Filmation's Ghostbusters Coming Soon To DVD

Back in July I posted news about Filmation's Ghostbusters coming to DVD. At that time, there was a press sheet released at the San Diego Comic-Con that had Vol. 1 of the animated series coming out on November 7th, with Vol. 2 and the live action series due out in Spring and Summer (respectively) of 2007. Well, November 7th has come and gone and no DVD was released. That's because it has been pushed back to a definite February 27, 2007 release date. The dates have changed for the other two setsas well. That makes this the final release schedule:

• Filmation's Ghostbusters: The Animated Series Volume 1 (February 27, 2007) (more info)
• The Ghost Busters: Live Action - The Complete Series (April 17, 2007) (more info)
• Filmation's Ghostbusters: The Animated Series Volume 2 (July 3, 2007) (more info)

The "more info" links above will take you to pages on the site of special features producer Andy Mangels. You can find high-quality scans of the sell sheets for the live-action set and animated vol. 1 on those pages (the animated vol. 1 sheet is on the vol. 2 page), and the press releases for all three volumes on each page.

BCI Eclipse, the company that is releasing the sets, recently issued a press release for Animated Vol. 1 which confirms the release date and includes some details on what is going to be included in the set.

Volume One will be available on DVD for the first time under BCI's Ink and Paint brand and will be released on February 27th at a suggested retail price of $39.98. The 6 disc set contains the first 32 episodes in story continuity order with a host of bonus features including creator interviews, the original promo pilot and a bonus episode of "The Ghost Busters" live-action series. Special Features include:

• Creator interviews with producer Lou Scheimer, writer Robby London and directors Tom Tataranowicz and Tom Sito.
• Ghostbusters (Animation) Anti-Drug Spot #1 (:30).
• Original 10 min presentation of the promo pilot for Filmation's animated series "Ghostbusters".
• Full length animated storyboard slideshow comparison for episode 22 "Laser and Future Rock".
• Image gallery of "Ghostbusters" heroes includes the original model sheets and sketches.
• English & Spanish audio for all 32 episodes.
• Easter eggs and series trivia.
• Ink & Paint trailers.
• DVD-ROM material - the complete five-episode script for the Ghostbusters "origin story".
• Bonus Episode of "The Ghost Busters" live-action series "The Maltese Monkey" Featuring the ghoul busting trio - Forrest Tucker as "Jake Kong", Larry Storch as "Eddie Spenser" and Bob Burns as the super smart gorilla "Tracy".
• Printed Episode Guide Book with Trivia and Fun Facts.

Also, a definitive date has now been set for the release of the COMPLETE LIVE-ACTION SERIES FROM 1975! You can get all 15 episodes in a 2-DVD set on April 17th at a suggested retail price of $29.98. BCI Eclipse, the company that is releasing the sets, recently issued a press release for the Complete Live-Action series which lists the special features as:

• Bonus animated Ghostbusters episode "I'll Be A Son Of A Ghostbuster"
• The Ghost Busters - Interviews - Over twenty minutes of fascinating behind-the-scenes stories with producer Lou Scheimer, and "Tracy the Gorilla" star Bob Burns
• Rare Footage: The Ghost Busters Live Action Bumpers - Version 1 & 2
• Extensive Behind The Scenes Photo Gallery
• Extensive Promotional Photo Gallery
• Extensive Tracy the Gorilla Photo Gallery
• Easter eggs
• Insert with Episode Guide plus Trivia & Fun Facts
• DVD-ROM Material: Scripts for all 15 episodes (PC/Mac compatible)
• Spanish language tracks

It's interesting to note that the Animated Vol. 1 DVD is including an episode of the live-action series ("The Maltese Monkey") as a bonus feature, and the Complete Live-Action DVD is including an episode of the animated series ("I'll Be A Son Of A Ghostbuster") as a bonus feature. I wish they wouldn't have done this as it will result in unnecessary duplicates for those people who buy both (or all three) sets.

Also, "I'll Be A Son Of A Ghostbuster" is part one of a five part story, so it's rather odd for them to include it, unless they intend for it to be a "tease" to get people to buy the animated DVD. Something like, "if you want to see the rest of the story, buy the Animated Vol. 1 DVD."


The press release fot animated Vol. 2, which will be released on July 3rd., says that the remaining 33 episodes will be available on a special five-disc set for the suggested retail price of $39.98. The list of bonus features is below.

• Creator Spotlight Interviews: Featuring Voice Actor Pat Fraley, and Animators/Storyboard Artists Rob Lamb and Michael Swanigan.
• "The Magic of Filmation" Documentary: A half-hour history of one of America's most influential animation studios, with producers, writers, animators, historians and other Filmation personnel.
• Audio Commentary: Track for Episode #37, "Outlaw In-Laws' with Directors Tom Sito and Tom Tataranowicz and Storyboard Artist Michael Swanigan. Hosted by Andy Mangels.
• Bonus Episode of "The Ghost Busters" live-action series "Dr. Whathisname": Featuring the ghoul busting trio: Forrest Tucker as "Kong," Larry Storch as "Eddie Spenser," and Bob Burns as the super smart gorilla "Tracy".
• Ghostbusters Anti-Drug Spot #4.
• Rare Footage: The original unaired presentation for Filmation's "Ghostbusters" the animated series. (August, 1985).
• Two Extensive Image Galleries from "Ghostbusters": Villains (includes the original model sheets and sketches), Background Art.
• Booklet with Episode Guide and Trivia Fun Facts.
• English and Spanish Language Audio Tracks.
• Ink & Paint Trailers.

I wonder if the "original unaired presentation" is the same thing as the "original 10 min presentation of the promo pilot" that was released on Vol. 1. Also, they are again including an episode of the live-action series on this release. Both animated releases have one live-action episode on them, and the live-action release has an animated episode on it. This may be nice if the customer is only going to purchase either the live or animated sets, but if he/she is going to buy all three sets, this results in three unnecessary duplicate episodes.

Anyway, for those keeping score at home, with this release Filmation has released onto DVD *every* single episode of *every* single Ghostbusters-related series that they created. Meanwhile, Sony has released both movies and only 14 episodes from only ONE of their series (excluding a few additional episodes released in the UK). You know, it's sad when the two series that are subpar by comparison each get a full/complete release, while the better series lingers in a vault somewhere. Even sadder is that the coffers at Sony are a lot bigger than those of BCI & Filmation, yet the "little company" made the effort and spent the dough to release a product that, while I'm sure will sell well, won't do nearly as well as Sony's product if they released it in the same manner.