31 Crazy Ghostbusters Facts You Probably Didn't Know About!

The term 'Ghostbusters' has a firm pop-culture reference even today!

You can imagine the four leads in janitor costumes fighting the ghosts. This film was written and created by Daniel Aykroyd and Harris Ramis.

Ivan Reitman directed the first part of 'Ghostbusters' in 1984. Columbia Pictures had produced the film focusing not just on the storyline, but also on the strong cast that included Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harris Ramis playing the lead roles.

They played the roles of Peter, Raymond, and Egon, respectively.

Peter Venkman was the prominent leader in the film, and the other two, Raymond Stantz and Egon Spengler, were the brains and the weird geniuses of the group.

Initially, the film was set to focus on the futuristic approach to worldly ghosts, but it was shunned to concentrate on New York only due to the limitations of budget and shoot days.

The movie 'Ghostbusters' was such a hit that it turned into a franchise curating sequels and video games, toys, and merchandise that are popular even today. Read on to learn some more thrilling and insightful facts about this franchise.

Characters Of Ghostbusters

Eddie Murphy was an ideal choice to be one of the three ghostbusters in the films but in the end, he wasn't cast after all. Read on to know more about the three main characters and others that made the movie a pop-cultural fiction hit.

Peter Venkman, Raymond 'Ray' Stantz, and Egon Spengler were the lead characters in the film played by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis, respectively.

Ernie Hudson, who played the role of Winston Zeddemore in the film, was considered the fourth ghostbuster, and he fulfilled the everyman comic stance in the movie.

Eddie Murphy and Michael Keaton were in consideration to play the role of Peter Venkman. Although, after a few analyses, Michael Keaton was considered a better fit for the role of John Belushi.

Eddie Murphy had a contract clash while filming 'Beverly Hills Cop' at the same time, and hence, Bill Murray took up the role of Peter.

There was a massive debate about Egon Spengler's role as actors Christopher Lloyd, John Lithgow, Christopher Walken, and Jeff Goldblum were all in consideration.

Rick Moranis played the character of Louis Tully.

John Candy earlier auditioned for the character of Louis Tully. Although John Candy couldn't justify the character as envisioned by the filmmakers, he wanted the character to be one of the starring ones in the film.

That was the main reason why the filmmakers chose Rick Moranis, who was superb while playing the role, and he also gave his famous dialogue, ' I am Batman'.

Ron Jeremy, the talk show host, had a cameo in this film. Ron Jeremy appeared along with Debbie Gibson and Larry King as onlookers in the film.

The character Dana Barrett, played by Sigourney Weaver, auditioned for her role by playing a dog and got selected right away.

William Atherton played the character of Walter Peck, the narcissistic inspector and the nemesis of the ghost hunters.

John Belushi was originally cast in the film, although his appearance never came to fruition due to his death before the filming began.

The director, Ivan Reitman, also played a cameo role in the film with his voiceovers for Zuul that were enhanced to make them sound spooky.

Art Direction Of Ghostbusters

John DeCuir was the head of production design for the original 'Ghostbusters' film, and he made every individual's belief turn into reality with the best art direction ever. Read on to know a few fun facts about the art direction of this film series.

A significant chunk of the film was shot in New York City, so it is considered a New Yorker film. However, it included many out of NYC locations like the studios at Columbia Pictures and Los Angeles.

The jail scene in the film was shot in an actual prison, and the building was claimed to be haunted for real by Daniel Aykroyd.

The film's signature props like the proton packs and guns were just wands, and the red-white Ecto-1 was designed by Stephen Dane.

Director Ivan Reitman hired Stephen. Ivan Reitman gave him just two weeks to create all the classic props as the film had a very short period to finish the shoot.

The proton packs were not seen or used in 'Ghostbusters II'.

It was impossible to procure the enormous amount of marshmallows needed in the scene with the marshmallow man's goo. Instead, a total of 500 gallons of shaving cream was used while filming.

The cost of Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man suits was around $20,000 each and they were all destroyed in the filming process.

The visual effects team was guided by Terry Williams, and Richard Edlund was given just ten months to work on special effects in the film. To cover every detail with such a tiny timespan, they also used peanuts, spray paints, and many impromptu apparatus for the shoot.

Audience Reception

Movies or any form of artwork are incomplete without the reviews and critical opinions about the project. Here are a few of the most popular audience receptions for pop-culture fiction that have stayed alive since the year 1984.

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the film 'Ghostbusters' was mainly a Bill Murray movie and that it was Murray who defined the landscape of the movie with his witty one-liners.

New York Times columnist, Vincent Canby, wrote that the film was more of a comedy than a sci-fi scary movie. He further suggested that the special effects in the film did not cover the comic elements presented in most of the frames.

'The perfect marriage of big-budget sci-fi spectacle and character-based comedy schtick' is how Scott Weinberg (DVD Clinic) described the film.

Sarah Brinks, writing for Battleship Pretension, praised the film's writers Aykroyd and Ramis, and brought particular attention to the brilliant screenplay.

Colette DeDonato, representing Common Sense Media, pointed out that Bill Murray happened to be in his prime in the film 'Ghostbusters', and he played his part as one of the four fearless slime fighters effectively.

Story Line Of Ghostbusters

Finding, fighting, and defeating interdimensional entities is the basic plot or storyline of the 'Ghostbusters' New York movie. Read on to find out more interesting facts about the storyline that you probably missed out on over the years.

The storyline shown in the film was different when the first script was processed. The initial concept for the film was quite dark and more of a futuristic ghost movie which was later altered into a grittier sci-fi film by Ivan Reitman.

The first pass of this film's script could have cost the production a sum of $300 million to produce.

While pitching to Columbia Pictures, the cast of Dan, Harris, and Bill Murray, along with a five-word pitch of 'ghost janitors in New York', was the seize the deal moment for Columbia Pictures.

The entire script was performed with ad-libs and improvisations on set.

Dan Aykroyd was inspired to come up with the story from his family history as his great-grandfather was a psychic himself. His inspirations were the many spooky books and his great-grandfather's séances that were kept by his father.

Lesser Known Facts

Read on to know a few exciting and lesser-known facts about this famous franchise.

Huey Lewis and Lindsey Buckingham were offered a deal to create the theme track, but they turned it down, and the filmmakers then chose Ray Parker Jr.

The theme song by Ray Parker Jr charted as the number one song for three consecutive weeks.

Huey Lewis then sued Ray Parker Jr under the charge of plagiarism as the theme song of the film, 'I ain't afraid of no ghosts' had a few similarities with 'I want a new drug'.

Bill Murray did not take a check from Columbia Pictures for the filming. Instead, he agreed to a deal where after 'Ghostbusters', he could create a passion project which would be entirely funded and run by Columbia Pictures.

 A new series of 'Ghostbusters' was directed by Jason Reitman to celebrate its 35th anniversary.

There have been two TV series based on this film, namely 'The Real Ghostbusters' that ran between 1986-1991 and 'Extreme Ghostbusters', which was aired in 1997.

The franchise was followed by an adventure video game that was released in 2009. The video game series received two significant nominations. One was for the 'Most Interactive Achievement Award' and the other for the 'Spike Video Game Awards'.

In 2007, Premiere voted the dialogue, 'Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria!', as one of the top 100 most incredible movie lines.

FAQs

What was Slimer before he died?

Slimer had killed a waiter because the waiter had messed up his order. This was his characterization of the gangster role that he played before dying in the film. Dan Aykroyd, one of the creators of the film, had associated the late John Belushi with Slimer for fun. The character was initially named 'the green mean ghost' and 'Onionhead'.

What inspired 'Ghostbusters'?

Dan Aykroyd's and Harold Ramis' curiosity about the idea of paranormal activities inspired them to come up with 'Ghostbusters'. Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis thus created the film while director Ivan Reitman took up the task of turning it into reality.

How much shaving cream was used in 'Ghostbusters'?

To make the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in the film, the crew had to use around 500-gallon shaving cream for the marshmallow goo.

What was 'Ghostbusters' almost called?

Due to the existence of a TV series named 'The Ghost Busters' in the 1970s, the film's name was almost changed to 'The Ghoststoppers' or 'Ghost Smashers.' However, after Columbia Pictures paid a license fee of $500 million with 1% of the profit to Universal, it was accepted that it would be named 'Ghostbusters'.

What was the 'Ghostbusters' phone number?

The dialogue that gives out 'Ghosbusters' phone number states 'To reach us, call 1-800-555-2368 9-5 p.m., Mon-Sat'.

Which one of the 'Ghostbusters' died?

Harris Ramis, who played the awkward yet brilliant character Egon Spengler, died in the year 2014 at the age of 69.

Who is the girl at the beginning of 'Ghostbusters'?

Jennifer Runyon, an American actress, is the girl that appears at the beginning of 'Ghostbusters' as she plays a supporting role.

What was the marshmallow made out of in 'Ghostbusters'?

The crew mainly used shaving cream in place of marshmallows in 'Ghostbusters'.

Who gets shocked in 'Ghostbusters'?

After the electrocution experiment conducted by Peter Venkman, the character Bob was shocked in the film.

How old is Trevor in 'Ghostbusters'?

Although Trevor Spengler lies that he is 16, his actual age was 15 years in 'Ghostbusters'.

How does 'Ghostbusters' afterlife end?

The main characters of Ghostbusters come in the frame in their uniforms with proton packs where they pass their torch at the end of the afterlife.