Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was inspired by the series' OG animated show and its "weird-as-f**k villains"

It's finally The Real Ghostbuster's fans time in the spotlight, as it turns out the animated show served as inspiration for the upcoming Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.

For most people, their knowledge of Ghostbusters stops and ends at the original films, and maybe some of the newer ones. But, the very first film was actually popular enough to get its own animated show, The Real Ghostsbusters in 1986, and it even managed to run for seven seasons. Imagine that, a show not getting cancelled after the first season! Anyway, in a new interview with Empire Magazine, director of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Gil Kenna, shared that the upcoming film was actually inspired by the animated series, and in particular its "wild, original and weird-as-f**k villains."

For some context, as outlined by Empire, the show was a bit weirder than its live-action counterparts, with episodes that featured werechickens, a boogeyman, and an alternate universe with "Peoplebusters". When talking about the show, Kenan said that the crew "wanted to bring that show’s looseness and fearlessness to this movie. I think it’s going to surprise people just how big this film is." Whether Frozen Empire can live up to something like a werechicken, that remains to be seen, though it isn't the animated show isn't the only place the film has taken inspiration from.

"John Hughes was a big touchstone," co-writer and producer Jason Reitman shared. "That thing of a family in a station wagon, living in a crumbling home, the teenagers kicking back against their parents. [Finn Wolfhard's] Trevor’s 18 now, so he’s like, 'I'm an adult!'" Apparently there'll supposedly be a touch of Wes Anderson, as Reitman explained that they "wanted that Royal Tenenbaums thing of a family living on top of each other… but in the Ghostbusters' Firehouse. We see the Firehouse way more than in any previous Ghostbusters film. What’s it like to sleep there, do laundry there? What’s the attic like?"

Alongside Godzilla x Kong, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire actually had its release date moved up recently, so you'll now be able to check it out in theatres on March 22.