Peter Venkman
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Peter Venkman |
| Occupation: | Ghostbuster |
| Relationships: | Jim Venkman (father) |
| Fandom: | Real Ghostbusters |
| Other: | Played by Lorenzo Music[1] (1986-1987), Dave Coulier[2] (1988-1991) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Peter Venkman is one of the four main characters from the Western cartoon, Real Ghostbusters.
Canon
Peter Venkman from Real Ghostbusters cartoon is based on Bill Murray's[3] character from the 1984 movie, Ghostbusters. His character in the cartoon, however, differs from that in the movie. In the cartoon, Peter is much younger, being in his 20s, and was redesigned from scratch to avoid any physical resemblance to the actor.[1] In the first two seasons, he was voiced by Lorenzo Music. Starting with Season 3, however, the character was voiced by Dave Coulier, in response to complaints that the character did not sound enough like Bill Murray, who portrayed Peter in the 1984 movie. Around the same time, the format of the show changed. Several of the characters underwent alterations, and Peter was among the most drastic. In addition to the change in voice actors, his personality was updated and softened, to make him less acidic and sarcastic, and more child-friendly, in order to better relate to the show's target audience.
Fandom
Fan Perspective
TDotBabs describes the character at "A Wolf's Foray into Fandom":
Peter's immature, lazy, whiny, and a smart aleck. He's an opportunist and compassionate, but mainly if the situation is something that interests him or aids in getting his way. He complains, he whines, he sulks, he pouts. He craves attention, is unreliable, and a bit of a klutz. He's a nuisance and has a nice healthy record of screwing up or making a mess. All this is balanced out however, by an underlying charm and intelligence. Peter's a smart little thing when he wants to be, and he's downright hilarious most of the time. He's more independent than anyone else on the show, and most likely to strike out by himself and do his own thing. He's the smallest and quite possibly the youngest Ghostbuster, but makes up for it by being scrappy and not backing down or giving up, even if he can't quite keep up with everyone else all the time.[2]
In Fanworks
Peter is often the focal point in fan fiction. As the RGB fandom was primarily focused on smarm and hurt/comfort genres, Peter was heavily victimized in such stories, succumbing to various forms of torture such as injury, amnesia, forced drug use, and abduction. The most popular pairing is the slash pairing of Egon/Peter, though there are stories pairing him with Ray and Winston. Peter is very rarely portrayed as heterosexual, aside from a passing mention in gen fic. Even in hurt/comfort stories of a platonic nature, it is often hinted that Peter is gay.
In the 2010s however, with the Ghostbusters franchise as a whole seeing more of a limelight in the media, newer authors and artists have stepped up in an attempt to portray Peter and the other Real Ghostbusters characters in a more show accurate light. Such a resurgence and emphasis on Peter's portrayal in particular has been further fueled by Gabi Payn, character designer of the Real Ghostbusters characters in 1986[3]. Another chief role in Peter's portrayal and growing popularity has been fan artist Babs Magera, who has emphasized and expanded Peter's spotlight by means of art, fiction, fanzines, vidding, social media, and various roles at Mediawest*Con.
Finally, thanks to social media and sites like Spook Central, model sheets and writer's bibles from the show are more commonplace, causing more fans to rely on them more, and portray the characters with more accuracy. As a result, newer artwork and fan fiction of Peter is more faithful to the show, and Peter himself is far less victimized, outside of typical cartoonish humour.
Notable Fanworks
Fanzines
Fanzines focusing on the character include:
- Venkthology (2014)
Fan Art
Because RGB is a cartoon show, many fan artists follow the TV show's style closely. Here this artist writes: "Something I have been working on for the past few days. Used an RGB animation cel for a template. Decided to give the movie uniforms. The stupid joke was just something I always had in the back of my mind. It's something Venkman would have probably said cause he's a smartass." Artist: judhudson
This artist did a freestyle drawing of the character from memory. They write: "I drew this one summers day whilst sitting in the yard ....I obviously then scanned it into photoshop and kinda ruined it...oh well!" Artist: cheeseus
Peter Venkman with one of the ghosts nicknamed "Slimer". This artist mixed several traditional and digital techniques: "Drew this in pencil, then inked, then scanned, then coloured & edited slightly with a tablet & stylus in Paint. I've put in digital art because the image really owes it all to the digital bits & pieces I did." Artist: lovelyruthie
'DJ V3NK-M@N by Babs - TDotBabs is a newer, prolific fanartist whose work focuses solely on Peter. Having debuted well after the age of Print zines, her work is archived on Deviantart.
2015 Model sheet - head turnaround of Peter by Babs.
1986 Model sheet - original turnaround model sheet of Peter by Gabi Payn.
Archives and Communities
Resources
References
- ^ Western Animation: The Real Ghost Busters(accessed 27 April 2014)
- ^ A Wolf's Foray into Fandom: For the love of.....yeah.(accessed 27 April 2014)
- ^ http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13797657/