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Post by Dr. Vincent Belmont on May 7, 2006 9:39:02 GMT -4
Most of us fanfiction writers often at times have our preferred view about how our founding fathers looked... ...did Egon have blonde hair, or brown? ...was Ray a slightly overweight redhead, or was he a brown-haired average guy with a slightly eccentric bent? ...you know the rest. We have our biases, and I gotta say I'm torn. Some of us become so nit-picky about how they look that we sometimes put descriptions vivid enough to put JRR Tolkien to shame to establish what is canon. Is there a middle ground with post-2000 fanfiction? I think there is... ...the simple fact of the matter is that our illustrious heroes are getting on in years. Unless they've beaten the secrets of the longevity potion or the secret of the Philosopher's stone out of Belmont, they aren't as spry as they used to be (with the exception of possibly Winston...after all, he still does the Gencon runs! ). Now, the lines of "movie vs. RGB animated" become blurred. They seem to be growing closer together. I stumbled accross a picture on the net that I wish I could claim that I drew. The model for it was "what Egon Spengler of RGB/EGB would look like now." If you look at it, I would say that it both shows a "Harold Ramis" AND the character design for Real Ghostbusters...would you agree? Kudos to whomever did this piece. I'd say this is indeed what Prof. Spengler looks like now.
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Post by Kingpin on May 7, 2006 13:01:17 GMT -4
There's something naggingly familiar about that picture... like it might've been done by Kat...
My only complaint is his hair, it seems a tad too long for either Spengler. While I agree that the lines might be blurring, there's still the problem of blond vs brown... as the film Spengler had sorta sticky up hair... cartoon Egon had the funnel and pony tail/squigly tail...
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Post by Dr. Vincent Belmont on May 7, 2006 15:36:30 GMT -4
As I remember, EGB's Egon had a normal, everyday ponytail, and not a "rat tail" (that's what they call those things in my neck of the woods...).
The hair would be just that, but unbound. The Rat tail was specifically RGB.
As for his hair color...it would now be going gray, so it wouldn't matter anyways.
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Post by ghostdiva on May 7, 2006 18:19:35 GMT -4
They made him look like Jeff Goldblum!
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Post by Fritz on May 7, 2006 20:22:34 GMT -4
Most of us fanfiction writers often at times have our preferred view about how our founding fathers looked... ...did Egon have blonde hair, or brown? ...was Ray a slightly overweight redhead, or was he a brown-haired average guy with a slightly eccentric bent? ...you know the rest. We have our biases, and I gotta say I'm torn. Some of us become so nit-picky about how they look that we sometimes put descriptions vivid enough to put JRR Tolkien to shame to establish what is canon. Lol...yeah, yeah, we all know who you mean there... It is an interesting picture. I mean, you all know how I depict present day Egon...or even what he looks like in twenty years but I've never told anyone "You MUST describe this character exactly like I do or I won't consider it canon." And Ghostdiva's right...he does kinda look like Jeff Goldblum in that picture...
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Post by SuperStantzio on May 7, 2006 20:37:29 GMT -4
Yes I have to agree with that as well. And for my fics what I write, I stick mostly with the RGB versions of the guys. Since I find it much easier to do than the moive verison.
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Post by Miss Janine on May 8, 2006 4:27:05 GMT -4
I myself have the RGB versions of the guys nore ingrained in my head than the movie ones, since there were only two movies and a lot of animated eps. Plus most fanfic writers use those versions as well. But I wonder- as a blond, I'm not sure Egon would go gray. He'd probably be like what Fritz and EGB envisioned, and go white instead, since I would think that's what blond hair would do. *stares at her own blonde head*
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Post by Kingpin on May 8, 2006 9:55:08 GMT -4
I myself have the RGB versions of the guys nore ingrained in my head than the movie ones, since there were only two movies and a lot of animated eps. Plus most fanfic writers use those versions as well. But I wonder- as a blond, I'm not sure Egon would go gray. He'd probably be like what Fritz and EGB envisioned, and go white instead, since I would think that's what blond hair would do. *stares at her own blonde head* That's the impression I'm given. Brown has the ability to turn blondish in later years (I actually had blond hair when I was really young, but it turned brown). And blond going to white isn't that hard a stretch. As for appearances... it's been RGB for me all the way... I grew up with that appearance and have wanted to stick with it... But still, interesting idea, Vince.
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Post by Dr. Vincent Belmont on May 8, 2006 10:46:18 GMT -4
Well, okay. I kinda figured all here were biased, but lemme ask one more thing... ...out of curiosity, if we're all accepting RGB Egon as the "real" Egon, why are we still depicting him with a pompadour and rat tail? We still accept Extreme Ghostbusters as part of the canon, and in there, Egon lost both....just letting his hair grow out and pulling it into a ponytail, like so: ..and might I also add that his glasses are gone in favor of a pair that echo the 90's (and look just like mine, incidentally). I guess the same goes for Janine. They are the only ones that really went through a style change. We've even gone another step and given Ray a beard...something completely fan-done (I would've preferred a moustache, but alrighty). Why have we reverted Egon and Janine back to their 80's hairdos? ...mid-life crisis? Makeoverus Lotsabucks (dumbest name ever) decide to relive its youthful idiocy? Before I get yelled at...the question is purely one of curiosity. I'm doing artwork, and some of it includes the RGBs. I want to know why we're still depicting these two this way. The question is not meant to upset the zen balance here or usurp Fritz's fan-canon authority.
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Post by ECTO-1 on May 8, 2006 11:25:44 GMT -4
[French Accent] I poo poo on your patheteek timeline! I poo poo on your feeble attempts at canon! I poo poo on zis travesty of a waste of time! [/French Accent] Might I add I didn't get any sleep last night? Take from that what you will.
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Post by Miss Janine on May 8, 2006 12:45:06 GMT -4
Well, okay. I kinda figured all here were biased, but lemme ask one more thing... ...out of curiosity, if we're all accepting RGB Egon as the "real" Egon, why are we still depicting him with a pompadour and rat tail? We still accept Extreme Ghostbusters as part of the canon, and in there, Egon lost both....just letting his hair grow out and pulling it into a ponytail, like so: ..and might I also add that his glasses are gone in favor of a pair that echo the 90's (and look just like mine, incidentally). I guess the same goes for Janine. They are the only ones that really went through a style change. We've even gone another step and given Ray a beard...something completely fan-done (I would've preferred a moustache, but alrighty). Why have we reverted Egon and Janine back to their 80's hairdos? ...mid-life crisis? Makeoverus Lotsabucks (dumbest name ever) decide to relive its youthful idiocy? Before I get yelled at...the question is purely one of curiosity. I'm doing artwork, and some of it includes the RGBs. I want to know why we're still depicting these two this way. The question is not meant to upset the zen balance here or usurp Fritz's fan-canon authority. Part of it I think is the fact that the RGB character designs couldn't be used for EGB, so Egon and Janine HAD to be re-designed. My personal opinion is that the RGB designs are my favorite look for the whole gang, and it seems to me a lot of fans feel the same way. At least we're being realistic and LETTING the gang get older. Many fans, not just of GB but other shows, keep their heroes perpetually young. And I like Ray's beard!
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Post by SuperStantzio on May 8, 2006 13:44:50 GMT -4
Me, too. I also like Ray's beard. But in my stories I write, I have Ray grow his hair slightly longer and he does have mustache too. That's how I do that with Ray and I didn't like his apperance when he was on EGB for those episodes. I stick with the mustache on Ray mostly. ;D
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Post by Fritz on May 8, 2006 17:13:18 GMT -4
Well, okay. I kinda figured all here were biased, but lemme ask one more thing... ...out of curiosity, if we're all accepting RGB Egon as the "real" Egon, why are we still depicting him with a pompadour and rat tail? We still accept Extreme Ghostbusters as part of the canon, and in there, Egon lost both....just letting his hair grow out and pulling it into a ponytail, like so: ..and might I also add that his glasses are gone in favor of a pair that echo the 90's (and look just like mine, incidentally). I guess the same goes for Janine. They are the only ones that really went through a style change. We've even gone another step and given Ray a beard...something completely fan-done (I would've preferred a moustache, but alrighty). Why have we reverted Egon and Janine back to their 80's hairdos? ...mid-life crisis? Makeoverus Lotsabucks (dumbest name ever) decide to relive its youthful idiocy? Before I get yelled at...the question is purely one of curiosity. I'm doing artwork, and some of it includes the RGBs. I want to know why we're still depicting these two this way. The question is not meant to upset the zen balance here or usurp Fritz's fan-canon authority. Part of it I think is the fact that the RGB character designs couldn't be used for EGB, so Egon and Janine HAD to be re-designed. My personal opinion is that the RGB designs are my favorite look for the whole gang, and it seems to me a lot of fans feel the same way. At least we're being realistic and LETTING the gang get older. Many fans, not just of GB but other shows, keep their heroes perpetually young. And I like Ray's beard! Like a lot of people, I didn't like the EGB designs for the original Ghostbusters. I suspect licensing likeness issues (per "Temporary Insanity", where a mannikin of Venkman, in full RGB character design, had his face digitized out) so my intent was to go "How would the RGB designs look if aged, but more naturally than the EGB "we can only sorta look like the RGB designs" designs. I guess, to put it bluntly, in my own mind and writings, the character designs I use "replace' the EGB ones for the most part. First...if you look at Janine, I've decided most of her EGB appearance, especially the hairstyle, still works--changing her hairstyle is something she did every season in the show. Getting her RGB 1 hairstyle back was a decision she made on purpose when she got married, and at some point between 1998 and 2003 changes it again. Egon: In RGB, there was strong implication that his "look" ran very strongly in his family (Zediciah in "Egon's Dragon"; Eli in "If I Were A Witch Man". ). But I did want to acknowledge some aging, thus the white at the back of his hair (and a few extra wrinkles, but I guess they don't show up too well as small as I post most of the pictures) Venkman. Well, okay, Venkman really does look the same. But that's intentional--as vain as he is, he tries to hide just about any sign of aging. Ray: It was in a Christie Renner story where she described an elderly Ray as looking like Santa Claus....I gave him a beard with that in mind. As the youngest of the Ghostbusters, if you shaved off his facial hair, he'd probably look the most unchanged from the RGB character design--I envision Ray as growing it expressly to look a little more mature. Winston: Well, heck, I'll admit it--I gave him a mustache back just because Ernie Hudson wore one in the first movie. The white streaks were also part of making him look older without overdoing it (like you say, Ernie Hudson is still appearing at conventions)
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Post by Dr. Vincent Belmont on May 8, 2006 17:27:57 GMT -4
Alrighty. Now that it was explained to me, I guess that does work.
There. Painless.
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Post by Kingpin on May 9, 2006 12:28:41 GMT -4
Well, okay. I kinda figured all here were biased, but lemme ask one more thing... ...out of curiosity, if we're all accepting RGB Egon as the "real" Egon, why are we still depicting him with a pompadour and rat tail? We still accept Extreme Ghostbusters as part of the canon, and in there, Egon lost both....just letting his hair grow out and pulling it into a ponytail, like so: ..and might I also add that his glasses are gone in favor of a pair that echo the 90's (and look just like mine, incidentally). I guess the same goes for Janine. They are the only ones that really went through a style change. We've even gone another step and given Ray a beard...something completely fan-done (I would've preferred a moustache, but alrighty). Popular belief cites the character changes are primarily being motivated by one of (Or a combination of): Licencinc issues from DiC (I've heard ideas that it was licence problems from Sony, but as the show got the green light from Sony, I find it a little hard to believe that Sony would refuse them the use of material that would benefit the show) Snobbery A feeling I got in reading some of the articles/interviews of the time made me think that the show's staff were snobbish toward RGB, and edits to the Wiki article for XGB kinda suggest this as well, as they were apparantly made by Shannon Muir. The return to the 80s designs seems to be two fold... firstly annoyance and how much the cast had been changed and aged... and purists 'sticking it to the man'... and frankly I can't fault them. I'll even admit to writing his red specs back in in the yet-unfinished story, Black Day At The Firehouse... and heck, I'll even agree that at least in the 90s, the RGB appearances are a little weird... but nowadays, well, some fashions are returning to the 1970s. Although, you must keep in mind that even with that being official artwork... Egon never appeared with those interesting streaks of white on the show. Why have we reverted Egon and Janine back to their 80's hairdos? ...mid-life crisis? Makeoverus Lotsabucks (dumbest name ever) decide to relive its youthful idiocy? Preference... nostlagia... more people remember them for their RGB appearances then they ever will for their XGb appearances. And I thought that name was funny, sneaky until you thought about it and a return to form in some ways... that this was still meant to be a cartoon. There were probably far worse ones before Lorenzo left... let's not forget Phil Dendrem. Before I get yelled at...the question is purely one of curiosity. I'm doing artwork, and some of it includes the RGBs. I want to know why we're still depicting these two this way. The question is not meant to upset the zen balance here or usurp Fritz's fan-canon authority. But then, it's always been up to the artist and his interpretation... for instance, I always write in a separate engine maintenance bay into that alleyway... I saw it in a story and liked the concept. And then there's always the capitalisation or non capitalisation of 'f' in 'Firehouse'. As appearances go, I did like XGB Egon and Janine... but the other three were too old... I also liked 'Mommy' Janine's appearance although they should have kept her character like in The Grundle, the last episode JMS wrote before he left... but it had great animation, great acting even if it was Dave Coulier and the episode closest to the old show since the reshuffling and rebranding began.
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