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In Don't Forget the Motor City, after Peter's car explodes, the Ghostbusters travel to Detroit's Generous Motors, where the automobile assembly line has been invaded by World War II Gremlins, pesky little creatures who like to take apart anything mechanized.[2]

Cast[]

Peter Venkman

Ray Stantz

Janine Melnitz

Egon Spengler

Winston Zeddemore

Slimer

Mr. Abernathy

Gremlins (Type of Creatures)

Equipment[]

Ecto-1

Proton Pack

Particle Thrower

P.K.E. Meter

Trap

Tobin's Spirit Guide

Locations[]

Firehouse Animated

Generous Motors

Other[]

Y-car

Plot[]

Peter had been the proud owner of a Generous Motors Y-car for less than a day before it broke down and then blew up in the Firehouse's garage. Coincidentally, while he was still in a fit of rage, the President of Generous Motors, Mr. Abernathy, called the Ghostbusters for help. It seemed that almost all the Y-cars his company was making were blowing up by possibly supernatural causes. Peter is very excited about the new case. He theorized they could get to meet the Queen of Soul.

The Ghostbusters got on the next plane to Motor City and investigated the GM assembly plant. While Abernathy and the Ghostbusters examined the assembly line, a worker revealed something was wrong in the break room. The vending machines shot out its contents. Winston eyed the main outlet and the team pulled the plugs on all the machines. Egon's P.K.E. Meter suddenly detected something. They discovered that Gremlins were to blame for the strange mechanical problems. The re-opening of a part of the factory had set loose the Gremlins, who had been trapped there since World War II when aircraft was being manufactured. Ray consulted a Pocket Edition of Tobin's Spirit Guide[3] while he and Egon further explained the entities to Abernathy.

As a true businessman, Mr. Abernathy suggested that the Ghostbusters should just chase them out of his factory and into someone else's place. The Ghostbusters took the higher road, of course, and attempted to capture them. Abernathy went off to write memos about the investigation and hoped the Board of Directors had a sense of humor. As the Ghostbusters pondered their next move, Winston pointed out their technology was designed to handle ghosts and they'd have to use their wits. The others agreed and Winston was volunteered to travel the length of the assembly line. Winston got trapped in a robot monster that the Gremlins created out of car parts as they sang "We Love to Trash Cars." Unable to use their Particle Throwers for fear of hitting Winston, Egon suggested another way. Ray understood Egon's hint and siphoned the gas out of the robot. This made the robot stop and fall apart and Winston was saved. To add insult to injury, the Gremlins sabotaged Winston's Particle Thrower so that it shot out party confetti.

Eventually, Egon and Ray created a pea-soup-green car that was supposedly indestructible. This tantalized the Gremlins and as soon as they gathered around to wreck it, it turned into another new car. It kept changing into different cars, which would keep the Gremlins busy indefinitely. Peter dropped a giant glass jar on top of them trapping them and their new toy forever. Mr. Abernathy presented them with a big check and, at Peter's request, apparently introduced them to Detroit's own Queen of Soul.

Quotes[]

Ghostbusters: [singing] R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Find out what it means to me. R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Trivia[]

  • The episode was recorded on July 18, 1986.[4]
  • Writers Pamela Hickey and Dennys McCoy, during the episode introduction in The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection, revealed they wrote the song "We Love to Trash Cars."
  • Limited edition VHS cassettes of Ghostbusters II in the UK featured this episode before the movie as a bonus feature. [citation needed]
  • Dennys McCoy admits this is a favorite episode of his and Pamela Hickey's.[5]
  • Peter's license plate on his Y-Car is a vanity one and reads "Dr.V."[6]
  • Janine, and then Slimer, sings the "Inspector Gadget" theme song. "Inspector Gadget" was another animated series produced by DIC at the time.
  • Generous Motors is a reference to General Motors (aka GM)
  • Y-Cars is a reference to the GM X-cars, including the Buick Skylark, Chevrolet Citation, Oldsmobile Omega and Pontiac Phoenix. These cars were subject of some of the most notorious recalls of the 1980s.
  • Although not mentioned by name, the "Queen of Soul" was meant to be Aretha Franklin. "Queen of Soul" is one of her actual nicknames, and the guys were singing Respect, her most famous song. Aretha worked with Dan Aykroyd on the Blues Brothers.
  • The break room junk food was an homage to Egon and Ray's diet in the movies.[7]
  • Janine stocks the Firehouse's kitchen with donuts, but Egon finds them "drab".[8]
  • Pulling the plugs on the vending machines is an old joke for animation writers.[9]
  • The Gremlins first line, "I think they've seen us," is an homage to King Kong.[10]
  • While on the assembly line, Winston admitted he could never pull off a bluff.[11]
  • The giant robot was an homage to Transformers but it was meant to resemble Winston.[12]
  • J. Michael Straczynski called Pamela Hickey, had her sing "We Love to Trash Cars," recorded it, and then gave it to the voice cast to use as reference.[13]
  • When Winston found out his Particle Thrower shot confetti, Peter suggested he rent himself out to parties.[14] Coincidentally, Winston did perform at birthday parties with Ray as seen in Ghostbusters II.
  • Ray reveals he built three cars in his last year of auto shop class.[15]
  • Peter mentions Mars in reference to Ray and Egon's current state of mind in the parts warehouse.
  • Egon's favorite color is revealed: pea soup green[16]
  • Ray has a tuxedo in pea soup green.[17]
  • One of the Gremlins is named Gorner. It likes the color pea soup green, too.[18][19]
  • The Ghostbusters had to sing the lyrics of Respect in a monotone manner because the staff couldn't afford to buy the song.[20]
  • The episode was storyboarded in Korea.[21]
  • Dennys McCoy revealed a favorite cartoon of his, "Gremlins from the Kremlin" served as an inspiration.[22]
  • A point of the episode was to annoy the Ghostbusters to their breaking point.[23]

Animation Errors[]

  • In the shot before, when and after Peter's car explodes Ecto-1 isn't in the shot.
  • When Egon explains that WWII was a boom time for Gremlins, Winston's uniform has Egon's color by mistake. It still has Winston's trimmings. The same thing happens after Peter says "Piece of cake".

References[]

  1. Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1986).
  2. Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 12. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  3. "Don't Forget the Motor City" Storyboard Page 71
  4. Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1986).
  5. Dennys McCoy (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 00:10). Time Life Entertainment.
  6. Y-car (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 01:24-01:25). Time Life Entertainment.
  7. Dennys McCoy (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 08:14-08:30). Time Life Entertainment.
  8. Egon Spengler (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 08:52-08:56). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "We should tell Janine to stock our kitchen with these instead of those drab little donuts."
  9. Dennys McCoy (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 09:07-09:14). Time Life Entertainment.
  10. Pamela Hickey (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 09:50-09:51). Time Life Entertainment.
  11. Winston Zeddemore (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 13:40). Time Life Entertainment. Winston says: "I never could pull a bluff."
  12. Dennys McCoy (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 12:40-12:44). Time Life Entertainment.
  13. Dennys McCoy (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 14:08-14:24). Time Life Entertainment.
  14. Peter Venkman (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 16:00-16:03). Time Life Entertainment.
  15. Ray Stantz (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 16:10-16:13). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "I built three in my last year of auto shop."
  16. Egon Spengler (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 17:59-18:01). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "Pea soup green is my favorite color."
  17. Ray Stantz (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 18:01-18:02). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "I have a tuxedo in that color."
  18. Gremlins (Type of Creatures) (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 18:35). Time Life Entertainment.
  19. "Don't Forget the Motor City" Storyboard Page 123
  20. Dennys McCoy (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 21:37-21:46). Time Life Entertainment.
  21. Dennys McCoy (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 03:25). Time Life Entertainment.
  22. Dennys McCoy (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 05:16-05:18). Time Life Entertainment.
  23. Dennys McCoy (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Don't Forget the Motor City" (1987) (DVD ts. 19:30-19:32). Time Life Entertainment.

Gallery[]

Episode Screen Caps[]

Collages and Edits[]

RGB DVD Boxset Features[]

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