Before I started on "Ghosts of War," the second story in the Disney Ghostbusters series, a few major changes occurred - the biggest one being the casting of our "Dr. Venkman." Wendy was a huge inspiration to the first story and her real-life spunk and sass helped make for a better version of the Bill Murray character. The only problem was that the series needed more fan connection. With the exception of J.G., all of us (Christina, Wendy, Diana, and myself) had watched Ghostbusters and were fans in our own right; but we needed a "super fan" in our story - someone who could really consult with me on things and bring some much-needed motivation to turn The Disney Ghostbusters into an ongoing series. Much of the Disney-Dreams.net members loved the first story so much that I won a special award for "Best Writer" (an honor that I'm deeply sadden to have lost when the site went dead in 2011).
I asked for a super fan and I got one in early 2009, as I was brainstorming on where to go next with The Disney Ghostbusters. Enter Kimberly Nicole (then known as Kimberly Balevre) - a true-to-heart Ghostbusters fan who was once a member of the Ghostbusters in Tampa Bay. Kim has carried her own Proton Pack, met Dan Aykroyd himself, played Ghostbusters: The Video Game (which was on its way that Summer of 2009), been featured in parades, and seen the movies way more than I probably have (I've lost count, honestly). Before becoming a part of The Disney Ghostbusters, Kim was usually a sticker for cosplaying as Janine, putting up a spot-on appearance as the Ghostbusters' secretary as she appeared in Ghostbusters II. Plus, her favorite Ghostbuster was Ray Stantz. So why on earth was she chosen to play "Venkman" in The Disney Ghostbusters? The answer: because Kimberly Nicole IS Dr. Venkman!
Kim made her grand debut as "Dr. Kimberly Venkman" in the Junior Ghostbusters mini-series (named after the special group of kids who befriended The Real Ghostbusters) in the Summer of '09, which was also the summer of the debut of Ghostbusters: The Video Game (the mini-series was purposely launched to coincide with that of the game). With Kim taking the mantle of "Dr. Venkman," the feel of the series changed dramatically - no longer was Diana the only Caucasian member of the team (it was perfectly balanced with two Caucasian women and two men of minority). Kim's Venkman differed from Wendy's Venkman by a little, but Kim's wasn't afraid of expressing emotions at times (she shed a tear on a few occasions) and sometimes had a drinking problem (as shown from a few chapters of "Ghosts of War"). There was an alteration in her past as well - whereas Wendy was depicted as being plus-sized with an eating disorder in the original version of "Who Ya Gonna Call?" (the story was revised in 2011 to fit with the casting change between Wendy and Kim), Kim was depicted as a Goth-type of girl in the Christmas mini-story. Kim's Venkman also differed from Wendy's in how they worked for Hoots (the Disney Ghostbusters' take on Hooters) - while Wendy worked as a "Hoots Girl" (an inside reference to Wendy Foster's real-life profession as a Hooters Girl) during her time off as a Ghostbuster, Kim worked as Hoots' "Top Karaoke Singer" (an inside reference to Kimberly Nicole's skills in karaoke) - although both women's versions did sing karaoke.
Kim wasn't the only new addition to the Disney Ghostbusters cast that year. With her came Meagan Forney, who had beaten Jatniel Gonzalez as the youngest friend to be cast in my work at the time (being 17 years old). I had looked to "Junior Ghostbusters" being the story to introduce other new takes on characters originated from the first Ghostbusters, such as a new take on Louis Tully. The lovable awkwardness that Louis was known for in the films reflected with Meagan in my eyes, which granted her the role of "Meagan Tully," her character introduced in the first mini-story of the "Junior Ghostbusters" mini-series. Meagan's version of the character is based a lot on where Louis was in Ghostbusters II - having worked as a Ghostbuster-in-training. The only instance where she shares similarities with her counterpart is in her experience with a Terror Dog by the name of "Allha" (another role that played a larger part in subsequent stories). Meagan's presence in the series provided the much needed comic relief (similar to Louis in the films) in the series, yet she in time became just as complex a character as the others. Her interactions with Kim are the highlights of her role in the series, turning the two into a comedy duo at one point in the "Junior Ghostbusters" series. This chemistry between Kim and Meagan's characters reflected that of real-life when the two ladies connected on Facebook. It was that reason why I brought them into World of Disney as two sisters who had similar interactions (Meagan was, of course, slightly downgraded from her DGB persona in World of Disney).
Other new characters brought into the series included Louise Peck (based on British bodybuilder Louise Rogers) and John Hardemeyer (based on my Facebook friend John K. Baxter - who has done some art for the series). Louise and John's characters were takes on the characters Walter Peck and Jack Hardemeyer, two semi-antagonists from the two Ghostbusters films that had tried (and failed) to put the team out of business. Louise and John's versions had done the same in the Disney Ghostbusters universe, but they accept a "Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em" stance in "Junior Ghostbusters," willingly joining the Ghostbusters. While this was done to set up the possibility of former enemies of the Disney Ghostbusters allying themselves with their new ones, the idea was abandoned to show equivalents of these characters doing something the originals would never do - turning a new leaf.
"Junior Ghostbusters" had a total of 30 mini-stories that bridged the first story and its sequel on the summer of the 25th Anniversary of Ghostbusters. Still being a Disney-influenced mini-series, it featured an even larger collection of characters and settings from then-popular Disney Channel programs like Hannah Montana, Phil of the Future, That's So Raven, The Replacements, Emperor's New School, Wizards of Waverly Place, and Cory in the House - along with the addition of Max Goof (the son of Goofy) and P.J. from A Goofy Movie. Characters from Phineas and Ferb were also featured in the height of the show's still-lasting popularity. Even though "Junior Ghostbusters" introduced dozens of Disney characters posed to be future replacements, only a handful of them went on to be featured in the second installment of the series.
Later that year, in the spirit of the Christmas season, I posted the one and only "Christmas Special" for the series, "Carol of the Ghostbusters." The mini-story was written as a legitimate, Dickens-esque Christmas carol that centered on Kim finding the Christmas spirit in the midst of a freak snowstorm that separates her from her boyfriend, Jonathan Barrett (DGB's male version of the Dana Barrett character that was introduced in "Junior Ghostbusters" and based on cosplayer and Ghostbusters fan Jonathan Carroll). "Carol of the Ghostbusters" was written in a way to be as campy and commercialized as most Christmas specials, but it was a true character piece for Kim, giving readers more insight of her history. The mini-story was also a play on the fact that Kim, being our "Venkman" of the series, had a situation similar to another Bill Murray character in Scrooged. In addition to character development with Kimberly Venkman, the story introduced characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas into the series - Jack Skellington was the narrator, Sally was The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Mayor of HalloweenTown was The Ghost of Christmas Present, and Oogie Boogie made a surprise appearance as The Ghost of Christmas Future (which was meant to be for Dr. Finkelstein). It as well featured other adaptations of Disney takes on A Christmas Carol, including Mickey's Christmas Carol and A Muppet Christmas Carol.
What "Ghosts of War" was to The Disney Ghostbusters series, The Empire Strikes Back was to the Star Wars trilogy. It was pretty obvious how dark this installment was from the gruesome deaths of two Disney heroes featured in the first chapter. "Ghosts of War" was first posted close to a year after "Junior Ghostbusters." During production of the story, Disney-Dreams.net had its shutdown, leaving FanFiction.net the only suitable place for The Disney Ghostbusters (it's currently the ONLY Disney/Ghostbusters crossover on the site). Because of this, I was no longer bound to the censorship of the forum or morals as a Disney fan (to post a clean story) - this is one of the contributions to "Ghosts of War" being a predominantly darker story than previous DGB tales - and it became a "gritty" tale that featured not only more profound violence but alcoholism, harsh language, and even sexual themes.
"Ghosts of War" was the last story that I wrote featuring Alexis Embers and her character as she was killed off in the seventh chapter. From there, the story got much darker than I'd intended - especially with the "J.G. Stantz" character and how he took it. It isn't easy writing the death of a character close to another, because you have to think about the aspects of how it influences the character's psych and attitude for the rest of the story. And since this was supposed to have a "comedy story," I wrote myself into a dark corner and took the story to a Breaking Bad type of storytelling (where comedy intertwines with drama). So I limited J.G.'s scenes in the story to where he was in it less than most of the other Ghostbusters - in fact, Meagan Tully (a secondary character) had more scenes than J.G. Stantz (a primary character)! Thankfully, the story found traction again by focusing on the other Ghostbusters and their journey into the Underworld, bringing in characters like Captain Jack Sparrow and others from Pirates of the Caribbean (there's even an inside joke included with Meagan resembling Elizabeth Swann) and returning characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
By the time I got around to finishing "Ghosts of War," I came to the conscious decision to end the Disney Ghostbusters series with the third and final story, "The Dead End."
TO BE CONCLUDED...
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