Ghostbusters (later called Filmation's Ghostbusters) is a 1986 American animated television series created by Filmation and distributed by Tribune Entertainment, serving as the sequel to Filmation's 1975 live-action television show The Ghost Busters.^[1]

It is not to be confused with Columbia Pictures' 1984 film Ghostbusters or that film's subsequent animated television show The Real Ghostbusters, which premiered five days later.^[2] When making their film, Columbia Pictures needed to obtain rights to use the name from Filmation.

The success of Columbia's (unrelated) film spurred Filmation to resurrect their own property, producing an animated series based on the characters from the earlier TV show.^[3] This animated series ran from September 8 to December 5, 1986 in daytime syndication, and produced 65 episodes. The series is technically called simply Ghostbusters, but home video releases used the name Filmation's Ghostbusters to avoid confusion. In the U.S., reruns of the show previously aired on CBN Cable; The Family Channel, Qubo's Qubo Night Owl block from 2010 to 2013;^[4][5][6] and most recently on the Retro Television Network until 2015.^[7][8]

In the 1980s, ABC aired the series in Australia.

Jake Kong Jr. and Eddie Spenser Jr. are the sons of the original Ghost Busters from the live-action comedy series of the same name; Tracy the Gorilla had worked with their fathers.

Their headquarters, termed Ghost Command, is located in a haunted mansion nestled between a number of tall skyscrapers (which resemble the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City). They are supported by a number of secondary characters including Ansabone, a talking skull phone; Skelevision, a talking skeleton television; Belfry, a pink talking bat; and Ghost Buggy Jr., their talking car. They occasionally enlist the aid of Futura, a time-traveling Ghostbuster from the future, and Jessica Wray, a local TV news reporter.

Together, they have dedicated themselves to ridding the world of the evil ghost wizard Prime Evil and his cast of henchmen. Prime Evil's headquarters, termed the Hauntquarters (which resembles the British Houses of Parliament complete with a Big Ben-esque clock tower), is located in The Fifth Dimension. In a typical episode, Prime Evil uses his magical powers to open up a wormhole to enable one or more of his henchmen to complete a particular scheme that serves to help him take over the world.

Famous guest-star ghosts and monsters that appeared on the show include Count Dracula and the Headless Horseman (who also appeared in an episode of The Real Ghostbusters written by Jean-Marc Lofficier's wife, Randy Lofficier).

Like almost all 1980s Filmation cartoons, each episode closes with a segment describing a particular lesson that can be learned from the events of the episode. Skelevision (sometimes accompanied by Belfry) is the character most often employed in this role. From time to time, Jake Jr., Eddie Jr. or another protagonist would talk with Skelevision about the lesson.

When Columbia Pictures started producing the film Ghostbusters in 1984, it overlooked the fact that Filmation had already produced a live-action comedy series with that same name in 1975. Columbia agreed to license the name from Filmation for $608,000, plus 1% of the profits (of which there were ostensibly none, thanks to Hollywood accounting). This deal did not include giving Filmation the rights to make an animated series based on the film. After the film became a success, Filmation offered to make an animated series, but Columbia chose instead to give the contract to DiC. Filmation then made their own animated show based on their 1975 live-action sitcom. It was released just a few days ahead of DiC's series. DiC titled their own adaptation of the movie The Real Ghostbusters to distinguish it from the Filmation show.^[9]

The Filmation show and the DiC show aired simultaneously, and this left audiences confused because they had similar titles and concepts. This confusion led to poor toy sales for the Filmation show. In retrospect, producer Lou Scheimer felt that it had been an error to produce a Ghostbusters show in direct competition to the more popular Columbia show.^[10]

Many toys were made by Schaper to go along with the series. The action figures were very good likenesses to their cartoon counterparts and included a small comic with each figure which was a shortened version of the first five episodes of the show. The series of figures included Jake, Eddie, Tracy, Belfry, Futura, Jessica, Brat-A-Rat, Prime Evil, Haunter, Scared Stiff, Mysteria, Fib Face and Fangster. Jake came with a removable backpack and Dematerializer. Eddie came with a removable backpack and Specter Snare. Tracy came with a removable backpack and Ghost Gummer. Due to their small size, Belfry and Brat-A-Rat were packaged together with a backpack that could be worn by Tracy or Fangster. Prime Evil had a removable cape. There were also several vehicles and play sets that included Ghost Buggy Jr., Futura's Time Hopper, Prime Evil's Bone Troller, the Scare Scooter and the Ghost Command play set. The following were not made into action figures, play sets, and roleplay accessories: Madam Why, Airhead, Flozart, Long John Scarechrome, Sir Trance-A-Lot and Frightmare, Apparatia, the Hauntquarters. The tagline for the series was "So much fun, it's spooky!"^{[citation needed]}

BCI Eclipse LLC (under its Ink & Paint classic animation entertainment label and under license from Entertainment Rights PLC) released the entire series in Region 1 in two-volume sets in 2007. Each episode on BCI Ink & Paint's DVD releases of the 1986 animated series of Filmation's Ghostbusters was uncut, re-mastered and in story continuity order. Each set also features extensive special features including interviews, commentary, image galleries, bonus episodes and more. Unlike many of BCI Ink & Paint's R1 DVD releases of the Filmation in-house library, with the exception of two episodes ("Tracy Come Back", and "Like Father, Like Son"), this DVD release appears to have been sourced from the original NTSC film prints. As of 2009, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations.^[11]

TGG Direct, LLC released a single-disc The Best of Ghostbusters DVD that contains four episodes ("Mummy Dearest", "Shades of Dracula", "The White Whale" and "Like Father, Like Son"). The disc was available at Wal-Mart on a cardboard backing.

Mill Creek Entertainment announced the re-release of the series on DVD.

In Australia, the complete series was released on DVD by Shock Entertainment across three 3-disc volumes on June 1, 2016.^[12][13][14]

The animated series was previously released on VHS by Celebrity Home Entertainment's "Just For Kids" imprint.

• Video Gems (later Little Gems) (September 1987 – 1993)

Note: only the Dematerializer was carried over from the live-action series. All other weapons shown here are specific to this series.

• The Dematerializer: The Ghostbusters' main weapon, it shoots a beam that banishes ghosts to limbo, but does not always work (Prime Evil, for example, is too powerful to be affected, and while it works on Fangster, a werewolf, and Scared Stiff, a robot, it does not work on vampires (like Count Dracula) or on a "voodoo monster" named Voodon (seen in "The Bind That Ties")). It tends to get broken, preventing the Ghostbusters from achieving easy victory.
• The Ghost Gummer: Shoots a gob of a sticky pink substance to immobilize enemies.
• The Spectre Snare: Shoots a coiled rope to trap a ghost.
• The Bubble Blaster: Fires off a stream of soaplike bubbles that combine to form one large bubble to entrap a ghost.
• The Dematerializer Net: An energized net that is stretched across the Ghost Buggy that causes ghosts to be banished to limbo as soon as they touch it.
• The Ghost Packs: The standard equipment packs Jake and Eddie carry with their Ghostbusters logo on it. They hold a number of devices within them and also act as jet packs when needed. Tracy carries a larger version, which includes the portable Transformation Chamber itself. The Ghost Packs replace the single "satchel" from the live-action series.
• The Transformation Chamber: A skeletal elevator normally located at Ghostbusters HQ, which Jake and Eddie use to change into their uniforms and equip themselves with their Ghost Packs. After a cry of "Let's go, Ghostbusters!", the elevator rises up into some kind of ghostly dimension where they are stripped down to their underwear and prepared for battle. Their 'transformation sequence' is a series of acrobatic movements along a kind of assembly line, with trapezes, a slide, and bouncing off an old mattress to land into Ghost Buggy Jr. In the majority of the episodes, viewers see part or all of this process.
• The Ghost Post: A weapon owned by the original Ghostbusters. Its functions are unknown, as it was just about to be used.
• The Fright Freezer: A weapon mounted to the side of Ghost Buggy Jr. that can freeze ghosts instantly.
• The Micro Dematerializer: All the abilities of the regular-sized Dematerializer packed into a flashlight-sized "phaser"-type weapon.
• The Ecto-Strobe: A device that, when flashed intermittently, could detect recent ghost and supernatural activity. It could also be used to temporarily stun or blind ghosts. This often made cases a bit too easy.
• The Ghost Gobbler: A handheld portable 'phaser'-like weapon that would fire a containment field or force field and trap a ghost inside the energy beam; with a rotation of the device the ghost could be shrunk down to a much smaller size and effectively captured or dealt with. Jake describes it is an 'Ecto-Plasmic holographic laser perimeter', while Eddie called it the Ghost Gobbler. Debuted in the episode "Going Ape" alongside the Ecto-Strobe.

Ghostbusters was no exception of Filmation's budget-trimming methods, using among others, an extensive sequence where they got their equipment and the Ghost Buggy. In the episode "The Girl Who Cried Vampire", Filmation reused the model sheets and character designs of Drac and Bella La Ghostly from the Groovie Goolies as Victor and Vampra. Drac's clumsy bat transformation sequence, banging against the floor and ceiling, changing clumsily from vampire to bat was reused in this episode and in several others. In the episode "The Way You Are", Super Spenser makes a reference to He-Man from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe when he punches the door.

First Comics published a comic-book miniseries in 1987 based on the show. Originally intended as a six-issue series, only four issues were published.^[15] The unpublished issues (along with reprints of the First Comics series) were published in a six-issue set in Germany by Bastei Verlag in 1988.^[16] In the UK, numerous issues were reprinted in a hardcover annual called Filmation's Ghostbusters Annual 1987 by World Color Press.^[17]