The world ofGhostbusterscontinues to expand, but now with an animated movie, and this new project can be the spiritual successor to one of the best animated shows of the 1980s. Back in 1984, the world met a group of parapsychologists investigating and eliminating ghosts in New York City in the supernatural comedyGhostbusters. Directed by Ivan Reitman and created by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis,Ghostbustersfollowed the title team, formed by Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Aykroyd), Spengler (Ramis), and Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), on their ghost-hunting adventures.
The huge success ofGhostbustersmade way for a franchise with a direct sequel, a failed reboot in 2016, and a second reboot with two movies, along with two animated TV shows, video games, and lots of merch. While a third movie in the current reboot timeline is in development,theGhostbustersfranchiseis now also preparing another movie, but this one will be animated. This will be the firstGhostbustersanimated movie, as they have only had animated TV shows, and as such, it can be the perfect spiritual successor to the successful 1986 show.
Netflix’s Animated Ghostbusters Movie Can Be The Spiritual Successor To The Real Ghostbusters
Same Universe, Same Format
In December 2024,Deadlinereported thatSony Animation andNetflix are now working on aGhostbustersanimated movie, with Kris Pearn attached to direct. At the time of writing, there are no plot details about the movie, so it’s unknown exactly where it will be set in the currentGhostbusterstimeline. As mentioned above, theGhostbustersTV series were both animated, but the one that was a big hit wasThe Real Ghostbusters, which aired on ABC from 1986 to 1991.
The Real Ghostbustersis set between the first two movies, and follows the original team, along with their secretary Janine (Annie Potts), their accountant Louis (Rick Moranis), and their mascot Slimer, on new adventures around New York City, facing and capturing a variety of ghosts, specters, and other rogue entities.The Real Ghostbusterswas a big success, and to this day, the first season holds a perfect 100% critics score onRotten Tomatoes. Due to the show being aimed at a much younger audience than the movies, it was sillier and less dark than the movie, which appealed to viewers of all ages.
The Netflix animated movie can be a spiritual successor toThe Real Ghostbusters, especially if it goes for a sillier, more lighthearted approach than the most recent movies.
The Real Ghostbustersgot a sequel series in 1997 titledExtreme Ghostbusters, which aired for one season comprised of 40 episodes.Extreme Ghostbusterssaw Spengler recruiting four students to form a new Ghostbusters team, but the show didn’t match the success ofThe Real Ghostbusters. Now, the Netflix animated movie can be a spiritual successor toThe Real Ghostbusters, especially if it goes for a sillier, more lighthearted approach than the most recent movies, which amped up the darkness a bit compared to the first movies, and thus do whatExtreme Ghostbustersfailed to do: focus on a new team.
The Real Ghostbusters' Popularity Puts More Pressure On Netflix’s Animated Movie To Be Great
Netflix’s Animated Ghostbusters Movie Needs To Meet Some High Standards
The biggest challenge the upcoming NetflixGhostbustersanimated movie is facing is the popularity ofThe Real Ghostbusters. The show set the bar high for future animatedGhostbustersprojects, and not even its direct sequel series could match it. The Netflix movie has to be great to match or exceed the success and popularity ofThe Real Ghostbusters, and it’s already a couple of steps ahead on the right path. First off,Pearn directedCloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2andThe Willoughbys, both critically acclaimed animated movies, so theGhostbustersanimated movie is in great hands.
Netflix’s New Ghostbusters Movie Is Better Than A Frozen Empire Sequel After $200M Box Office Disappointment
The next Ghostbusters movie after Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has already been announced, and it is fixing the franchise’s big box office problem.
Secondly,it’s likely the Netflix movie will follow the current Ghostbusters team, so it won’t face the same challenge asExtreme Ghostbustersas the audience already knows the new team members. The NetflixGhostbustersanimated movie can expand the stories and dynamics of the new team as well as their dynamic with the surviving members of the original team, bringing together two generations ofGhostbustersthrough which it can also have a couple of references toThe Real Ghostbusters.
Source:Deadline.
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a multimedia franchise created by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The first two films were released in the ’80s, but Ghostbusters III got stuck in development hell for years. Nearly 30 years after Ghostbusters II hit theaters, a reboot starring female Ghostbusters was released, followed by another reboot/sequel in 2021 titled Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The popular characters have also appeared in several video games and animated TV shows since the franchise’s creation in 1984.
