Ghostbusters II (1989) | Merchandise & Memorabilia

I recently wrote about the original Ghostbusters film celebrating its 40th anniversary. Well, we can’t leave out Ghostbusters II, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary today! I wasn’t yet alive in 1984, therefore have zero memories of the original film coming out, but when Ghostbusters II was released in the Summer of ’89, I was just a few months shy of turning 4 years old, so my memories are quite clear. Mind you, I didn’t see it right away due to being too young. My earliest memory of actually watching the film would be when it aired as part of the ABC Sunday Night Movie in the Summer of 1994.

Despite not seeing it right away in the Summer of ’89, I do remember the hype, and all of the cool memorabilia that my mother got me to compensate for not being able to go see it.

So, in celebration of 35 years of Ghostbusters II, I’d like to shine a light on these items, which I still have to this day…

Coloring Book (1988, Honey Bear Books)

While it’s not in the best condition, I was happy to recently unearth this original GB2 coloring book from my parents’ basement. I’ve had this since the film’s release, therefore I won’t show photos of the inside pages because it ain’t pretty (remember, I was barely 4 years old, so staying within the lines was a foreign concept to me).

What’s worth mentioning about this particular book is that the publisher did not have the rights to the actors’ likenesses, so NONE of the Ghostbusters look like they do in the movie, and I found this EXTREMELY confusing as a child. I can remember my sister Caroline trying to convince me “That’s Peter, and that’s Egon…“, and I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. They didn’t even look like their cartoon counterparts from The Real Ghostbusters! For instance, Ray (originally played by Dan Aykroyd) now inexplicably has a mustache, and Egon (Harold Ramis) kind of looks like an anime character with a full head of hair. They didn’t even bother to give him glasses, which didn’t make sense to me then, and it still doesn’t make sense to me now. Peter (Bill Murray) almost looks like a modern day John Cena. I’m telling you, this book is WILD!

From left to right: Ray Stantz, Peter Venkman and Egon Spengler. I feel like this page was colored by my sister Caroline, judging by how neat it is. Notice Egon was given yellow hair to link him to The Real Ghostbusters. See actual scans (not mine) from the book here.

Another interesting thing about this coloring book is that it contains scenes that didn’t make it into the final cut of the film. The book also dates back to 1988, one year before the film’s release, so it’s possible that they were using an early script of the film, before any of those scenes were cut. We’ll address these deleted scenes again a little later. Stay tuned.

Door Handle Hanger

This cool item could be seen hanging on my bedroom door handle from 1989 all the way through the ’90s, and even very early 2000’s. Then, sometime in the mid-2000s, I tucked it away in a box for reasons that aren’t really clear to me. Maybe I thought Ghostbusters II just wasn’t a cool thing to have displayed now that I was in my early 20s? Well, not to worry, because I have rescued it during a recent visit to my parents’ house, and I have brought it home with me. One day, when I can finally afford a house, my plan is to eventually have a room dedicated to my extensive movie collection, and what would be more perfect to hang on the door handle than this bad boy?

Ghostbusters II Button

It’s a bit of a blur (we are going back 35 years after all), but I have a vague memory of my mother buying this GB2 button for me during a family trip to Moncton, New Brunswick (where I actually reside now, funnily enough).

For years, I had it tucked away with the rest of our button collection, but around 2005 or so, I took it out and proudly displayed it on my backpack. So, in the past (almost) 20 years, it’s gotten a bit faded and discolored, but I still love it and find that the wear and tear gives it a bit of a personality…

Trading Card #38 (The Topps Company, Inc.)

In the 1980s, when a big movie was released, you best believe that it was going to get its own series of trading cards. Ghostbusters II was no exception, and they received their own trading card line, released by Topps. I can remember getting a pack of said cards back in ’89. If I remember correctly, each pack came with five cards, a sticker, and a stick of bubble gum. The complete set consisted of 88 cards and 11 stickers.

Somehow, the only card I still have in my possession is card #38, which was actually part 5 of 5 of the “We’re Back!” TV commercial seen in the movie.

What’s funny is that, after all of these years, I can remember some of the other cards I had in that pack (#11 – Janosz’ Secret, #62 – Oscar In a Jam), and I can even remember the sticker I had, which was #4 of 11, “Slimer Happy“, but I couldn’t tell you what happened to them, or how I ended up with just the one card, but I’m happy to at least have that one, even though it’s seen better days.

Comic Book Adaptation by NOW Comics

Unlike all of the items listed so far, I didn’t get these comic books in the Summer of 1989, but rather many years later. Issues 1 & 3 were found at a pawn shop in Bathurst NB is the Spring of 2008, and I wouldn’t get issue #2 until coming across it at The Comic Hunter, Moncton NB, in the Spring of 2011.

This adaptation is cool because, while it also didn’t use the original actors’ likenesses, it instead went with the characters’ counterparts from The Real Ghostbusters animated series, which was a brilliant idea!

Much like the coloring book, it seems to have been adapted from an early version of the script and features scenes that would eventually be cut from the final film. The most notable of these scenes is the one where Ray gets possessed by Vigo after investigating the painting at the museum, and proceeds to drive the Ecto-1A recklessly, almost killing the entire Ghostbusters team. Bits of this scene were eventually spliced into the montage sequence of the film (where the Ecto-1A runs a red light, leaving Egon and Peter with stunned looks on their faces), but the full scene has never been released.

I was hoping that it would be included in The Ultimate Collection 4K box-set released in 2022, but while that set featured many deleted scenes from GB2 (including a long lost scene involving Eugene Levy as Louis’ cousin, Sherman), the possession scene was nowhere to be found, leading me to believe that the original print has been lost forever.

Instagram – gb2magnum

There you have it, folks! My Ghostbusters II memorabilia. I’ve always liked this sequel. Sure, it’s not *as* good as the original, because that film is just impossible to beat, but I see it as being not too far behind. Call it nostalgia, but I always have fun while watching Ghostbusters II, as I love seeing the whole gang back together. Additionally, an actor that I feel doesn’t get enough recognition is Peter MacNicol as museum director Janosz Poha. His performance and accent just add to the humor of the film and he never fails to get a chuckle out of me.

“Everything you are doing is bad. I want you to know this.” – Janosz Poha

As usual, thanks for reading, and if you find yourself with some spare time today, why not pop in Ghostbusters II and give it a watch? Cheers, Ghost-Heads!

Explore more of my Ghostbusters-related content:

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) | Teaser Reaction

Review | The Real Ghostbusters: The Animated Series DVD Set (2017, Sony Pictures Home Ent.)

First Impressions Review | Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

My Real Ghostbusters Toy Collection from Kenner (Past & Present)

“The Real Ghostbusters” Returns to Broadcast Television this Month

Who You Gonna Call? Gremlins. (A 40th Anniversary Retrospective)

Who You Gonna Call? Gremlins. (A 40th Anniversary Retrospective)

June 8th, 1984. On this very day, two films that would have a great effect on pop culture as we know it were released, making it a significant day in film history.

Poster images from IMPawards

If you’ve been following this blog for any amount of time now, you know that Ghostbusters is very near and dear to my heart. Gremlins, I don’t have the same kind of sentimental value attached to it, but I still think it’s a highly enjoyable film, and its director, Joe Dante, has come to be one of my favorite directors of all time.

The reason Ghostbusters has become so important to me over the years is because it’s my earliest movie memory. It is the first movie I ever remember watching in my life, so you can say it paved the way to me becoming the movie maniac that I am today. I have fond memories of watching the film on VHS, or TV airings, usually of the French-dubbed version, titled S.O.S. Fantômes…

I will say without any hesitation whatsoever that Ghostbusters is the definition of “lightning in a bottle”. Everything just clicked, from the incredible performances of the cast (featuring many memorable improvisations), to the brilliant direction of Ivan Reitman, to the practical special effects, to the chilling musical score by Elmer Bernstein, and who can forget the catchy theme song by Ray Parker Jr.? Everything just worked in the film’s favor, so it comes as no surprise that the film is so beloved by fans and continues to find a new audience, 40 years later.

Speaking of the cast, we couldn’t have asked for better comedic greatness: Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray are both veterans of the Second City improvisational comedy troupe, and original cast members of Saturday Night Live. Harold Ramis also comes from the Second City, was a writer for the National Lampoon comedy magazine, and has performed on the sketch comedy show SCTV. Ernie Hudson, while not having the comedy background of his co-stars, was perfect as skeptic/straight-man Winston Zeddemore. Add to the mix Rick Moranis (also an SCTV veteran), Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts, and you’ve got yourself comedy perfection.

Four reasons why we love the movie as much as we do: Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. Source: CBS News.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen the movie. I feel like I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said I’ve seen it over 100 times. And even with so many viewings, I still have this sense of excitement whenever I watch it, anticipating what’s going to happen next, and mouthing all of the quotes I’ve come to memorize after all of these repeat viewings.

As far as Gremlins goes, I didn’t watch it as early on as I did Ghostbusters, but I was aware of it at a young age because my older sisters had Gremlins stickers in their sticker album. Actually, my earliest Gremlins memory would probably be when the sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, was released in June of 1990. Stickers featuring characters from the film could be found in bags of Humpty Dumpty Potato Chips, so that’s really when my awareness of the Gremlins began. In fact, I think I saw the sequel first, in the very early ’90s (which makes sense, as it’s much more cartoony, dare I say “family-friendly”, and less dark than the first installment).

I didn’t watch the original film until the Winter of 1999 when it aired on the French-Canadian network TQS (watch the commercial for this airing here). I was now 13-years-old, and I remember the film taking me by surprise, as I didn’t expect it to be so dark (remember, I had only seen the second film, which is much more humorous). A scene that definitely stood out is the scene where Billy’s mother gets attacked by Gremlins while alone at home decorating the Christmas tree. A battle that ends with her destroying many of the Gremlins using kitchen appliances such as a food processor and, most memorably, a microwave. As much as this shocked me, I can safely say that it wasn’t scary enough to turn me off, and I became an instant fan. I think that the appeal of the film, at least for me, is that it presents itself as a family-friendly feature with cute and cuddly creatures, but in reality it borders on full-on horror. It’s an odd & interesting blend, executed perfectly by director Joe Dante.

It’s actually for that very reason that the Motion Picture Association of America established the PG-13 rating shortly after its release, due to this film and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (both PG-rated films that happen to have Steven Spielberg’s name attached to them) being a bit too scary for children, but not scary enough to warrant an R-rating.

Director Joe Dante posing with a Gizmo plushy. Source: Little White Lies.

Much like Ghostbusters, Gremlins features a great cast with Zach Galligan playing leading man Billy Peltzer, who receives an interesting gift from his inventor father (Hoyt Axton), in the form of a Mogwai – a cute and cuddly creature that becomes anything but cute and cuddly when fed after midnight or exposed to water. It’s also very sensitive to bright lights, which can kill it.

Also shining on screen are Phoebe Cates, Judge Reinhold (both hot off the success of Fast Times at Ridgemont High), a young Corey Feldman, and frequent Joe Dante collaborator: That guy Dick Miller.

I see these two films as two of the same, as they both bring the laughs, all while bringing the scares. It still blows my mind that both of these films that I’ve enjoyed for so long were released on the same day. Talk about making film history.

If you don’t know what to do today and you have some spare time, why not pop in one of these two films? Or both?? You might as well watch both, because it’s hard to pick just one.

HAPP Y 40TH!

Photo credit: Lise Hicks.

Explore more of my Ghostbusters-related content:

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) | Teaser Reaction

Review | The Real Ghostbusters: The Animated Series DVD Set (2017, Sony Pictures Home Ent.)

First Impressions Review | Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

My Real Ghostbusters Toy Collection from Kenner (Past & Present)

“The Real Ghostbusters” Returns to Broadcast Television this Month

First Impressions Review | Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

Above photo from Ghostbusters News.

To say I’ve been waiting for this film with anticipation would be an understatement. The day they released the first teaser trailer back in November, I was already looking forward to it, as you could tell from my Teaser Reaction piece.

I even re-watched Ghostbusters: Afterlife just last week, in an effort to refresh my memory (I had only watched it once, when it first hit home video). I didn’t think it would have the same effect as it did the first time as I now knew the big punch it packs (I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t yet seen it), but I must admit that it still hit me just as hard as it did the first time I watched it, if not harder. It’s just such a great love letter to the original Ghostbusters film, and I encourage anyone who hasn’t seen it to give it a chance.

Now, in the week leading up to Frozen Empire, I kept hearing about how critics were giving the new film unfavorable reviews, and how it was getting a low score on the Rotten Tomatoes website (a site I’ve never bothered with, and most likely never will). I’ve made it a point to purposely avoid these reviews, and for several reasons:

1. I didn’t want any spoilers whatsoever.
2. I want to form my own opinion of the film once I see it.
3. I usually don’t agree with snobby film critics in the first place.

I seem to recall critics being not so kind when Afterlife came out in late 2021, claiming it wasn’t original enough and relied too heavily on nostalgia. Well, this just shows the difference between critics and fans; critics don’t possess that sentimental attachment to the product that we fans do, because all of the fans I’ve spoken to loved Afterlife because of the nostalgia. You get the fun, familiar references to the original films (with easter eggs scattered throughout), all while being introduced to interesting new characters.

Now, back to Frozen Empire – Having now seen the film on opening night, here are my first impressions of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, 100% spoiler-free.

From the opening scene, I was invested in this film. It was already apparent that the same love and care that was put into Afterlife was put into this film as well. The Spengler family – Mother Callie (Carrie Coon) and children Trevor and Phoebe (Finn Wolfhard & Mckenna Grace), alongside Callie’s boyfriend Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) – are now continuing the family business and are the new faces of the Ghostbusters, as we see them cruising through downtown New-York in the iconic Ecto-1, in hot pursuit of a giant eel-looking ghost. As a longtime fan, seeing the car driving at high speed, hearing that siren, not to mention seeing newly-added gadgets to the car (drone trap, anyone?), well it all made me very happy.

It was great seeing all of these new characters again, and how they had changed since the predecessor. Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) and Podcast (Logan Kim) showed the most change, as they were still just kids/pre-teens in Afterlife, and now they’re well into their teens (Podcast especially looked and sounded completely different!).

That was an interesting aspect of the film for me. In Afterlife, we followed this young, innocent, socially awkward 12-year-old Phoebe Spengler as she is discovering a big part of her family’s past. In this installment, we find Phoebe in her “teenage angst” phase, which I found to be an interesting study on her character.

Big brother Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) is now 18 years old and wants to be treated like an adult. I will say, that I feel like the filmmakers didn’t know what to do with Trevor in this film. He has a few memorable scenes (The attic. That’s all I’m going to say), but thinking back at the film, it seems to me like he’s inexplicably absent for quite a lengthy period of time, in the middle of the movie, only to pop up again for the climax.

In addition to these characters introduced in Afterlife, we’re of course graced with the presence of the original Ghostbusters (not a spoiler, as they are prominently displayed on posters for the film).

Image from IMP Awards.

Of all the veteran Ghostbusters, Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz gets the most screentime here as he serves as mentor to the new Ghostbusters. I loved this approach, and Aykroyd genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself.

The plot is simple: After a man (Kumail Nanjiani) sells an old ancient artifact to the Ray’s Occult Books store, it is quickly discovered that it is inhabited by an evil force, and “Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second ice age.” (IMDb).

I need to take a moment and talk about Kumail Nanjiani as Nadeem, the young man who sells the ancient artifact to Ray, because he absolutely steals the show, here. Every line that came out of his mouth had me in stitches! His comedic timing was impeccable. The humor is definitely amped up in this installment, and I found myself laughing out loud at several gags in the film

As per its predecessor, easter eggs and nods to previous installments are scattered throughout and it almost becomes a game of I Spy. My friend Marty and I kept turning to each other in a way to say “Did you spot that?“. Once again, the filmmakers have the fans in mind and they make this a fun experience for all audiences.

The creature effects were well done, and I must say that the main antagonist was quite eerie, and made me glad I didn’t bring my young sons to see it. I know for a fact it would have given ME nightmares at their age, so I’ll definitely wait another few years before showing it to them.

As I’m writing this, over 24-hours after seeing the film, I’m still trying to figure out which is the better film: Afterlife or Frozen Empire, and let me tell ya: It’s not an easy call. Both films are different in terms of tone. While Afterlife is slower and serves as the establishing film that introduces us to these new characters, Frozen Empire has a quicker, action-packed pace with amped-up humor. It’s rather fitting really, as we go from the quiet, smalltown Oklahoma setting of Afterlife, to the fast-paced hustle and bustle of New-York City in Frozen Empire.

I *think* I prefer Afterlife a bit more as it did an excellent job at introducing this new generation of characters to us, while keeping the style and feel of the original Ghostbusters films. However, Frozen Empire is not far behind, because now that the introductions were over, it allowed more room for action, not to mention more inclusion of the veteran characters we know and love.

If I had to point out one weakness in the film, and it’s a small one, it would be a subplot centering around Phoebe befriending the ghost of a teenage girl named Melody (Emily Alyn Lind). I didn’t care for the character of Melody, and found her quite boring and uninteresting, BUT this subplot definitely wasn’t enough to ruin any of the enjoyment for me. There was, however, a weird flirtatious chemistry between the two girls, which has some people labeling the film as “woke”, but I won’t get into that…

Overall, if you enjoyed the nostalgic feel of Afterlife and want more, then I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with Frozen Empire. If you have seen the film, I would love to hear your thoughts. Did you enjoy it? Should they have stopped the franchise at Afterlife? Let’s discuss!

MY SCORE: 4/5

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

Directed By Gil Kenan

Written By Jason Reitman & Gil Kenan

Starring Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Kumail Nanjiani and Patton Oswalt

I now leave you with some photographs of my experience with my good friend Marty at the opening night of Frozen Empire at our local Cineplex…

Got to meet and chat with a few cosplayers after the screening.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) | First Teaser Dropped

Above photo from Toy News International.

A little spontaneous writing for you all today. In the past couple of years, I heard through the grapevine that Jason Reitman was working on a follow-up to his highly successful Ghostbusters sequel, Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021).

I didn’t look too much into it, because for these kinds of things, the less I know, the better. I feel like now, more than ever, too much information is given out about future films, that by the time they come out you already know half of it.

So today, on my lunchbreak, I make my way to YouTube with no real objective, but I quickly found one as my eyes landed on the thumbnail for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the first teaser. It had just dropped about an hour earlier. Without even skipping a beat, I clicked on it, not knowing at all what to expect. What a rollercoaster of emotions this trailer was. I went from feeling uncertain, to curious, to downright excited!

I feel like a bit of a backstory is needed here. The Ghostbusters franchise has been extremely important to me in my life. The original Ghostbusters (1984) is the first film I remember watching, ever! It’s my earliest movie memory. I remember renting it on videocassette with my family, and catching it every time it came on TV (usually the French-dubbed version).

The “Ghostbusters” title card, as I remember it as a child.

In the late 80s, I would never miss an episode of The Real Ghostbusters. It scared the living daylights out of me, and even kept me from sleeping some nights. I can remember my mother forbidding me to watch it, but I would sneakily find ways to get my Ghostbusters fix. It was an addiction. As much as it scared me, I couldn’t get enough of these characters and these storylines.

Me on my 4th birthday, 1989. Receiving a Ghostbusters Proton Pack, which I thought was real. That’s a story for another time.

Now, I plan to write a more elaborate history of Ghostbusters and my experiences with it next year for the film’s 40th anniversary, but I felt like it was necessary for me to set the stage for you to really understand how important this franchise is to me.

Now we won’t talk about the 2016 reboot, because it never happened (it was all a dream), but in 2019 a teaser dropped for a new DIRECT sequel to the first two films, and it was called Ghostbusters: Afterlife. It was announced that the film would be directed by Jason Reitman, son of Ivan Reitman who had directed both Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. Ivan would also be serving as producer. To say I was excited would be an understatement. The fact that they were keeping it in the family, so to speak, gave me confidence in the project. Sadly, while the film was in production, COVID happened, and caused delay, after delay, after delay.

Finally in November of 2021, the film was released theatrically. Unfortunately I missed it in theaters, but I bought the blu-ray the day it came out on February 1st, 2022.

Happy camper. Me parked outside of Wal-Mart the morning “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” came out, February 1st, 2022.

I won’t go too much into detail, as this is not a review of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, but I will say that it exceeded all of my expectations, and I was very pleased with the film. VERY pleased.

When they announced a sequel to Afterlife, my immediate thought was: “But how could a sequel match up to it?“. Seeing the first teaser today gave me hope, and as I said previously, built up my curiosity and excitement. The film won’t be directed by Jason Reitman, but he will be producing while Gil Kenan will be in the director’s chair.

This turned out to be much longer than I had planned, so without any further delay, here is the brand new teaser for you to check out for yourselves. Feel free to share your thoughts on it, or of the Ghostbusters Franchise in general. Cheers!

And for my French-speaking brothers and sisters:

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is set for release on March 22, 2024.

Directed By Gil Kenan

Written By Jason Reitman & Gil Kenan

Starring Mckenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts and Patton Oswalt