Dan Aykroyd Shares Early GHOSTBUSTERS Concept Art Featuring a Very Different Look
The outfits worn by the heroes of Ghostbusters have become some of the most recognizable costumes in movie history. Throw on a utility-covered jumpsuit, strap a proton pack to your back, slap on the No Ghost logo, and pretty much everyone knows exactly what you're going for.
That familiar design wasn't always the plan, though, and Dan Aykroyd has shared a cool piece of Ghostbusters history revealing just how different the team could have looked.
Aykroyd posted an original concept sketch featuring an early design for the Ghostbusters jumpsuits and proton packs. Illustrated by John Daveikis, the artwork includes some significant differences from the gear that ultimately appeared in the 1984 film, including one addition Aykroyd is particularly happy didn't survive.
Aykroyd wrote: “My original conception for Ghostbusters jumpsuits and packs, illustrated by John Daveikis. Glad we lost the helmet.”
Yeah, losing the helmet was probably the right call. The early Ghostbusters costume design has a much more science-fiction-heavy appearance, particularly when compared to the wonderfully practical, blue-collar look the filmmakers eventually embraced.
There's another fun detail in the concept art. The different jumpsuit colors actually look much closer to the costumes later worn by the characters in The Real Ghostbusters animated series than the matching live-action uniforms from the original movie. It's an interesting visual connection, even if it wasn't intentional.
Of course, Aykroyd wasn't simply the guy playing Ray Stantz. The entire Ghostbusters concept originally came pouring out of his wonderfully strange imagination.
Aykroyd wrote the first version of the Ghostbusters screenplay, and his initial idea was considerably more ambitious and sci-fi-driven than the movie audiences eventually saw.
That early story revolved around a team of intergalactic Ghostbusters before director Ivan Reitman and co-writer Harold Ramis joined the project and helped transform the concept into the supernatural comedy classic we know today.
That history makes this particular Ray Stantz concept sketch even more intriguing. Could this artwork date back to Aykroyd's earlier, future-set vision of Ghostbusters? Or was it created further into pre-production, after the movie had already started evolving toward its final form?
Aykroyd doesn't provide any additional context, so it's hard to know exactly where the sketch belongs in the development timeline. Either way, it's an awesome artifact from the creation of a movie whose designs became a permanent part of pop culture.
Decades later, fans around the world still build proton packs and dress as Ray, Peter, Egon, and Winston for conventions, Halloween, screenings, and Ghostbusters events. The final costumes feel so inseparable from these characters that it's strange to imagine them running around New York wearing helmets and considerably different gear.
Thankfully, some ideas get left on the drawing board. Still, somebody absolutely needs to build this early version of the costume now. There has to be at least one Ghostbusters cosplayer willing to bring Aykroyd's original design to life.