Ghostbusters, 10 curiosities about the film

Put on your proton pack. THE Ghostbusters they celebrate 40 years in the beloved cult by Ivan Reitman who gave birth to one of the media franchise most prolific ever, made of 5 films and 3 animated series. Starring star performers Saturday Night Livethe iconic horror-comedy born from the imagination of Dan Aykroyd and by his passion for ghosts inherited from his great-grandfather, a member of a spiritual community that communicated with the afterlife. Influenced by an article on quantum physics and parapsychology, the actor wrote the screenplay together with his colleague, the late Harold Ramis. Aykroyd took his cue from Mickey Mouse and the GhostsDisney short film from 1937, and some films with the English actor Bob Hope as The Midnight Ghost (1939) e The woman and the ghost (1940).

Ghostbusters it was the first comedy film to make use of expensive special effects, employing a budget of $30 million. The adventures of the four ectoplasm hunters in New York, namely Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Raymond Stantz (Aykroyd), Egon Spengler (Ramis) and Winston Zeddmore (Ernie Hudson), they paid off well $282.2 million at the box office, making Ghostbusters the second highest grossing of 1984 in the United States and Canada as well the most successful comedy ever. We celebrate 40 years of the cult phenomenon of the 80s with 10 curiosities: from the stinky Slimer puppet to the three destroyed Marshmallow Men.

The original cast with John Belushi and Eddie Murphy

In Dan Aykroyd’s intentions, i Ghostbusters they were to be himself, Harold Ramis, his friend John Belushi as Peter Venkman and Eddie Murphy as Winston Zeddmore. Unfortunately, Belushi died of an overdose during pre-production while Murphy was already busy on the set of Beverly Hills Cop. Venkman was then proposed to Steve Guttenberg who preferred Carey Mahoney’s Police Academy. The role thus went to Bill Murray who improvised most of his lines, making the character iconic.

The equipment of Ghostbusters

Costumes and props come from the sketches of the Akroyd/Ramis couple. Toolmaker Stephen Dane was the brilliant mind behind the proton pack, ghost trap, slime catcher, and slime blower. He was inspired by the armament seen on the pages of a military magazine, including special flamethrowers and bomb bays. The uniforms of the Ghostbusters were, however, made from military aviator suits of the CWU 27/P type.

The legendary barracks of the Ghostbusters

The Ghostbusters’ headquarters is actually a mix of two fire stations. The exterior is Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8 in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The interior, however, is of another fire station: Firestation No. 23 at 225 East Fifth Street in Los Angeles. Both were built in 1912.

The Ecto-1

The Ghostbusters’ super station wagon is a 1959 limo-style Cadillac Ambulance. A version produced by Miller-Meteor of Piqua, Ohio, which had the license to modify Cadillac vehicles into ambulance, hearse and limousine versions.

Slimer wasn’t called Slimer

The greedy and slimy fluorescent ectoplasm did not become Slimer until the popular 1986 animated series. In the original film, in fact, he is only called “disgusting blob”. During the six long months of creation, the mythical green ghost was nicknamed “Onionhead” by effects artist Steve Johnson due to the stinky material used to create him.

The Ghost of John Belushi

Akroyd and Ramis asked the designer of the greenish puppet to base his features on those of Bluto, the iconic character played by their late friend John Belushi in Animal House.

The comedy side of Ripley

Before Ghostbusters, Sigourney Weaver was only known for “serious” films. She had done a lot of plays at Yale Drama School and wanted to show that side of herself. As part of the audition for Dana Barrett, the star of Alien he stood up on a sofa and began barking like a dog.

Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

Dan Aykroyd commissioned a friend of his to draw the Marshmallow Man, imagining him as a cross between the Michelin Man and Doughboy, Pillsbury’s mascot in the 1980s. The puppet was “worn” by stuntman Bill Bryan, who created his walk inspired by Godzilla. Three Mr.Stay Pufts were made, costing $20,000 each, and were all destroyed during filming.

The logo of Ghostbusters

The famous logo, with the red prohibition symbol and the white ghost, was designed by Michael Gross following instructions from Dan Aykroyd who had imagined it and described it in the film’s screenplay.

Who are you gonna call?

Ray Parker Jr. composed the famous song from the film in just two days, after being inspired by the slogan of a commercial for a drain cleaning company that said: «Who will you call?».