The Evolution of the Ghostbusters Costume and Props: a history on how the gostbusters costume changed over time.
The Evolution of the Ghostbusters Costume and Props: a history on how the gostbusters costume changed over time, and what to look for when collecting original movie props.
This is an article I wrote for Jimmie’s Ghostbusters fan site, which is actually a pretty good source of information on all things Ghostbusters. It details the evolution of both the costumes and props throughout the 4 films and 2 cartoon series (Ralph Bao was kind enough to put it up for me). While I didn’t really need to write this for myself, as I have most of these pieces, it was a great way for me to learn more about them, where they came from and where they ended up. It’s also an interesting way to look at the many different iterations of these characters over the years (which can be confusing at times) and just plain fun. If you’re interested in collecting Ghostbusters memorabilia, this will be especially helpful to you.
The Evolution of the Ghostbusters Costume and Props: a history on how the gostbusters costume changed over time.
The Original Ghostbusters
In the original Ghostbusters movie, almost all of the costumes worn by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson were off-the-rack items. The only exception to this was the boots worn by Bill Murray during many of the outdoor scenes. These were specially made for him at a cost of $2,000 a pair and featured one-inch heels to make him appear shorter than his co-stars.
The standard uniform consisted of black coveralls with orange stripes down each sleeve and pant leg. The coveralls had snap closures along each side seam and inseam of the legs, as well as two snaps on each shoulder strap to attach their matching suspenders. There was also a single zipper that ran from below the collar down to just below where the chest harness would be attached. On either breast there was an embroidered name patch and above that on each side was an embroidered Ghostbusters logo patch. As for accessories, they wore white T-shirts underneath with either black or tan work boots (depending on whether it was summer or winter), black leather belts with silver plated buckles
The Evolution of the Ghostbusters Costume and Props: a history on how the gostbusters costume changed over time.
By Paul Rudoff on Nov. 5, 2016 at 4:03 PM
As most Ghostbusters fans know, there were many different versions of the costumes and props used in Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989), especially during production. For example, early on the Firehouse had a black door with white trim instead of red. The proton packs were made out of wood until the actors complained that they were too heavy. The Ecto-1 was to be an ambulance decorated like a hearse, but after some negative feedback, it was changed to Ray’s Cadillac Ambulance. And so on…
In this article I’ll be going through each item of clothing worn by the four main cast members and showing how they evolved during production. I’ll also be covering the other major props they used such as the proton pack, ghost trap, PKE meter, and Ecto goggles which all had their own unique journey from concept to completion.
The Evolution of the Ghostbusters Costume and Props: a history on how the gostbusters costume changed over time.
Abrams Books released new book Ghostbusters: The Ultimate Visual History this week. You can order it from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound or iBooks. It’s available in digital format too.
There is a section called “The Evolution of the Costume and Props” which goes through all the different costumes used in the movie and TV spots and provides concept art by John Alvin, Rick Baker and Michael Cramer.
We have an excerpt below that focuses on Peter Venkman’s (Bill Murray) jumpsuit. There are also detailed descriptions of Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) and Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson) jumpsuits that you can check out at Entertainment Weekly.
The evolution of the Ghostbusters costuming and prop replicas is a fascinating story involving the work of professional costume designers, movie studio prop-makers, and finally the hobbyists and artists that picked up where the others left off.
The 1984 feature film Ghostbusters was an immediate hit with audiences around the world. The film was notable not only for its special effects, but also for its high production values in every area of filmmaking. Ghostbusters is considered one of the most entertaining movies ever made, and it continues to draw new fans to this day.
One aspect that helps make this movie so popular are the costumes worn by Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore and their secretary Janine Melnitz. The costumes’ classic design has been adopted by numerous other films and TV shows as well as being used in many forms of advertising. The costumes are recognizable anywhere in the world, even by people who have never seen the movie!
The costumes in Ghostbusters were designed by the now famous (and Oscar winning) costume designer, Richard Edlund. The design of the costumes and props went through several iterations; a process that was documented in detail by the production crew.
The Ghostbusters logo originally featured a ghost smoking a pipe. This logo was quickly rejected, but fortunately, it can still be seen on some of the concept art and early trailers.
The most well-known version of the logo is based on lettering created by Dan Aykroyd (one of the writers and one of the stars of Ghostbusters). The new logo features a ghost that is inspired by “Man’s Best Friend” — one of Rudolph Dirks’ (a cartoonist for William Randolph Hearst) “Katzenjammer Kids” characters.