosted by Andy Mangels [22:54]

Disc 18

#114 Visual Commentary Track “THE HALLOWEEN DOOR” with J. Michael Straczynski (writer & story editor), hosted by Andy Mangels [23:15]

Disc 19

#118 Visual Commentary Track “JANINE, YOU’VE CHANGED” with J. Michael Straczynski (writer & story editor), Marsha Goodman (voice director & voice casting), and Kath Soucie (voice of 2nd “Janine”), hosted by Andy Mangels [23:19]

Disc 22

#134 Visual Commentary Track “20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE STREET” with Richard Mueller (writer), hosted by Andy Mangels [22:57]

Disc 24

#SL8 Visual Commentary Track “BEACH BLANKET BRUISER / CLASS CLOWN / DOG DAYS” with Francis Moss (writer) and Darrell McNeil (animator), hosted by Andy Mangels [21:37]

#SL12 Visual Commentary Track “RAINY DAY SLIMER / SLIMER & THE BEANSTALK / SPACE CASE” Dennys McCoy & Pam Hickey (writers) and Darrell McNeil (animator), hosted by Andy Mangels [22:58]

Disc 25

#00 Promo Pilot Visual Commentary Track [3:46]
Kevin Altieri (director and storyboard supervisor) and Dan Riba (storyboard artist) provide a fast-paced Visual Commentary Track telling about the unseen pilot!

Real Ghostbusters Online takes us down memory lane with this wonderful unboxing video of the Real Ghostbusters Firehouse by Kenner.  The firehouse,  which has been in storage for nearly 22 years, was factory sealed is opened for the first time during the video.

Also, a friendly reminder, only 5 days remain to pre-order the Real Ghostbusters DVD collection before the 10% discount expires.

Thanks to Lionheart from the Ghostbusters Message Board for spotting this new Ghostbusters t-shirt design, now available at Hot Topic.

While the shirt is not currently available online (only in Hot Topic retail stores), it may very well be added soon.

08/19/08 UPDATE: You can now order this shirt online at HotTopic.com.  Thanks to Ghostbusters.net members Edge and JamesCGamora for the tip.

Ghostbusters.net member Bativac illustrated and inked versions of the Kenner Real Ghostbusters Fright Feature Figures.  If you are a child of the 80’s and you loved Ghostbusters, you had these!  I don’t know about you guys, but me and my friends (circa 1987) had a real problem with Egon’s tie breaking off.  Nice work Bativac!

Newcomers: parts one, two, and three.  Now on to the next chapter… Peter Venkman.

As we move towards the final two characters left on the list, we start to find that the designs look less and less like their live action counterparts, yet capture more and more of the character’s traits. With Peter Venkman (and lastly, Egon), we see animation character design at its best. They show us that a character can be interpreted many different ways, yet still retain the soul that everyone relates to.

Those traits being:

• Charismatic
• Humorous
• Witty
• Extroverted
• Mildy Sleazy
• Kind Hearted
• Business Savvy (always thinking of the dollar)
• Flirtatious

These traits are manifested in two ways within the translation of the face. First, the literal cross overs from Bill Murray. They kept the hair line, cheeks,  nose, the tired / jaded eyes, the smirk, and the flat “butt chin” . Secondly, they created traits from scratch that best represented the character. Most notably, his hair. Dana put it best when he said said “you look more like a game show host”. And what do all game show hosts have? Nice hair! Which is why the cartoon Venkman has much more styled hair than Mr. Murray…especially with the nice pseudo cow lick bangs with the lovely curl at the end. But the hair is just messy enough, and just long enough in the back, to pay a little homage to Murray’s hair while still taking it into the TV show host / ladies man realm. Another significant change is the head shape. Murray’s head is shaped like a rounded square. Problem is, in animation, a round head suggests innocence or youth, while a square head suggests someone is dense or dim witted. Venkman is neither. So they narrowed his face into more of a tapered rectangle. The narrow shape and slight “V” angle makes him both witty, and more attractive. Which plays well into his womanizing routine.

Venkman’s body shape fits Murray pretty well. But the main changes come in the suit colors. Again, these colors were chosen because they represent his character traits. Venkman is no doubt the most popular character associated with Ghostbusters and fans are going to want him to remain true to the movie. But alas, the classic Tan suit is already used for Ray, as his character best represents the heart of Ghostbusters. Venkman also represents the heart…but a slightly darker, more cynical heart. What is a darker version of tan?…brown. Also, people who prefer brown, tend to not be impulsive. And as we all know, Venkman rarely likes to just dive into a situation head first….he lets others do that for him. “Go Get Her, Ray!”

Now Venkman also has dark blue-green accents to his brown suit. People who prefer blue-green tend to be discriminating (dismissed Walter Peck right away), poised (always appears composed and self assured), as well as attractive and charming (both play into the lady’s man routine). And of course, blue-green is an opposite on the color wheel with brown. Contrasting colors always go well together.

So there you have it! By taking some of Bill Murray’s features, adding some classically attractive physical features over top of that, as well a dash of TV host hair, and colors that reflect those character traits, you get a timeless Peter Venkman animated design that doesn’t “look” like the live action Venkman, but sure as hell feels like him!

In the next and final chapter, I will be discussing Egon.

Too Zuul For School

Very much in the same vein as the Stay-Puft paper model, these Ghostbusters mean business.  The templates are available to download below, so what are you waiting for?  Break out your scissors, glue, and fire up that printer!

• Ray Stanz
• Egon Spengler
• Winston Zeddemore
• Peter Venkman

This is it, this is definitely it!  If you’re a fan of The Real Ghostbusters, you’ve been waiting for this DVD collection, and it is finally here.

The 25 DVD box set will contain all Real Ghostbusters episodes, all Slimer! episodes, and over 12 hours of bonus footage which includes:

• The original promotional pilot for The Real Ghostbusters, NEVER BEFORE AIRED
• 21 on-camera Commentary Tracks with producers, voice actors, writers, animators and production personnel
• 5 exclusive Documentaries
• 86 Episode Introductions
• 16-page booklets include episode synopses, trivia, and art for every episode!
• Plus Scripts, Storyboards, Image Galleries, Music & Effects Audio Tracks, and Much More!
• Interviews with J. Michael Straczynski (Writer & Story Editor), Maurice La Marche (Voice Of ” Egon Spengler”), Laura Summer (Voice Of First “Janine Melnitz”), Kath Soucie (Voice Of Second “Janine Melnitz”), and Many Others

This is, without a doubt, the definitive collection of The Real Ghostbusters.  You can pre-order your copy before September 1st and save 10%.  The collection is scheduled to ship on November 15th.

Note, prior to publishing this article, I placed my order and was charged the full amount.  A simple call to customer service solved this issue.

Ernie Hudson recently sat down for an interview Eurogamer to talk about Ghostbusters: The Video Game and how the Ghostbusters franchise has touched his life and career.

Still, sounds like Hudson accepts intrusions as part of the price you pay for being in a hugely successful film. He also accepts the fact he’ll always be remembered as the fourth Ghostbuster, although he had a much bigger part in the original script. “I was the guy who got slimed in the hotel, but I guess the studio felt they wanted more stuff for Bill Murray,” Hudson reveals. “I was the guy who thought of the marshmallow man on the rooftop, but then it became Danny [Akroyd]’s character.”

It was only after he won the part of Winston that the decision was made to reduce the character’s role. “And they didn’t do that till the day before we started shooting, so I didn’t have time to adjust,” Hudson says. “Yeah, when the part was cut there was some frustrating stuff associated with that. But it was what it was, and it is what it is. 24 years later, people still like the movie, and I’m glad.”