I Got Slimed!

I remember being on set under hot lights, sitting under Slimer as soggy bread, warm mozzarella cheese, slimy cold cuts and K-Y jelly drizzled down on me. I remember thinking (and not for the last time) that the glamorous image of making movies was greatly overstated. 

This summer marks 30 years since the release of Ghostbusters and 25 years since the release of Ghostbusters 2.     

In 1988 I was part of a team brought to ILM (Lucasfilm’s special effects company in Marin) to help create the creatures for Ghostbusters 2.

Creature designer, Tim Lawrence was in charge of bringing together the artists, designers, and puppeteers that made up the creature shop. I supervised the fabrication/costume shop. In my experience, creating and performing puppets for film is usually a team effort.

For Ghostbusters 2 we had a talented team to work with.  One member of our team, sculptor William Forsche, who supervised most of  the life-casting and body casting, kept a video journal of much of the process. Thanks to Bill, I have access to some great behind the scenes footage of the creative process.

Slimer is the only creature that was in both Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2. The producers saw that Slimer had a great appeal to children, and there were plans to do a spinoff, an animated series called The Real Ghostbusters. Slimer went through some design changes from the first film to Ghostbusters 2. Slimer in Ghostbusters 2 was redesigned to be more cartoonish.

Henry Mayo (Ted, Shrek, Jumanji, Dune) was brought on as “visual designer” to work with the creature crew at ILM. Henry is allowing me to use some of his drawings from the film for this blog. 

Here you see some of Henry’s illustrations showing the different expressions that we were aiming for:

In the original Ghostbusters, Slimer was referred to as “Onionhead” in the script. It was usually a puppet that was controlled by an elaborate system of cables.  There was an actor/puppeteer (Mark Wilson) inside.[1]  Slimer in Ghostbusters 2 was an actor in a suit. 

Where the body for original Slimer in Ghostbusters was sculpted and cast as a solid piece, Slimer in Ghostbusters 2 was approached as a fat suit. We constructed tubes out of spandex that were dyed and filled with weighted plastic pellets so that they would bounce and move with the actor. 

Here is a video that shows an early film test with the fat suit:

Videos by William Forsche, with heartfelt thanks!

We covered the fat suit with methylcellulose (slime) for a film test.  After viewing the footage it was decided to give the body a rubbery surface for a more uniform appearance.

There is a rather blurry line between what is called a puppet and what is referred to as an actor in a suit.  If the actor moves independently it is referred to as an actor in a suit.  In Ghostbusters 2, Slimer was played by Robin Shelby.  Most of the action was shot against a blue screen at ILM to be added to the principal photography in post-production.  The creature was shot so that the actor’s legs didn’t show.

When Robin Shelby was cast in the role of Slimer she had to jump in immediately to start rehearsals the next day. Slimer had elaborate mechanics, which were controlled by puppeteers who manipulated the lips, eyes, cheeks and tongue.  The puppeteers worked closely with Robin as they designed the movement of the face. Robin says, “It was amazing, almost every section of Slimer’s face could be moved, which allowed some subtle and wonderful expressions.  I would rehearse with everyone and be in front of a video camera so we all could watch and learn what was working and what wasn’t ”

You can see some of the rehearsal footage where the puppeteers and Robin are working together to create the movement in the following video link:

Videos by William Forsche, with heartfelt thanks!

The process of getting the actor into the costume was an elaborate affair.  We would start by putting Robin in a harness that helped support the body.  Next, the body was pulled on and snapped into place. Then we would smear the actor’s hands and arms with K-Y jelly to allow the glove arms to slide on. Robin would get a bandage applied to her nose to protect her face. Finally 2 or 3 people would support the head and gently guide it into place.   

I asked Robin what the greatest challenge was in playing Slimer. She said, “I think the biggest challenge was being asked to portray a character that was already so loved from the first film, and not putting any additional pressure or stress on myself.  I decided when we started rehearsing that I would focus on the task at hand, and try my best to give what was being asked of me at the time. I had my moments of “Oh, wow…I’m really being asked to help bring Slimer to life… really??  I knew I had a job to do, so I tried to focus on the job and not the enormity of it.”

Creating and performing Slimer was a team effort. I asked Robin what she enjoyed most.  She replied, “I had so much fun playing with the whole team that was involved in making Slimer happen.  They were such talented, amazing group of people that I was given the chance to collaborate with, and we all had to depend on each other to make this character happen.  It was hard work, but we certainly didn’t forget to have a blast while we were there.”

There were some challenging days on set also.  There was the scene where Slimer had to eat a sub sandwich.  When Slimer put the sandwich in his mouth it would rub against Robin’s face. Fortunately for us, Robin was a great sport. Having such a patient and professional actor to work made our job so much easier than it could have been.  We did our best to lighten the costume and head as much as possible, but between the weighted fat rolls and mechanics in the head it was still very hot and heavy.  Robin says “Between the smell of onion and the sweat, I was sure a fun date!!  But, of course, I would do it all over again in a second.”

We were working in Marin at ILM, but the principal photography was done in LA.  Slimer’s scenes were shot against a blue screen and the footage was combined in post production.  The director, Ivan Reitman and actor, Bill Murray came to ILM to check on the progress of the creatures and to work with Robin and the puppeteers to choreograph Slimer’s performance. According to Robin, getting to meet and work with Bill Murray was one of the high points of the experience. She says, “Bill Murray came in to check things out while we were shooting at ILM, and I went from actress working on creating a character to an awestruck young lady meeting an icon.  He couldn’t have been nicer to me, and I’m so grateful I was able to meet and talk to him.”  An interesting side note is that although Slimer is all about eating, the actor in the suit was never able to eat.  We watched Robin become slimmer by the day.

In the next blog post I will show you some of the other creatures in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2 and introduce you to some of the artists who worked on it. Many thanks to Bill Forsche, Henry Mayo, Robin Shelby, and all the crew that worked on creating Slimer, and shared their experiences.

I will leave you with the video of Tim Lawrence getting a big wet one from our pal, Slimer.  See you soon!

Videos by William Forsche, with heartfelt thanks!