Ghostbusters Director Didn’t Know If Audiences Would Like Stay Puft Man

Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman recalls not knowing whether audiences would like the now-iconic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Released in 1984, the original Ghostbusters film was a hit with both audiences and critics and spawned a multi-billion dollar franchise that is set to continue with the upcoming release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife later this year, which is already garnering positive reactions from critics from early screenings. Several actors from the original film are set to reprise their roles in the upcoming sequel, including Bill Murray as Dr. Peter Venkman, Dan Aykroyd as Dr. Raymond Stantz, Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett, Ernie Hudson as Dr. Winston Zeddmore, and Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz.

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, the innocent-looking mascot for the fictional Stay-Puft Marshmallow Corporation, earned his iconic pop culture status when, during the climax of Ghostbusters, he became a physical manifestation of Gozer the Gozerian, a malevolent god of destruction and the film’s main antagonist (who may also be the villain in the new movie, Afterlife). The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, upon becoming a vessel for Gozer, grows to be at least 100 feet high and leaves a trail of destruction in his wake throughout New York City. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is ultimately destroyed by the Ghostbusters team and showers the city in molten marshmallow chunks.

Although now beloved by fans of the franchise, a new piece from CinemaBlend reveals that director Ivan Reitman was originally unsure if audiences would respond to the giant marshmallow man. An early version of Ghostbusters was shown to preview audiences, a version that didn’t yet have any special effects added, and Reitman recalls that “the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was the thing that scared me the most about what we were doing. I had no idea if the audience would accept something as goofy as that.” What’s more, Reitman says, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in that early cut was essentially a place-holder effect:

“We had a guy in a costume with kind of a styrofoam head. And that very first shot in the movie of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man walking past these Tribeca Buildings and all you could see was the bobbing head . . . . The audience went crazy! It made me feel so good that we were going to get away with it.”

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man proved to be such a hit with audiences that he actually went on to appear in additional pieces of Ghostbusters media. Although a source of destruction in the first film, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man would return as a more friendly being in The Real Ghostbusters, an animated spinoff series that first aired in 1986, which was recently made available for free on YouTube. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man also appeared in Ghostbusters: The Video Game in 2009. Hasbro even recently released miniature Stay Puft (or, Mini Puft) toys that have proven to be both cute and creepy at the same time.

It appears that Stay Puft Marshmallows are now a staple of the Ghostbusters universe as they are set to appear in the next film as well, as shown by the latest trailer for Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The scene features Paul Rudd in a grocery store with Mini-Puft Marshmallows coming to life all around him, emerging from their packages. One even has a blanket of chocolate melted on top of him! It isn’t clear yet what role these adorable little marshmallows will play in the new film, although the Mini Stay Puft Marshmallows do appear to be friendly this time around. Audiences will get to find out when Ghostbusters: Afterlife releases later this fall.

Source: CinemaBlend

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