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Down the Shaft is the eighth chapter on the DVD of Ghostbusters II. This Chapter has Ray goes down the hole.

Cast[]

Equipment[]

Environmental[]

Locations[]

Plot[]

Peter Venkman shouted down the hole to Ray Stantz, asking if he was all right. Ray was being lowered down the hole on a wire. Ray confirmed he was good and so was the speed. He told them to keep it coming. He reported seeing some light then entered what he described as some kind of a chamber. He looked around and saw tile work then exclaimed he saw slime. Peter missed the last part. Ray clarified there was a river of slime and estimated 25,000 gallons of slime. He saw an old sign and realized he was in the abandoned Van Horne Pneumatic Transit system. He told them to stop lowering him and keep him in place. Peter asked what he saw. While Peter and Egon looked down, the same police squad car from before returned along with another vehicle. Ray got read to take a sample from the river. He activated his Slime Scooper. It extended down to the river.

A Con Edison Supervisor asked Peter and Egon what was going on. Peter shifted back to his blue collar persona and referred to them as boneheads. He claimed three thousand phones were out on Greenwich Village and he had eight million miles of cable to check. He pretended to be displeased they came to shake his monkey tree again. The Con Ed Supervisor pointed out the fact that the phone lines were across the street. Peter improvised and smacked Egon's hard hat angrily. Peter "blamed" Egon for setting up in the wrong spot despite his reluctance. The First Cop told Peter to stop. He revealed the checked with Con Ed and the phone company, and confirmed they weren't who they claimed to be. He implored Peter to tell him another lie. Without breaking character, Peter claimed there was major gas leak. He pointed to some steam that happened to be nearby and rhetorically asked them where they thought all this was coming from.

Trivia[]

Ghostbusters II Trivia[]

  • In the Ghostbusters II August 5, 1988 Draft, on page 29, the Giga meter is lowered down the hole. It is noted Egon and Ray are still trying to determine the parameters of the psychomagnetic field. They pull the meter up and find it is half-melted and fried to a crisp.
  • In the September 29, 1988 draft:
    • On page 26, Ray is lowered into the Van Horne Station. Egon explains the NYPRR was an experimental subway system built in 1870. Ray sees the River of Slime.
      • In the movie, the NYPRR explanation is omitted.
    • On page 27, Ray takes a sample with the Slime Scooper.
    • On page 28, Ray is hauled up but they stop after the First Cop returns with a Con Edison Supervisor and talks to Peter. They don't fall for his phone lines story and Peter meekly suggests a gas leak.
      • In the movie, Peter is more assertive with the gas leak lie.
  • In the November 27, 1988 and February 27, 1989 drafts:
    • On page 33, Egon explains the NYPRR was an experimental subway system built in 1870. Ray takes a reading and states it is off the top of the scale.
    • On page 34, Ray gives an extended description of the River of Slime calling it 'a seething bubbling psychic cess, interlocking tubes of plasm, crackling with negative GEVs, lowing and moving.' He takes a sample with the Slime Scooper but a grotesque arm with long skeletal fingers reaches up out of the slime for him. Ray jerks his legs up. More arms surface. Ray asks to be hauled back up.
    • On page 35, Ray is hauled up but they stop after the First Cop returns with a Con Edison Supervisor and talks to Peter. They don't fall for his phone lines story and Peter meekly suggests a gas leak.
  • The scene with Ray being lowered into the Van Horne station was a combination of a partial set on Stage 16 at Burbank Studios 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.[1][2]
  • The Van Horne Pneumatic Subway was inspired by a pneumatic line built in 1870 by Alfred Beach. It operated using compressed air and was built as a demonstration of a pneumatic transit system. The one-block-long tunnel was built prior to any other subways in the area, and without any City approval.
  • The digging scenes on First Avenue were filmed on a similar street in Los Angeles at the intersection of East 8th Street & South Los Angeles Street.
  • Peter mentions Greenwich Village.
  • The First Cop's surname is "Wilbur" as revealed on his badge at the 25:05 mark.
  • In Chapter 13: Mood Slime, Ray mentions when he collected the slime in the subway tunnel.
  • In Chapter 17: Fire-Trapped, Ray references when he was hanging above the River of Slime.
  • In Chapter 18: In the Tunnel, Ray brings up what he said he saw was true after Egon and Winston see the River of Slime for the first time.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game Trivia[]

IDW Comics Trivia[]

  • In Ghostbusters Volume 2 #10:
    • On Page 9, on the pole by Winston is a No Bozo sticker.
  • In Ghostbusters Volume 2 #14:
    • On Page 9, Kylie has the Slime Scooper from Ghostbusters II.
  • In Ghostbusters Annual 2015:
    • On Page 3, the construction gear exactly worn by the Ghostbusters is part of what Peter, Ray, and Egon wore in Ghostbusters II when they dug up First Avenue. Peter had an orange vest with two white vertical lines and helmet with the No Bozo sticker on the side. Ray had an orange vest and helmet with a mounted search light. Egon had an orange vest with two vertical lines and helmet with a black label on the front.
  • In Ghostbusters International #4:
    • On Page 16, in panel 4, the poster on the right is 'No Bozos' from Peter's construction helmet.
  • In Ghostbusters International #7:
    • On Page 23, it is revealed there is a River of Mood Slime under Las Vegas like with Manhattan.
  • In Ghostbusters Annual 2017:
    • On Page 9, in panel 3, Winston mentions Ray's discovery of the River of Slime.
  • In Ghostbusters 101 Issue #6:
    • On Page 18, the fifth image is from Chapter 8 when Ray is first lowered above down to the River of Slime. Patty Tolan appears in place of Ray.
  • In Ghostbusters Annual 2018:
    • On Page 3, Peter, Ray, and Egon are in their construction outfits.
  • In Ghostbusters 35th Anniversary: Ghostbusters:
    • On Page 5, panel 2, the No Bozo sticker from Peter's construction helmet is on the black device right of the slime jar.

Tertiary Canon Trivia[]

References[]

  1. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 9. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "For shots of Ray being lowered into the station, and later scenes with the Ghostbusters on the set, Welch built only a small section of the setting--a curved background wall, steps leading down into the station and a partial platform. This set piece was subsequently combined with matte paintings of the rest of the station rendered by Ysei Uesugi and with a miniature representing the river of slime. Like many other concepts in the picture, the look of the slime river took a while to develop. Dennis Muren and effects art director Harley Jessup were intimately involved in the process."
  2. Spook Central "California"
  3. Dille, Flint & Platten, John Z. (2009). Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Draft Revision February 11, 2008) (Script p. 109). Egon Spengler says: "It uses a base culture of ectoplasm developed from materials we discovered under the City a few years ago."

Gallery[]

Primary Canon[]

Secondary Canon[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Storyboards of Final Version[]

 
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Chapter 07: Vigo Commands Chapter 09: Great Blackout of 1989
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