The outfits worn by the Ghostbusters in the original 1980s classic are some of the most iconic and instantly recognizable in film history, but as anyone who follows behind the scenes tales about their favorite movies knows very well, perfection is typically the end result of endless iteration.
To that point, Dan Aykroyd has taken to social media today to share the original concept sketches for the Ghostbusters outfits, and they are quite a bit different from what ended up on screen.
The Ghostbusters co-creator captions the concept art, “My original conception for Ghostbusters jumpsuits and packs, illustrated by John Daveikis. Glad we lost the helmet.”
One thing that’s particularly interesting to note is that the jumpsuit colors in the early sketch much more closely resemble the “Real Ghostbusters” outfits than the live action outfits!
Dan Aykroyd of course not only played Ray Stantz in the Ghostbusters movies, but the entire property was pulled from his fascinating brain. Aykroyd wrote the original Ghostbusters script, which centered on a team of intergalactic ghostbusters before director Ivan Reitman and co-writer Harold Ramis came aboard the project and helped shape it into the Ghostbusters we know and love.
Is this Ray Stantz character sketch shared by Dan Aykroyd a glimpse at the earliest, future-set version of Ghostbusters? Or was this generated much later in the pre-production process as the movie took shape? Aykroyd doesn’t explain any further, but either way it’s a fascinating look into the process of creative iteration that resulted in an enduring piece of pop culture magic.
Thousands of Ghostbusters fans around the globe dress up as their favorite characters every year, and it’s hard to imagine that those iconic characters almost looked very, very different!
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