Ghostbusters (later known as Filmation's Ghostbusters or The Original Ghostbusters) is an animated series spin-off of the original 1975 live-action television show The Ghost Busters. It originally aired between September 8, 1986 and December 5, 1986.
Plot[]
Jake Kong Jr. and Eddie Spencer Jr. are the sons of the original Ghost Busters from the live action series of the same name; Tracy the Gorilla worked with their fathers.
Their headquarters, termed Ghost Command, is located in a haunted mansion nestled between a number of tall skyscrapers (which resemble the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City) They are supported by a number of secondary characters including Ansa-Bone, a talking skull phone; Skelevision, a talking skeleton television; Belfrey, a pink talking bat; and Ghost Buggy, their talking ghost car. They occasionally enlist the aid of Futura, a time travelling Ghostbuster from the future, and Jessica Wray, a local TV news reporter.
Together, they have dedicated themselves to ridding the world of the evil ghost wizard Prime Evil and his cast of henchmen. Prime Evil's headquarters, termed Hauntquarters (which resembles the British Houses of Parliament complete with a Big Ben-esque clock tower), is located in The Fifth Dimension. In a typical episode, Prime Evil uses his magical powers to open up a wormhole to enable one or more of his henchmen to complete a particular scheme that serves to help him take over the world.
Famous guest-star ghosts and monsters that appeared on the show include Count Dracula (who is actually a vampire) and the Headless Horseman (who also appeared in an episode of The Real Ghostbusters written by Jean-Marc Lofficier's wife, Randy Lofficier).
Like almost all 1980s Filmation cartoons, each episode closes with a segment describing a particular lesson that can be learned from the events of the episode. Skelevision (sometimes accompanied by Belfrey) is the character most often employed in this role. From time to time, Jake, Eddie Jr or another protagonist would talk with Skelevison about the lesson.
Episodes[]
- I'll Be a Son of a Ghostbuster
- Frights of the Roundtable
- No Pharaoh at All
- The Secret of Mastodon Valley
- The Ones Who Saved the Future
- Witch's Stew
- Mummy Dearest
- Wacky Wax Museum
- Statue of Liberty
- The Ransom of Eddie Spenser
- Eddie Takes Charge
- The Great Ghost Gorilla
- A Friend in Need
- No Mo' Snow
- Prime Evil's Good Deed
- Cyman's Revenge
- The Headless Horseman Caper
- Banish That Banshee
- Rollerghoster
- He Went Brataway
- The Looking-Glass Warrior
- Laser and Future Rock
- Runaway Choo Choo
- Dynamite Dinosaurs
- Ghostbunglers
- My Present to the Future
- The Beastly Buggy
- Belfry Leads the Way
- The Battle for Ghost Command
- Going Ape
- The Haunting of Gizmo
- Ghostnappers
- Inside Out
- The Sleeping Dragon
- The Phantom of the Big Apple
- Shades of Dracula
- Outlaw In-Laws
- Our Buddy Fuddy
- Train to Doom-De-Doom-Doom
- The Princess and the Troll
- Second Chance
- Tracy Come Back
- Doggone Werewolf
- That's No Alien
- Scareplane
- The Ghost of Don Quixote
- The White Whale
- Country Cousin
- Knight of Terror
- The Girl Who Cried Vampire
- Little Big Bat
- Really Roughing It
- The Bad Old Days
- The Curse of the Diamond of Gloom
- The Bind That Ties
- Like Father Like Son
- The Fourth Ghostbuster
- Whither Why
- Cold Winter's Night
- Father Knows Beast
- Back to the Past
- Pretend Friends
- The Haunted Painting
- Maze Caves
- The Way You Are
Controversy[]
When Columbia Pictures started producing the film Ghostbusters in 1984, it neglected the fact that Filmation had already produced a live-action comedy series with that same name in 1975. Columbia agreed to license the name from Filmation for $500,000 plus 1% of the profits (of which there were ostensibly none). Since Columbia did not want to license Filmation the rights to the movie Ghostbusters when they were looking to produce an animated series, Filmation produced an animated version of their live-action TV show. Columbia proceeded to name their cartoon show The Real Ghostbusters to directly distinguish it from the Filmation show.
Filmation had even gone as far as to attempt to work with Columbia Pictures and had completed initial design work for a cartoon to be based on the movie. Columbia changed its mind, deciding not to work with Filmation, and the proposed deal fell through (Columbia worked with DiC instead). Filmation's Lou Scheimer later admitted, "We should have asked for the animation rights for their (Columbia's) Ghostbusters as part of the settlement." This prompted Filmation to create the cartoon based on its former live-action series.
Trivia[]
- While The Real Ghostbusters had the catchphrase, "Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!", each episode of Filmation's Ghost Busters also used a catchphrase: "Let's Go, Ghost Busters!"