The Real Ghostbusters - Original Promo

One of the most interesting aspects of The Real Ghostbusters Animated Series has always been this three-minute promo used to sell the series to ABC in 1986. The promo was unique in that it showed a series still very much in development with numerous design alterations forthcoming, giving the viewer an idea of how the series would look, set the tone for the animation style, and later influence the opening intro sequence to the actual series.

Legendary storyboard artist/animation director Kevin Altieri directed the promo, and was storyboarded by Kevin Altieri and Eddie Fizsgerald (another legendary story artist). Character designs were created for the animation team by Gabi Payn, these would later be changed when worked commenced on the actual series. These early designs used in the promo more closely followed the movie, especially for costume designs, and all the equipment looking more cumbersome and technical.

Early on in the production of the promo DiC had been told not to have the animated Ghostbusters resemble the actors of the film. However the Peter Venkman character that appears in the promo still bore some resemblance t actor Bill Murray, and when the time came to work on the series, Peter's face and hairstyle were redesigned to look more angular and less rounded.

Numerous Japanese studios worked on the animation of the promo. It's safe to say it MORE than served its purpose, this promo helped launch the series to later produce 6 years of production and 65 syndicated episodes, one of the longest running series of the 80s.

Info courtesy of cerealgeek.