Ray Stantz

Raymond "Ray" Stantz, PhD is a fictional character from the Ghostbusters franchise. He appears in the films Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters II (1989), Casper (1995, as a cameo), the animated television series The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters, and the video games Beeline's Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters: The Video Game. He was portrayed by Dan Aykroyd in both live action films, and voiced by Frank Welker in the animated series. He is a member of the Ghostbusters and one of the three doctors of parapsychology, along with Dr. Peter Venkman and Dr. Egon Spengler. Dan Aykroyd has a cameo appearance in Ghostbusters (2016) as "Cabbie".

Character

Ray is an expert on paranormal history and metallurgy. He is characterized by his almost childlike enthusiasm towards his work, and his forthright acceptance of paranormal activity. As a result, Peter once during the movie referred to him as "the heart of the Ghostbusters". Ray has extensive knowledge of the Bible (to the point of even quoting a specific book and chapter -- "I remember Revelation 7:12"—about the end of the world, though the passage he quotes is actually Revelation 6:12), but is an agnostic, commenting when asked if he believes in God, "Never met Him". As revealed in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Ray attended a seminary at some stage in his life. He is known for his wordy and overly technical explanations of scientific and paranormal phenomena. Ray, along with Egon, is responsible for pioneering the Ghostbusters' theories and designing and building the equipment used for catching and containing ghosts. Ray Stantz appeared in the 1995 film Casper.^[1]

Appearances

Film

Ghostbusters (1984)

Before being kicked out of University, Ray was devoting a lot of his workday to interviewing people who had some sort of encounter with the paranormal. After the entanglement with the library ghost, Ray was more motivated to continue on with that type of work. When the guys were let go by Dean Yager, he was initially crushed, primarily concerned with his academic integrity, financial stability, etc. Ray had briefly worked in the private sector beforehand, and knew it wasn't conductive to his line of work, as they expected notable results.

After talking with Peter Venkman and Egon Spengler, they all decided to try hunting ghosts full-time. Ray even mortgaged the house he was born in to provide the starting capital to get the company started and buy the firehouse. In addition, he rummaged through used car lots to find a suitable vehicle and repair it to make the Ecto-1.

Dr. Stantz also has the distinction of being the first Ghostbuster to meet Slimer. Unlike his other continuity, however Ray dropped his cigarette in fear. He then went proton blasting, after his call for assistance was unheard by Venkman.

Ray accidentally chose the form of Gozer's appearance because of his childhood times at Camp Waconda. Despite his initial attempt at negotiations, he wound up fighting Gozer with his Proton Pack. After reversing the particle flow to force Gozer back into his realm, Ray was concerned about the other guys' welfare after the explosion, and then celebrated with them all afterward. Although this was short-lived by the, "ungrateful, yuppie larvae!" representing the city, county and state of New York.

Ghostbusters II (1989)

In the second film, following the decline of the Ghostbusters' business, he and Winston were entertainers for parties. When he was not doing that, he was running his bookstore, Ray's Occult Books. However, when Dana Barrett comes to Egon and later Ray, it becomes clear that something supernatural was once again happening underneath New York City.

Ray and Egon experiment with the Psychomagnotheric Slime they find and eventually discover a way to not only positively charge the slime, but utilize it to animate the Statue of Liberty in their final assault on Vigo the Carpathian. Ray also briefly becomes the host for Vigo himself, but a liberal dousing of the positively charged mood slime quickly cures him of that.

Casper (1995)

Dan Aykroyd has a cameo appearance as Stantz in Casper. When Carrigan and Dibs are attempting to evict the Ghostly Trio from the McFadden Manor, before contacting Dr. James Harvey, they contact Ray Stantz of the Ghostbusters. After he fails to capture the Ghostly Trio, he runs out of the manor in fear, and says to Carrigan and Dibs:

Who you gonna call? Someone else.

Television

The Real Ghostbusters

Ray has an extended family (which has different nationalities ranging from Swiss to Scottish to Russian), including his Aunt Lois (who appears in the episode, "The Spirit of Aunt Lois"), and Uncle Andrew MacMillan of Dunkeld, Scotland (who is mentioned as being deceased in "Bustman's Holiday").

Ray was born in the Bronx in 1959, according to the episodes Citizen Ghost, and "It's About Time", then later moved to Morrisville, which appears in Look Homeward Ray. The latter episode also reveals that Ray's childhood crush was a brunette named Elaine.

During the show's run he was the closest member of the team to being a pilot, having won a free flying lesson in 1976, as mentioned in You Can't Take It With You.

Ray's surname was misspelled in the series as Stanz, in much the same way as Winston Zeddemore's surname was misspelled Zeddmore.

Ray is the only Ghostbuster to wear the original beige jumpsuit uniform in both the animated series and the films, while the other Ghostbusters wore color coded jumpsuits in the animated series - brown for Venkman, light blue for Winston and gray-blue for Egon (presumably to help differentiate them better).

Extreme Ghostbusters

Ray appears only in the two-part series finale of Extreme Ghostbusters. After the closing down of the Ghostbusters Ray got a job at a major university. After a "minor mishap," followed by a large explosion, he has a job at Perpetual Motors, a used car company.

Video games

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

A likeness of Aykroyd, circa 1991 (the year in which the game takes place) appears in the Ghostbusters: The Video Game, that was released on June 16, 2009. Aykroyd also reprised his role for the game by voicing him.^[2] In the game, Stantz is eager to expand his knowledge in regards to researching the paranormal. More than once he asks the Rookie to collect samples and take readings for later research. Ray is also the most vocally supportive of the Rookie.

It is mentioned that the mortgage for the Ghostbusters Headquarters is in his name. His selection for the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man's form of Gozer's "Destructor Form" was mentioned in a quote "It wasn't me this time, I swear it!" when the Ghostbusters see that the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is once again terrorizing New York. Ray is the most visibly shaken to see the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man again.

Ray is shown to possess skill in operating nautical vessels (i.e.: migrant sponge observation, mentioned earlier) as he's the primary navigator on Marine Ecto-8.

Beeline's Ghostbusters

Stantz appears in Beeline's Ghostbusters game for iOS. The game was released on January 24, 2013.

Lego Dimensions

Stantz appears in Lego Dimensions, with archival audio of Dan Aykroyd being used to represent his character.

References