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The Statue Of Liberty was animated in Ghostbusters II by positively charged Psychomagnotheric Slime.
"Something that appeals to the best in each and every one of us."
- Ray Stantz; Ghostbusters II
History
Primary Canon
The Statue of Liberty was used by the team to make an entrance to the slime-covered museum where Vigo was about to reborn. While huddled at Ecto-1a, the Ghostbusters saw the Statue of Liberty's image on Ecto's license plate. After Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore coated the interior with positively charged Psychomagnotheric Slime, the team utilized music as they did with a toaster to animate it. The Statue surfaced near Pier 34, where the Titanic recently appeared, and were escorted by police to the Museum of Art.
After the Ghostbusters entered the building, the Statue of Liberty collapsed, and is seen lying on the ground. Nevertheless, when the Ghostbusters are being honored by the city, the Statue is back in its place on Liberty Island. Two years later, the Psi Energy Pulse triggered by Ilyssa Selwyn passes the Statue of Liberty with no apparent paranormal reaction.
Secondary Canon
IDW Comics
A couple of weeks after the Ghostbusters' 101 pilot team used the Interspatial Teleportation Unit, evidence of two dimensions overlapping become noticeable after twin Statues of Liberty appeared in New York Harbor. NY1 News interviewed Peter, Ray, and Winston in the afternoon. They took readings and discovered it matched readings from when the teleportation unit was used by the pilot team.
Behind the Scenes
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 to 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 Ivan Reitman's way. [1] 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." [2]
It was very difficult rotowork combining live action plates from New York because it included crowds of people. [3] 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. [4]
Trivia
- The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was originally scripted to rise up by the Statue of Liberty in Ghostbusters. [5]
- In the Ghostbusters II August 5, 1988 draft, Vigo animates the Statue of Liberty with negative psychomagnetic energy and rides it to the city in pursuit of Lane Walker and their son. [6]
- In the Ghostbusters II August 5, 1988 draft, the Statue of Liberty is defeated after the Ghostbusters patch their Proton Packs into 500 kilovolt amp Con Edison transmission lines and open fire. [7] [8]
- The Statue of Liberty appeared in the New Ghostbusters II game for the NES. It had the power to shoot fireballs from its torch at ghosts and the book it carries is used as a bomb to clear the sky.
- The Statue of Liberty's torch is constructed of stone and copper, but shatters and is replaced with real flames when the Mood Slime animates it.
- The Statue of Liberty is mentioned on page 12 of Ghostbusters Issue #1.
- In Ghostbusters Issue #2 page 19, Zac mentioned he wanted to go see the Statue of Liberty.
Appearances
Primary Canon
- Chapter 22): No Dent (alluded to only)
- Chapter 23): The Statue of Liberty
- Chapter 24): A Harbor Chick
- Chapter 25): Breaking and Entering
- Chapter 27): The Fifth Ghostbuster
- Chapter 28): World is Safe Again
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions)
- Lost Island Rising Level (Cameo)
Secondary Canon
Real Ghostbusters Starring in Ghostbusters II
- Part 3
- Deleted pages for Part 3
- Ghostbusters 101
- Ghostbusters 101 #3
- Also alluded to on page 24 in the Psychomagnotheric ectoplasm section [9]
- Ghostbusters 101 #3
References
- ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 34, 37, 37 footnote. Cinefex, USA.
- ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 37. Cinefex, USA.
- ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 41. Cinefex, USA.
- ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 42. Cinefex, USA.
- ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 184. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0590336843.
- ↑ Aykroyd, Dan & Ramis, Harold (1988). Ghostbusters II (August 5, 1988 Draft) (Script p. 104). "Paragraph reads: "A greenish glow starts to emanate from the base of the statue, then starts rising up the body as the colossal Lady is infused with evil energy. Then Vigo dashes up the stairs and enters the sculpture."
- ↑ Aykroyd, Dan & Ramis, Harold (1988). Ghostbusters II (August 5, 1988 Draft) (Script p. 105). "Egon Spengler says: "If we could reverse the polarity of the energy mass, theoretically the magnetic force would become repellent and dissipate into the atmosphere."
- ↑ Aykroyd, Dan & Ramis, Harold (1988). Ghostbusters II (August 5, 1988 Draft) (Script p. 105). "Ray Stantz says: "With a strong electrical current. The Statue is copper; it's highly conductive. In this area, the Con Ed transmission lines carry about 500 kilovolt amps. If we run that much current through our proton packs, it should produce more than enough juice to do this job."
- ↑ Ghostbusters 101 Class Notes (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters 101 #3" (2017) (Comic p.24). Ghostbusters 101 Class Notes reads: "Can animate the inanimate (statues, toasters, etc.)."
Gallery
Primary Canon
Secondary Canon
NOW Comics images provided by Ectocontainment (Fan Site) and NOW Comics Deleted pages images provided by Alex Newborn (Original Source: James Van Hise).
Non Canon
