I am a child of the 80's and 90's. I grew up with Teenage Mutate Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, The A Team, Hulk, Mighty Morphing Power Rangers and many more. These shows hold a place in my memories, my heart and my outlook on life. But there is one that has stood the test of time, One franchise that I continue to love even to this day, One that always brings a smile to my face, a sense of nostalgia to my mind and a memory of simpler times. In case you did not get it from the title, I am talking about the film/cartoon show of The Ghostbusters.
Ghostbusters came out on the year that I was born, 1984, so I was not caught up in the hype and excitement of the first film. I grew up with the cartoon, The Real Ghostbusters, and was old enough for the 1989 sequel, Ghostbusters 2. I LOVED the cartoon series. Each of the characters was so different that my little child brain was able to tell their characteristics apart. Peter was funny, Ray was childlike and innocent, Egon was the science guy and Winston was black.
The ending of the last paragraph may put people off but you have to understand something. I grew up in N Ireland during the late 80's/early 90's. I never knew of black people till I was 8 and I never met a black person till I was 15! The only black person I knew was Winston Zeddemore from The Real Ghostbusters and my friends and I gave him the name "The Chocolate Guy". It was not my fault, it is just the place and time that I grew up in.
Anyway, back to topic. The cartoon was exciting, memorable and full some amazing ghosts and demons that I can remember. The boogie man scared the crap out of me:
As did several others but that was the joy of the show. The guys would find the ghost and "bust" it. There was drama and cliff-hangers but the guys always won through and I loved the show. I cannot praise it enough.
Like I said at the beginning, I was around for Ghostbusters 2. I didn't even know there was a Ghostbusters 1 let alone a Ghostbusters 2. My parents rented a copy of Ghostbusters on VHS for me and I began to watch. The first 5 minutes kept me hooked. The opening with the librarian was so scary and cool. The Library Ghost made me laugh and jump at the same time.
After that, my young mind did wander off. There was a lot of talking that I was too young to appreciate or understand. After the guys suited up for their first "Bust" I was so excited and it paid off. The first time Ecto-1 pulls out from the fire-house and we see the guys in their suits and Proton Packs, I cheered so hard. I mean look:
How could these scenes not make you happy? I will tell you how. I have never told anyone this so I trust you to keep this a secret. When the guys captured Slimer in the movie, I cried. In the cartoon Slimer was a good guy and in the movie he is not. I did not understand this and I thought they killed him, thus leading to the crying. Not my proudest moment but one that I will keep with me.
All in all, the movie was good to my young eyes. Peter was still funny, Ray was still childlike, Egon was still science-y and Winston was still... black. Part 2 came out and when I saw it, WOW!
Everything was new and exciting. The ghosts where bigger, there was more happening on screen, everything was more and less at the same time. At the time there was more going on, and my child head loved it, but this led to less being said by the characters, leading to less jokes. I didn't care, this was new and exciting. The courtroom attack was brilliant to see the guys in action again, the river of slime was sick and Winston had a slightly bigger role this time round (but was still black so there was a sense of normality in that). All in all, I still like it. Having seen the first movie, I was not totally blind going into this. I knew what to expect and I still like it. Not the best sequel in the world, but one of my favourites. After all, seeing Slimer driving a bus make me laugh out loud (Even though he has no legs and thus could not work the foot peddles).
In conclusion, I have seen these movies a lot of times and, thanks to maturity and age, I have come to respect them as amazing comedy movies and not just childhood memories. The characters are rich and different, the dialogue is witty and truly funny, the actors are on top of their game and I still love them. After all, I now own a Proton Pack, Ghost Trap, PKE Meter and Overalls. So, who you gonna call? Me; that's who!
