Ghostbusters Spooktacular - Revisiting The Past, Part 2

Ghostbusters Spooktacular - Revisiting The Past

In part one of our ongoing series at a look into the past with the Universal Studios Ghostbusters shows, we delved into a brief history of the Universal Studios Florida park and went into a brief history of the original iteration of the Ghostbusters Spooktacular show.

In part two, we will be going into the synopsis of what occurred during the original 1990 stage show and even go behind the scenes and take a look at how they achieved the effects of the ghosts and how they raised a 100 foot Marshmallow Man into a soundstage!

So climb on in, buckle up, and take a ride with us in our way back machine as we take you back to summer of 1990.

In park billboard advertising the Spooktacular stage show.

The original 1990 iteration of the show featured it as a studio soundstage tour, where the production assistant took you on an up close look at the "Ghostbusters" Gozer Temple set. The soundstage featured many rows and plentiful of seating for guests as they filed into the soundstage.

Looming in front of the guests was the Gozer Temple set, in front of it were giant glass panels that were used to display the "pepper's ghost effect" for the spooks and specters.

The Temple as it was being constructed within the soundstage.

Below is an exerpt from the Universal Studios Florida Wikia:

QueueGuests queued through the outside of a soundstage where it was presumed that the Ghostbusters films had been shot. Then, they entered the building where the storyline would be revealed.
Main showThe show starts once everyone is seated. The lights go down in the room and a stage, behind a wall of glass, lights up. The stage turns out to be a recreation of the Temple of Gozer.
Then a female tour guide comes out and starts to talk about the Ghostbusters franchise. She also begins to express her disbelief in ghosts.
While she is talking Slimer, a ghost from the films, flies in and out behind her. Then a thunderous noise is heard and Gozer, along with other ghosts, appears.
She starts to hurt the tour guide when suddenly the Ghostbusters theme song is heard and they come out to save the day.
As they try to shoot her, Gozer does acrobatics across the stage. All of their shots miss and Gozer makes it back to the gates and says, “Your fate is sealed. Choose and perish!”
Then the gates close. Suddenly from the right of the stage, the head of the Stay Puff Marshmallow-Man appears.
He begins to roar as the Ghostbusters shoot him. He is then turned red hot and engulfed in smoke.
Once he is completely gone, the tour guide reappears and she and the Ghostbusters thank everyone as they leave for the gift shop.

Soure: http://universalstudiosflorida.wikia.com/wiki/Ghostbusters_Spooktacular

Gallery of the Original Spooktacular show:

 
 

 The logistics and technical aspects behind the show were absolutely amazing. The primary stage and set had to be built and positioned in a way to hide the actors (both Gozer and the Ghostbusters) as well as hide the giant Stay Puft head.

The giant Stay Puft head was actually on a giant gimble and conveyor to lift it, it was also aided with air bags for the rapid descent after the climax of the show.

The head also featured countless moving parts in the way of his eyes moving left and right, raising and lowering brows and even slight mouth movement towards the end. The inside of the giant structure was a grid of hydraulics, cabling, servos, and sensors.

Now, one thing that always kept me in a state of suspended belief was the effects they utilized for the ghosts and even the proton streams coming from the packs themselves. As a wee one, I truly believed these were the Ghostbusters and they were actually busting these ghosts. But as I grew up, I became obsessed with props, costumes, and even theme park attractions.

I later learned that the effects they used were actually a really old Hollywood effect called the "pepper's ghost effect" (I will leave you to do that research yourself for an in depth description of it), which is essentially they used mirrors to project a reflection of the ghosts and even proton streams and the actor's had to be instantly on their marks for the stream effect to appear perfect.

The puppets used for the ghosts were absolutely massive to ensure that they appeared detailed and ethereal like within the stage. Below are a few pictures of the actual puppets as they were being brought in to be installed below the stage.

The Ghostbusters Spooktacular show was a show of absolute technological and mechanical marvel. But this version would be short lived. In fact, it was so short that it only lasted for 3 years before the crowds began to dwindle and the higher ups had to take things back to the drawing board.

In part three, we will take a look at the 1993 revamped version of the stage show and how the Ghostbusters were utilized within the park until the new show was completed.

As a special treat, here is a YouTube video of the original iteration of the show that ran from 1990 to 1993.

And as always, I am Thomas, bringing you a blast from the past with our ongoing look at the Universal Studios Ghostbusters Spooktacular, be sure to keep an eye out for part 3 next week and in the mean time, head on over to Facebook and give the Savin The Day page a like and follow. We have some great content coming up soon and we wouldn't want you to miss it!