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Ghostbusters II

Revision as of 03:53, 4 July 2014 by Mrmichaelt (talk | contribs) (→‎Places/Locations)
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Ghostbusters II is the 1989 sequel to Ghostbusters (1984) produced and directed by Ivan Reitman. It takes place in New York City, five years after the events in the first film. It is the second Ghostbusters related material that fits in mostly the Movie Canon, and some of it was tied in the Animated Canon via The Real Ghostbusters episode "Partners in Slime".

With the release of Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Version) some questions about where and who made the Mood slime was addressed, and it serves as a conclusion to the movie series.

Main Characters

Dr. Peter Venkman

Dr. Peter Venkman (portrayed by Bill Murray)

Dr. Ray Stantz

Dr. Raymond Stantz (portrayed by Dan Aykroyd)

Dr. Egon Spengler

Dr. Egon Spengler (portrayed by Harold Ramis)

Winston Zeddemore

Winston Zeddemore (portrayed by Ernie Hudson)

Louis Tully

Louis Tully (portrayed by Rick Moranis)

Dana Barrett

Dana Barrett (portrayed by Sigourney Weaver)

Minor Characters

Ghosts

Deleted Scene Characters

Equipment/Vehicle

Places/Locations

Plot synopsis

Five years after the events of the first film, in the opening of the film, Ghostbusters is closed. They were sued by the city, county, and state of New York and served a judicial restraining order preventing them from conducting paranormal investigations and eliminations sometime after Gozer was defeated. Dana Barrett is making her way with Oscar back to her apartment. While talking to the superintendent, slime on the wheels of Oscar's stroller cause it to roll away, weaving around oncoming traffic and people. Dana chases after it, and eventually it stops in the middle of the intersection, right in front of a City Bus. As for the Ghostbusters, they are undeservingly out of business, having been sued by the city for property damage and because of a restraining order, are barred from paranormal investigations. Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore are regular entertainers at children's birthday parties, although they are usually greeted with jeers and hostility from the children. Dana visits Egon Spengler at his lab office, where he is conducting various experiments on human emotions, and explains to him what happened earlier and that she needs help. He tells her he would like to get Ray involved and Dana agrees but tells him not to involve Peter Venkman, as they are not on good speaking terms. In the meantime, Peter Venkman is the host of "The World of the Psychic", a television show that, unfortunately, is avoided by renowned psychics stemming from the belief that Peter is a fraud. After the show, he runs into the Mayor and tries to talk to him but is stopped by Jack Hardemeyer, the Mayor's assistant. He tells him to keep away from the Mayor. They instantly dislike one another and Peter reminds him of how "bookworms" like himself earned him and his fellow Ghostbusters their public status and reputation.

VigostaringatJanosz

Vigo staring at Janosz

Dana is working at Manhattan Museum of Art, restoring paintings and having to deal with the unwelcome advancements from her boss, Janosz Poha. While Ray and Egon are researching at Ray's Occult Books, Peter shows up and finds out about Dana's recent problem. The next day, the three visit her apartment, prompting an awkward reunion between her and Peter. Egon and Ray examine Oscar and his room, then investigate the street where the stroller stopped. After checking the area and getting a strong reading, they drill a hole in the street. They discover a deep shaft and conclude that one of them must descend to obtain a better reading. Meanwhile, at the art museum, Janosz is touching up Vigo's painting when he receives a shock from it. The painting changes and Vigo orders him to locate a child, possessing him with the evil power.

Ray, meanwhile, is going down through the street in the underground by wire. While the police show up to tell them that the gas leak story they gave doesn't check out, Ray finds out that there is a river of slime flowing under New York. After obtaining a sample, the slime starts attacking him, and he screams, begging them to pull him up. In the panic, Ray kicks a pipe and the power to all of New York City goes out. Janosz goes to Dana's apartment to see if he can get her baby, but is turned down.

RayandtheRiverofSlime

Ray Fleeing the River of Slime

TheBoysWithMoodSlime

Ray is giving the Mood Slime a piece of his mind

The next day, Peter, Ray, and Egon are put on trial for violating their restraining order. They are poorly defended by Louis Tully and are found guilty. However, when Judge Stephen Wexler begins angrily insulting the trio, the slime starts boiling and after a final tirade, the slime explodes, releasing the ghosts of two murderers the judge had executed. Wexler begs for the Ghostbusters to do something, dismissing the charges and rescinding the restraining order. They then successfully capture the two ghosts. They reopen their business of investigating the paranormal. During this, Ray and Egon find the slime all over the city.

The Ghostbusters had started researching and experimenting on what Peter called "Mood slime". It was shown that the slime reacts to threats and verbal abuse, however it also reacts to singing as they did a toast with a toaster where it would dance to the music. Peter then goes to the museum of art to visit Dana and while there Dana tells him about how it feels like the painting is watching her, which also they together notice Janosz is talking to the painting. Later that night while preparing Oscar to take a bath the bathtub filled with pink slime attacks. She runs with Oscar and goes to Peter's apartment and after telling Peter what happened, Peter calls Ray and Egon at the Firehouse, and they agreed to go to Dana's apartment. Egon also showed him history on Vigo and they also decided to go look at that painting the next day as well.

The next day, they head on in to the Art Museum and against Janosz's wishes photograph, and study the Vigo Painting. Later, Peter comes home to find Dana cleaned his apartment. He asks her out on a night on the town, and she says yes. Meanwhile after closing the Firehouse for the day, Louis asks Janine out for a bite to eat. She says that she can't as she's babysitting Oscar for Peter, however, she invited him to come over at 8:00 pm. He says yes. Meanwhile, Egon and Ray are looking over the pictures using the Spectral analyzer and they noticed not only is a living presence but the River of Slime. After that, the whole room caught on fire, but Winston came in and extinguished the fire.

Egon, Ray, and Winston meet up with Peter, and Dana and ask him to join them as they go down in the sewers to look for slime. Peter says no so the three go down there. While down there they see impaled heads, and a Ghost Train which goes through Winston. Finally they find the River of Slime. Egon and Ray talk about how the thriving underground rat population is increasing; much like the sponge migration from 1984. A sign of high, paranormal activities, to which Winston is dismayed. (see: "the Twinkie") Winston tries to measure how deep it is when the slime pulls him in, and he goes downriver. Ray and Egon jump in after him. Meanwhile Dana and Peter seem to be patching things up in there relationship at the restaurant and Janine and Louis are enjoying the time together at Peter's apartment. Later on Ray, Winston, and Egon get out of the sewers all covered in slime and fighting. Egon tells them to remove the clothes they are wearing, and then, they lost they anger towards each other. They then look to find out that the River of Slime flows to the Art Museum.

TheBoysExplainingTheProblem

Winston trying to explain the River of Slime

The Ghostbusters come into Armand's Restaurant where Peter and Dana were enjoying dinner. Noting that they were in they underwear and covered in slime the restaurant manager called the cops as the guys told Peter and Dana about the river of slime and the events. The cops take them away, and Peter goes along with them. Meanwhile, Dana comes to Peter's place to see how Oscar is doing as the date is over. Janine and Louis were caught asleep on a couch together, however, Oscar is fine in bed. Meanwhile, the Ghostbusters meet the Mayor at Gracie Mansion and Jack Hardemeyer is there: being a jerk. The Ghostbusters try to convince the mayor that the negativity of the city is making a River of Slime, and if people don't start being more positive the whole city is going to blow with supernatural activity. The Mayor didn't believe them and says being miserable and treating people like dirt is every New Yorker's God given right. After the Mayor left, the Ghostbusters talked about going to the press with the story, then Jack suggested to first tell the people down town. What Jack didn't tell them was that the people down town work for the Parkview Psychiatric Hospital, an insane asylum.

Meanwhile Vigo is talking to Janosz and a deal is struck that Vigo would be reborn as the baby for Dana and Dana would be Janosz's wife. Meanwhile, at Peter's apartment, Louis, Janine, and Dana are watching a movie, when all of a sudden, a window in the bedroom opens and Oscar walks out onto the building's ledge. Dana notices and sees the window up. She sees Oscar as a supernaturally powered Janosz takes him. Dana leaves for the art museum while Louis looks for the guys.

Dana gets to the museum which after entering the whole outside covers in slime. Inside, Dana tries to take back Oscar while Janosz starts telling the plans Vigo has. After that, beneath the city, the slime raises causing massive mayhem as ghosts and monsters randomly pop out and terrorize citizens. The mayor getting desperate says to call the Ghostbusters, which at that point Jack Hardemeyer tells him that he had the Ghostbusters committed. The mayor then fires Jack and sends someone to get the Ghostbusters, and at that point, a slime eclipse happens outside.

After that, Louis is with the Ghostbusters as they are leaving and Ray is explaining that Vigo is going to take Oscar and become reborn in Oscar's body and they need to stop it. Then, a few minutes, later the Ghostbusters get to the museum. They try to blast open the through the slime on the museum, but it's too strong. The boys then get an idea that they need a positive symbol to lift the spirits of the people in the city. Then they get to the Statue of Liberty and Ray and Winston spray down the inside with the Slime Blowers and Egon sets up the joystick controls to steer the Statue. They then started to play "Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher" over the speakers in the Statue. The Statue then started walking and went through the bay.

VigoTowardstheEnd

Vigo's last Stand

Meanwhile, back at the firehouse Janine dresses up Louis in Egon's jumpsuit and then he leaves on foot to help the guys. The Ghostbusters then were directing the Statue of Liberty through New York, cheering up the whole town. They get back to the museum now weakened, and inside Dana runs and grabs up Oscar as the Ghostbusters come through the roof. The first thing they do, as Janosz rants, is hose him down with the Slime Blowers. All of a sudden, a hose ties up Dana, while Peter puts Oscar behind some stuff, away from the action. Vigo reveals himself outside of the painting, walking in plain sight. Then Egon and Peter shoot at him and Vigo stuns all four of them. Vigo then gets the baby. Peter says a few comments, which angers Vigo and then he shocks all four again. Then the people start singing outside and are happy, which weakens Vigo and he goes back to the painting while leaving Oscar behind. Meanwhile, outside, Louis shows up and starts shooting at the gelatinous Slime Shell. Inside, Vigo takes possession of Ray, and Winston uses the Slime Blower to drive Vigo out and back into the painting, and Egon and Peter blast him until he disappears for good.

GB2Victorywalk

Victory Walk

Peter and Dana kiss, while Ray wakes up and is very happy. Ray then pulls up a very cheerful Janosz and they share the love. Then all four Ghostbusters, Dana, Oscar and Janosz look at the painting that appears of the four Ghostbusters and a baby. Then they leave the Museum. Outside, the city cheers them on, with a changed Jack among the chorus.

Development

Reuniting

After the success of the first film and the animated series, The Real Ghostbusters, Columbia Pictures pressured the producers to make a sequel. However, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman were uncomfortable with this as the original film was intended to be conclusive and they wished to work on other projects. A four-hour lunch meeting was held in early 1988 at Jimmy's in Beverly Hills mainly to see if the team of Aykroyd, Murray, Ramis, and Reitman would reunite, but not necessarily for a sequel. In attendance with them were CAA agent Michael Ovitz and CAA's head of business affairs Ray Kurtzman. [1] Through the course of the lunch, they all had so many laughs and fun, it became clear they could work together again.[2] Eventually, they agreed and created a script. A budget of $25 to $30 million was given for the movie. [3] [4] Annie Potts was also working on her TV series, Designing Women, at the same time. Reportedly, some of the cast and crew were ultimately dissatisfied with the film as well as its box office reception.

Scripting

At first there was a completely different script for Ghostbusters II which Bill Murray nicknamed The Last of the Ghostbusters (mainly to make sure there wouldn't be anything like a Ghostbusters III). [5] Needless to say the script was not used and ultimately the story gradually changed after Harold Ramis began co-writing. They came up with two ideas first. The first idea of the river of slime was introduced shortly after they started with the moral notion that negative human emotions have consequences. The idea carried over to the sense that the bad vibes can build up in big cities like New York City and Los Angeles. Eventually, Vigo was created as the prime motivator behind the slime. [6] The second idea entailed Peter Venkman and Dana Barrett getting married and having a child. The infant was possessed and suddenly had adult agility and focus. Ramis concluded it was too horrible an idea for a movie and the marriage angle was a creative dead end. Eventually, the second idea evolved into Dana being a divorced mother. [7] On June 15, 1989, while appearing on "Later with Bob Costas," Harold Ramis revealed two other ideas for the sequel. One had the Ghostbusters as very successful, based in a high rise building, and now a worldwide company called Ghostbusters Inc. and the second idea had the sequel picking up literally from the end of the first movie. [8][9]

Production

Ivan Reitman and Michael Gross decided to go with Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) and supervisor Dennis Muren. Due to his schedule, Reitman only went to ILM to shoot bluescreen for three days. [10] The 80's rap song On Our Own by Bobby Brown featured on the Ghostbusters II Soundtrack. Ghostbusters II started filming on November 28, 1988 in New York City. [11] Filming in New York was a tight schedule of 67 days. The possessed baby carriage scene was filmed at the beginning of production during the two weeks of location shooting in New York. [12] The last shoot was at 2 am with the Statue of Liberty on Fifth Avenue scene. 460 extras were used for the scene. [13] After completion of New York exteriors, the cast and crew returned to Los Angeles and filmed the remainder of the movie. Most of the production took place at The Burbank Studios. Downtown LA was used as a stand-in for Manhattan's East 77th and 1st Avenue when Peter, Ray, and Egon dug a very big hole in 1st Avenue. The Armand's Restaurant was shot at a Toluca Lake location near downtown LA. [14] A large-scale duplicate of the Statue of Liberty was built on a sound stage but the mock up was purposefully made 30% bigger in order to make the actors more visible. The head was mounted on gimbals to provide a rocking motion to simulate the statue walking. These scenes were intercut with miniatures and an actor dressed in a Statue of Liberty costume. One of the last scenes filmed was the Manhattan Museum of Art covered in a wall of Mood slime. Principal photography was completed after a total of 13 weeks of filming. [15]

However, more scenes were being added in order to clarify story points or expand certain portions of the movie. Early preview audiences proved the ghosts, slime, and Vigo needed to be tied together better. The concept of good slime and bad slime had to be expanded on, too. [16] The Impaled Heads and Ghost Train were among these added scenes. The crew returned to New York for additional location shooting with only three months before the film was set to release in theaters. [17] At one point, the crew was aiming for a July 4th release date but Ivan Reitman decide on June 23rd. In the middle of production, the crew learned "Batman" was slated to release on the 23rd. Reitman asked the studio for the 16th much to the rest of the crew's dismay. Michael Gross recalls editor Sheldon Kahn fainted. On paper, the 16th date looked impossible because it meant pushing back the already exhausting editing schedule and ILM's dates. When it was coming out in July, ILM had 110 effects shots. Then it became 130. Finally, it numbered 180 around the time the date moved up to June 16th. It became very important for ILM to stay on top of things. They had nine units shooting every day for three-four weeks to get the original shots done. Eventually, ILM had to say they couldn't do anymore. [18] John Van Vliet at Available Light, Peter Kuran at Visual Concept Engineering, and Apogee were sent some of the effects work. Due to a damaged printer sent to ILM, Pacific Title took on some of the optical compositing work. [19]

Apogee went to New York for 10 days of plate photography and location work at The Tunnel, a nightclub that featured several 100 feet of abandoned subway track. [20] A call was put out for 300 extras. At the Washington Square shoot at 5 am, about 750 people had shown up in anticipation of being on Ghostbusters II. For the second take, the extras increased to 1200. By the third take, there were 2000 to 3000 people. Crew set up a Vistavision camera in the middle of scene and had the extras come out from three different streets and the Washington Square Arch screaming. Some started climbing over cabs and running into the crew. Crew had to block extras from running right into the camera. [21]

Four weeks before Ghostbusters II was released in theaters, ILM was unable to complete a scene involving ghosts pouring out of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House. As a replacement for this scene, a new scene was shot - Mayor Lenny tells his staff about a discussion he had with the ghost of Fiorella La Guardia. [22]

Scoleri Brothers

The Scoleri Brothers are played (uncredited) by Tim Lawrence and Jim Fyfe in latex suits with animatronic masks. Ostensibly, Tony and Nunzio are based on the real-life Scoleri Brothers, who once robbed Harold Ramis's father Nate Ramis' store. "The ghosts themselves were very loosely based on the fact that my father was a storekeeper who was once robbed and assaulted by the Scoleri Brothers." [23] Some however have suggested that they might be based instead on Tony and Eddie Scoleri, who were convicted of robbing and killing a store owner in Philadelphia in the 1960s. None of this is known for certain however. In a first draft script, the Scoleri Brothers were simply described as 'Big in life, even bigger in death, the Scoleri Brothers sweep into the courtroom.' [24] Tim Lawrence was inspired by the Blues Brothers and designed the Scoleris based on them. Visual Development Artist Henry Mayo helped refine the designs with extensive input from producer Michael C. Gross. Lawrence's original concept played more into the electricity motif. As they took steps, the floor would explode and their feet would become less distinct in the air without an electrical ground. The Scoleris were also to have spoken in Italian epithets. [25] The Scoleri Brothers were the first ghost designs to be green-lit for the movie. [26] Reitman became concerned the designs might have been over the top but Gross believed it would lighten the moment. Storyboard artist Thom Enriquez was tasked with boarding the scene while Reitman was finishing his work on another movie "Twins" and the courtroom set was still being built. [27]

Camilla Henneman was tasked with creating a fat suit for Nunzio Scoleri, who was scripted to weigh in excess of 800 pounds. Henneman took cues from Weird Al Yankovic's "Fat" video parody. Spandex pouches filled with gelatinous materials were used to simulate the undulating quality of Nunzio's flesh. The suits were then outfitted with singed prison garments. As the suits were being made, the concept of the Scoleris had changed to that they were all flying. Flying harnesses were incorporated into the suits. [28] Nunzio's gaping mouth was created by dividing the head into two separate units. The lower jaw was attached to Lawrence's shoulders and the upper on the skullcap. Both units would be joined by a single foam latex skin so that each part could move in opposite directions. [29]

Tony Scoleri went through three stages of development. The first stage involved using a full-sized puppet with an articulated head. Mark Wilson built the prototype and video tests were promising but Dennis Muren believed the rotoscope load required would hamper the production schedule. Tony was redesigned to be portrayed by Jim Fye. Tony's head was attached to a skullcap positioned in front of and on top of Fye's head. The collarbone was lowered to elongate the neck and add to the emaciated torso design. Oversized shoes, extra lengths of cloth strips, droopy pants, and finger extensions were added to complete the skeletal look. [30]

Puppeteers controlled the Scoleris' heads with servo mechanisms and pneumatic cylinders while a computerized Synthetic Neuro-Animation Repeating Kinetics (SNARK) system helped control facial expressions in order to achiever full lip-sync on the characters. [31] Lawrence brought in Bob Cooper to make Tony's torso, Mike Smithson to make the heads, Bill Foertsch to make Nunzio's arms, and Buzz Neidig to work on additional details such as teeth and tongues. [32] Fye and Lawrence wore the completed full body suits for hours at a time while hanging in front of a bluescreen. The Nunzio suit wore close to 80 pounds. When the Scoleri Brothers first manifest, they are seated in electrical chairs. For filming, Fye and Lawrence had to pretend to be sitting in midair. Others in the crew stayed underneath and pushed their feet up so their legs bent properly. Despite the scene of them bursting from the chairs being difficult in theory, it was filmed rather quickly. One brother was filmed in the morning and the other in the afternoon. About 5-6 shots of each were achieved each day of shooting. By the time they finished filming, the Scoleri Brothers concept had changed to much that third-scale marionettes on wires could have been used. [33]

Peter Daulton, an effects cameraman, created the movements of the Scoleri Brothers through the composite frame on a track camera. He incorporated mirror trickery, employed overall to make the ghosts of Ghostbusters II look different from the first movie. With mylar, they could squish and squash the shapes like how a funhouse mirror would distort an image. The images of the Scoleris were rephotographed on a rear projection screen then reflected onto mylar that was manipulated with motion controlled rods. This allowed for the Scoleris to move around curves, stretch at certain points, and bulge in the final version. [34]

Ghost Jogger

Initially, the Ghost Jogger was photographed to look very white and extremely bright. But it was decided he would be toned down and more contrast would be added. The jogger became a study in how to use contrast mattes and how to extract contrast from the negative when it wasn't there. The crew had to figure out by themselves how to balance the background plate and the action in the scene just right. [35] Jim Fye also portrayed the Ghost Jogger in Central Park. He was covered in white makeup and photographed against a bluescreen for subsequent compositing into a live action plate. [36]

Slimer

Slimer wasn't always a definite part of the movie script. It was a matter of considerable debate if he should appear at all. Slimer's appeal, luckily, was very universal among children thanks in part to the first movie and The Real Ghostbusters. Slimer was given a subplot and written into movie - Slimer would eat various foods in the Firehouse while Louis Tully would try to trap him then they would become friends. Michael Gross requested elements of the animated version of Slimer to be incorporated into the movie. Tim Lawrence and Thom Enriquez worked on a new design. Meanwhile, Bobby Porter was called into portray Slimer. Some of the technology and techniques used for Nunzio Scoleri were used for Slimer - the divided head construct, pneumatic jaws, SNARK and a fat suit - a departure from the first movie where he was hand puppeteered. Then Slimer was removed from the script. Porter was released. [37]

Two weeks later, Slimer was back in the script and had a bigger role. However, Porter was no longer available. Effects ooordinator Ned Gorman remembered working with Robin Navlyt on "Willow" and she was brought in. Surprisingly, she was the same height as Porter and fit into the suit very well. Chris Goehe and his mold shop crew made a full lifecast on her and Al Coulter worked on a new skullcap. The Slimer shoot was finished close to the first day of shooting. Michael Gross was onhand to push the crew to keep Slimer subtle and reduce any complicated approaches to moving him. [38] Slimer's segments were deemed intrusive by preview audiences. [39] During editing, Ivan Reitman decided to limit Slimer's role even though all scripted scenes were filmed and completed. [40] Ultimately, Slimer's scenes were trimmed to two brief shots plus one during the end titles.

Vigo

The Vigo tapestry turned out to be the biggest design problem. Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) did concept versions for months and Ivan Reitman felt one was too 'Conan the Barbarian' so artists in New York were brought in. The new designs didn't work out either. Glen Eytchison and Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach were approached. Each year, they brought 60 classic paintings to life with people standing in costume before settings based on the original painting. Gross worked with them on a new design. With a deadline looming, the design was sent to ILM with just two days left to a scheduled shoot. The design was worked on down to the last minute. How the tapestry would animate was another issue. Originally, it would just be Vigo talking from the painting. Clay animation and an animated cartoon were considered. Eventually, as the script changed, it was decided Vigo would be brought out as much as possible and the painting would be replaced with a floating head hovering in a columned corridor coated with slime. Wilhelm von Homburg was filmed in front of a bluescreen and then matted over a miniature version of the slimed corridor built by the ILM model shop. After each take, the slime had to be cleaned up and reset. [41]

The demonic floating head seen after Vigo returns the painting was inspired by preproduction sketches done by Thom Enriquez. Lifecasts were done on Wilhelm von Homburg. Tim Lawrence and Makeup artist Mike Smithson did a variety of altercations in clay like strengthening the jaw line, straightening out the nose, making a more sinister brow, elongating earlobes, and sharpening cheeks. 10-11 versions were done and sent to Ivan Reitman for approval. Once the final was chosen, Lawrence had three weeks. Then it was cut down to one week. Howie Weed from the creature shop wore the makeup for scenes when Vigo was transformed within the painting and when Ray was possessed. [42]

Slime

The origins and colors of the river of slime were not set in stone. At ILM, Dennis Muren and effects art director Harley Jessup created a color animatic on 35mm film. It was unknown if the river should be green like Slimer or blue or something else. In New York, Chuck Gaspar came up with color ideas for Reitman to choose from. Tim Lawrence was additionally assigned to helping come up with a formula for the slime used in the miniature sets. Bill George designed a plexiglass trough to use for releasing slime downward from its holding talk. [43] Ralph Miller came up with a variety of mixtures that involved methylcellulose, syrups, oils, and colors. Muren and Jessup continued to refine. Alan Peterson had to calculate flow and volume for the slime's delivery system so an even bigger mess wouldn't result. Eventually, the slime formula was narrowed down to a mixture of methocel combined with mica dust and topped with a layer of mineral oil. The river was rigged with injectors, air bladders, and plexiglass baffles to bring life it. In the end, a large holding tank was kept about 15 feet in the air. The track led to the tilted river bed. The river was one foot wide and ten feet long. The released slime would flow into another holding talk where it would be pumped back into the overhead tank. A four man team led by Miller used four rented portable cement mixers for several days to create enough slime. [44]

For the scene where Winston, Egon, and Ray plunge into the river of slime, a partial set of the Van Horne station was used. Ernie Hudson would fall to be followed by Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd. Off screen, the actors would land on airbags. During optical compositing, ILM merged the live action with their miniature river. The part when the river sweeps them away required more finesse roto work and alignment. Pat Myers had to pinblock a bluescreen element of Ernie Hudson against the background and trace his movement in the river with the subtle movement of the slime taken into account. Sean Turner then animated the rippling edge around Hudson. Soft edge work and composure shifting was done to make it look like the river was enveloping the actors. Smoke was put into the plate, some articulate work was done by animation, and matte paintings of the archway were then added. [45]

A sculpture was made of the slime shell scripted to envelop the museum. The sculpture was made of clay, then a plaster mold was done and it was vacuformed in clear plastic. A piece of plexiglass was placed on the back of the vacuform shape. It was mounted in a large metal frame and crew placed tubes, injectors, and bubble makers inside. The crew filled it with water and injected diamond dust, a fine metal powder. The slime shell was shot at high speed with bubbles going in to create water currents. During each take, cameraman Marty Rosenberg would cue people to inject different colors into the tank. Two complete takes were done before the colors mixed together and the tank had to be drained and refilled. [46] When the shell exploded, the crew made a sculpture of the full slime shell and made a black urethane casting. They painted a brittle pinkish polymer over the black shell. The shell was hung upside down in front of a black backdrop. The black casting served as a plug inside the polymer. For the breakaway of the slime shell, the crew hit the inside of the plug and inflated an innertube with air to make the plug expand. The polymer shattered. The black plug would blend in with the black background and was invisible to the camera. The inverted footage of the shattered shell was then added over a model of the museum then both were combined with a matte painting of the surrounding area. [47]

P.K.E. Storm

The psychokinetic energy storm at Orrefors was devised by Chuck Gaspar. Initially, Gaspar wanted to drill holes but the process cracked the crystal. Instead, he glued pieces of piano wire to the backs of 16 crystal objects. Joe Day and other crew pulled the crystal off-screen with a pulley system. In order to test the system, pieces were set up a week prior to scheduled shoots and left hanging. The biggest issue was the pulleys squeaking. Gaspar went up to the scaffolding and sprayed them with lubricant. [48]

Dancing Toaster

For the Dancing Toaster, Chuck Gaspar and his crew mounted tiny air cylinders inside the toaster at various spots. The power cord was used as the air supply line. Microswitches were hooked in ad on cue they fired off the cylinders and the toaster bounced around the billiard table. [49]

Slime in Bathtub Attack

The Slime in the Bathtub went through several concepts. While trying to figure out what would kidnap Oscar from Peter's apartment, the concept of the tub came up. [50] Initially, the tub was going to turn into a porcelain version of Audrey II from "Little Shop of Horrors." Then it would turn into the beginning of an endless road then a bubble bath monster. Dana Barrett would put bubble bath in the tub and turn her back. The bubble bath would rise up to tower over Dana and the eyes of a dark shape within it open up. The lensing effect used would make all the bubbles look like eyes, too. Dana would panic and throw a hairdryer into the tub. The electricity would disperse the bubbles then the two eyes would crumble into cinders and disappear down the drain. Ultimately, it became just slime that fills the tub and the slime rises up, prompting Dana to run. Ivan Reitman decided the slime should turn into a creature inside the tub. [51]

A tub was made out of white silicone to look like it was porcelain and so it could bend. The tub creature was made out of dielectric gel - a Dow Corning breast implant material - reinforced with china silk and spandex. The slime creature would be operated like a hand puppet. Tom Floutz put his arm up through the bottom of the tub and operate the creature. The slime was dumped on the creature. Floutz had to endure and let the slime pour down on him, too. A maw-shaped piece of fiberglass was placed inside the puppet and attached to a vacuum tub in order to simulate a mouth. The tub and slime creature were filmed against a bluescreen. There wasn't enough of a pay off so John Van Vliet of Available Light did a cel animation of an animated tongue for the last shot for about 25 frames. [52]

Ghost Train

The Ghost Train evolved from concepts that led to the Titanic. Before it was settled, there was an idea for a ghostly subway train with rotting commuters. [53] The Ghost Train was added to the movie after principal photography had wrapped. The train was meant to add more tension, humor, and special effects to that part of the movie. [54] ILM was too busy to take on additional work. Apogee - under effects supervisor Sam Nicholson - was hired to create the Ghost Train. Ernie Hudson, Harold Ramis, and Dan Aykroyd did filming with interactive lightning at The Tunnel, a New York nightclub featuring a subway motif - several hundred feet of abandoned subway track. A 10K light was placed behind the actors and three to four air cannons were placed on them to blow their hair around. When the cannons blew Hudson's helmet off, the crew blasted the actors with a bright light in place of the train. [55]

There was no time to build a modern-day subway so an existing antique train was chosen. John Swallow, production supervisor, found the train. It was an eight-scale version and measured 25 feet long. The train was shot on a black stage at Apogee using a snorkel lens about an eight of an inch away in clearance all the way down the train. The train was stationary and rigged with steam and reactive lights by Grant McCune. The crew rheostated the lights so they could dial them up as the camera got closer. The resulting imagery of the train was rendered transparent then composited into the live-action plate. [56]

Impaled Heads

The crew made a call all over New York for 'dead heads' and took whatever they could find. Pam Easley, visual effects coordinator, made the calls. Rick Lazzarini made a few. The better detailed heads were placed in the foreground and the lesser detailed ones in the background. [57]

Titanic

Harold Ramis and co. began thinking of big manifestations to add to the movie. The idea was that because of all the psychic activity under the city, all the dead would start returning to New York City. Several ideas were considered - the Hindenberg arriving with flaming passengers getting off carrying flaming luggage, a ghostly subway station with rotting commuters, and a cemetery scene where gravestones start taking off like rockets. Eventually, the idea of the Titanic came to Ramis. [58]

John Goodson and Jeff Olson of the ILM model shop used photographs and videotape of the Titanic to build a replica of the ship in plywood and urethane. The rusted hull was created by coating the outer surface with glue and sprinkled with iron powder then spraying it with an oxidizing acid. The crew had to make two changes to the design. The smokestacks were added to the wreck since they were recognizable but given a skeletal appearance. Ivan Reitman wanted the hole in the bow to be much bigger than it was and the name to be moved so it was legible. The model was actually broken in half to represent the real life wreck but Reitman wanted the ship in just one shot rather than add any leading shots of it rising from the ocean. At one point, there was concept art done for the ghosts. One male ghost would walk up the camera wondering where he was while behind him there would be distorted ghosts and two walking through each other. The concepts were not used. [59] Extras dressed in period clothing and were photographed against black then inserted optically into the miniature plate material. [60]

Mink Coat

The Mink coat animation was filmed at night on a street location in Los Angeles. Tim Lawrence and his crew developed four different coats that actuated by radio controlled servos, hand puppeteering and cable-pull mechanisms. A white fur was envisioned and was the basis for the coat, heads, and legs. After everything was scuplted and cast in foam latex, mechanics finished, actor fitted, and harness was finished, a film test was sent to Ivan Reitman 10 days before the shoot. Reitman was fine with the test but asked why the coat was white. The crew scrambled and redid the coat with darker fur in time for the shoot. [61]

Washington Square Ghost

Phil Tippett, a master stop-motion animator, was sought out to create the Washington Square Ghost. Luckily, Tippett was friends with ILM and knew Pam Easley on the crew from "The Golden Child." Tippett agreed it as long as the ghost was only 160 frames long, it could be built based on an existing armature, and it would be done in one take. Tippett built the ghost with Randy Dutra, shot it, and delivered it a day early despite being injured in a car accident with his wife who was hospitalized. Tippett didn't want to be credited on account he was just doing one shot. The puppet was animated by Harry Walton, who also shared the camera work with Peter Kozachik. [62]

Theatre Ghost

The Theatre Ghost was created by Rick Lazzarini of The Creature Shop in Van Nuys based on a drawing by Henry Mayo. The head was human-size and sculpted by John Blake and the body was made by Dan Frye. Since the ghost was added late into production, the crew had three weeks to make the puppet. Lazzarini employed the 'Facial Waldo' interactive device, a cap and vest system worn by an external operator. When the operator moved his brow, cheek, lips and jaw, sensors would send signals to the servos inside the puppet and mimic the movement done. If the operator moved his brow, all six on the ghost would move. The operator was free to puppeteer the wings. Three additional puppeteers operated the tail and four arms. The puppet was shot against black so the puppeteers all wore black beekeeper-like suits and mesh face screens. The real difficulty was operating the puppet at 48 frames a second in order to portray smooth movements. [63]

Janosz Poha

For the scene when Janosz kidnaps Oscar, Peter MacNicol was dressed in drag and photographed in front of a bluescreen. The arm stretch was achieved through a piece of tubing covered with costume fabric and rigged to slide down a pole. For the wider shots, a miniature rod puppet and buggy were photographed in front of a bluescreen and manipulated by character performers Bob Cooper and David Allen. [64]

Statue of Liberty

Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis originally conceived the idea of the Statue of Liberty as a force of evil used by Vigo. Out of respect to the Statue, it was decided she would be a positive influence. Bringing the Statue of life took some doing. Miniatures, a larger head sculpture for close up shots, a costume worn by Jim Fye for full length views, and large scale full scale set pieces such as water tanks were used. The earliest shots done were in a larger-than-life-full-size-replica of the crown constructed on a sound stage at Burbank Studios. If the crown were built to scale, the actors faces would be obscured and there would be little room to move around with the Proton Packs on. The replica was 30% larger than the original and the glass was left out of the windows since they got in Reitman's way. [65] The crown was placed on a gimbal mechanism in order to simulate movement of the Statue. The gimbal used dated back to the 1940s and broke down during the first day of shooting. A second was brought in from CBS but it too was old. New cylinders were flown in overnight and the gimbal was restored to working order. During shooting, Ivan Reitman had the actors tilt down even further than usual in order to capture real fear on camera. Bill Murray recalled it was "quite a ride - nausea, sea legs, the whole thing." [66]

It was very difficult rotowork combining live action plates from New York because it included crowds of people. [67] The Fifth Avenue scenes were done with matte painting out of practicality. It was virtually impossible to shoot at night and get good exposure above street level. Mark Sullivan and Caroleen Green worked on the matte painting. Green had to rework the left side because Ivan Reitman wanted to see the city go on for miles to create a sense of openness and grandeur. The exploding torch was done on a separate stage then matted into shots with Fye in costume. A real-sized foot and standard eight-inch car was used for the scene when the Statue steps on a police car. Charlie Bailey placed a small tube filled with margarita salt into the car. When the foot stepped on the car, the salt would shoot out the window and simulate broken glass. In New York, crews shot a plate with real police car and one without the car but still with people standing behind where the car was. At ILM, the real car was rotoscoped out and inserted into the other plate. The Statue's sandal crushing the car was filmed in against bluescreen. The sandal was matted into the plate and the model was dissolved in for the real car. [68]

Proton Streams

At first, the team at ILM attempted to duplicate the Proton Streams from the first movie. Dennis Muren and Mark Vargo encouraged animation supervisor Tom Bertino and the crew to go in a new direction in order to surprise the audience. John Armstrong and Peter Crossman came up with designs that evolved the Proton Streams to act like cowboy lassos and fishing lines. Muren and Vargo approved then the designs were brought to Reitman. Reitman loved them and gave the go-ahead to continue. The lasso idea turned out to work very well with the mylar squash and stretch effect used on the Scoleri Brothers. When the streams were supposed to wrangle them, the mylar would be utilized to constrict the ghost. [69]

Traps

The ILM animation department also expanded on the Trap and its interaction with ghosts. Instead of just having the ghosts disappear into the Trap, the team animated the ghosts coming apart and added comets and lightning to the inside of the trap cone field. Mike Lessa devised a staggered effect where Nunzio was sucked into the Trap head first and his shoes would be left behind for a few seconds. Dennis Muren suggest Tony Scoleri's eyes to be left behind for an instant. [70]

Slime Blowers

The Slime Blowers were 3-4 times as bulky as the Proton Pack props. It took 3-4 people to help get them on Ernie Hudson and Dan Aykroyd. The only practical part was the gun. It was a device with a spinner that sent out slime driven by compressed air. The tanks were empty. In reality, the blowers were attached to external tanks, 4-5 feet in height, that supplied the slime. [71]

Scripts

See Scripts - for more information on scripts for Ghostbusters II

Scenes

Scene names taken from 2005 DVD version. These Articles are image intensive.

Deleted Scenes

Main article: Ghostbusters II Deleted Scenes

Trivia

  • At the start of the movie, Dana and Oscar are returning home from shopping at a D'Agostino store as evidenced by the D'ag paper bag she is carrying.
    • Based on the direction Dana came from, her apartment's address, and Oscar being taken to First Avenue, they likely shopped at the D'Agostino on 76th Street at 1074 Lexington Avenue.
  • At the 29:55 mark, when Mr. Fianella is testifying on the stand, Winston is seating on Fianella's seat in the spectator's gallery. At any point before and after this mark, Winston is not in the courtroom.
  • The Ghostbusters' phone number has changed to (212) 555-2020.
  • In commercial, Janine is reading the Cosmopolitan magazine November 1988 issue
  • At one point, Janosz Poha was not the one to kidnap Oscar. A two headed dragon, creatures from a hellish world, a phantom taxicab, a giant pigeon, a face on the Moon, a vapor rising from the street, billboard figures, gargoyles come to life, and a horrible Santa Claus were pitched. [72]
  • After the Ghostbusters fail to make a dent in the slime shell around the museum, they huddle near Ecto-1a. In the background is the Mayor's car. Its license plate is a vanity plate "Hizzoner" in reference to New York slang for the Mayor of New York City.
  • At the end of the theater version, Slimer comes out from behind the Statue of Liberty and flies right into the camera just like how he did at the end of the first movie. The video version omits this and just ends with a pan up to the statue's head then a fade to black.
  • The first montage and ending credits feature scenes that were deleted from the movie.

Firehouse

  • A copy of the 1985 "Nostradamus Into the Millennium" by Erika Cheetham and Glamour magazine March 1989 issue are on Louis' desk when he first meets Slimer.
  • On the wall in Peter's office are frames of magazine and newspaper features:
    • Row 1, Left: A LIFE magazine issue whose cover photograph is a still from the first montage of Ghostbusters II when the four Ghostbusters run down the street.
    • Row 1, Right: New York Post spotlighting Peter, Ray, and Egon's "We're back!" declaration after capturing the Scoleri Brothers.
    • Row 2, Left: The TIME magazine issue from the first movie
    • Row 2, Center: The USA Today edition from the first movie
    • Row 2, Right: A TIME magazine issue of the Ghostbusters in dark jumpsuits and Santa hats from a montage in this movie
    • Row 3, Left: The Omni magazine issue from first movie
    • Row 3, Center: A magazine issue with Ecto-1a
    • Row 3, Right: The Atlantic issue from the first movie
  • In the second floor kitchen, there is a Dustbuster on the top of the refrigerator. Next to it is a box of Scoopy's Cups ice cream cones on top of the fridge.
  • A five packs of Cheese-N-Crackers are on top of the microwave. The periodic table of the elements is posted on the wall behind the microwave.
  • One of the arcades is Jump Bug by Rock-Ola released in 1981.
  • A poster of the Hotel Lincoln on the wall by the billiard table
  • The Hook & Ladder 8 sign was left up during shooting of this movie. It was removed during production of the first movie.
  • At the 55:10 mark, Ivan Reitman, wearing a blue jacket, is walking away from the Firehouse.

Manhattan Museum of Art

  • The exterior banners advertise an exhibit of art by Edgar Degas. Degas was a 19th century French artist credited with having a part in founding Impressionism but preferred to be called a Realist.
  • Rudy is reading a Star magazine featuring "Ghostbusters Save Judge" and "Team of Venkman Stantz & Spengler in heroic deed." The photo of the trio is from production of the first movie.
  • The lobby scene and deleted Egon scene was filmed at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at 1 Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan but the restoration room scenes were filmed in California.
  • The montage scene where the Ghostbusters exit a home entertainment store in Santa Claus hats was filmed across the street from the Custom House. [73]
  • For the scene were Egon, Ray, and Winston emerge from the river of slime outside the Manhattan Museum of Art, it was shot in New York out on the street at 2 am in freezing weather, around 10 degrees. The actors were dumped with buckets and buckets of slime then filed for hours on end with no heaters. The actors had to emerge from a manhole where smoke was pushed up. It was a tight squeeze due to the proximity of phone conduit. None of the actors complained out loud. Ernie Hudson did at one point ask Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis what they were thinking when they wrote the scene. [74]
  • 11 takes were done of Egon, Ray, and Winston climbing from the sewers. Due to a camera motor running off speed, the scene had to filmed again. At first, the actors thought it was a joke. The scene was re-filmed the next night. [75]
  • A full scale replica of part of the museum was constructed inside a sound stage in Burbank Studios. In order to have the slime ooze from the mortar joints, above the doors, and all over the exterior, Chuck Gaspar and crew cut slits in the walls, over the doors, and so on then attached hoses connected to tanks that held 8000 gallons of slime. 40 people were needed to operate the tank, hoses, and valves. Another tank caught the run off and it was pumped back into the other tank. A week and a half was spent to rig this set. [76]
  • The wall of slime that enveloped the museum was filmed twice. [77] In the first take, the slime was too thin and not wide enough. A thicker slime mixture was employed for the successful second take but five cameras were struck with slime during filming. [78]
  • Floating Oscar in the museum took some doing. Chuck Gaspar's crew made a piece of sheet metal hidden in the baby's suit and suspended on four wires attached to an overhead rig. To prevent the baby from moving, the metal pan was attached to the suit with velcro. [79]
    • When Oscar was floating across the room, Gaspar pulled the rig by rope.
    • When Oscar was lined up to the altar, a radio-controlled servo controlled by Jay Halsey while Gaspar pulled the rope on a straight path.

Peter's Apartment

  • On the wall by the front door is the 1978 "Yankee Fever - Catch It" poster. Behind it on the right is an issue of the July 18, 1988 People Weekly.
  • Near the desk on the wall are frames with the magazine and newspaper covers from the first film's montage - New York Post, USA Today, and Time.
  • Below the frames is a Yankees pennant and leaned against the wall is a Ouija board
  • On the desk are some Statue of Liberty collectibles such as a lamp based on the hand holding the torch.
  • Near the doorway to the bathroom is the lamp that was on Peter's desk in the Firehouse in the first movie
  • In his kitchen are bags of Utz The Crab Chip and Salt' n Vinegar flavors
  • When Louis talks about Rita Hayworth, there is an orange box of Hi-C next to the popcorn
  • Peter's apartment was filmed at residential lofts at 644 Broadway but the rooftop of the building was a matte painting. [80] Department supervisor Mark Sullivan incorporated live action footage into the matte painting. [81]
  • The scene of Oscar's kidnapping evolved from Harold Ramis' initial idea about the baby walking like an adult. [82]
  • The scene were Oscar is taken by Janosz was filmed at a studio set representing the exterior of the building.
    • Bo Welch built the set - two exterior walls and a 10 foot tall ledge. [83]
    • Chuck Gaspar built a special harness rig for the Deutschendorf twins portraying Oscar. It was a big leather diaper attached to a metal pole bolted down to the ledge. The diaper was hidden in the Deutschendorf's jumpsuit and the pole was hidden if their legs were kept in position. Just in case, several large airbags were placed below. The twins cooperated very well during filming.
    • The twins' father Ron Deutschendorf stood on a ladder off-camera and made noises to make it look like the baby was looking out into the distance in the scene. [84]
  • In order of the ledge shot in the kidnapping to be incorporated with the matte painting, Mark Vargo and his plate crew positioned a camera about 40 feet up along one side of the soundstage. The crew had to climb up a wooden ladder and walk along a very narrow catwalk. The Vistavision camera was too heavy to carry so it was pulled up on pulleys. *The scene of Oscar's kidnapping evolved from Harold Ramis' initial idea about the baby walking like an adult. [85]

World of the Psychic

  • At 10:51 mark, when Peter walks into the WKRR studio office, there are lobby cards for Nakia, Top Cat, and The World of the Psychic.

Dana's Apartment

  • When Ray, Egon and Peter first visit, the '89 calendar is on November.
  • There is a frame of Johannes Brahms near the book shelf when Peter picks up the snow globe
  • The baby carriage chase at the start of the movie is geographically accurate. It starts at Dana's apartment building at 325 East 77th Street and heads south to the intersection of East 77th Street and First Avenue where it stopped. After the carriage is nearly hit by the bus, the green awning of Cho-Sen Food Shoppe Ltd. is visible, further proving the intersection is E. 77th and First. [86]
    • Two blocks from this intersection, Louis' bus stop scene was filmed.
  • The digging scenes on First Avenue were filmed on a similar street in Los Angeles.
  • Chuck Gaspar, physical effects supervisor, built five radio-controlled carriages for the baby carriage chase. DC motors were placed in the buggy baskets, drive shafts, a steering system, and two braking systems to stop the wheels and slow the carriage were utilized. Gaspar brought in two-time national champion driver of miniature cars Jay Halsey, both having worked on Dirty Harry movies, to steer the carriage. [87]
  • The blackout scene was shot on a set. First, Peter MacNicol was filmed walking down a dimly lit walkway. As he walked, MacNicol moved his head side to side. To create the look of real light being illuminated, another pass was filmed. In it, Michael Chapman held a 2K at MacNicol's height then walked down the hall, panning the light from side to side. After a few takes done fast and slow, the scenes were edited together and both Chapman and the light were matted out. Pat Meyers helped defined the light beams by placing shards and particulate matter so it looked like real beams. Meyers lined up the beams so they tracked from MacNicol's eyebrows to the puddles of light on the walls. [88]

The Brownstone

  • The exteriors were filmed at 420 East 78th Street New York, NY 10075 [89]

Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse

  • Only 14 chairs would be thrown around because the rest were rented, only four pillars could be blown up, and only one wall of glass could be broken. [90]
  • Whatever was slated to be blown up was made of balsa wood: the railing, the walk through hinged doors, the judge's box and defense table. [91]
  • The defense table was on a flying track and pulled on a compound cable when the Scoleri Brothers slammed it on a wall. [92]
  • In order to reset the scene easily, parts were made for three takes of everything. [93]
  • Jim Fye and Tim Lawrence filmed separately as the Scoleri Brothers in wire rigged suits in front of blue screen. The footage would later be projected onto flexible mirrorplex then rephotographed. [94] Meanwhile, in place of the actors, full-scale cutouts were used to aid the cast and crew during filming. [95]
  • The stuntwoman who was in place of the Prosecutor when she is carried off by the Scoleri Brothers wore a pair of flying pants and vest with a cable running up her leg to the ceiling track above. Reitman wanted one leg dangling, something very easy if she weren't upside down. As the stuntwoman went along the track, her head barely missed the chairs still standing in the room. [96]

Central Park

  • The Jogger Ghost was captured on the jogging path that goes around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis Reservoir in the northern part of the park.

Institute for Advanced Theoretical Research

  • The Institute stood in where Avery Hall is located on the Columbia University campus. Avery Hall is where the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation is located.

Gracie Mansion

  • The location was filmed at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, California. Bill Murray and Harold Ramis previously filmed there during production of "Stripes" in 1981. [97]

Liberty Island

  • The only scene actually filmed on Liberty Island was the special ceremony seen in the end credits. [98]

Movieland Theater

  • The theater closed in March 1989
  • The theater marquee advertises "Cannibal Girls" starring Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin. This early 1973 film, was also directed by Ivan Reitman
  • In entrance area, the movie posters for the 1975 film "They Came from Within" and 1977 film "Rabid" are posted. Both are two David Cronenberg horror movies produced by Ivan Reitman early in his career. [99]

Armand's

  • The man eating dinner with the woman who gets slimed by Ray is Peter Mosen, a famous Ghostbusters fan.

Miscellaneous Locations

  • For the montage, Ecto-1a was filmed driving on FDR Drive between East 36th & East 37th Streets. [100]
  • For the montage a night shot of Ecto-1a was filmed at the corner of East 76th Street and First Avenue, evidenced by 3-Star Diner, located at1463 First Avenue. [101]
  • Mink coat outside Biltmore Hotel
  • While on the way to Manhattan Museum of Art at the end of the movie, Ecto-1a turns west on East 14th Street to the Lincoln Tunnel. [102]
  • The Oscar on the ledge and Van Horne River of Slime scenes were filmed on Stage 16 at Burbank Studios. [103]
  • The scene with Ray being lowered into the Van Horne station was a combination of a partial set and matte paintings. Bo Welch built a small section (the curved background wall, steps leading down into the station, and a partial platform). The set was then combined with matte paintings by Yusei Uesugi. [104]
  • When the Statue of Liberty comes off of West 54th Street onto Fifth Avenue, she steps out from between the The Canada Building at 680 Fifth Avenue then her massive foot steps on the street in front of Trump Tower at 725 Fifth Avenue then steps on a police car in front of Fred's at 703 Fifth Avenue), which comes before Trump Tower in the direction she was walking. [105]

Props

  • The lightweight model Proton Pack weighed about 28 pounds and did not light up as much as the operational model. [106]

Errors

  • The Ecto-2 license plate is on Ecto-1a when Peter is waiting outside his apartment for a taxi cab.


Theatrical Releases

Statistics are from The Numbers,[107] which was found first on Proton Charging (Fan Site).[108]


Date Rank Gross Theaters Per Theater Total Gross Days
June 16, 1989 1 $29,472,894 2,410 $12,229 $29,472,894 3
June 23, 1989 3 $13,854,623 2,410 $5,749 $58,765,089 10
June 30, 1989 4 $8,808,778 2,410 $3,655 $73,646,467 17
July 7, 1989 4 $5,265,962 2,315 $2,275 $85,520,592 24
July 14, 1989 7 $4,335,272 1,978 $2,192 $93,170,796 31
July 21, 1989 9 $2,883,671 1,758 $1,640 $98,489,868 38
September 1, 1989 20 $656,346 518 $1,267 $110,000,794 80

At the end of the domestic theatrical run, the film grossed over $112 million.[109]

Criticism

The film received flack when released for not being as funny as Ghostbusters and having a plot that seemed to be mainly a rehash of the original's. It was also said to not be very child friendly due to the scary ghosts in it. Also, there were complaints that Janine Melnitz having a love affair with Louis Tully was not good for children to see and that it destroyed the relationship developed in the first movie between Egon Spengler and Janine and as it ran through the animated series. Because of this it forced a split in the timeline of the franchise into two canons, one based on the films, and one based on the first film and the animated series.

Influence on The Real Ghostbusters

While The Real Ghostbusters in part influenced the making of Ghostbusters II, there were some nods to the movie in later episodes of The Real Ghostbusters. While not all details are known, it is certain a version of Ghostbusters II did happen in the animated continuity.

  • "Something's Going Around"
    • This episode featured another new look for Janine. This time, her hairstyle matched that of her look in Ghostbusters II.
    • This episode marks Louis Tully's first appearance in the series, and he is already working for the Ghostbusters.
    • However, as noted by Egon [110] and Janine [111] in the episode, it isn't suggested the Ghostbusters ever went out of business and they have been in business for years. This could contradict the beginning of Ghostbusters II and suggests things happen slightly differently in the animated continuity.
  • "Partners in Slime"
    • The Mood Slime from the Ghostbusters II is what the Ghostbusters cover Peter in. In this episode, it's yellow, not pink like in the movie. Egon said he collected it last year right after he and the other Ghostbusters defeated Vigo the Carpathian. [112]
    • The traits of the slime are different in animation. It is used to grant Peter the abilities of a ghost. When Peter gets angry, it turns red and grows tentacles.
  • "Mean Green Teen Machine"
    • The Mean Green Teen Machine slime the Statue of Liberty temporarily bringing her to life, very similar to a major part of Ghostbusters II which came out the year before.
    • Winston and Egon talk about the aftermath of the events in Ghostbusters II. Winston says, "Remember what happened the last time we dug up the street?" [113]
    • Although Winston was not involved in that incident in the movie. This also could imply Winston was part of the incident in the animated canon.
    • Egon implies the River of Slime was pumped out in a few days time. [114]
  • "The Treasure of Sierra Tamale"
    • While explaining the way to defeat Quetzalcoatl, Egon uses the "Psychomagnotheric" term first coined in Ghostbusters II. [115]
  • "Attack of the B-Movie Monsters"
    • The term "Psychomagnotheric" is used for the second time on The Real Ghostbusters in this episode [116]

Versions and Releases of Ghostbusters II

Home Movie Releases

Usually over the years, Ghostbusters II was released with Ghostbusters in the DVD box sets. Unlike Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II never included deleted scenes or production images or even interviews based on the movie.

Sony had announced at Comic-Con 2008 that the Blu-ray version of the film along with Ghostbusters was to be released on October 21, 2008, which got delayed to June 18, 2009. For whatever reason, plans for a Blu-ray version of Ghostbusters II didn't happen. On March 21, 2012, Dan Aykroyd announced via Twitter that "GB2 on Blu-ray - it's definitely coming out (with some extras/commentary)." [117] It has yet to be officially announced and released.

To read more on Home movie releases of the film go to Ghostbusters Home Video Releases

Foreign Markets

References

  1. ↑ Goldstein, Patrick (June 1, 1989). Return of the Money Making Slime, Rolling Stone magazine #553. Wenner Media LLC, New York City, New York, USA.
  2. ↑ Ghostbusters II (1999) DVD Production Notes
  3. ↑ Bernard, Jami (July 1989). Prime Slime with Ghostbusters, Fangoria magazine #84. The Brooklyn Company, Inc., USA.
  4. ↑ Goldstein, Patrick (June 1, 1989). Return of the Money Making Slime, Rolling Stone magazine #553. Wenner Media LLC, New York City, New York, USA.
  5. ↑ Spelling, Ian (March 1989). Bill Murray Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts!, Starlog magazine #140. The Brooklyn Company, Inc., USA.
  6. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 5. Cinefex, USA.
  7. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 5-6. Cinefex, USA.
  8. ↑ "Later with Bob Costas" 6/15/1989 which can be seen here at 6:29-32 mark
  9. ↑ Later with Bob Costas episode guide
  10. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 6. Cinefex, USA.
  11. ↑ Spelling, Ian (March 1989). Bill Murray Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts!, Starlog magazine #140. The Brooklyn Company, Inc., USA.
  12. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 6. Cinefex, USA.
  13. ↑ Bernard, Jami (July 1989). Prime Slime with Ghostbusters, Fangoria magazine #84. The Brooklyn Company, Inc., USA.
  14. ↑ Goldstein, Patrick (June 1, 1989). Return of the Money Making Slime, Rolling Stone magazine #553. Wenner Media LLC, New York City, New York, USA.
  15. ↑ Ghostbusters II (1999) DVD Production Notes
  16. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 25. Cinefex, USA.
  17. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 23. Cinefex, USA.
  18. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 25. Cinefex, USA.
  19. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 26. Cinefex, USA.
  20. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 26. Cinefex, USA.
  21. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA.
  22. ↑ Cross the Streams Episode 40, 30:24 to 33:20, 5/20/14
  23. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 11. Cinefex, USA.
  24. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 14. Cinefex, USA.
  25. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 14. Cinefex, USA.
  26. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 14. Cinefex, USA.
  27. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 11,13. Cinefex, USA.
  28. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 14. Cinefex, USA.
  29. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 17. Cinefex, USA.
  30. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 14. Cinefex, USA.
  31. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 14, 17. Cinefex, USA.
  32. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 17. Cinefex, USA.
  33. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 17. Cinefex, USA.
  34. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 17-18. Cinefex, USA.
  35. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 21. Cinefex, USA.
  36. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 17 footnote. Cinefex, USA.
  37. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 21. Cinefex, USA.
  38. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 21. Cinefex, USA.
  39. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 18 footnote. Cinefex, USA.
  40. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 21. Cinefex, USA.
  41. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 9. Cinefex, USA.
  42. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 44-45. Cinefex, USA.
  43. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 9-10. Cinefex, USA.
  44. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 10. Cinefex, USA.
  45. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 26. Cinefex, USA.
  46. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 34. Cinefex, USA.
  47. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 45, 45 footnote. Cinefex, USA.
  48. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 22. Cinefex, USA.
  49. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 22. Cinefex, USA.
  50. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 29. Cinefex, USA.
  51. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 22-23. Cinefex, USA.
  52. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 21 footnote, 23. Cinefex, USA.
  53. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA.
  54. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 23. Cinefex, USA.
  55. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 26. Cinefex, USA.
  56. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 22 footnote, 26. Cinefex, USA.
  57. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 26. Cinefex, USA.
  58. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA.
  59. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 29 footnote, 33. Cinefex, USA.
  60. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30 footnote. Cinefex, USA.
  61. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30. Cinefex, USA.
  62. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 31, 33, 33 footnote. Cinefex, USA.
  63. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30. Cinefex, USA.
  64. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 26 footnote. Cinefex, USA.
  65. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 34, 37, 37 footnote. Cinefex, USA.
  66. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 37. Cinefex, USA.
  67. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 41. Cinefex, USA.
  68. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 42. Cinefex, USA.
  69. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 18, 20. Cinefex, USA.
  70. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 20. Cinefex, USA.
  71. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 37. Cinefex, USA.
  72. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 29. Cinefex, USA.
  73. ↑ Spook Central NY Customs
  74. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 28. Cinefex, USA.
  75. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 28. Cinefex, USA.
  76. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA.
  77. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA.
  78. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 34. Cinefex, USA.
  79. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 34. Cinefex, USA.
  80. ↑ Spook Central 644 Broadway
  81. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 25 footnote. Cinefex, USA.
  82. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 28. Cinefex, USA.
  83. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 25 footnote, 28-29. Cinefex, USA.
  84. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 29. Cinefex, USA.
  85. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 29. Cinefex, USA.
  86. ↑ Spook Central, Dana's apartment
  87. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 6. Cinefex, USA.
  88. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 10. Cinefex, USA.
  89. ↑ Birthday Party Exteriors, Spook Central
  90. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 13. Cinefex, USA.
  91. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 13. Cinefex, USA.
  92. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 13. Cinefex, USA.
  93. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 13. Cinefex, USA.
  94. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 13 footnote. Cinefex, USA.
  95. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 13. Cinefex, USA.
  96. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 14. Cinefex, USA.
  97. ↑ Spook Central Shot on Site 7/16/12
  98. ↑ Spook Central Liberty Island
  99. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30 footnote. Cinefex, USA.
  100. ↑ Spook Central Shot on Site 7/30/12
  101. ↑ Spook Central First Avenue
  102. ↑ Spook Central Shot on Site 3/9/12
  103. ↑ Spook Central California
  104. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 9. Cinefex, USA.
  105. ↑ Spook Central Fifth Avenue
  106. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 7. Cinefex, USA.
  107. ↑ The Numbers:Ghostbusters II
  108. ↑ Proton Charging:Ghostbusters By the numbers
  109. ↑ Ghostbusters II (1999) DVD Production Notes
  110. ↑ Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters- Something's Going Around (1989) (DVD ts. 13:31-13:37). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "It must be the years of Ectoplasmic residue."
  111. ↑ Janine Melnitz (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- Something's Going Around (1989) (DVD ts. 13:52-14:01). Time Life Entertainment. Janine says: "You think about it, for years now you been busting ghosts. Hundreds of ghosts. Thousands of ghosts"
  112. ↑ Egon Spengler (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Partners in Slime " (1989) (DVD ts. 10:32-10:38). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "I collected it last year after we battled Vigo the Carpathian."
  113. ↑ Winston Zeddemore (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Mean Green Teen Machine" (1990) (DVD ts. 07:10-07:14). Time Life Entertainment. Winston says: "I don't know about this, Egon. Remember what happened last time we dug up the street?"
  114. ↑ Egon Spengler (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Mean Green Teen Machine" (1990) (DVD ts. 07:14-07:21). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "It was an honest mistake. They had the subway station pumped out within a few days."
  115. ↑ Egon Spengler (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "The Treasure of Sierra Tamale" (1991) (DVD ts. 20:26-20:36). Time Life Entertainment.
  116. ↑ Egon Spengler (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Attack of the B-Movie Monsters" (1991) (DVD ts. 10:02-10:05). Time Life Entertainment.
  117. ↑ Dan Aykroyd's tweet 3/21/2012)


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