BEHIND THE SCENES
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Here you will see pictures of the crew making the film, concept drawings of some of the scenes and characters, storyboards, and much more - all to give you an insight as to how the film was made.

Production designer John DeCuir examines a foam core mockup of the firehall -- an existing structure to which he would be adding the enclosed office area at the rear as well as other modifications and refinements. Such mockups were invariably useful in establishing a three-dimensional feel for the sets -- before costly construction or renovation was initiated -- and often proved useful to Ivan Reitman for blocking action and determining camera angles.

The arms were worn as glove appliances by three puppeteers who positioned themselves beneath the chair or otherwise out of camera range. For a close-up as the chair pivots about prior to sliding into the kitchen, both camera and chair -- with arms removed for easier access by the puppeteers -- were mounted on a manually operated rotating platform. The shot, which showed the room whirling behind Dana, was ultimately cut in favor of an overhead view.

A ghostly sketch.

Sigourney Weaver meets her cinematic alter ego during a visit to Entertainment Effects Group.

A portion of Central Park West and the adjacent park was constructed in miniture. Cables operating the marshmallow man's facial expressions ran down through a slit in the elevated set to a trolley underneath -- manned by four puppeteers.  Cars were either radio-controlled or pulled on wires, and the footage was shot at three times normal speed to enhance the Stay-Puft man's apparent sense of mass.

Joe Day applies "ectoslime" to Bill Murray.  In reality, the gooey substance was derived from methylcellulose ether -- a powdered thickening agent used in pharmaceuticals and food products.

Bill Byant in the Stay-Puft suit, as stagehands prepare for a bluescreen
traveling matte shot of the Stay-Puft marshmallow man's grand entrance.