The world of Ghostbusters continues to expand, but now with an animated movie, and this new project can be the spiritual successor to one of the best animated shows of the 1980s. Back in 1984, the world met a group of parapsychologists investigating and eliminating ghosts in New York City in the supernatural comedy Ghostbusters. Directed by Ivan Reitman and created by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, Ghostbusters followed the title team, formed by Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Aykroyd), Spengler (Ramis), and Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), on their ghost-hunting adventures.

The huge success of Ghostbusters made way for a franchise with a direct sequel, a failed reboot in 2016, and a second reboot with two movies, along with two animated TV shows, video games, and lots of merch. While a third movie in the current reboot timeline is in development, the Ghostbusters franchise is now also preparing another movie, but this one will be animated. This will be the first Ghostbusters animated movie, as they have only had animated TV shows, and as such, it can be the perfect spiritual successor to the successful 1986 show.

Netflix's Animated Ghostbusters Movie Can Be The Spiritual Successor To The Real Ghostbusters

Same Universe, Same Format

In December 2024, Deadline reported that Sony Animation and Netflix are now working on a Ghostbusters animated movie, with Kris Pearn attached to direct. At the time of writing, there are no plot details about the movie, so it’s unknown exactly where it will be set in the current Ghostbusters timeline. As mentioned above, the Ghostbusters TV series were both animated, but the one that was a big hit was The Real Ghostbusters, which aired on ABC from 1986 to 1991.

The Real Ghostbusters is set between the first two movies, and follows the original team, along with their secretary Janine (Annie Potts), their ant Louis (Rick Moranis), and their mascot Slimer, on new adventures around New York City, facing and capturing a variety of ghosts, specters, and other rogue entities. The Real Ghostbusters was a big success, and to this day, the first season holds a perfect 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. Due to the show being aimed at a much younger audience than the movies, it was sillier and less dark than the movie, which appealed to viewers of all ages.

The Netflix animated movie can be a spiritual successor to The Real Ghostbusters, especially if it goes for a sillier, more lighthearted approach than the most recent movies.

The Real Ghostbusters got a sequel series in 1997 titled Extreme Ghostbusters, which aired for one season comprised of 40 episodes. Extreme Ghostbusters saw Spengler recruiting four students to form a new Ghostbusters team, but the show didn’t match the success of The Real Ghostbusters. Now, the Netflix animated movie can be a spiritual successor to The Real Ghostbusters, especially if it goes for a sillier, more lighthearted approach than the most recent movies, which amped up the darkness a bit compared to the first movies, and thus do what Extreme Ghostbusters failed to do: focus on a new team.

The Real Ghostbusters' Popularity Puts More Pressure On Netflix's Animated Movie To Be Great

Netflix’s Animated Ghostbusters Movie Needs To Meet Some High Standards

The biggest challenge the Netflix Ghostbusters animated movie is facing is the popularity of The Real Ghostbusters. The show set the bar high for future animated Ghostbusters projects, and not even its direct sequel series could match it. The Netflix movie has to be great to match or exceed the success and popularity of The Real Ghostbusters, and it’s already a couple of steps ahead on the right path. First off, Pearn directed Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and The Willoughbys, both critically acclaimed animated movies, so the Ghostbusters animated movie is in great hands.

Secondly, it’s likely the Netflix movie will follow the current Ghostbusters team, so it won’t face the same challenge as Extreme Ghostbusters as the audience already knows the new team . The Netflix Ghostbusters animated movie can expand the stories and dynamics of the new team as well as their dynamic with the surviving of the original team, bringing together two generations of Ghostbusters through which it can also have a couple of references to The Real Ghostbusters.

Source: Deadline.