Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Ghostbusters (franchise). (Discuss)

This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional references or sources for verification. Tagged since February 2009. The notability of this article's subject is in question. If notability cannot be established, it may be listed for deletion or removed. Tagged since February 2009. Its introduction may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines. Tagged since February 2009. It may contain improper references to self-published sources. Tagged since February 2009.

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is a fictional mascot and monster seen in the movie Ghostbusters and the animated series The Real Ghostbusters. He was the cartoon mascot of the fictitious Stay Puft marshmallow corporation.

Stay Puft was inspired by Peter O'Boyle, a security guard at Columbia Pictures whom director Ivan Reitman met filming his previous movie, "Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone." According to Sam Delaney of The Guardian, "Stay Puft's familiar mascot combined elements of real life brand ambassadors Bibendum (aka the Michelin Man) and the Pillsbury Dough Boy"^[1] Jonah Goldberg of the National Review referenced the Marshmallow Man as a popular culture symbol that people assume is harmless, but can be turned to evil in the right circumstances.^{[2][3] [4]}

The costume was created by Bill Bryan using miniatures, optical compositing and Bryan himself in a latex suit.^[5]

[edit] Appearance in Ghostbusters

In the film, the Sumerian god Gozer arrives atop an apartment building on Central Park West in New York City, where it tells the Ghostbusters that the next thing they think of will be the form it will assume to destroy their world. Despite their efforts to clear their minds, Ray imagines something from his childhood: the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. As he explains, Mr. Stay Puft "just popped in there" as "something that could never possibly destroy us." Moments later a giant 100-foot-tall Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is seen walking towards the apartment building. The Ghostbusters shoot at Stay Puft with their proton packs, setting him on fire, but not stopping his advance (in fact, their attack only angers him). The Ghostbusters eventually stop Stay Puft when Egon suggests that the Ghostbusters cross their proton pack streams as they fire at Gozer's portal— although Egon himself had warned them early in the film that crossing the proton streams "would be bad," he does assure them that there is "definitely a very slim chance [they] will survive." The plan succeeds in causing "total protonic reversal", destroying the gate. The explosion generated by the event incinerates the Stay Puft man (thus banishing Gozer), raining molten marshmallow cream down onto the roof of the skyscraper and the street below.

The earliest conception of Mr. Stay Puft had a different head design. It had the appearance of a cartoon-like man with a scary face, but this was scrapped and replaced with the more recognizable marshmallow-shaped head. The person inside the Stay Puft costume during shooting was the costume's creator, Bill Bryan. According to the Ghostbusters DVD special features, the ten-second scene of Stay Puft climbing the building while on fire cost almost $100,000. The first take was ruined when the costume caught fire too quickly and had to be extinguished before Bryan was injured. A new suit had to be constructed, at a cost of around $50,000. Originally, when Mr. Stay Puft is destroyed in the movie, there was a scene in which, in addition to the marshmallow goo, Mr. Stay Puft's hat also falls to the ground. The scene was ultimately cut - the "hat" (a large cloth replica that works much like a parachute) was deemed too unrealistic. Mr. Stay Puft was also featured in several of the Ghostbusters video games including Ghostbusters: The Video Game that was released in June, 2009 and distributed by Atari. In homage to the deleted shot, Stay Puft's hat is seen slowly descending to the street after he is once again defeated.

There are a couple of Stay Puft sightings in the film that foreshadow his role in the finale; early on, Dana's groceries include a bag of Stay Puft marshmallows, and in the scene where the containment grid is shut down, a Stay Puft billboard can be briefly seen on the wall of a neighboring building.

[edit] Other depictions

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man also appears in the animated series The Real Ghostbusters, contradicting the events of the original film. No explanation is offered as to how Mr. Stay Puft, originally the incarnation of Gozer, became an entity in his own right. Although Stay Puft was portrayed originally as a mindless monster in "Cry Uncle", by later episodes he had become a kind-hearted, almost childlike figure. However, an episode explains that Egon took a sample of the marshmallow ectoplasm and made it positively charged, thus creating a friendly version of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man that would assist the Ghostbusters when needed. When questioned by a policeman in the series about the abrupt personality change, Peter stated that he was "all better now". Mr. Stay Puft soon became an ally to the team, helping the Ghostbusters defeat enemies too powerful to fight on their own. The character was voiced by John Stocker, and later by Frank Welker.

In the Ghostbusters game for the Sega Genesis, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man appears as a boss, but is not related to Gozer. Here, he is the spirit of a man who loved to eat Stay Puft brand marshmallows and not only took on the form of the mascot when he died, but also became 100 feet tall as when Gozer took on the form.

[edit] Toys

Kenner's Marshmallow Man action figure

Over the years, a moderate amount of merchandise has focused around the character and has become an icon for the Ghostbusters film. A number of McDonald's Happy Meal toys have featured the character. To coincide with the debut of the animated series The Real Ghostbusters, Kenner released an action figure with limited articulation that included rotation in the head and arms in 1986. A Japanese vinyl kit of the character was also released by Tsukuda as was Kenner's plush Marshmallow Man.

In 2004, company NECA licensed the Ghostbusters franchise to produce a number of modern Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (and other Ghostbusters related) merchandise such as a Bobble-head toy, a resin statue and a 15 inch roto-cast plastic action figure. The NECA version of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man displayed a more menacing and evil version of the character compared to that of Kenner's, which portrayed the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man as a more gentle looking figure. The NECA's figure seems to be based on the original design, or possibly the character when he is on fire, while Kenner's version is based on the final movie and the cartoon version.

The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man action figure also makes an appearance in Ghostbusters: The Video Game as a collectible object in the Sedgwick Hotel level.

[edit] References