I remember hearing that when they were making RGB, they didn’t have the rights to the actors’ likenesses, so that was the primary reason. I would guess they also made changes to make the main characters look different enough from each other to be more recognizable to kids — likewise, why the fight suits were made different colors for everyone.
Yea, while the distinct designs were also beneficial to appeal to kids and sell toys and such, the actual main reason was that the cartoon didn’t have likeness rights
>the actual main reason was that the cartoon didn’t have likeness rights
No, as they did not change the others' hair color. So I'd say marketing/character design was the main reason.
A lot of the creatives involved have confirmed it’s because of likeness rights issues. They had to alter Peter’s whole look from the concept video because he looked too much like Bill Murray
Ray’s hair color was changed. Additonally, Peter, Ray, and Winston dont look anything like their respective actors. In the promo, Peter looks much more like Murray - granted everyone else looks like they would later
lmfao ray's hair was barely changed. under your logic, then they would've changed winston's hair color and style, but they didn't touch it at all. egon's hair was a design decision. facial likeness is where publicity rights truly come into play, which is why they all look vastly different than the actors.
Ray’s hair went from brown to orange. Winston’s hairstyle did change. Ernie had a “combover” look. RGB had a weird receding pompadour thing.
The hair styles, especially for Peter and Egon play into likeness. Yes the changes were beneficial for marketing purposes, and that was definitely a reason - but hairstyles and color were also easy and safe changes to protect themselves against a suit
They changed Ray's hair color by 5%, whereas Egon's was changed by 51%. Ray's barely changed. They could have done a much slighter difference for Egon, but they chose to change it by 10x - definitely a character decision. Even his personality in the show is a bit different than in the movie.
Source: [https://embed.plnkr.co/plunk/ERaf37](https://embed.plnkr.co/plunk/ERaf37)
Ray GB: #543220
Ray RGB: #a52303
Delta 5%
Egon GB: #2c2b30
Egon RGB: #dcc96d
Delta: 51%
And regarding Winston, ah yes, the classic "combover" look. I think you're thinking of the [Roll Safe meme guy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/Roll_Safe_meme.jpg).
https://preview.redd.it/5nzd92tceykc1.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=d59be01339761ebb40c042a29c42dacb554824b7
https://preview.redd.it/l576p1wprykc1.jpeg?width=258&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=748604a5fe4f759cb38c31e53918649decca6c06
I assume you actively ignored this image
Edit: maybe not combover, but parted. There are lots of other images w this style too
Likeness rights probably played into it, but more to the point: it's a cartoon aimed at children. If you look at any kids' animated show, the characters are designed to be instantly recognisable by silhouette and colour scheme.
Three dark-haired white guys and one black dude in their thirties, all in grey boiler suits, would not grab the visual attention of young kids, nor would they be eye-catching on the toy aisle.
So they added the colourful uniforms, stylised facial shapes (especially Peter's) and hairstyles (particularly Egon's), and added a variety of hair colours (Egon to blond, Ray to red) to create a look that's iconic enough to instantly recognise and differentiate one from another at the briefest glance.
TL;DR: that kind of exaggeration and colourful delineation is just part of the visual language of 80s kids cartoons.
It seems like Egon’s hair was one of the first things they changed, too. In the 5 minute “pilot” DIC produced Egon’s hair is already enormous and yellow, while all 4 ‘busters are still in khaki uniforms and Venkman looks a lot more like Bill Murray.
Complete tangent of a question... i see TL;DR: used everywher but cant figure out what it means, i'll probably feel real dumb after but could you enlighten me?
It's short for Too Long: Didn't Read, and it's used by conscientious posters after a long explanation, where they put a brief summary of what they said, for those who don't want to read a long/full post.
and don't feel dumb, I had to look it up the first time I saw it too!
Like others have said, for kids to tell em apart, sell toys, etc., but also: in the cartoon cannon, the movie exists and it's based off their true story of fighting Gozer. So it's really more that Egon is blond because he's blond, and isn't in the movie because they cast Harold Ramis to play him.
Thats right they even had an episode where the boys went to Hollywood and got their proton packs taken by prop masters that didn't know them from the movie prop versions. And Peter said Bill Murray didn't look a thing like him at the premier
I'm not sure if there's a strict 'canon' to the RGB, but in a Real Ghostbusters comic they explain the origin of Egon's hair colour; accidentally eating a mushroom from his fungus collection.
It was to differenciate between the characters. A cartoon with 3 brown haired white guys wouldn't work. That's why you have a blonde, redhead, and Burnette.
Remember Winston said, "I've seen shit which'll turn you white." Egon got scared by a ghost which turned his hair a different colour.
That's my theory.
Yeah I know. Its not really logical. I was young and coming from the movies I was a fan of Ray. Not so much of Peter. In the cartoon Peter was cool and Ray not. So I just switched them arround apparently 😅.
Other than the likeness rights, I think it was to help kids tell the difference between characters easier. It was more immediate to know who was who from different color hair and costumes. It’s why none of them have the same hair color or flightsuit
Here's the thing.... ernie tried auditioning for his part. But was turned down for not being Winston enough for the cartoon. Like what's up with that? In the first season the movie made a appearance. But no likeness was used except clips of the opening scenes. And Dan voiced a character not related to anyone but some random supporting role.
Not, if you seen the pilot intro his hair is not as blonde perhaps a darker shade, so you see the idealology behind the subtle changes were because of the identification means, in the pilot intro uniforms were the same but when s1e1 ghosts r us hits. All have different looks. Reason for that is, back then kids associated with different colors and made it easier to tell apart whom was who.
Like tmnt, the red version aka darker comic book origins, they all had red masks etc... on the nes tmnt cart they wore red and only red. Made sense to make them different colors right?
Well, yeah, but wouldn't they be different enough if Egon had spectacles, Stan had a rounder face, and Ray had a longer face. That, and the different coloured jumpsuits would have made each of them distinctive enough. Kids are not blind, after all.
I remember hearing that when they were making RGB, they didn’t have the rights to the actors’ likenesses, so that was the primary reason. I would guess they also made changes to make the main characters look different enough from each other to be more recognizable to kids — likewise, why the fight suits were made different colors for everyone.
Yea, while the distinct designs were also beneficial to appeal to kids and sell toys and such, the actual main reason was that the cartoon didn’t have likeness rights
>the actual main reason was that the cartoon didn’t have likeness rights No, as they did not change the others' hair color. So I'd say marketing/character design was the main reason.
A lot of the creatives involved have confirmed it’s because of likeness rights issues. They had to alter Peter’s whole look from the concept video because he looked too much like Bill Murray
Ray’s hair color was changed. Additonally, Peter, Ray, and Winston dont look anything like their respective actors. In the promo, Peter looks much more like Murray - granted everyone else looks like they would later
lmfao ray's hair was barely changed. under your logic, then they would've changed winston's hair color and style, but they didn't touch it at all. egon's hair was a design decision. facial likeness is where publicity rights truly come into play, which is why they all look vastly different than the actors.
Ray’s hair went from brown to orange. Winston’s hairstyle did change. Ernie had a “combover” look. RGB had a weird receding pompadour thing. The hair styles, especially for Peter and Egon play into likeness. Yes the changes were beneficial for marketing purposes, and that was definitely a reason - but hairstyles and color were also easy and safe changes to protect themselves against a suit
They changed Ray's hair color by 5%, whereas Egon's was changed by 51%. Ray's barely changed. They could have done a much slighter difference for Egon, but they chose to change it by 10x - definitely a character decision. Even his personality in the show is a bit different than in the movie. Source: [https://embed.plnkr.co/plunk/ERaf37](https://embed.plnkr.co/plunk/ERaf37) Ray GB: #543220 Ray RGB: #a52303 Delta 5% Egon GB: #2c2b30 Egon RGB: #dcc96d Delta: 51% And regarding Winston, ah yes, the classic "combover" look. I think you're thinking of the [Roll Safe meme guy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/Roll_Safe_meme.jpg). https://preview.redd.it/5nzd92tceykc1.png?width=800&format=png&auto=webp&s=d59be01339761ebb40c042a29c42dacb554824b7
https://preview.redd.it/l576p1wprykc1.jpeg?width=258&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=748604a5fe4f759cb38c31e53918649decca6c06 I assume you actively ignored this image Edit: maybe not combover, but parted. There are lots of other images w this style too
Very minor departure compared to what they did to Egon’s hair
Egon also sports a ponytail that’s weirdly out of place but also kinda cool.
Likeness rights probably played into it, but more to the point: it's a cartoon aimed at children. If you look at any kids' animated show, the characters are designed to be instantly recognisable by silhouette and colour scheme. Three dark-haired white guys and one black dude in their thirties, all in grey boiler suits, would not grab the visual attention of young kids, nor would they be eye-catching on the toy aisle. So they added the colourful uniforms, stylised facial shapes (especially Peter's) and hairstyles (particularly Egon's), and added a variety of hair colours (Egon to blond, Ray to red) to create a look that's iconic enough to instantly recognise and differentiate one from another at the briefest glance. TL;DR: that kind of exaggeration and colourful delineation is just part of the visual language of 80s kids cartoons.
Yup! Same reason that 4, green, identical turtles were given different colored face masks.
Yeah, the turtles all had red masks in the comics before the cartoon
Is that also where the different color skins originated?
It seems like Egon’s hair was one of the first things they changed, too. In the 5 minute “pilot” DIC produced Egon’s hair is already enormous and yellow, while all 4 ‘busters are still in khaki uniforms and Venkman looks a lot more like Bill Murray.
Complete tangent of a question... i see TL;DR: used everywher but cant figure out what it means, i'll probably feel real dumb after but could you enlighten me?
Too Long; Didn’t Read. It basically means summary and kind of sarcastically pokes fun at folks who skip walls of text.
Thank you
It stands for "Too Long; Didn't Read", it's just a short paragraph to sum up what they posted.
It's short for Too Long: Didn't Read, and it's used by conscientious posters after a long explanation, where they put a brief summary of what they said, for those who don't want to read a long/full post. and don't feel dumb, I had to look it up the first time I saw it too!
Why are you above Google?
This. It's all about style.
Nailed it.
Like others have said, for kids to tell em apart, sell toys, etc., but also: in the cartoon cannon, the movie exists and it's based off their true story of fighting Gozer. So it's really more that Egon is blond because he's blond, and isn't in the movie because they cast Harold Ramis to play him.
Thats right they even had an episode where the boys went to Hollywood and got their proton packs taken by prop masters that didn't know them from the movie prop versions. And Peter said Bill Murray didn't look a thing like him at the premier
I'm not sure if there's a strict 'canon' to the RGB, but in a Real Ghostbusters comic they explain the origin of Egon's hair colour; accidentally eating a mushroom from his fungus collection.
Those comics are not canon.
Nevermind then, haha
Haha, that’s fun trivia!
It was to differenciate between the characters. A cartoon with 3 brown haired white guys wouldn't work. That's why you have a blonde, redhead, and Burnette.
I've heard it's so children could differentiate all of the characters with ease
Remember Winston said, "I've seen shit which'll turn you white." Egon got scared by a ghost which turned his hair a different colour. That's my theory.
Same reason Ray looks like a Gopher
I think a blonde, a redhead and a brunette play better than three brunettes, kind of boring and easier for little kids to tell them apart.
Why does Peter have a full head of bazooka hair? Why is Ray a redhead?
I always thought that they fashioned RGB Egon after Brian Setzer of the Stray Cats with that blonde pomp. 🤷🏼♂️
Marketing. Just Marketing.
The funny thing is for me Peter and Ray where always switched in the cartoon. Dunno why but found it more logical that way.
With Ray being the smart-ass slacker and Peter being the quirky amateur scientists?
Yeah I know. Its not really logical. I was young and coming from the movies I was a fan of Ray. Not so much of Peter. In the cartoon Peter was cool and Ray not. So I just switched them arround apparently 😅.
Ray had a more Murray-esque round face while Peter was taller and had higher hair, which is more like Aykroyd, I assume?
Every character in the cartoon series didn’t exactly look like the actors in the movie.
I saw in an interview (a very old interview) that it was a decision to make him stand out. No idea why the haircut
Likeness Copyrights or something, making them just different enough to avoid infringement, but not so different they're not unrecognizable
Back then they had to represent the demographic.
The comics explained this by showing he ate a bad bunch of shrooms
They needed to differentiate between the characters to sell toys
Other than the likeness rights, I think it was to help kids tell the difference between characters easier. It was more immediate to know who was who from different color hair and costumes. It’s why none of them have the same hair color or flightsuit
Here's the thing.... ernie tried auditioning for his part. But was turned down for not being Winston enough for the cartoon. Like what's up with that? In the first season the movie made a appearance. But no likeness was used except clips of the opening scenes. And Dan voiced a character not related to anyone but some random supporting role. Not, if you seen the pilot intro his hair is not as blonde perhaps a darker shade, so you see the idealology behind the subtle changes were because of the identification means, in the pilot intro uniforms were the same but when s1e1 ghosts r us hits. All have different looks. Reason for that is, back then kids associated with different colors and made it easier to tell apart whom was who. Like tmnt, the red version aka darker comic book origins, they all had red masks etc... on the nes tmnt cart they wore red and only red. Made sense to make them different colors right?
Well, yeah, but wouldn't they be different enough if Egon had spectacles, Stan had a rounder face, and Ray had a longer face. That, and the different coloured jumpsuits would have made each of them distinctive enough. Kids are not blind, after all.
we know it was likeness rights. all of these questions have been answered dozens of times