Summary
- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire pays homage to older films in the franchise and other horror movies through Easter eggs and callbacks.
- The sequel confirms the events of Ghostbusters II and uses real commercials from the 1989 movie in a news broadcast.
- Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire introduces new characters but is also packed with callbacks to earlier movies and The Real Ghostbusters.
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
While Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has plenty of its own surprises, the sequel has a slew of Easter eggs and callbacks to other horror movies and earlier entries in the franchise. The Ghostbusters series has a long, storied history. In 1984, Ghostbusters became a massive blockbuster hit upon release. The original movie’s box office success resulted in an animated TV spinoff, The Real Ghostbusters, and a 1989 sequel, Ghostbusters II. The franchise then went quiet until 2016, when Ghostbusters: Answer The Call revived the series. This divisive reboot didn’t spawn any sequels, resulting in another brief hiatus for the franchise.
In 2021, Ghostbusters: Afterlife brought the series back to a new generation. The Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s ending, the movie has offered callbacks to all its franchise predecessors and assorted other classics.
What is the best Ghostbusters movie?
Ghostbusters is one of the most popular supernatural franchises of all time, and it’s still going strong 40 years after the release of the original. Ghostbusters came back with an all-female reboot in 2016, and since then, there have been two sequels to the original movies. Though they have all been successful at the box office, they vary in quality. For me, the best Ghostbusters movie will always be the original. The cast was amazing and the story was new, funny, and exciting.
15 Ghostbusters II’s Lady Liberty Sequence
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire addresses the events of the 1989 sequel
Early on in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the sequel confirms that the events of 1989’s Ghostbusters II took place in this movie’s timeline. A news broadcast references the chaos that the team was associated with in 1989, proving that the sequel’s storyline did happen in this sequel’s version of events.
The Ghostbusters franchise timeline was complicated when 2016's Ghostbusters reboot retconned the first two movies, only for Ghostbusters: Afterlife to undo this and make the original movie canon again. With this off-hand reference, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire proves that Ghostbusters II is also canon while simultaneously explaining the city’s mixed attitudes toward the team.
It also uses real commercials for Ghostbusters merchandise from the time, taking an even more realistic approach to expanding the timeline of the franchise and showing how beloved the Ghostbusters might have been at one time.
The news broadcast that features the events of the previous movie doesn't just use footage from the movie to remind the audience of what happened though. It also uses real commercials for Ghostbusters merchandise from the time, taking an even more realistic approach to expanding the timeline of the franchise and showing how beloved the Ghostbusters might have been at one time.
14 The Stay-Puft Mini-Pufts Return in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s miniature Stay-Put Marshmallow men are back
The adorable Stay-Puft Marshmallow Mini-Pufts of Ghostbusters: Afterlife return in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. These miniature supernatural beings are first seen rough-housing in the basement of Podcast and Ray’s antiques shop when Phoebe pays them a visit. They appear multiple times throughout the movie though as they become connected to the villain and attempt to do his bidding.
The credit scene also shows that they survive, so to speak, for a new adventure as they steal a truck at a rest stop.
The Mini-Pufts played a pivotal part in Ghostbusters: Afterlife as they were one of Gary Grooberson’s first introductions to the supernatural world when he encountered them in a supermarket. This particular Easter egg is technically a callback to a callback, since the Mini-Pufts themselves are a reference to the original movie’s infamous Stay-Puft Marshmallow man. This mascot was the form that Gozer took while fighting the Ghostbusters in 1984.
13 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s Heroes Use The Real Ghostbusters’ Proton Packs
The team have upgraded their ghostbusting hardware
The Ghostbusters franchise isn't just in live-action movies. There are also comic book appearances and animated series. While the live-action movies are usually what most of the Easter eggs nod to in the newest movies, that's not the case for the ghost traps in the latest legacy sequel.
Fans of The Real Ghostbusters may notice a difference in the ghost traps carried by Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s new generation of heroes. Unlike those used in the original movie, these ghost traps are attached to the proton packs that the Ghostbusters wear on their backs. In 1984’s Ghostbusters, the team carried these traps around on their belts. However, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire adopted a costume alteration seen in The Real Ghostbusters in a neat nod to the TV spinoff’s version of the team. Notably, this is not the only time that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire borrowed from The Real Ghostbusters.
10 Best Gadgets From The Ghostbusters Franchise
The Ghostbusters have used a wide array of gadgets over their appearances in films, TV shows, and comics, with a few classics standing out.
12 Janine’s Ghostbusting References The Real Ghostbusters
The ing star suited up before in the episode “Janine Melnitz, Ghostbuster”
Janine Melnitz was always a reliable for the Ghostbusters, but she never donned their signature jumpsuits in a live-action movie until the events of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. She suits up before the big battle at the end of the movie alongside the Spengler family and the previous generation of Ghostbusters. Janine suiting up is a twist that does have some basis in the franchise.
In The Real Ghostbusters season 2, episode 35, “Janine Melnitz, Ghostbuster,” Janine temporarily suited up as a Ghostbuster to save the team from the monster of the week. As such, Janine finally playing this role in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was both an homage to this outing and a chance for the character to fulfill her potential in live-action, too, even if she doesn't get the chance to wield a proton pack or a ghost trap for very long.
11 Garraka’s Prison Resembles Hellraiser’s Lament Configuration
The Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire villain is housed in a brass artifact
Early in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Kumail Nanjiani’s Nadeem brings a small brass artifact covered in cryptic runes to Podcast and Ray. Nadeem is a hustler, just trying to make some extra cash in several avenues to himself. He opts to sell some of his grandmother's belongings, not knowing their significance, in order to make a quick buck off of Ray. Little does he know what the brass orb really is.
Secretly containing a monstrous entity, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire's Garraka Orb looks a lot like the Hellraiser franchise’s puzzle box, the Lament Configuration. The ancient artifact’s resemblance makes thematic sense for Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. Later in the story, the villainous Garraka promises the impressionable ghost Melody a hellish bargain. Garraka says Melody will access the afterlife if she helps the entity escape, which is a lot like the temptation of earthly delights offered by the Hellraiser franchise’s lethal puzzle box.
10 Dana’s Secret Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Cameo
Peter Venkman’s love interest is subtly mentioned in one scene
Although Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire doesn’t feature Sigourney Weaver’s Ghostbusters heroine, Dana, her character isn’t completely written out of the franchise’s reality. As noted above, 2016’s Ghostbusters reboot retconning the entire franchise’s story made it tricky to tell what was and was not canon. There, Weaver had appeared in a completely different role as a nod to the franchise's roots.
It's not as easy of an Easter egg for fans to spot, but eagle-eyed ones won't miss it.
However, Dana briefly appears in a Ghostbusters: Afterlife credits cameo and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire features a poster advertising Dana's concert outside the New York City Public Library. It's not as easy of an Easter egg for fans to spot, but eagle-eyed ones won't miss it. It’s a subtle, fun way of confirming that Venkman’s longtime love interest is still around and thriving, even if she never appears onscreen in the sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
9 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire References Ivan Reitman’s Other Horror Comedy
The late Ghostbusters director made Cannibal Girls back in 1973
The late, great Ivan Reitman directed Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II before ing the franchise down to his son, Ghostbusters: Afterlife helmer Jason Reitman. Ivan Reiman ed away in 2022 and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is dedicated “To Ivan,” in its moving ending. However, shortly after returning Ghostbusters villain Walter Peck dresses down the new team, there is a more irreverent nod to Reitman.
Gary has an off-hand line in which he proposes a viewing of 1973’s cult curio Cannibal Girls, a horror comedy mostly notable for its status as an early outing by one Ivan Reitman. The movie follows a couple who plan a romantic getaway, but the bed and breakfast they travel to is actually run by three women who have a taste for human flesh. Gary's line is a throwaway gag, but a welcome nod for Reitman completists.
8 Nadeem Borrows Louis Tully’s Singular Style
Kumail Nanjiani’s character wears the same bizarre get-up as Rick Moranis’s Ghostbusters hero
Although Janine returned in both Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Louis Tully is less likely to make an onscreen appearance in the series even if the movies continue. Actor Rick Moranis quit acting to focus on raising his children after the death of his wife and, as such, the star didn’t appear in either of the reboots. However, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t get an Easter egg.
In one scene, Nanjiani’s Nadeem is tested for possession by Venkman after the team learns he is the one who brought the mysterious orb to Ray. He wears a bizarre contraption on his head that looks like a colander with wires coming out of it, just like Louis in Ghostbusters. Nadeem even calls it a "pasta pot" when questioning why Venkman is testing him and wanting to know if he ed.
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7 Melody and Phoebe’s Relationship Is Borrowed From Goosebumps
The 2015 horror-comedy also featured a friendly ghost girl
Although Emily Alyn Lind’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire role was kept secret for a long time, the movie’s release revealed that she plays Phoebe’s ghostly friend Melody. Melody died in a tenement fire many years before the movie takes place. She and Phoebe meet when Phoebe goes to the park to play chess, and their interactions throughout the movie subtly indicate that Melody could be a love interest for Phoebe instead of just a friendly ghost.
Phoebe's subplot references 2015’s Goosebumps, an earlier horror-comedy that also featured a ghost girl befriending its protagonist. Phoebe’s story is sadder than Goosebumps as the earlier movie turned the hero’s love interest into a real person, allowing her to finally live. In contrast, a regretful Melody sadly vanishes alongside all the other ghosts in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s surprisingly poignant ending, assuring Phoebe she will see her again one day.
6 The New York Public Library’s Lion
The original movie’s iconic landmark comes to life in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Throughout Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the heroes are warned of the villainous Garraka’s power over other ghosts. One of these includes Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s Possessor, a ghost that can bring inanimate objects to life. The Posessor is seen demonstrating that talent with a vacuum, a proton pack, and a paper airplane throughout the movie.
At about halfway into the movie, however, the Possessor brings the lion statue outside the New York Public Library to life, scaring the Ghostbusters senseless in the exact same spot where their team was originally established 40 years earlier. This nod is subtle, but the scene’s choice of location is further proof of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’s endless reverence for its source material.
The library itself is a major point of interest in the movie as the characters go there for research into the villain of Frozen Empire. The lion also isn't the only Easter egg found there, reminding the audience of the movie's roots again.
