In 1984, the world met a team of paranormal investigators. They had proton throwers, a retrofitted Cadillac, and some great comedians behind their portrayals. Columbia Pictures and DIC teamed up to create a cartoon series that would appear two years later. The Real Ghostbusters would help the Ramis/Akroyd creation to take the world by storm. There were Real Ghostbusters action figures, sleeping bags, lunch boxes, and even a Hi-C juice flavor.
I loved the series. VHS recordings of Saturday morning Ghostbusters were important items in my house. At 6 years old, I didn't notice how much talent there was behind the cartoon. J. Michael Straczynski led the writing staff, and the voice cast had some of the best names of their generation (Google "Maurice LaMarche"). The character design even stood out from the completion. The Spirits were well researched, and they could take all kinds of forms. The series would go on for 7 seasons, with a spin-off off of Slimer shorts, and a spin-off with a generation X team.
I was ecstatic the day True Life announced an upcoming home video boxset. It was going to be the complete series, and there were many I had yet to see. I fondly remember episodes about the Copycat, werechickens, imps, etc., but had only seen some of the earlier syndicated episodes through home video rentals. The hype slowly built up. There was a public vote among fans for what the box would look like, and we started learning about a huge amount of special features. Things just got better and better. The box was a replica of the firehouse, the set would also be divided into 5-disk volumes. Most of the episodes had introductions from the cast or crew, and sometimes video commentary. On top of that, the final disk in each volume had a featurette about the length of an episode. There's image galleries from promotional pieces and concept art., storyboards, and scripts.
It's so awesome. in the first featurette, you learn how the animated series first got pitched and put together. Kevin Alteiri (a big name from animated TV shows) showed some of his promo art during an onscreen interview and I just melted. He showed a promotional painting that I can remember being sold as a jigsaw puzzle. Better yet, I could see some connection between how the Ghostbusters look there, in the PS2 game, and in the IDW comic series. !!!!!!! Staczynski talks about how to write the series, at the cast starts telling how they got the parts when not exactly trying to play Ramis, Potts, Murray, Akroyd, and Hudson. Ernie Hudson actually interviewed to reprise his role but it went to Arsenio Hall instead. Cast members talk lovingly about Lorenzo Music playing Peter. I had grown up listening to him on Ghostbusters and Garfield. I don't think I cannot immediately associate that voice with those characters.
The second feature follows the average development of an episode from first script, through the casting director, and to the recording sessions. The character designer, (Gabi Payn) shoes how the promotional art got developed and how characters were designed. Physically, the characters couldn't look too much like the movie's cast (different from the IDW comic). Everett Peck (another character designer) shows how he'd take a description for monsters and realize what they would look like. Peck has also worked in animation for some Klasky Csupo cartoons and has drawn for the New Yorker, Playboy, and Time magazines. Next, you see the boarding process in how the narrative gets told visually. We then get to watch an animator draw Slimer and show how frame by frame a motion gets captured on paper, then through clean-up, and the color key people who decide how visually capture the feel. WE GET TO SEE A CELL GET PAINTED!!!
There's a feature solely dedicated to developing the human heroes of the story (someone else gets a featurette of his own). This video gets into what each character brings to the table and how that will be brought to the show. Egon was the awkward brain with a dry sense of humor. Winston was the everyman. Ray was the the intelligent and at times serious hero who would be the ultimate nice guy with an enthusiastic sense of wonder. Peter would be the one with the sarcasm and a soft side. Janine originally had more attitude before the network forced her to be softer, sweeter and more maternal. Over time Lorenzo Music, Laura Summer, and Arsenio got replaced by Dave Coulier, Buster Jones, and Kath Soucie. It's pointed out how Coulier would be doing voice acting and then going off to play Joey Gladstone on Full House. You may not know Soucie by her name, but you'll know her voices. Prime examples may be Linka from Captain Planet, the second Janine Melnitz, and the twins from Rugrats. I was watching Home Improvement one day, and a little girl screamed off camera. I'm not sure if the regular actress wasn't able to achieve the tantrum needed, but You could hear Kath Soucie yelling in character.
The next feature (I'm going through them all), is all about the creatures. Many of the creatures are brought out from legend, This is how I first learned what a valkyrie was. One of the key elements was surrealism. Everett Peck shows where his creativity goes on the spectrum between horror and comedy. Then the character designers show how they can translate the drawings to animation. Personally, I would like to know if Everett Peck was also involved designing monsters who would only be used for Kenner action figures. I've recently seen a few such characters make cameos in the IDW book.
I'm working my way through the disks and have noticed that only volumes 1-3 had individually been released for retail. You need to buy the set to get the rest. The last volume is more about the first Ghostbusters spin-off, the Slimer shorts. All of the art was a little more rounded and kid friendly. Slimer would find rival in the cat, (Manx). You also get to meet other people in the neighborhood who Slimer has befriended. Volume 5 opens with a featurette on Slimer. The evolution of Slimer is something that you can observe through watching the movie and then this DVD set from beginning to end. Until, watching this video, I didn't know that the creature haunting a hotel was supposedly based on the John Belushi. Belushi was going to star in the film had he not passed away beforehand. With the animated series, Slimer got a name and would follow the Ghostbusters as a comical and endearing sidekick. As Slimer became more popular, his communicative skills increased. Originally he was sputtering, purring, screaming, and expressing himself physically. Slimer's verbal skills developed a bit as his world broadened.
Disk 25 is the bonus disk and entirely dedicated to special features. You get the promo pilot (with optional commentary), extended interviews with cast, crew, and execs, the DVD trailer, and alternate end credits footage.
This has to be one of my favorite DVD sets. The reason I get DVDs is primarily for the special features, because you can't always find those online or on Netflix. There's an amazing 80's documentary called "Slimer Won't Do That: The Making of the Ghostbusters" which I would've loved to see included in the box set. Ramis and Akroyd get interviewed. You get to see rare footage of Frank Welker working in the studio. Fortunately Ghostbusters.net uploaded that onto YouTube.
I'd like to close with an important matter regarding these great DVD sets. I've seen DVD's get released with extraordinary collections of special features. Unfortunately, those are often only on region 1 DVD format. Shows like Gargoyles and the Ghostbusters have a large and very devoted fancies worldwide. I don't think it's fair for fans outside the US, US territories, Canada, Bermuda, and the Carribean need to have a special DVD designated just to watch DVDs exclusively released on volume 1 format. So, if anyone from home video studios is reading this, please try making these DVDs more universal. There are fans around the world whose appetite for awesomeness is yet to be sated. Thank you.
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