June 7 2014 marks 30 years of the comedy classic Ghostbusters. It’s a movie that captured the imagination of a generation and continues to be one of the most celebrated franchises of all time.

So, to mark this brilliant occasion, let’s look at 10 things you may not have known about Ghostbusters.

Let’s show this prehistoric b*tch how we do things down town!

1. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man appears twice in the movie before the end


Stay Puft Marshmallows are sadly not a real thing, but that didn’t stop director Ivan Reitman and the prop team dropping the big guy into the movie before his eventual appearance as the Destructor. We first see him in Dana Barrett’s apartment (when the eggs start cooking themselves) and we see a billboard sign for his Marshmallow brand when Walter Peck shuts down the protection grid.



2. There was a sequel to this movie before Ghostbusters II

Following the box office success of the movie, Ghostbusters got its own spin-off cartoon called The Real Ghostbusters and in the first season episode Citizen Ghost, Peter Venkman tells a news reporter what happened after the defeated Gozer. In the cartoon, the marshmallow they are covered in ‘haunts’ their jump suits and creates ghost versions of the Ghostbusters which The Real Ghostbusters have to trap. This is also used as the reason why the cartoon equivalents wear different coloured jump suits to the movie.

3. Porn star legend Ron Jeremey is in the movie

It’s crazy but it’s true. In the scene where Walter Peck shuts off the protection grid and releases all of the ghosts, Ron Jeremey can be seen as an extra in the crowd. He would later go on to star as the librarian in This Ain’t Ghostbusters XXX.

4. Dan Aykroyd really believes in ghosts

And it was one of the reasons he wrote the movie. Ghostbusters was originally going to be set in the future and called Ghost Smashers but was grounded into present day when Harold Ramis came on board to re-write the script. Ghosts are in Aykroyd’s blood as his grandfather was a renowned spiritualist and he once attempted to contact the dead via radio technology.

5. Paul Rubens was going to play Gozer

Ghostbusters is an interesting case of ‘what could have been’ with its casting. Eddie Murphy turned down the role of playing Winston to do Beverly Hills Cop, both Chevy Chase and Michael Keaton turned down the role of Peter Venkman and John Candy was originally cast to play Louis Tully. But one of the stranger casting changes was that PeeWee Herman himself Paul Rubens was going to play Gozer which was eventually played by Yugoslavian model Slavitza Jovan. In the original script, Gozer was to take on the form of the buildings architect Ivo Shador and be a slender man in a business suit.

6. Slimer was called ‘Onionhead’ in the script

Slimer would not get his official name until The Real Ghostbusters who introduced him as their pet and mascot. In the script he was referred to as Onionhead but on set, Dan Aykroyd would joke that he was the ghost of his close friend John Belushi (who was also originally going to be in the movie).



7. Ghostbusters was not all filmed in New York

Despite the movie being very New York centric, only exterior scenes were shot in the city so nice they named it twice. The Ghostbusters HQ, the New York Public Library and Dana Barrett’s apartment are all very much in New York (and can still be seen to this day), but all of the interior scenes were on a set lot in Los Angeles.

8. The term ‘Proton Pack’ was not used until Ghostbusters II

It was of course used in The Real Ghostbusters, but there isn’t a single line of dialogue in the 1984 original movie that names their weapon of choice as ‘Proton Packs’. The closest we come to them getting a name is when Peter Venkman describes them as ‘unlicensed nuclear accelerators’ – which isn’t close at all!

9. ‘Go Get Her Ray!’

Like the billboard poster for the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, it’s only on repeated viewings that you may notice that their first and last encounter with a supernatural being begins the same way. When they first discover the librarian ghost, Ray’s ‘brilliant’ plan is to run and shout ‘GET HER!’. When they come to meet Gozer at the end of the movie, Venkman’s only advice to Ray is ‘go get her Ray!’ – a call back to the earlier scene.

10. Egon looks at his mark during the commercial

In a piece of brilliant character work by Harold Ramis, the socially awkward Egon Spengler looks at his ‘mark’ during the commercial video so he knows where he is stepping. Funnier still, he can barely look at the camera which totally matches his character. You can also hear in Venkman’s voice that he doesn’t like doing this commercial and the enthusiastic Ray Stanz is really enjoying himself.