For most people the characters from the show will always be the most iconic representations of The Real Ghostbusters and the ones that fans & collectors are the most familiar with. In any other market that kind of popularity would quickly cause demand to outstrip supply but fortunately for collectors, animation artwork is quite affordable and easy to find due to the incredible amount that were created (approx. 11,000-13,000 cels per episode!).
Below are a few images of multiple cels to demonstrate just how many were needed for just a few seconds worth of animation. The differences between some cels are so minute that you can hardly tell them apart.
Collector Tips:
If you are new to collecting animation art then you will soon find out that most of the painted cels from the show have been unfortunately split up from their accompanying production drawing. This seems to be something that certain sellers do in order to sell them separately for more money but it’s also because when they first came to the market, much of the production art was mixed so it was probably an impossible task to pair them up properly.
Fortunately, every now and again you will find a seller that is happy to include both the production drawing and the painted cel if they have them.
As a word of advice, most of the cels that are on the market are paired with studio copied backgrounds which do NOT match the scene depicted in the cel. This means that while they look good, they never actually appeared on screen together and in many cases may not even be part of the same episode. This doesn’t detract from the amazing art of the cel itself of course and indeed many collectors still choose to display them together. However, if you are like me and have a little OCD then these things can quickly become a bit of a nightmare!
PAINTED CELS
Original Promo Pilot Cels
Here is a great cel with it’s accompanying production art from the 1985 RGB Promo pilot. This cel cleary shows the original version of Peter which was later redrawn by Gabi Payn to look less like Bill Murray.
Here is a screenshot from the show which shows the correct background for this particular scene.
Photo Credit: Derek Osborn
Production Series Cels
Spectral Ghostbusters from Season 1, Episode 11: “Citizen Ghost”.
A firm fan favourite, Citizen Ghost cels are extremely sought after and this one is great!
I really like how the glowing faces and hands were on a separate cel to the uniforms:
Photo Credit: Derek Osborn
Egon Spengler (with incorrect studio copy background) from Season 1, Episode 6: “The Boogieman Cometh”.
Here is a screenshot from the show which shows the correct background for this particular scene.
Peter Venkman (with incorrect studio copy background) from Season 3, Episode 6: “The Two Faces of Slimer”
Here is a screenshot from the show which shows the correct background for this particular scene.
Winston Zeddemore (with incorrect studio copy background) from the climax of Season 2, Episode 9: “Venkman’s Ghost Repellers”.
Here is a screenshot from the show which shows the correct background for this particular scene.
Ray Stantz (with incorrect studio copy background) from Season 1, Episode 3: “Mrs Rogers Neighborhood”
Here is a screenshot from the show which shows the correct background for this particular scene.
Janine Melnitz holding a ghost trap from Season 1, Episode 3: “Mrs Rogers Neighborhood”.
This is a good example of a multi cel setup, which means that there were separate cels for each character and effect in the scene placed on top of one another. You can see gaps where the railing and proton stream cels needed to be placed on top of Janine.
Here is a screenshot from the show which shows the correct background for this particular scene (and the rest of the missing elements).
Stay Puft from Season 2, Episode 6: “Cry Uncle”
Here is a screenshot from the show which shows the correct background for this particular scene.
EASTER EGGS
Easter eggs are all too common in television shows nowadays but they were a “thing” in the 80’s too! Just check out this amazing cel from Season 1, Episode 6: “The Boogieman Cometh” to see what I mean.
Yes, it really does say “DiC” on one of the pages in Tobin’s spirit guide!
Photo credit: dr_egonzo
If you have any RGB cels with hidden easter eggs please do get in contact if you want them featured here!
PRODUCTION DRAWINGS
Although I love the finished look of painted cels, I’m also a huge fan of production drawings too and quite often purchase them without the accompanying cel. While some are a little boring, I find that if they have annotations or colour guide notes on them then they look a little more special. Below are a few from my collection.
Team shot production drawing from Season 3, Episode 8: “Loathe Thy Neighbor”.
This particular drawing appealed to me because of the rough sketches for each member of the team. In the production episode, Winston is actually using his legs to try and pull himself back up rather than just dangling as seen here.
Update:
Since buying the production drawing above I managed to obtain the painted cel for this scene too. They came up for sale months apart but were sold by the same animation seller. It just goes to show you that if you have some patience and keep checking you may still have a chance to reunite production drawings with their corresponding cels. Here is the sellers picture of the painted cel (with random studio copy background) & a screenshot from the show.
Just have to find that background now..
Slimer:
