Profiles in History to sell Venkman jumps and Terrordog
Profiles In History’s next Hollywood auction features Bill Murray’s screen-seen jumpsuit and one of the stop-motion maquette Terrordogs used to create the rooftop scene. And they’re really cheap! (Just kidding - No they’re not!)
414. Original khaki “Ghostbuster” jumpsuit from Ghostbusters. (Columbia, 1984) Original khaki ripstop fabric jumpsuit with zippered pockets and “Ghostbuster” logo patch on right shoulder. Marked “TBS” on the inside with “Warner Bros.” barcode label below. This jumpsuit was discovered at Warner Bros. with the included “VENKMAN” (played by Bill Murray) name patch detached and in one of the pockets. Comes with Warner Bros. certificate of authenticity. $5,000 - $7,000
415. Screen-used Terror dog Stop-motion puppet from Ghostbusters. (Columbia, 1984) This is the Terror Dog animation puppet used as Sigourney Weaver’s alter ego in the hit Academy nominated comedy Ghostbusters. The figure is constructed of foam latex and measures 20 in. long and stands 10 in. high. It was designed, sculpted and stop-motion animated by Randall William Cook, who went on to win three Oscars® for his animation supervision of the characters in the Lord of the Rings series. Once the Terror Dog shots were completed, this puppet was stripped from its armature, then touched up, encased and given to visual effects wizard Richard Edlund by the Boss Film Creature Shop. Accompanied with a signed letter of authenticity by Richard Edlund. $12,000 - $15,000
Big thanks to Kristopher for the heads up!
November 17th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Discovered by Warner Bros? I don’t understand, how did Warner “discover” the jump suit and what authority do they have auctioning it off?
Ah, maybe it was left on the Burbank sound stage, which was on the Warner lot?
Don’t mind me, I find these things fascinating.
November 17th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Sony bought the old MGM studio lot off of Warners - it’s possible the new Sony lot continued to use whatever inventory system Warner’s was using, but the Warner Bros certificate of authenticity is a lot odd.
Bear in mind, Profiles in History are TERRIBLE at details a lot of the time. (as evidenced by their use of the full-sized terror dog hall puppet photo, instead of a shot from the rooftop.)
November 17th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Alternately, Columbia may have sold the first jumpsuits off - productions sell off costumes all the time - and they ended up in Warners possession. If that’s the case, it’s lucky they didn’t re-use it for something (though, by the state of the patching, maybe they did.)
November 18th, 2008 at 3:09 am
The suit’s been a bit of a hot topic over at Proptopia, however I don’t believe the listing actually says screen-used.
An element of the debate is that it’s probably production-used, rather than screen used.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:09 am
So strange places just have this stuff laying around…
November 18th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I’m surprised the dog is priced that much more than the suit. I’d much rather have the suit.
November 19th, 2008 at 4:00 am
I can’t believe someone tore the name tag off! That is blasphemy!!
November 19th, 2008 at 4:06 am
I think the terror dog is priced more, ’cause A) the people who would buy something like that are probably more wide spread (only a geek would buy a GB jumpsuit and wear it! And anybody who would buy it and not wear it would be wasting their $, a lot of people would visit and see it and not recognize it…) and B) you have to have quite a bit of space in your abode to be able to properly care for something such as the terror dog prop, and if you have enough $ to afford that kind of space, you can more likely afford to buy the terror dog prop for whatever price they ask…
November 19th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
The flightsuit is very likely an original production piece; however, there is nothing to indicate actual use onscreen, let alone use by Murray specifically (save the nametag from the pocket, which was not attached to this suit).
Given the nature of the listing, I urge caution from interested parties.