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Slimer

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Slimer (also known as Onionhead, Little Spud, or The Green Ghost) was a ghost made up of pure Ectoplasm and the first ghost successfully captured by the Ghostbusters. Slimer is well known for his gigantic appetite and the slime he leaves behind when he passes through solid objects.

Canonicity[]

Slimer in the Primary Canon is developed from Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters II, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. In Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions), a Secondary Canon, Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II pre-date the game, Ghostbusters: Afterlife conflicts with the game. Slimer (prime) appears in the IDW Comic Series, a Secondary Canon, which follows Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II, also includes some elements from Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions) and Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Stylized Versions); as well as being canon to Tobin's Spirit Guide (Insight Editions). Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime video game, deemed a Tertiary Canon, follows Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II.

History[]

Primary Canon History[]

Ghostbusters (1984)[]

Slimer was a legendary ghost to all on the original staff of the Sedgewick Hotel. His usual territory was the twelfth floor, but his outings were usually non-violent and simply involved eating food. As a result, the hotel was able to keep a lid on the supernatural problems (for a while). For some reason, Gozer's approaching time of arrival provoked Slimer (and many other ghosts) into being much more active than usual. Eventually the staff couldn't keep the ghost a secret anymore and called the Ghostbusters two weeks later. However, the Ghostbusters had not yet fully tested their equipment and weren't completely prepared for a full capture. Ray was the first to find Slimer, but missed him and Slimer escaped into the next hall, where he slimed Peter Venkman.

After many errant shots and the resulting destruction, Slimer flew into the Alhambra Ballroom where the Ghostbusters made another attempt at capture. Though Slimer is at first tossed around by some more missed shots, the Ghostbusters eventually manage to get him in the streams. Slimer was then caught in the Trap and put in the storage facility. However, he was released with the many other ghosts when the storage facility was shut down by Walter Peck. Slimer occupied a hot dog cart on at 1221 Avenue of the Americas in front of the Rockefeller Plaza. When the Hot Dog Vendor opened the cart, he was naturally shocked to see a ghost. Slimer had multiple dogs in his mouth. After the Ghostbusters defeated Gozer and left Central Park West, Slimer was sighted in the area.

Ghostbusters II[]

Slimer resurfaced after the Ghostbusters started up again in late 1989 and had apparently gotten much fatter in the span of five years. Throughout the Vigo incident of 1989, Slimer interacted with Louis Tully. The two first met in the Firehouse's garage bay when Louis caught Slimer eating his lunch, to which the two of them fled in fear in opposite directions. On New Year's Eve, Louis decided to take up a Proton Pack and help the Ghostbusters. In an attempt to patch up their initial misunderstanding, Slimer helped an exhausted Louis by giving him a ride to the Manhattan Museum of Art in a bus on New Year's Eve. Louis wondered how he got his license but went on anyway.

Before Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire[]

Slimer stole food from the second floor kitchen of the Firehouse.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire[]

In the summer of 2024, Slimer's Ectoplasm dripped down into Trevor Spengler's bedroom. Slimer was inside a pile of food wrappers in the attic the Firehouse. He was disturbed by Trevor moving some wrappers aside with one of his shoes. Slimer opened his eyes, flew out from the pile, slimed Trevor, and went through a wall. Two days later, Trevor used Cheetos to lure Slimer from his trash pile. The trail led to a Trap partly concealed with more Cheetos. Trevor had a clean shot with his Particle Thrower but the Firehouse suddenly rumbled because of the Death Chill. Slimer reacted to it, saw Trevor, and charged.

The next day, Slimer suddenly appeared in the second floor kitchen and scarfed down the pizza possessed by Possessor as it tried to jump off the kitchen table. He flew up through the ceiling. After Garraka was trapped in the Containment Unit, Slimer was chased around by Sewer Dragon. He flew out of the Firehouse and disrupted the impromptu press conference outside. The Ghostbusters drove off in Ecto-1 and followed after the two ghosts.

Secondary Canon History[]

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Version)[]

At some point, Slimer was recaptured and kept in a Paranormal Containment Research Tank in the Firehouse in the lobby. Egon Spengler used him for various paranormal studies. On Thanksgiving weekend 1991, Slimer was playing with Peter Venkman's ESP cards inside the Paranormal Containment Research Tank. The Psi Energy Pulse damaged the Tank and Slimer escaped. The team finds him looking at the Containment Unit. When the Rookie takes a shot, Slimer avoids it and the Proton Stream hits the Unit, releasing the Sloth Ghost. Rookie and Ray pursued Slimer into the Sub-Basement but it escaped through a wall. After the Sloth Ghost was recaptured, the Ghostbusters headed to the Sedgewick Hotel on Ray's hunch Slimer would return to his old haunt. Sure enough, Slimer was found by Ray, Peter, and Rookie eating and drinking off someone's tray in front of Room 1218. Rookie took a shot but Slimer ran for it and tried to hide. Rookie roused him out and Slimer flew off towards the elevators where he descended back to the ground floor (but not before sliming Peter for a second time). Slimer was joined by Bellhop Ghosts. With renewed paranormal activity, Egon opted to split up. Rookie and Peter were tasked with recapturing Slimer. Peter believed he was feasting in the Alhambra Ballroom but the manager John O'Keefe barred their entrance. Peter regrouped and led Rookie through the kitchen to access the other entrance to the ballroom. Rookie and Peter successfully trapped Slimer. Slimer was placed back into a working Paranormal Containment Research Tank when the team returned from Times Square. When Ivo Shandor shut down the containment grid, Slimer was among the escapees. After the Ghostbusters destroyed Shandor and returned to the physical plane, Slimer slimed Ilyssa Selwyn just as she and Peter were about to kiss in Central Park.

IDW Comic Series[]

In the early 1920s up through 1938 or so, the Sedgewick Hotel played host to the Cult of Gozer.[2] Supposedly, one of their incentives to draw in Gozer was to summon a hungry spirit that would wreck havoc on the American food supply which would have made them prime targets during World War II. However, a semi-corporeal manifestation of gluttony was conjured instead.[3][4] The ghost stuffed their sacrifice, a live chicken, into its mouth. But it was a "hungry spirit" and could never sate its inhuman appetite.[5] Luckily, the ghost was too lazy to roam outside and eat everything in sight. It remained anchored to the Sedgewick for decades. Documented hauntings by the ghost began in the mid-1920s.[6] In 1951, someone ignored the Sedgewick's no room service policy on the 12th floor. Two bellhops took a cart to the floor, unaware of Slimer. Slimer quickly pounced on the cart and feasted. One of the bellhops soon resigned. In the 1980s, Slimer attacked some Honeymooners in their suite at the Sedgewick. He ate all their Primo Spiffies Cakes then slimed them.

During the initial encounter with the ghost, the Ghostbusters nicknamed it "Slimer" after it collided with Peter.[7] After the Ghostbusters returned to the Firehouse, Egon and Ray deposited Slimer into the Containment Unit but it made an odd noise. The red alert activated and they were knocked on their backs. Egon speculated the field was not properly neutronized. Slimer manifested upstairs and stole a prototype Proton Grenade from Egon's locker. Suddenly, a P.K.E. Meter detected Slimer and lit up. They ran up the stairs and saw Slimer. It flew outside into Tribeca. Ray and Egon put on their packs and chased after it. Luckily, Slimer was driven more by impulse than intelligence. It was distracted by unfamiliar surroundings and investigated them rather then flying as far away from the Firehouse as it could. Slimer spooked a crowd and stole a hot dog off a man then surprised a man in Tribeca Park. He dropped his pizza box and ran away. Ray ran off to get bait from the Square Diner's dumpster, leaving Egon to "stall" Slimer. While Slimer was focused on eating the pizza, Egon got close. He was about to open a Trap behind it without incident but Slimer noticed and punched Egon. Slimer fiddled with the Proton Grenade and threw it. Egon dove for safety but it turned out to be a dud and never detonated. Slimer returned to the pizza. Egon threw out a Trap and wrangled Slimer. Slimer resisted the single Proton Stream. Egon boosted power on his Particle Thrower as much as he dared and pulled it to the Trap. The ordeal reminded Egon of a childhood fishing trip where he fought with and lost a rockfish that weighed as much as he did. Slimer was successfully recaptured. Egon dropped to his knees in exasperation, only to be hassled by some pigeons that witnessed the bust. Egon concluded that it proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it was not safe to go on solo calls.

It was eventually recaptured and placed into a Paranormal Containment Research Tank for study. After the "Shandor Incident," Slimer proved to be a problematic repeat haunter. He began terrorizing an apartment complex occupied by Alan Crendall, who thought it was a curse for what his Uncle Janosz Poha did in 1989. One week later, Alan told Winston about his problem. Winston and Peter investigated the following afternoon. While Winston scanned the Crendall's unit in room 426, Peter checked next door in 427. Peter ran into Slimer and flew through the wall into 426. An hour or two later, Winston and Peter were still having an unusually difficult time in capturing Slimer. In a shocking display, Slimer was able to pull free from the Proton Stream. Using Winston as bait, Peter managed to ambush Slimer and trapped him. Slimer was returned to a Paranormal Containment Research Tank in the Firehouse. Egon later postulated the current uptick in P.K.E. made Slimer stronger than usual.

In the fall, after the Ghostbusters' trip across the nation, Egon used Slimer as a test subject for his studies on the Ghost Smashers. For several days, Egon experimented on explosive dispersal of mid-range ectoplasmic manifestations. Slimer proved to be an excellent test-subject. Egon concluded the time to reconstitution in a 180 cubic foot enclosure averaged at around three hours and 47 minutes. From that data, he extrapolated when the entities atomized by the Ghost Smashers would also reconstitute. When Egon wasn't looking, Peter dispersed Slimer for fun.

During the tail end of the Tiamat incident, the battle between the Ghostbusters and the Gozer-Tiamat-possessed Ray created another chance for Slimer to escape from the Paranormal Containment Research Tank. Three months later, Slimer was seen flying past Saks Fifth Avenue. At some point after the Saks Fifth case, Slimer returned to the Sedgewick Hotel. He was subsequently recaptured and returned to the Paranormal Containment Research Tank.[8] During the Chi-You incident, Slimer snapped at Michelangelo. Ray demonstrated the effects of certain books on ghosts. He waived Fairfax's Demonologia at Slimer who recoiled and shielded his eyes. Once the demonstration was over, Slimer made faces at Ray. Ghostbusters from a parallel dimension were displaced by a ward of protection and Proteus' spell. They went into the Firehouse unaware it wasn't their own. Ray Stantz saw Slimer in the containment tank and went to release him. Egon Spengler observed Slimer's readings on his P.K.E. Meter and noticed they were different from their Slimer. It was too late. Slimer grabbed Ray and threw him aside. Egon, Peter, and Ray opened fire and wrangled him. Winston trapped him. Slimer was returned to the confines of the tank where he began consuming a cooked turkey.

Peter decided to play a prank on Egon, Ray, and Kylie. He hid a walkie talkie behind the research tank. As Peter instructed them, the 101 class inquired about the origin of Slimer. Egon Spengler and Kylie Griffin acknowledged there was a lot of theories about it. Kylie thought he was probably an employee in his past life since he was anchored to the hotel.[9] She speculated he was probably a chef given his obsession with food and envisioned a scenario where he died of a heart attack after a complaint about his Beef Tartare left him incredibly angry. Egon disagreed. He speculated he could have been a vagrant due to his anti social behavior and a fixation on food. Ray didn't think the ghost was ever human and was simply a representational force given form. He cited from Funder's Cults of the Northeast. Peter proceeded with his prank and pretended to be Slimer on the walkie. Egon, Kylie, and Ray thought Slimer claimed he was once a king in his past life. They took the bait and scrambled to document what just happened. Peter thought of one more thing. Slimer "confessed" Ray fed him Egon's stash of snack cakes to see if they would digest differently. Egon was irate. Peter was amused with himself and paid off the teenagers for helping him. Slimer, while still in the tank, appeared on the Ghostbusters 101 commercial with Egon.

During a state of dimensional overlap, the Ghostbusters met another alternate team. Kevin Beckman was excited by his new surroundings. Egon Spengler told him if he was good, he could name the green ghost. Kevin decided on "Kevin Junior". As Jillian Holtzmann observed the properties of the research tank, Slimer screamed at her. Abby Yates mistook Slimer as their dimension's counterpart but Holtzmann reminded her they blew that one up during the Mercado Hotel battle. During the ghost retrieval mission in the prime dimension, Slimer of 80-C, with Lady Slimer, drove a shuttle to the Firehouse and dropped off the Ghostbusters of Dimension 11-W, Ghostbusters of Dimension 68-M, Ghostbusters of Dimension 68-Q, Jenny Moran, Slimer 68-R, Slimer 68-E, Slimer 68-Q, and Slimer 11-W. Jenny flew upstairs to the second floor to gets some notes while Slimer 68-R, Slimer 68-E, Slimer 68-Q, and Slimer 80-C looked at Slimer in the Paranormal Containment Research Tank. Slimer screamed at them. They got scared and hid behind Jenny then kissed Walter Peck at the same time. Slimer ate some chicken in the Paranormal Containment Research Tank when Starscream flew upstairs through the floor. Starscream modified his size and looked around for technology he could make use of. Starscream was disgusted and called Slimer a bag of human excrement. He believed it was merciful to blast it out of its misery. Starscream's attack deflected off the ionized glass. Peter informed him the glass was impervious to ghosts.

Secondary Canon (Expanded Universe) History[]

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Stylized Version)[]

He is more like a pet in this version evidenced by three dog food bowls with him in the Paranormal Containment Research Tank. Much like the Realistic Version, he escapes from his tank when the Psi Energy Pulse passes through the Firehouse. However, he only stays shortly to wave goodbye to the Ghostbusters then leaves for the Sedgewick Hotel. Peter and the Rookie recapture him, and he is placed into another research tank. When the ghosts are released from the Containment Unit, Slimer escapes again, but at the end of the game, Slimer doesn't slime Ilyssa. Instead, he reappears above the garage bay in the Firehouse. The credits roll while the Rookie(s) try to catch him again.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Stylized Portable Version)[]

He is much like the normal Stylized Version. However, the relationship as a pet/research subject wasn't suggested in dialog.

Tobin's Guide
The sticky green slime machine from the Sedgewick Hotel.

Dealing with the Supernatural

  • Type:
Ghost (must trap)

Tertiary Canon History[]

In "The Real Ghostbusters" continuing from the first movie, Slimer actually stuck around the Ghostbuster headquarters. He apparently was feeling lonely and the Ghostbusters were the only ones who paid attention to him. He mainly stayed hidden until being drawn out because of his appetite. The Ghostbusters at first reacted negatively to him, but as he hung around they started to tolerate him and even treat him like a friend. Ray gave him the name "Slimer" (just to annoy Peter). Slimer was finally accepted as a pet ghost after helping the Ghostbusters stop the Anti-Ghostbusters. Slimer also returned in "Extreme Ghostbusters" as a pet of Egon's at the firehouse

  • For more information of the animated version of Slimer go to the animated article.

In the 2016 Ghostbusters movie, Slimer takes the Ecto-1 for a joyride and ultimately unwittingly helps the Ghostbusters. Slimer is present as a enemy in Ghostbusters Activision Video Game (2016).

Ghostbusters: The Board Game[]

"Ghost Card Information"
Side A:

  • To Hit: 4 or higher, add a Stream
  • To Trap: 4 Streams (from at least 2 Ghostbusters)
  • When Hit: Moves 2 spaces towards that Ghostbuster.
  • When Trapped: Place it on your Character Card.
  • When Missed: Each adjacent Ghostbuster gets Slimed, then Slimer moves 2 spaces in a random direction.
  • Special:
    • At the end of each round, Slimer moves 2 spaces toward the nearest Slimed Ghostbuster.
    • If Slimer leaves the map, he re-enters the map on the opposite side of the map.

"Impossible Mode Side A" Side A:

  • To Hit: 4 or higher, add a Stream
  • To Trap: 4 Streams (from at least 4 Ghostbusters)
  • When Hit: Moves 2 spaces towards that Ghostbuster.
  • When Trapped: Place it on your Character Card.
  • When Missed: Each Ghostbuster adjacent to Slimer gets Slimed, then Slimer moves 2 spaces in a random direction.
  • Special:
    • Slimer's "To Trap" is increased by 2 for each Slimer on the Ghostbusters.
    • At the end of each round, Slimer moves 2 spaces toward the nearest Slimed Ghostbuster.

Side B: Slimer is a "focused, non-terminal repeating phantasm or a class 5 full roaming vapor" made of pure Ectoplasm.

Prior to his first run-in with the Ghostbusters, Slimer had been haunting the five-star Sedgewick Hotel, specifically the 12th floor.

Slimer is well-known for a voracious appetite and leaving slime behind after passing through solid objects... especially humans.

"Operations and Field Manual" This rascal is pretty fast! Be prepared to lose Line of Sight and lose attached Streams every so often when fighting Slimer. Proton Streams that hit, but do not Trap, Slimer trigger its "When Hit" ability. Since that makes it move 2 spaces towards you, it is best to engage tis Ghost from 3 spaces away. The Proton Stream that traps it does not trigger its "When Hit" ability. Instead, resolve its "When Trapped" ability. If you miss Slimer with your Proton Roll, it Slimes each Ghostbuster adjacent to it (you and any teammates), and then moves 2 spaces in a random direction. Roll the Movement Die and reference the PKE Meter to determine that direction. You are likely to lose LoS to Slimer when it runs. A tactical repositioning is sometimes more important than shooting at a Ghost. Slimer is one of the few Ghosts who will leave the map and not become permanently lost. When it leaves the map, continue Slimer's movement in that same direction, but emerging from the opposite side of the map, in a wrap-around style.[10]

Ghostbusters (Beeline mobile game)[]

You capture Slimer once, at the start of the game. He somehow escapes the Containment Unit and just floats around. The player can tap on him for a daily reward.

Tobin's Spirit Guide
Fondly dubbed "Onion Head" he's haunted the HQ for years. Throws slimeballs around and provides daily rewards.

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime[]

Slimer randomly appears in certain levels (Level 1: Training Day, Level 2: Asylum Brawl, Level 3: River of Ooze, Level 7: Back to the Sedgewick, and Level 9: Lair of the Huge Spider) but leaves after some time or taking a few blasts from the players. He is never dispersed nor trapped in the course of the story.

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed[]

Entry Bio[]

Ah, the infamous Slimer. Can we ever be certain where this insatiable entity's allegiance truly lies? Perhaps not, but what what we be certain of is the hideous amount of noxious slime they can produce in an instant.

Ultimate Ability[]
  • Slimenado
    • I pray you never find yourself on the receiving end of a Slimenado; the Ectoplasts' Ultimate Ability! Even more shocking than the natural disaster for which it's named, this attack unleashes a chaotic tornado of slime in ALL directions. Nothing in the vicinity will be spared from this sustained spray. But even beyond that, a keen paranormal mind will notice the release of even more concentrated projectiles of slime that will knock back and coat anyone impacted by them. It's wonderful and horrendous all at the same time!
Unique Ability[]
  • Noxious Belch
    • I'm not sure how to describe Slimer's Noxious Belch as anything other than remarkably repulsive. Hurling a practically never-ending stream of slime forward, anyone caught in this little lad's foul flood should expect to be coated.
Patch Notes[]

Patch 1.5.0 fixed an issue where the Ectoplast's Slimenado was not behaving properly when performed by an AI Ghost.[11]

Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord[]

The San Francisco Ghostbusters returned to Hookfaber Mansion after they defeated Ghost Lord and encountered Slimer, who inexplicably manifested in San Francisco, in the underground laboratory. Ray speculated it was the result of crossing a spectral boundary, reprojection, or quantum mechanics.[12] The team chased Slimer around the lab then took the elevator back up and battled Slimer in the foyer. He hid in objects and animated them. The Ghostbusters eventually trapped him and Ray mused a way to send the Trap back to New York would have to be figured out later. During the Frozen Empire incident, the team found Slimer eating someone's pizza in an apartment in Chinatown. It ran off and a replacement handle for the broken Harvester was found in one of the pizza boxes. Soon after, Slimer was seen hovering near Ecto-1 when the team returned with full canisters. It ran away again.

88MPH Comic Series[]

Slimer fell into the Ghost Legion who allied with Michael Draverhaven. From a hangar at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, Michael kept Slimer at his side as he coordinated attacks on New York City and the Ghostbusters. He used Slimer's Ectoplasm to construct a simple map of the city and to restrain Ray. When the other Ghostbusters arrived, Peter relished the chance to take another shot at Slimer. In the aftermath, it appears he evaded capture and fled the hangar with the rest of the ghosts.

Personality[]

Throughout the first film, Slimer appears to lack intelligence and was all about getting a good snack. It was normally a shy ghost but was not afraid to slime when cornered. In the second movie, it appears that Slimer had become more intelligent and could drive a bus. So far, in the video game and cartoon he has grown in intelligence and seems to understand basic human concepts.

Development[]

Originally in the Ghost Smashers script, the tone of the movie was darker and Slimer wasn't as cute as he later became.[13] In the opening sequence, the Ghost Smashers responded to a call from the Greenville Guest House regarding the discovery in the kitchen of gluttonous yellow mist or grotesquely altered human form --'free-repeating vaporous phantasm'. After chasing the apparition -- described as 'onion-headed' at one point -- through the rustic guest home, the Ghost Smashers cornered it in the basement, encircled it with nutrona beams and maneuvered it into a small collapsible trap.[14] They charged $500, to which the Greenville Guest House proprietor balked at.[15]

In the script for Ghostbusters, Slimer is never actually called by any name, so is never given one. The creature's original moniker was simply The Onionhead Ghost, which the film crew semi-officially dubbed him because of his horrible odor, which he used to scare a couple in a scene cut from the original movie.[16] In early drafts, Slimer was vaguely described as an 'incredibly foul-smelling amorphous vapor'. Steve Johnson worked on hundreds of Slimer variations over a period of six months. At first, they asked for a "smile with arms" then started nitpicking, asking for ears, then no ears, less pathos, more pathos, a bigger nose, a smaller nose, more cartoony, and less cartoony. It wasn't until the day before the deadline for the design, in July 1983, that Johnson was told they wanted Slimer to look like John Belushi. With less than 24 hours, Johnson pulled out a stack of headshots of Belushi, did some cocaine, and went to work. During a bout of delusional paranoia that night, he thought Belushi's ghost came to help him finish the design by giving him words of encouragement and modeling. The ghost parted ways with him, warning that cocaine will kill him. The next day, the submitted design was approved.[17][18][19] The 'green, potato-shape' was soon incorporated into the script.[20] In total, three large scale Onionhead ghosts were created, each with a different expression and/or task. One was for smiling, one was for looking scared, and one was for drinking. A miniature was made for long shots of it flying around the hotel chandelier but it wasn't used.[21]

The Slimer puppet was originally supposed to be a third or half the size of the final puppet.[22] Mark Siegel made Slimer's jaw and tongue. He used dental acrylic and made Slimer's jaw the same way a dentist makes dentures. He sculpted them in clay, made a huge silicone mold, and cast them.[23] Siegel made the tongue so it could be operated like an arm puppet.[24] Steve Johnson originally wanted to create a mechanical puppet with really long and skinny arms so that it would truly look inhuman. Richard Edlund thought he was crazy and told them to put someone in the puppet, use his arms for the puppet's, and film it. Johnson realized they could not only remove the person's legs optically but anyone or anything else in black around it could be removed, too.[25][26] During effects photography, the suit was worn by Mark Bryan Wilson. Wilson's legs were concealed with black velvet. A team of puppeteers dealt with facial expressions. Wilson worked with oversized props so the ghost would appear smaller after composited into live action.[27] The puppeteer crew watched John Belushi's movies for research and implemented some of his mannerisms into Slimer's facial expressions. Mark Siegel was able to set Slimer's eyebrow expressions based on some things Belushi did in "Animal House" in particular.[28] The Slimer puppet, Mark Bryan Wilson, and the puppeteers rarely moved. The camera filmed them from atop a moving dolly truck.[29]

The skull cap was positioned in the puppet so that Mark Bryan Wilson could see out through a black scrim from the back of Slimer's throat without the camera picking him up. Most of the time a loose casting of the tongue was used. Craig Caton pulled a simple bar mechanism to create different facial expressions.[30] A life cast was done on Wilson in order to position and figure out what the proportions of the puppet head would be and where Wilson's head would fit inside it. He was given rubber gloves, too. A strap was placed under Wilson's chin which then went into a fiberglass helmet. As a result, when Wilson moved his head he could make Slimer's head change direction. The other puppeteers were dressed in black and were always near him during filming. They filmed against a black background.[31][32][33][34] The Onionhead form was cast in the form of a foam latex suit but actual expressions were done with cable mechanisms.[35] Johnson made sure to design all of Slimer's wrinkles in a concentric fashion so that a puppeteer could come up behind the puppet, grab the handles on its cheeks and take advantage of all the free muscle.[36] To prevent the puppet from drooping onto Wilson, a series of concentric spring steel bands were incorporated. A side benefit of the bands was they could make the puppet jiggle around. The body suspensions of the suit were based on old fashioned "dress hoops" so that a certain amount of "squash & stretch" could be achieved. The flexible jaw mechanics were made from stainless steel bands commonly used for strapping crates together. The bands allowed the mouth to be opened and closed and also flexed into extreme expressions.[37][38] The Boss Film crew went with a lime fluorescent green color so that the Slimer puppet could easily be seen in the room where it was filmed.[39]

For the live action set, in the scene where Ray spooks Slimer, Mark Siegel sculpted the expression so it would worn as a prosthetic over the puppet instead of making a second new puppet.[40] Slimer eating was done blindly by Mark Bryan Wilson. Mark Siegel was jammed up behind the puppet to reach into the back of Slimer's head in order to operate the tongue puppet. Because of the way Siegel was working, Wilson could not see from the skull cap inside puppet and had to bend down and reach blindly for the plates on the cart. Steve Johnson was crammed in behind Siegel and operated the cheek. There were plates full of food such as mashed potatoes, lettuce, and jello on the mock up cart used for filming. As Wilson tossed the plates of food into the puppet's mouth, the food ran down the back of his neck.[41] When scene was done filming, the Boss Film crew immediately started laughing. All of sudden, they heard Mark Bryan Wilson demanding he be taken out of the puppet since he was still drenched in food.[42] In the shot, a room service cart trailed after him. The cart was motorized and piloted from underneath by one of Chuck Gaspar's crew. Naturally, when the cart crashes, the driver is not present. For the shot of Slimer phasing through the wall, a three inch long partial sculpture by Mark Siegel dubbed "Bullet Slimer" was used and shot at Boss Films as a separate element to be incorporated optically later on.[43][44]

A casting was made specifically for the ballroom scene when Slimer is drinking a bottle of champagne. When test footage was taken, Jon Berg helped with puppeteering while he was consulting at the creature shop. However, someone on the production team thought it would confuse the audience into thinking there was another ghost because the expression made him look entirely different. The drinking prosthetic was never used for filming.[45][46][47] For the shot of Slimer dodging the Proton Streams at the table, a three inch tall rubber puppet made by Mark Siegel was used.[48] For Slimer's hot dog scene, Mark Siegel had to make larger-than-normal sized hot dogs to keep in scale with the Slimer puppet. He found a sausage link and studpied the proportions to get a proper diameter. A batch of foam latex pre-pigmented with a hot dog color was poured into a PVC pipe, baked in an oven, and pulled out of the tube. Siegel then cut the hot dogs into the proper lengths, cinched the ends together like a real hot dog, and tied the ends together then tied them all together with mono filament. On the filming day, Siegel pulled the mono filament to simulate Slimer swallowing the hot dogs.[49][50][51]

When the cartoon series was produced, in response to the name much given to the character by audiences, the writers renamed the green ghost "Slimer", and the name stuck on all subsequent Ghostbusters properties (he was even named Slimer in the end credits of Ghostbusters II, but a character never actually referred to him as Slimer in the film canon until Ghostbusters: The Video Game), although he was referred to as "The Green Ghost" early in the related toy line. In later releases of his first figure, an extra label was applied specifying "Known as 'Slimer' in the 'Real Ghostbusters' TV show. Slimer wasn't always a definite part of the Ghostbusters II script. It was a matter of considerable debate if he should appear at all. Slimer's appeal, luckily, was very universal among children thanks in part to the first movie and The Real Ghostbusters. Slimer was given a subplot and written into movie - Slimer would eat various foods in the Firehouse while Louis Tully would try to trap him then they would become friends. Michael Gross requested elements of the first movie and animated version of Slimer to be incorporated into the movie. Tim Lawrence and Thom Enriquez worked on a new design. Meanwhile, Bobby Porter was called into portray Slimer. Some of the technology and techniques used for Nunzio Scoleri were used for Slimer - the divided head construct, pneumatic jaws, SNARK and a fat suit - a departure from the first movie where he was hand puppeteered. During review of dailies in Los Angeles, Bill Murray commented the title of the movie was "Ghostbusters" and not "Slimer." Slimer was removed from the script. Porter was released.[52][53][54][55][56]

Two weeks later, Slimer was back in the script and had a bigger role. However, Porter was no longer available. Effects coordinator Ned Gorman remembered working with Robin Navlyt on "Willow" and she was brought in. Surprisingly, she was the same height as Porter and fit into the suit very well. Chris Goehe and his mold shop crew made a full lifecast on her and Al Coulter worked on a new skullcap. The Slimer shoot was finished close to the first day of shooting. Michael Gross was onhand to push the crew to keep Slimer subtle and reduce any complicated approaches to moving him. Murray again objected to Slimer and his role was reduced.[57] [58][59]

Slimer's segments were deemed intrusive by preview audiences.[60] During editing, Ivan Reitman decided to limit Slimer's role even though all scripted scenes were filmed and completed. Ultimately, Slimer's scenes were trimmed to two brief shots plus one during the end titles.

Classification[]

Primary Canon Classification[]

Ghostbusters (1984) Classification[]

Slimer is classified as a focused, Non-Terminal Repeating Phantasm, or a Class 5 Full Roaming Vapor.

Secondary Canon Classification[]

IDW Comics Classification[]

Ray posited Slimer is a representational force of gluttony given form with partially humanoid characteristics and tendencies.[61]

Tertiary Canon Classification[]

Ghostbusters Role-Playing Game Classification[]

Name: The Spud (Glutton Ghost, Slimer)
From: Ghostbusters International; page 91
Description: undead stomach with teeth
Power: 2; Slime
Ecto: 5
Goal: Eat Everything
Tags: Slobbers, crams face with food

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed Classification[]

Slimer is a type of Ectoplast, a ghost that is slippery in movement and to the touch. They are effective haunters and exceptional for learning the ropes.

  • Applies more slime per attack hit
  • Slime on busters slows more
  • Sliming busters down is more effective
  • Easier tether escape
  • Reduced object and trap damage
  • Slower sabotage interaction speed

Trivia[]

Ghostbusters (1984) Trivia[]

  • During pre-production, Ivan Reitman remarked Slimer was sort of like Bluto in the film "Animal House" like the ghost of John Belushi. Dan Aykroyd never argued with that point.[62] Since then, Slimer has been described as "The Ghost of John Belushi" by Dan Aykroyd in many interviews.[63][64]
  • Dan Aykroyd described Slimer as a vapor - a kind of confluence of stored up psychic energy, an accumulation of spirits that haunt the hotel who doesn't want to leave.[65]
  • According to John Bruno, the name "Slimer" came about in reaction to the "It slimed me" scene in the Sedgewick Hotel.[66]
  • Thelma Moss, of the Parapsychology department at U.C.L.A, told Harold Ramis Slimer was similar to a classic type of haunting known as 'hungry ghosts' - a ghost who just eats and drinks. Ramis admitted they didn't know about that when they wrote the script.[67]
  • Ivan Reitman provided all of the unearthly voices, such as Dana's demonic Zuul voice and Slimer, except for Gozer's.[68][69]
  • Slimer's ectoplasm was derived from methylcellulose ether -- a powdered thickening agent used in pharmaceuticals and food products.[70]
  • The Slimer scenes filmed at Boss Films were done with a rented 65 mm camera that was previously used on "Lawrence of Arabia".[71]
  • At around the 36:50 mark of the Preview Cut, included first in the 2022 Ghostbusters Ultimate Edition, after Ray tells Peter the ghost won't hurt him, Peter asks him how he knows. Ray admits he is just guessing. Peter asks him to say that again. He does. They ask each other where they were. Slimer charging and Peter screaming follows.
  • At around the 37:50 mark of the Preview Cut, after Egon radios Ray, Peter jokes he is dying to dance with Slimer.
  • The sequence in the first movie when Slimer flies around the chandelier, it was originally supposed to be a miniature but it was too big for the shot. Due to time constraints, a peanut was spray painted green and used.[72]
  • Sam Longoria kept the green peanut used for a the chandelier shot.[73]
  • Stuart Ziff wore the Slimer costume for a day when Mark Bryan Wilson was out sick but the footage was deemed not usable.[74][75]
  • Asides from being able to render himself incorporeal, Slimer appears to have low-level telekinetic ability. During his first encounter with Ray, Slimer flees, dragging a room service cart behind in tow. Which collides with the wall as he phases through it. This may also explain how he's able to work the foot pedals on the bus he commandeers to help Louis.
  • In the 8/5/1983 draft, the Hot Dog Vendor chases after his cart and Slimer into the Sedgewick Hotel.[76]
  • Since Slimer in-universe was much smaller than the actual puppet used for filming, the crew had to make oversized hot dogs for the hot dog cart gag. Mark Siegel poured liquid foam through a plumbing pipe and cut them apart and dug out the ends of the rubber then tied the ends together with bits of thread to mimic an actual sausage link.[77]
  • At around the 1 hour, 17 minute mark of the Preview Cut, Slimer's appearance in the second montage is followed by the hot dog cart rolling away.
  • As an afterthought in postproduction, Ivan Reitman came up with the idea to include Slimer in the last shot of the first movie.[78]
  • In the Novelization of the first film by Larry Milne and early scripts of the first movie, Silmer is described as being yellow. [citation needed]

Ghostbusters II Trivia[]

  • In the September 29, 1988 draft:
    • On page 45, Peter, Ray, and Egon visit the Firehouse and talk about going back in business until they hear a strange sound emanating from the basement.
    • On page 46, they encounter Slimer and get slimed.
    • On page 92, Slimer hovers outside Peter's apartment, sentimentally googling over Mikey, the precursor to Oscar. Peter comes home, sees Slimer, yells at him to get away, Slimer licks his lips, Peter realizes he made mistake, and he is slimed.
    • On page 95, Peter tells Slimer to beat it. Slimer gestures incoherently. Peter pulls down a window shade. Slimer comes inside and mimes and grunts. Lane starts to get it.
    • On page 96, Slimer gestures a cradling baby. They check and the crib is empty. Slimer beckons them to come outside with him. They discover Mikey is outside on the ledge.
  • Thom Enriquez storyboarded an early version of the scene. It involved Slimer trying to warn Louis that Oscar was on the ledge but he was trying to make out with Janine. Louis looks over her shoulder and sees Slimer making a bunch of gestures. Peter and Dana return home and see the baby was missing. They look out the window and see the baby on the ledge with a monster. Peter goes onto the ledge and grabs the baby. Dana hands him a baseball bat and he swings at the monster.[79]
  • Slimer was originally going to be performed by Bobby Porter in Ghostbusters II, however Slimer's scenes were deleted therefore they let him go, and he got a different gig. Two weeks later, Slimer was re-added to the Ghostbusters II script, and because Porter was let go they had to find someone to replace him. Robin ended up being picked as she is about the same height as Porter, saving in refitting costs.[80]
  • The shot of Louis and Slimer meeting in Ghostbusters II was filmed at the Fire Station #23 at 225 East 5th Street in Los Angeles.
  • In the Ghostbusters II deleted scene "Louis' Secret", Janine downplays the threat of Slimer to Louis.[81]
  • Also in the Ghostbusters II deleted scene, "Louis' Secret," Louis refers to Slimer as "Stink Man."
  • In the Ghostbusters II deleted scene What Are You Doing Here?, Slimer wanted to tag along with Louis but he informs him it's only for Ghostbusters. Slimer gets sad so Louis tries to cheer him up. Louis thinks Slimer is a great bowler based on his arms. He implores Slimer to celebrate because it's New Year's Eve. Slimer cheers up, kisses Louis, and flies away. Louis, slimed, remarks he stinks but recalls his friends stink, too, so he's not so bad.
    • In the February 27, 1989 draft, on page 128, Slimer drops off Louis. Louis wants them to hang out on Monday for dinner and bowling. Louis realizes he's late.
  • It is highly contested among fans that at the end of some cuts of the theatrical version of Ghostbusters II, Slimer comes out from behind the Statue of Liberty and flies right into the camera just like how he did at the end of the first movie. The VHS/DVD/Blu-ray versions omits this and just ends with a pan up to the statue's head then a fade to black.
    • This ending does appear in the November 27, 1988 and February 27, 1989 drafts.[82]
    • This ending does show up in a storyboard.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife Trivia[]

  • One of the side ads when Phoebe Spengler watches the Ghostbusters commercial is of the scene when Slimer flies towards the camera at the end of the first movie.
  • Muncher took some inspiration from Slimer in the first movie.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Trivia[]

  • Foam from the original Slimer puppet was grounded up and put into the mold of the puppet for Frozen Empire.[83]
  • Armorer Doug McCarthy was instructed to create an exact match to Slimer's ectoplasm that was used in the first movie. Gil Kenan even put it on his hands to rest the translucency. Once they got it, McCarthy made various thicknesses in the required colors for different shots.[84]
  • Slimer's trash pile was redone four times before it was approved.[85]
  • For the shot of Trevor being slimed by Slimer in the Firehouse attic, a slime rig was worn. The part worn on the back has two pressure tanks and a vessel between the tanks for the slime. When the valve goes, the slime goes into tubes in the back and/or front into a bowl that reverses its direction to simulate the act of being slimed. It took several weeks of testing and several test subjects to get the rig right.[86][87]
  • The people worked on the Slimer puppets for Frozen Empire were sculptors Leland Stewart, Danny Wagner, and Tanner White, foam by Bill Fesh, Mold Supervisor was Brian Rae, mechanical design was by Bill Sturgeon, the actor was Kevin Mangold, puppeteers were Geoff Redknap and Robin Guiver, seaming was by Lisa Fornadley, fabrication was by Bill Bryan, and paint was by Mario Torres.[88]
  • For the filming of scenes like the Cheetos trap, Kevin Mangold was put in a harness and lifted into the air.[89]
  • There was a bit filmed that involved Slimer's tongue coming out of his mouth but it was not used in the movie.[90]
  • The Slimer puppet was scanned by Clear Angle Studios with one of their photogrammetry booths. Sony Pictures Imageworks built a 3D asset to match the practical puppet.[91]
  • For Slimer's transparency, self-illuminating was considered over scene lit but as the VFX team started compositing the Slimer puppet and CG version with more of a flat lit lighting pass, it didn't work in the scene. A shift to scene lighting happened soon after. VFX supervisor Geoff Baumann resisted putting too much glow and transparency in order to adhere to Gil Kenan's desire for detail and fidelity.[92]
  • Kevin Mangold worked on the movie for a total of 10 days and went to the United Kingdom twice and New York once.[93]
  • The prop used for possessed pizza was going to be a rubber one initially but the movement did not look right so real pizzas were used.[94] According to Senior SFX Technician Doug McCarthy, it was a prop pizza with real toppings glued on.[95]
  • For the filming of scene where Slimer flies out of the Firehouse, several takes were filmed with Kevin Mangold. In one version, Mangold filmed in a harness. In another, he filmed on roller blades.[96]

Ghostbusters Role-Playing Game Trivia[]

  • In the Ghostbusters Role-Playing Game Series, Slimer's presence in the world of the living was credited as a side-effect of cult rituals.[97] These cult rituals were likely performed in Slimer's case by the Cult of Gozer, lead by Ivo Shandor. Gozer, also known as "Lord of the Sebouillia", may-in turn-have influenced the name. Sebouillia in the Ukrainian language translates as "onion." Thus, Slimer's coined term, "Onion Head."

Ghostbusters: The Video Game Trivia[]

  • In the February 11, 2008 draft revision:
    • After Slimer is recaptured, Peter looks into the Trap's digital image and sees Slimer exhausted inside with his tongue out.[98]
    • During the Panic in Times Square level, in the office building, Ray admits he and Egon were talking about making minions so they could more work done in the lab and they would be domesticated like Slimer.[99]
  • The Ghostbusters keeping Slimer in a tank for observation in "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" mirrors The Real Ghostbusters in which they allowed Slimer to stay with them for the purpose of scientific study.
  • Slimer is shown in the trailer for "Ghostbusters: The Video Game," flying at the viewer in a manner similar to the end of the first movie, before a transition into the traditional Ghostbusters emblem.

IDW Comics Trivia[]

Insight Editions Trivia[]

  • On page 12 of Tobin's Spirit Guide, it is revealed the aftereffects of Slimer's presence is the persistent stench of rancid meat, increase in the heaviness of the air similar to stifling humidity, piles of chewed food, overturned furniture, and an unusual amount of exuded ectoplasm.[101]

Ghostbusters: The Board Game Trivia[]

  • In Slimer's character card in Ghostbusters: The Board Game
    • The caption on the photograph quotes Ray's "Ugly little spud!" line from the first movie
    • The caption on the Impossible Mode photograph quotes Ray's "A real nasty one!" line from the first movie
    • The biography quotes Ray's classification of Slimer after he was trapped in the first movie
    • The Sedgewick Hotel is mentioned

Cleanin' Up The Town Trivia[]

Miscellaneous Trivia[]

  • Slimer stars in a series of online spots advertising the features of Quickbooks but the puppet from the 2016 movie was utilized.

Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord Trivia[]

  • Upon finding Slimer in the Slimer Hunt mission for Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, released on January 31, 2024, Ray remarks he is a disgusting blob like in the first movie. He also refers to Slimer as an ugly one.
  • The scene of Slimer drinking and eating and Slimer charging Peter in the hallway is reenacted in the Slimer Hunt mission.
  • Slimer does not have Containment Unit files.
  • Slimer can also be chosen as a player avatar and bust ghosts with the team just like in The Real Ghostbusters, Slimer! and Extreme Ghostbusters.

Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed Trivia[]

  • One of the new ghosts added in DLC 6 on June 27, 2024 was "Classic Slimer" based on Slimer.
  • Nunzio Scoleri's entry mentions Slimer, noting Nunzio is an "ectoplasm-spewing nightmare that would even impress Slimer."

Appearances[]

Primary Canon Appearances[]


Expanded Universe

Secondary Canon Appearances[]

Tertiary Canon Appearances[]

References[]

  1. ↑ RPGSite Troy Baker Interview Part 2 10/6/09 Troy Baker says: "I've just finished playing Ghostbusters. I think I worked on that game longer than I worked on any other game in my life, I think for five years. I was the first one recorded and I was the last one recorded. In addition to Slimer, I'm probably 70% of all the ghosts and creatures and goblins so that was interesting."
  2. ↑ Narrator (2016). Insight Editions- "Tobin's Spirit Guide" (2016) (Book p.12). Paragraph reads: "Our best guess at the ghost's origins dates back to the apocalyptic Cult of Gozer, which held meetings at the Sedgewick in the early 1920s, went awry."
  3. ↑ Ray Stantz (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters Annual 2017" (2017) (Comic p.41). Ray Stantz says: "It says the hotel played host to our friends in the Gozerian Cult up through 1938 or so, where as an incentive to draw Gozer to this dimension... they conjured a semi-corporeal manifestation of gluttony."
  4. ↑ Ray Stantz (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters Annual 2017" (2017) (Comic p.42). Ray Stantz says: "The author supposed they were trying to conjure a true hungry spirit, a ghost whose appetite can be never be sated. Tobin agreed with that interpretation."
  5. ↑ Narrator (2016). Insight Editions- "Tobin's Spirit Guide" (2016) (Book p.12). Paragraph reads: "According to our research, it's most likely that the cult's rituals conjured a "hungry spirit" - a ghost that can never sate its inhuman appetite - as a destructive punishment for the world."
  6. ↑ Narrator (2016). Insight Editions- "Tobin's Spirit Guide" (2016) (Book p.12). Paragraph reads: "This spirit, which had been haunting the twelfth floor of the Sedgewick Hotel on Park Avenue since the mid-1920s, became the subject of the first full field test of the Ghostbusters' proprietary equipment."
  7. ↑ Narrator (2016). Insight Editions- "Tobin's Spirit Guide" (2016) (Book p.12). Paragraph reads: "During the encounter, a messy collision with our colleague Dr. Venkman led us to nickname the ghost "Slimer"."
  8. ↑ Dapperpomade Tweet 2/19/15
  9. ↑ Kylie Griffin (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters Annual 2017" (2017) (Comic p.40). Kylie Griffin says: "Well, we know that it was anchored to the Sedgewick Hotel."
  10. ↑ Thomas, Scott (2015). Ghostbusters: The Board Game, p. 18. Cryptozoic Entertainment, Lake Forest CA USA.
  11. ↑ GhostbustersSU website "DLC 2 Patch Notes" 4/20/2023
  12. ↑ Ray Stantz; Hookfaber Mansion Slimer Hunt (2024). Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord – Hookfaber Mansion (2024) (Meta Quest 2/Playstation VR2). nDreams. Ray Stantz says: "Maybe crossed a spectral boundary, maybe a reprojection... quantum stuff..."
  13. ↑ Aykroyd, Dan (2016). Empire Magazine, p. 68. Bauer Media Group, Harborough, Leicester, United Kingdom, ISBN 1234567890. Dan Aykroyd writes: "The tone was much darker. Slimer wasn't so cute."
  14. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 84 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Overall, the Onionhead entrapment follows -- with a fair degree of faithfulness -- the opening sequence in Dan Aykroyd's solo script. As originally drafted, the Ghostbusters respond to a call from the Greenville Guest House regarding the discovery in the kitchen of gluttonous yellow mist or grotesquely altered human form -- a 'FRVP' or 'free-repeating vaporous phantasm' in ghostbusting lingo. After chasing the apparition -- described as 'onion-headed' at one point -- through the rustic guest home, the Ghostbuster corner it in the basement, encircle it with nutrona beams and maneuver it into a small collapsible trap."
  15. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 86 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "In the first Dan Aykroyd script, the Greenville Guest House proprietor balked at a mere $500 fee."
  16. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 64 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Although never specifically named in the film, the hotel apparition was to become known within the production unit as the Onionhead ghost -- so dubbed because of the horrible stench which emanated from it, rather than any physical resemblance to an onion. Though the malodorous aspect of the creature was dropped when the newlywed scene was cut -- primarily because to visually support the notion would have required massive amounts of exacting, hand-rendered animation during the postproduction effects phase -- the name 'Onionhead' persisted among members of the crew."
  17. ↑ Bloody Disgusting "FX Master Steve Johnson on Creating Slimer With the Help of Cocaine and John Belushi’s Ghost" 4/26/18Steve Johnson says: "That was the most annoying horrendous experience I've ever had working with art directors, producers, and directors, ever. In the beginning they asked for a 'smile with arms' but before I knew it, it was a goddamn bleeding nightmare… 'give him 13% more pathos, put ears on him, take his ears off, less pathos, more pathos, make his nose bigger, now his nose is too big, make his nose smaller…' Are you kidding? 'Make him more cartoony, make him less cartoony'. I almost ****ing severed my own head during that process."
  18. ↑ Bloody Disgusting "FX Master Steve Johnson on Creating Slimer With the Help of Cocaine and John Belushi’s Ghost" 4/26/18Steve Johnson says: "I didn’t know until the last ***ing day. I'd been working for six months sculpting hundreds of Slimer variations, and they finally said 'make him look more like Belushi' and I said what the *** are you talking about?"
  19. ↑ Bloody Disgusting "FX Master Steve Johnson on Creating Slimer With the Help of Cocaine and John Belushi’s Ghost" 4/26/18Steve Johnson says: "So I pulled out a stack of headshots of John Belushi, poured a gram of cocaine on it and started chopping lines up. I was three grams into the night and in a cocaine-induced delusional paranoia and I literally thought that John Belushi's ghost came to me to help me out."
  20. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 78 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "After going through an evolutionary design process, the hotel ghost finally emerged as a green, potato-shaped creature -- and it was at this point, in July, that its description as such was incorporated into the script. Prior accounts were less specific, indicating merely that it was an incredibly foul-smelling amorphous vapor."
  21. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 74 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Steve Johnson adds finishing touches to a miniature clay prototype of the Onionhead ghost. In all, three large-scale Onionheads were constructed -- one for smiling, one for looking frightened and one for use in the drinking scenes. A miniature Onionhead was fabricated for long shots of it swishing about the hotel chandelier, but was never used."
  22. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 56:00-56:17 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "So yes the actual Slimer was supposed to be a lot smaller, like maybe a third of the size... half the size. I'm not exactly sure. Of a big guy like Mark in a suit and where it really shows up is the scene where he pops out of this hot dog cart on the street and has to eat a bunch of hot dogs."
  23. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 36:29-36:49 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "I sculpted them in clay and they're really big. They're like--it's a denture about this big. I sculpted them in clay, made a huge silicone mold and I cast them the same way they do like temporary teeth or dentures. This is all dental acrylic. The chops smell terrible, but it made really great looking teeth."
  24. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 36:50-37:13 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "And I also sculpted the tongue and that's Mark Bryan Wilson wearing the tongue. Now that's a casting of the teeth with some of the mouth parts, the rubber parts inside the casting of the tongue but I made the tongue as a arm puppet that fit me and for the actual shot, I was the one operating the tongue and I'll show you that later."
  25. ↑ Steve Johnson (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 49:27-50:03). Bueno Productions. Steve Johnson says: "I, to this day, credit Richard Edlund with coming up with the technique to actually pull that off, to get an amorphous blob that's incredibly cartoony and animated to fly around and do all these things. I, you know, being this crazy artiste, wanted to do it an almost impossible way. I originally wanted to do it with these really long skinny arms that've been mechanical and does not have any performer inside, so that it would not at all look like a human. And Richard just look at me like, "Are you out of your mind? Stick a guy in a suit, and let his legs come out, and we'll film him, and use his real arms." (Johnson gestures)."
  26. ↑ Steve Johnson (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 50:04-50:20, 50:56-51:01). Bueno Productions. Steve Johnson says: "Now, the thing that was interesting about that is I thought, OK, if Richard said that we can remove his legs optically, that means I can make other things black, and stick them all around the character, and he'll just have to remove them, too. But the way Slimer worked is, there is a performer, a guy named Mark Wilson, who was actually in charge of doing the mechanical aspects of pulling it all together."
  27. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 75 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "During effects photography, the Onionhead suit was worn by Mark Wilson. Full-figure shots required that his legs -- which extended out from beneath the legless torso -- be draped with black velvet for maximum concealment. Although Wilson provided the major movements for Onionhead, a team of puppeteers -- wearing helmets or behind plexiglass in this food-throwing scene -- produced the more subtle, cable-actuated expressions. Oversized props were used so that when composited with live-action, the ghost could be made to appear smaller than human-size."
  28. ↑ Mark Siegel (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 53:50-54:09). Bueno Productions. Mark Siegel says: "We watched John Belushi movies and we watched Animal House on video in particular and watched all his facial expressions and they're actually in the performance. And there are things that Belushi would do with his eyebrows, you always see things like that. And I love that. I managed to set the eyebrow expressions as the puppeteer."
  29. ↑ Mark Bryan Wilson (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 54:13-54:34). Bueno Productions. Mark Bryan Wilson says: "Some tricks on Slimer is he rarely moved. He is on a big cart and along with him on the cart are the various puppeteers even though I might be moving and gyrating, the option was either to move all the puppeteers and the puppet or the camera. It was obvious moving the camera on a dolly truck was much simpler."
  30. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 38:45-40:03 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "So the skull cap is probably about in here. There's a little bit of puppet above his head and so Mark's face fit into it so that he was looking out through-this was black scrim at the back of the throat so the camera couldn't see in but Mark could see out through it and most of the time we had just a loose casting of the tongue that wasn't the full tongue puppet, but just kind of lying on the floor of the mouth and it would flop around just naturally as the creature's mouth moves and Mark did all the body movement. Craig Caton was below the puppet, simple mechanism. This was part of Steve's genius in designing this puppet. He wanted it to be really loose and cartoony so we could take advantage of squash and stretch so instead of building a mouth mechanism that was all hinge and everything there was a simple-like metal bar that was in the lower lip right about here that came down on a long bar out of the bottom of the suit and I think you can see part of this and the black thing down here at the bottom and then Craig was below it and he could pull it open, or twist it, or move it from side to side and get a huge range of expression and do all kinds of things with it."
  31. ↑ Mark Bryan Wilson (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 51:05-51:13). Bueno Productions. Mark Bryan Wilson says: "They did a life cast on me to sculpt the arms over, and to position and figure out the proportions of the head, and where my head would fit inside the costume."
  32. ↑ Steve Johnson (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 51:17-51:22). Bueno Productions. Steve Johnson says: "His arms come out through the stomach wearing rubber gloves, and then his legs just stuck out the butt."
  33. ↑ Stuart Ziff (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 51:23-51:32). Bueno Productions. Stuart Ziff says: "It was almost like a Japanese Noh theater, where everyone's in black,and this is shot against a black background, so you could only then see the green Slimer rubber."
  34. ↑ Mark Bryan Wilson (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 51:37-51:55). Bueno Productions. Mark Bryan Wilson says: "Put a strap under my chin, which went into a fiberglass helmet. So by moving my head, then I could make Slimer's head change direction."
  35. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 74 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Sculptor Marc Siegel at work on the terror-stricken version of the Onionhead. Once completed, the figure was cast in the form of a foam latex suit, with facial articulations achieved through cable mechanisms."
  36. ↑ Steve Johnson (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 51:37-51:55). Bueno Productions. Steve Johnson says: "So what we ended up doing is, I designed all these wrinkles concentric and going back, and his huge smile. And a performer in black suit could go behind the character while we're filming him, reach his arms into handles on his cheeks and go, "Agh!" And you just get all this free muscle."
  37. ↑ Craig Caton-Largent deviantArt "Onionheads" 7/5/13 Paragraph reads: "The three primary Onionhead (Slimer) puppets for Ghostbusters. The body suspensions were based on old fashioned "dress hoops" so that a certain amount of "squash & stretch" could be achieved. The flexible jaw mechanics were made from stainless steel bands commonly used for strapping crates together. The bands allowed the mouth to be opened and closed and also flexed into extreme expressions."
  38. ↑ Steve Johnson (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 52:11-52:26). Bueno Productions. Steve Johnson says: "In order to keep it from drooping on the performer's body, we put a series of concentric spring steel bands. What that also did was an amazing bonus that we didn't necessarily expect. It would make his body just jiggle around like a fat cartoon character might do."
  39. ↑ John Bruno (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 49:17-50:03). Bueno Productions. John Bruno says: "A lime fluorescent green. It was a color we came up with that we could see in this art directed room."
  40. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 37:27-37:55 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "This is the sculpture of it. Instead of sculpting the entire puppet a second time, it made sense to me that if we took a rubber casting of Steve's puppet and just kept as much as the body as we would remain the same, I could sculpt the new head expression kind of as a prosthetic to put on it. So it saves a lot of sculpting time and we had a second puppet and we pulled a rubber skin off it."
  41. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 50:16-51:54 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "So Mark is wearing the suit. Now because the tongue puppet has to work in this. I have to have my arm through the back of the head into the tongue puppet. This means that Mark can't have his head in the skull cap as he usually does so he has be be bending down. So he's working blind, he has to reach on to the--we had a mock up of a hotel cart, not a real hotel food service cart--but we had a cart there on the set with breakaway plates that were piled with mashed potatoes and lettuce and jello, and all kinds of crap and Mark had to pick it up blind and lift it up and pour it into the Slimer mouth. Which meant they were going on to the tongue while I was doing the tongue movement and falling over the tongue on the back of Mark's neck and he'd have to do all the movement like this. So now when you see the tongue movement, oh I'll describe it. I was jammed in right behind the puppet like really tight with my arm through a slot behind the head into the mouth. Steve Johnson was crammed in right behind me with his arms around me into the cheeks of the puppet. So partly what he was doing was supporting the top of the head, but he could also do cheek movements by moving his fists inside the cheeks. So the combination of that just really low tech animation gave the character all that movement."
  42. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 52:43-52:53 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "We were cracking up laughing after the take and then all of a sudden there's this voice from inside the puppet going "Get me out of here!" It's Mark all drenched in food and stuff."
  43. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 53:56-54:39 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "But my next video of work was at the end of the shoot. See that little green Slimer going down the hallway there? There is is. That is a little tiny sculpture that we called "Bullet Slimer" and that's my sculpture of it. And you can see by the size of the quarter how tiny this sculpt, he's about three inches long so for that shot, the animation department thought we don't have to use the whole puppet. We wanna look like he's speeding through so let's have a bullet shaped Slimer and they could just set it up on the animation stand and shoot it as a separate element to go through the wall."
  44. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 78 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "The room service cart which trails along behind the Onionhead as it flies through the hotel corridors was actually a motorized vehicle, piloted from underneath by one of Chuck Gaspar's crew members. For the scene where it crashes and overturns, the driver was removed and the cart merely pushed into the wall. The ghost itself -- which passes through the solid surface leaving a slimy, dripping residue behind -- was shot on stage at Entertainment Effects Group and incorporated optically in the live-action photography."
  45. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 40:25-40:44 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "Well, the way Steve conceived it, he said we should have a drinking face puppet so that the puppet would--and that's the finished puppet--so that the puppet could have his mouth puppeteered as if he was actually sucking on a bottle."
  46. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 40:48-41:01 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "Once again I sculpted it as a appliance, took a casting as part of the original puppet that was cut away, and then sculpted it as an appliance that we could stick on to the main puppet."
  47. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 41:29-42:28 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "Sadly, you probably head the story that somebody saw—I don't know who if it was—saw it on the set or if we've done some test footage but somebody in production said, "Well, it's just too much a change from the original puppet and it's gonna confuse audiences, too. Is it like a different ghost?" And we were thinking, "Why, there's two green ghosts who are eating and drinking things and a change of expression is going to confuse..." anyway we never shot it for the film but we did do puppet tests. This is Jon Berg-you know, legendary creature guy/stop motion animator and creature consultant. Jon came up to work with the puppeteering and I think that's Mark wearing the suit sitting down behind him but I designed the mouth so that a puppeteer could reach up inside the suit and the inside of those big foam lips were just carved out. So you could fit a hand in there."
  48. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 55:28-55:48 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "I also sculpted this one. You can see about the same scale, a little more than three inches tall and this was also used in the ballroom scene and there he is. I sculpted little arms, so we had a little rubber puppet and I think that's a still frame for where that little puppet was used when they shoot him in the ballroom scene."
  49. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 56:19-56:33 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "So because of the scale of it, I had to make hot dogs this big, this big around and this big so they would be in the proper scale to work with the puppet."
  50. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 56:39-57:47 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "And how I came up with making the hot dogs is really fun and very ingenious. I think I took a link. I figured out what the scale would be to get the hot dog's proper diameter and then I took a long piece of PVC pipe. You know polyvinyl chloride like plumbing pipe that have the right interior diameter. We mixed up a batch of foam latex that was pigmented, pre-pigmented in a hot dog color and poured it into this long tube and then back it in the oven, so I could pull out this long hot dog diameter—hot dog colored tube and then I cut it. The proper lengths and then just like they make real hot dogs, I would cinch the ends together and tie them so that they look like sausages on the end, made a whole group of them and then I tied them on some mono filament. So I'm behind—I can't remember exactly where I was—I might have been under the puppet at this point with the hot dogs in his mouth."
  51. ↑ TCU Collectibles facebook "Mark Siegel (Creature Shop, Ghostbusters/Ghostbusters 2) Interview" 58:18-58:21 9/14/2020 Mark Siegel says: "As he's chewing, I'm pulling this bouquet of hot dogs in through his mouth."
  52. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 21. Cinefex, USA. Line reads: "With Slimer's appeal apparently universal, the filmmakers ultimately decided to squeeze him into the second film. In the subplot written for him, Slimer would first be seen eating various types of food while Louis tried in vain to catch him. Then later, when Louis straps on a backpack and tries to help the Ghostbusters, he finds Slimer driving a bus. Louis hitches a ride on the bus and the two eventually become friends. During editing, Reitman would decide to limit Slimer's role, but all the scenes were scripted and completed."
  53. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 21. Cinefex, USA. Tim Lawrence says: "Unlike the character from the first film which was primarily a monster, Michael wanted elements from the cartoon version incorporated as well, and to this end had had Thom do the new series of drawings--which were fabulous. Slimer was not in the first script that I saw, but once we knew that he was going to be in the show, I called in Bobby Porter to play the role. I had worked with Bobby before and liked his facility in suits as well as his easygoing personality."
  54. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 21. Cinefex, USA. Tim Lawrence says: "The character was going together quite quickly, but then we were notified that it had once again been removed from the show, and I asked them to wait--to be very sure that Slimer was in fact gone before letting the guy go upon which everything had been custom fit. But release him they did."
  55. ↑ ebay Tim Lawrence " Details about Ghostbusters 2 Orig. Prod. Artifact: 'Slimer' Design Sculpt Maquette ~ Last One!" retrieved 9/16/16 Tim Lawrence says: "Slimer for Ghostbusters 2 was an evolution and a composite. By the time of the second movie there were essentially three previous Slimer designs and I was tasked with combining them into a new form that included elements from all: the 'monster' from the first movie, the 'character' from the Saturday cartoon and the Tom Enriquez 'storyboard' Slimer."
  56. ↑ The Good, The Bad, and The Sequel Stitcher "Special Effects Master Tim Lawrence" 40:27-40:59 4/17/2019 Tim Lawrence says: "The story I got was one day in dailies down in Los Angeles when they are checking the first unit dailies, they would often at the end run ILM's silent special effects dailies. And there was a lot of Slimer stuff. And after viewing some of that in the dark, Mike says you can hear Bill Murray's voice, "It's called Ghostbusters, not Slimer." And Slimer started getting cut out of the movie and then he was just gone."
  57. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 21. Cinefex, USA. Tim Lawrence says: "Two weeks later, Slimer was not only back in, but he had a role of increased importance to the story. We contacted Bobby to check his availability and found that even though he had signed to another show for stunt work, it looked as though the two schedules would fit and allow him to still perform Slimer. As the time approached, however, weather changed his primary commitment and we found ourselves two weeks from shooting without anyone to wear the suit. Our effects coordinator, Ned Gorman, recalled a person he had worked with on Willow named Robin Navlyt. I was convinced no one else would wear the suit, but I had her come in for a fitting and audition. Incredibly enough, she was exactly the same height as Bobby--four-foot-ten-inches--and she fit into both the body pod and the already molded and cast gloves very well. The same day, Chris Goehe and his mold shop crew did a full lifecast on her and Al Coulter jammed on getting the mechanics fit to the new skull cap. It was really close, but we made the first day of shooting."
  58. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 21-22. Cinefex, USA. Tim Lawrence says: "We were able to do some really nice things with the face, mainly because Al and his crew gave us a wonderful mechanical head. It was more than just a monster face. We could do subtle stuff and it would read. When we were originally thinking of Slimer, we had thought of him as this wild, broad character. But Michael Gross has a very good eye for performance and also a very good eye for looking at something and knowing what's wrong--what's too complicated, what's too much, what should be cut back and made simple. He was always on the set and kept going for a more subtle approach--which surprised us at first. We thought Slimer's actions should be bigger. But we did a few things his way and realized it was cool. Michael wanted a lovable character--and for him, the lovability of Slimer would come from a subtle, inner humanness that you might not otherwise see because of the way he looks. Once we saw the subtlety of the expression that was possible, Slimer suddenly had an incredible life to him that I had never seen in such a character before. To see his face light up from very sad to very happy was a wonderful thing."
  59. ↑ The Good, The Bad, and The Sequel Stitcher "Special Effects Master Tim Lawrence" 43:10-43:31 4/17/2019 Tim Lawrence says: "We shot so much more than got used because again Bill was getting a little itchy about how much Slimer there was. So we started getting cut out again and by the time I left for Gremlins there were only three shots left in the movie and if we shot-if production had gone on any longer, Slimer would have been completely removed again."
  60. ↑ Eisenberg, Adam (November 1989). Ghostbusters Revisited, Cinefex magazine #40, page 22. Cinefex, USA. Michael Gross says: "What we found during editing was that Slimer was not working very well. Whenever he was in there, it seemed like he was really an intrusion. At first we thought the answer was to add more of him, so we had an ongoing confrontation between Louis and Slimer in which Louis was constantly trying to catch him. We thought it would be funny and at screenings we expected the audience to cheer and laugh when they saw him again. But nothing. No reaction. The audience was looking at it as a fresh movie. There were a lot of kids who loved to see him, so we knew we could not abandon him completely, but he never really worked with the audience the way we expected. Ultimately, we decided less was better, and in the final film we limited him to two very quick shots."
  61. ↑ Ray Stantz (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters Annual 2017" (2017) (Comic p.42). Ray Stantz says: "I'd say it was never human. It's simply a representational force given form with partially humanoid characteristics. And tendencies."
  62. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 78 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Joe Medjuck says: "One day, during preproduction, we were all sitting around talking about the Onionhead concept, and Ivan remarked that the character was sort of like Bluto in Animal House -- like the ghost of John Belushi, in a way, Danny, who was obviously a good friend of John's, never argued with that. Even so, we never officially said that and we never mentioned it in the script. It was just one way to look at the character, because Onionhead's grossness is like Bluto's in Animal House. We certainly never expected anyone to recognize him as such, although somehow the word did get out and we received some calls from a few newspapers saying they'd heard we had the ghost of John Belushi in our movie."
  63. ↑ Ivan Reitman (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 32:58-33:02). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: Danny Aykroyd always used to refer to Slimer as the ghost of John Belushi."
  64. ↑ Ivan Reitman (1999). Ghostbusters- Commentary (1999) (DVD ts. 33:04-33:07). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: The gluttony of the ghost was a tribute to John ."
  65. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 64 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Dan Aykroyd says: "So, in reading the literature and reading about full head and torso apparitions, I found out that it is very rare that you see a full figure -- it is usually just a hint of the former being. The Onionhead is a vapor -- a kind of confluence of stored up psychic energy. He's an accumulation of spirits that haunt this hotel, and he just doesn't want to leave."
  66. ↑ John Bruno (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 56:27-56:33). Bueno Productions. John Bruno says: "Slimer, by the way, got the name Slimer when he says, "It slimed me." That stuck. It was the Onionhead until that moment."
  67. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 78 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Harold Ramis says: "Thelma Moss, of the parapsychology department at UCLA, told me after seeing the movie that one of the classic types of hauntings is known as the hungry ghost -- a ghost who just eats and drinks. We didn't know that when we wrote the Onionhead into our script, but it's a nice coincidence."
  68. ↑ Ivan Reitman (2005). Ghostbusters- Commentary (2005) (DVD ts. 56:49-57:02). Columbia TriStar Home Video. Ivan Reitman says: "I actually do the voice, the deep voice of...that's me. I did Slimer and the voice that comes out of her here. "
  69. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 127 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "In an unusual twist on the directorial cameo, Dana's demonic voice -- reminiscent of Mercedes McCambridge's intonations in The Exorcist -- was actually that of Ivan Reitman. Reitman, in fact, provided all of the unearthly voices in the film, except that of Gozer."
  70. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 81 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "Joe Day applies 'ectoslime' to Bill Murray. In reality, the gooey substance was derived from methylcellulose ether -- a powdered thickening agent used in pharmaceuticals and food products."
  71. ↑ The Containment Unit YouTube " Academy Award Winner John Bruno (Ghost Shop Supervisor, Ghostbusters) Interview! " 46:48-46:57 5/7/2023 John Bruno says: "We're going to rent a camera. We got the 65 mm camera that was used for Lawrence of Arabia. I remember that the Lawrence cam was going to be available for Slimer."
  72. ↑ Terry Windell (1999). Ghostbusters (1984) "SFX Team Featurette" (1999) (DVD ts. 07:30-07:48). Columbia Pictures. Terry Windell says: "And there was some sequences where he was supposed to be up in the chandelier and there was a little guy made and at great expense we learned to make a proper streak that was needed for the shot, it wasn't small enough. And it being the 12th hour and we had to get the shot out, we basically spray painted a peanut green."
  73. ↑ Sam Longoria (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 56:27-56:33). Bueno Productions. Sam Longoria says: "I have that green peanut."
  74. ↑ Stuart Ziff (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters, Deleted Scenes (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 5:19-6:34). Bueno Productions. Stuart Ziff says: "One day he was sick, so hey, I'll puppeteer it and there I am in the costume and we shoot all day. And we look at the dailies and they're horrible because I don't move like Mark Wilson."
  75. ↑ McAllister, Mark (June 2020). Ghostbusters: The Inside Story, p. 104. Hero Collector, United Kingdom, ISBN 1858758548. Annotation reads: "Stuart Ziff wearing Slimer arms. Ziff wore the costume for one day when Mark Bryan Wilson was sick - only to find that the footage was not usable."
  76. ↑ Aykroyd, Dan & Ramis, Harold (1983). Ghostbusters (First Draft August 5, 1983) (Script p. 102). Paragraph reads: "It belches loudly at the gaping spectators, then flits past the Doorman into the hotel with the pushcart following under its own power. He [The Vendor] shouts and chases it into the hotel."
  77. ↑ Mark Siegel (2019). Cleanin' Up The Town: Remembering Ghostbusters, Deleted Scenes (2019) (Blu-Ray ts. 11:16-11:40). Bueno Productions. Mark Siegel says: "The Slimer character is much smaller than the puppet was. In order to have his mouth stuffed with hot dogs, we had to make oversized hot dogs. I took along plumbing pipe and I just poured liquid foam into his long tube then I cut them apart, kind of dug out the ends of the rubber and then tied the ends together with little bits of thread so they were made as an actual sausage loop was made."
  78. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1985). Making Ghostbusters, p. 201 annotation. New York Zoetrope, New York NY USA, ISBN 0918432685. Paragraph reads: "As an afterthought during postproduction, Ivan Reitman decided to add a last-minute reprise by the Onionhead ghost - a final audience zinger misinterpreted by many as implying a sequel."
  79. ↑ Wallace, Daniel (2015). Ghostbusters The Ultimate Visual History, p. 141, 144. Insight Editions, San Rafael CA USA, ISBN 9781608875108. Thom Enriquez says: "In the version I storyboarded, Slimer was involved a lot more, so I had Slimer warn Louis that the baby was out on the ledge. Louis is trying to make out with Janine and he looks over her shoulder, and you see Slimer using all these gestures. The sequence was longer. When Bill Murray shows up with Dana and they find out the baby is missing, they look out the window and see the baby on the ledge with a monster, and there's a physical struggle. Bill goes out there, Dana hands him a baseball bat, and he's swinging at this creature."
  80. ↑ Shay, Don (November 1989). Cinefex 40, p. 21 annotation. Valley Printers, Riverside CA USA. Paragraph reads: "That was Black Tuesday - we were all very disappointed. The word came down to release Bobby from the show, and I asked them to wait - to be very sure that Slimer was in fact gone before letting the guy go upon which everything had been custom fit. But release him they did. Two weeks later Slimer was not only back in, but he had a role of increased importance to the story."
  81. ↑ Janine Melnitz (2014). Ghostbusters II, Louis' Secret (1989) (Blu-Ray ts. 00:48-00:50). Columbia Pictures. Janine says: "Oh. Oh, he's all right."
  82. ↑ Aykroyd, Dan & Ramis, Harold (1989). Ghostbusters II (February 27, 1989 Draft) (Script p. 120). Line reads: "Slimer flies out one of the observation windows, THEME MUSIC KICKS IN and the CAMERA PULLS UP and AWAY FROM the island TO a HIGH SHOT of the Statue, lower Manhattan and the shining sea beyond."
  83. ↑ Report All Ghosts! YouTube "GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE - Slimer - Kevin Mangold Interview" 20:05-20:17 4/2/2024 Kevin Mangold says: "They ground up all that foam and put it into the mold of the new. So the actual foam from the original Slimer exists in the one that I wear."
  84. ↑ Ghostbusters Fans Doug McCarthy reply 3/4/2024 Doug McCarthy says: "So , I was instructed to do an exact match on the slime used when Bill was on the floor after Slimer hitting him, we spent some time on it and Gil was putting it on his hands to test the translucency and we got it spot on, but when you put in in a cup etc the colour looks far stronger, so when you see this it does Match GB1. I made various thicknesses of slime in the required colours for different shots."
  85. ↑ Your Geek Fix YouTube 35:10-35:18 5/24/2024 Ben Hall says: "You gotta remember, we made Slimer's rubbish four times before they were happy with it."
  86. ↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube "Adam Savage Gets SLIMED on the Ghostbusters Set!" 9:00-9:15 3/5/2024 Brett Ellis says: "There's a scene near the beginning of the film with Trevor in the attic. Has a run-in with Slimer so it was to create a practical effect of the slime that flies through him and they wanted an entry and exit wound of slime."
  87. ↑ Adam Savage's Tested YouTube "Adam Savage Gets SLIMED on the Ghostbusters Set!" 10:16-10:22 3/5/2024 Brett Ellis says: "Many weeks for our unfortunate test subjects getting slimed many times."
  88. ↑ Arjen Tuiten instagram 3/9/2024
  89. ↑ Report All Ghosts! YouTube "GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE - Slimer - Kevin Mangold Interview" 29:43-29:55 4/2/2024 Kevin Mangold says: "I don't believe in 1984 Mark Bryan Wilson was ever put in any kind of harness. I don't think he was ever lifted. And I was. That's how I did the Cheetos. I was kind of flying."
  90. ↑ Extraplasm Podcast "Episode 80: Extraplasm Gets Slimed With Kevin Mangold of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" 1:15:20-1:15:29 4/17/2024 Kevin Mangold says: "There were things I did that I haven't seen yet that I'm looking forward to and I'll say it involved his tongue all coming out and stuff."
  91. ↑ beforesandafters "Here’s how practical Slimer puppetry was mixed with CG for ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’" 4/29/2024 Line reads: "The Slimer puppet was scanned by Clear Angle Studios in one of their photogrammetry booths. "One thing we did to check between them were witness camera range of motion tests with regards to just seeing how much the puppeteer could move the arms up and down, how the jaw opened, again to make sure that if we did go CG, we were staying within the constraints of the puppeteer and the puppet itself." Sony Pictures Imageworks was then responsible for building the 3D asset that matched the practical puppet."
  92. ↑ beforesandafters "Here’s how practical Slimer puppetry was mixed with CG for ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’" 4/29/2024 Geoffrey Baumann says: "During the shoot we were thinking it would be self-illuminating, not scene lit. But then once we started compositing either the puppet or CG with more of a flat lit lighting pass, it didn't marry to the scene as much. So we ended up shifting a little bit more towards scene lighting. The other thing is, I am not usually a big fan of glows. It's something that often is just added on in comp just to get a little extra something out of it. But it was something I had to embrace on this project because Gil said, 'It's Ghostbusters. There's glow.' We did find our way eventually. Still, the opacity and glow was a challenge because Gil wanted to maintain detail and fidelity, but then the more glow we added or the more transparent something became, the less detail or fine edge detail we had in something."
  93. ↑ Extraplasm Podcast "Episode 80: Extraplasm Gets Slimed With Kevin Mangold of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" 1:14:29-1:14:31 4/17/2024 Kevin Mangold says: "Maybe about 10 days."
  94. ↑ Extraplasm Podcast "Episode 80: Extraplasm Gets Slimed With Kevin Mangold of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" 1:18:21-1:18:43 4/17/2024 Kevin Mangold says: "It was rubber. It didn't really look right. So we rehearsed it that way three or four times and we had a whole stack of real pizzas there so it was pretty much always assumed we were going to at least try the real pizzas."
  95. ↑ Ghostbusters Fans Doug McCarthy post 4/27/2024 Doug McCarthy says: "I made the moving pizza from whit plastazote foam, I made and attached the puppeteering rods ( removed in post production) I painted it to match the on set real pizza and we used real pizza topping and glued it on . It WAS used in set and you see it in the final film . He wasn’t even there."
  96. ↑ Report All Ghosts! YouTube "GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE - Slimer - Kevin Mangold Interview" 38:57-39:11 4/2/2024 Kevin Mangold says: "We shot it on a flying harness where I was spinning around and they were shooting me flying around. But I also rode around, and this one was really awesome, on roller blades to give it--so it didn't look like I was walking."
  97. ↑ Petersen,Sandy & Willis,Lynn & Stafford,Greg (1986). Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Roleplaying Game, p.3 (Reference File C). West End Games, Honesdale PA USA, ISBN 0874310431.
  98. ↑ Dille, Flint & Platten, John Z. (2009). Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Draft Revision February 11, 2008) (Script p. 30). Line reads: "Peter looks into traps digital image of Slimer confined inside. The ghost's tongue is hanging out, he is exhausted."
  99. ↑ Dille, Flint & Platten, John Z. (2009). Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Draft Revision February 11, 2008) (Script p. 58). Ray says: "Egon and I were talking about creating minions to get more work done in the lab. Maybe they could be domesticated, like Slimer."
  100. ↑ TomWaltz Tweet 7/17/18
  101. ↑ Narrator (2016). Insight Editions- "Tobin's Spirit Guide" (2016) (Book p.12). Paragraph reads: "During our encounter with Slimer, we noticed the lingering aftereffects of its presence: the persistent stench of rancid meat and increase in the heaviness of the air similar to stifling humidity. There were also piles of chewed food and overturned furniture and an unusual amount of exuded ectoplasm."
  102. ↑ Ghostbusters 101 Class Notes (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters 101 #1" (2017) (Comic p.24). Notes reads: "A prime example of this is the green ghost in the lab's observation tank."
  103. ↑ Abby Yates (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters 101 #5" (2017) (Comic p.11). Abby Yates says: "We can't even get a ghost in a tank, but, oh, they sure have one!"
  104. ↑ Kevin Beckman (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters 101 #6" (2017) (Comic p.9). Kevin Beckman says: "Have you met Kevin Jr.?"
  105. ↑ |Kylie Griffin (2017). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters 101 #6" (2017) (Comic p.9). Kylie Griffin says: "He means that green ghost in the cage."
  106. ↑ 35-N Memo (2018). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #3" (2018) (Comic p.22). Memo reads: "These helper spirits--similar to but distinct from the European helper spirits such as Brownies, Kobolds, or Hobs--have taken on an appearance similar to the original Ghostbusters and the Sedgewick's Green Ghost."
  107. ↑ Ray Stantz (2018). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #8" (2018) (Comic p.15). Ray Stantz says: "Maybe the Green Ghost in the lab would be enough to -- hello?"
  108. ↑ Bennett Davis (2020). IDW Comics- "Ghostbusters Year One Issue #1" (2020) (Comic p.1). Bennett Davis says: "The damages were initially unacceptable... but since word got out that the first ghost ever trapped was captured here, we've seen an incredible uptick in interest."
  109. ↑ Narrator (2016). Insight Editions- "Tobin's Spirit Guide" (2016) (Book p.14). Paragraph reads: "The Sedgewick Hotel, in which we trapped Slimer, was also host to a far more malevolent presence known as the Spider Witch."

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