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Titanic (also known as the RMS Titanic) was a famous ocean liner that was built in Britain during the early 1900s, which sank on her maiden voyage en route from Southampton, England to New York City, killing over 1,500 people.

Actual History[]

The RMS Titanic was set to sail to New York City from Southampton, England, after it was completed in 1912, and she was said to be "unsinkable." This theory was proved wrong when on the night of April 14th, 1912 at 11:40 PM, after she reached the North Atlantic Ocean, it collided with an iceberg and sunk to the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia at 2:20 AM on April 15th, killing over 1,500 of the passengers and crew members on board, including her Captain, Edward J. Smith. At that time, it went down as one of the greatest liner disasters in history.

History[]

Primary Canon[]

Ghostbusters II[]

On New Year's Eve, 1989, the ghostly form of the Titanic arrived at Pier 34 in New York City. The ship possessed a massive hole on her starboard bow where the iceberg hit and towards the rear, the ship was broken in half, misshapen, and mangled. The ghosts of the passengers that died manifested and departed from the liner. The Dock Supervisor and his Assistant witnessed the Titanic's arrival and called the police from the Port Authority office.

Secondary Canon[]

IDW Comics[]

A couple weeks into the Tiamat incident, the Titanic was sighted in waters near Hart Island.

Behind the Scenes[]

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 Hindenburg 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.[1]

John Goodson and Jeff Olson of the Industrial Light and Magic 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 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.[2][3][4][5][6]

Extras dressed in period clothing were photographed against black then inserted optically into the miniature plate material.[7][8]

Trivia[]

  • The Ghost Train evolved from concepts that led to the Titanic.[9]
  • In the September 29, 1988 draft, on page 85, the Mayor mentions the Titanic. Peter quips, "Better late than never."
  • In the November 27, 1988 draft and February 27, 1989 draft, on page 109, the Fire Captain tells the Ghostbusters the Titanic arrived. Peter jokes, "Better late than never."
  • The Dock Supervisor in the scene where the Titanic arrives is played by Cheech Marin.
  • Although Ghostbusters II was filmed after the discovery of the remains of the actual RMS Titanic in 1985, the specific nature of the ship's iceberg collision and overall appearance is contradictory.
    • The ghost ship appears to have a giant, gaping hole in its bow when docked, when in fact the actual vessel suffered several dozen small impacts along much of the starboard body. This has most likely been done for dramatic purposes. Had the actual Titanic suffered the impact demonstrated in the film, she likely would have sank much faster.
    • Also included and not accurate were the funnels and stern section appearing intact, when in reality, both were torn apart during the sinking.
    • Also, the Titanic was scheduled to dock at Pier 59, not Pier 34.
  • In the extended edition of Ghostbusters (2016 Movie), Tour Guide Garrett mentions Sir Aldridge saved a grandfather clock from the Titanic but a Romanian woman and her child were forced to leave the lifeboat to make room for it.[10]

Appearances[]

Primary Canon[]

Secondary Canon[]


References[]

  1. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Harold Ramis says: "The idea came up while we were thinking about what big manifestations could happen when all hell's breaking loose. The idea we were shooting for was that because of all this psychic activity beneath the city, all the dead were returning to New York. We considered several ideas. One had the Hindenberg arriving with flaming passengers getting off carrying luggage that was also on fire. Another featured a ghostly subway station with rotting commuters. That was the precursor to the ghost train that is now in the film. We also had a cemetery scene where the gravestones were taking off like rockets. Then the idea for the Titanic hit me one day and that seemed to offer the most powerful images."
  2. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 29 footnote. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Using photographs and videotape of the sunken luxury liner as reference, members of the ILM model shop created a replica of the ship in plywood and urethane that was accurate in nearly every aspect. Modelmaker John Goodson adds on-set detail to the rusted hull – accomplished authentically by coating the outer surface with iron powder and then spraying it with an oxidizing acid."
  3. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "To create the shot, modelmakers John Goodson and Jeff Olson constructed a Titanic out of plywood and urethane, and also constructed several model buildings for the background."
  4. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Bill George says: "We tried to be as accurate as we could using books, magazine articles and videotape of the wreck but we still had to make changes in two areas. One had to do with the fact that the smokestacks were torn off when the ship went down--but the ship without the smokestacks is less recognizable. So we built the smokestacks, making them very skeletal to kind of split the difference. The second change was because the director wanted the hole in the bow to be much larger than it actually was, and he also wanted the name on the ship moved so you could read it." Despite these alterations, the model was essentially accurate--right down to its fractured hull. "Although it's very difficult to tell in the angle it was filmed at, our model was broken in half because the real ship split into two sections when it went down. Early on we were thinking that it would be great to have the bow section come up and then have the aft section follow. There were also thoughts of seeing the ship floating above the water or rising up out of the water. But the director wanted the audience to be able to see once shot and get the whole joke. He did not want a sequence or any lead-in shots."
  5. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Since the real Titanic had been at the bottom of the ocean for more than seventy years, the model had to be aged accordingly. Normally, such aging would be stimulated with applications of paint, but George decided to try something different."
  6. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Bill George says: "We had reference photographs of this stuff that has been growing on the Titanic's hull for years. The real ship looks like it's dripping with moss, but the 'drips' are actually rust deposits. So rather than paint the model, we sprayed glue on the boat and sprinkled iron powder onto it. Then we sprayed the iron with an acid so it would oxidize. When it oxidized, it also kind of bonded together. As a result, we did not have to paint or mix colors--it just got genuinely rusty."
  7. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 30 footnote. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "Extras dressed appropriately to the period were photographed against black and inserted optically into the miniature plate material."
  8. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "In addition to the Titanic herself, the scene also featured a parade of ghost passengers walking away from the docked vessel. To create these ghosts, extras dressed appropriately to the period were photographed against black and then added to the model ship footage in optical."
  9. Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 33. Cinefex, USA. Harold Ramis says: "The idea we were shooting for was that because of all this psychic activity beneath the city, all the dead were returning to New York. We considered several ideas. One had the Hindenberg arriving with flaming passengers getting off carrying luggage that was also on fire. Another featured a ghostly subway station with rotting commuters. That was the precursor to the ghost train that is now in the film. We also had a cemetery scene where the gravestones were taking off like rockets. Then the idea for the Titanic hit me one day and that seemed to offer the most powerful images."
  10. Tour Guide Garrett (2016). Ghostbusters (2016 Movie) Extended Edition; Chapter 1 (2016) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:01:23-00:01:33). Sony Pictures. Tour Guide Garrett says: "Um, interesting fact, this grandfather clock was on the Titanic and was saved by Sir Aldridge. A Romanian woman and her child were forced to leave the lifeboat to make room."

Gallery[]

Primary Canon[]

Secondary Canon[]

Behind the Scenes[]

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