Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex · Library of Congress. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
FILM NOTES
Ghostbusters II arrived in the summer of 1989, five years after Columbia Pictures turned a low concept about parapsychology consultants in New York into one of the defining comedies of the decade. The sequel reunited Ivan Reitman with the original cast and writers Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, betting that audiences still wanted more of Venkman, Stantz, Spengler, and Zeddemore. It did not match the cultural lightning of the first film, but it remains a fixture of franchise history, notable for its slime-soaked set pieces and its place as the last theatrical outing for the classic team before decades of stalled sequels and eventual reboots.
This piece carries the No Ghost Logo, the barred emblem that stands as shorthand for the entire franchise, alongside Mooglie and Mowgli. As a logo or trailer element, it belongs to the identity-building material studios produced to sell a picture before audiences ever reached the story itself, the kind of promotional artifact collectors seek precisely because it existed outside the narrative, built to be instantly recognizable on a marquee or a television spot.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Ghostbusters II (1989).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with rounded rectangular shape, no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the lower edge beside the picture area, appearing as two parallel wavy lines consistent with a dual bilateral or stereo variable-area format.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears with a dark, dense negative image; the overall tonal cast reads as neutral to very slightly cool, with no obvious red shift or fading.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or prominent scratches are visible; the image area appears clean.
Picture
Negative image; the three frames run consecutively as a single continuous shot and depict animated cartoon figures consistent with the animated sequences known to appear in the film on record.
Era check
A dual variable-area optical track without visible Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is consistent with a 1989 theatrical release print predating the widespread adoption of digital soundtrack formats.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063297
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
