DVD Review: The Real Ghostbusters - Volume 1 - Page 2

In another episode, the ghosts of New York form their own television studio to allow them to be "broadcast" through any TV set. When the Ghostbusters infiltrate their way into the demonic transmission tower, they must not only blast their way through ghost parodies of shows like Star Trek, He-Man, and Leave It To Beaver, but confront a ghoul that encrusts himself with commercial products, from cars to household appliances. To attack, the ghoul hurls these products at the heroes, spouting evil twists on commercial catchprashes. As an adult, watching this scene in a kids' cartoon show that so mercilessly mocks the whole central construct of ad-supported television programming, it really made me smile. It's clever and fun stories like this that still make me come back for more from The Real Ghostbusters to this day.

The Ghostbusters themselves, while they may look and sound very different from their live-action counterparts, for the most part are written just as, say, Bill Murray would play Dr. Venkman. I find it interesting that Lorenzo Music (the voice of Garfield in cartoons) voiced Murray's character in these episodes of The Real Ghostbusters, while Murray went on to voice Garfield in the Garfield movie after Music's passing. Arsenio Hall, long before his career as a late-night talk-show host began, voiced Winston. Maurice LaMarche, perhaps best known for later voicing Brain in Pinky and the Brain, gives voice to Egon while Frank Welker, another very prolific cartoon voice actor, speaks as both Ray and Slimer.

There are 30 episodes spread across five discs in Volume 1, comprising over 11 hours of Ghostbusters goodness. Nearly every episode features at least one short introduction by one of the cast or crew of the show, usually containing a bit of trivia about the episode. Some episodes sport an optional isolated music and effects track, and a few include "visual commentary" that's really a treat. In these, the commentators appear in their own windows alongside the episode and stills in an impressive and fun treatment I haven't seen anywhere else.

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