Michael Crider
Despite largely starting as a destination for pirated videos in the days before it was acquired by Google, major media companies have been hesitant to use the platform as a distribution point for their properties. Except, it seems, with cartoons: The rights-holders to many classic cartoons post episodes to YouTube, presumably to get the ad revenue.
The latest is The Real Ghostbusters, the 1986 spin-off cartoon starring the characters from the two original Ghostbusters movies. It’s cherished by fans for being a surprisingly engaging and faithful adaptation of the source material. The official Ghostbusters Twitter account said that episodes of The Real Ghostbusters (not to be confused with another, earlier and unrelated series) will be posted to the Ghostbusters YouTube account starting this Saturday, presumably getting a new episode every week. The 90s sequel series Extreme Ghostbusters, which leaned into more science fiction themes, will be similarly posted on Wednesdays.
Get your giant bowl of cereal ready! 🥣 #TheRealGhostbusters are bringing back Saturday morning cartoons. Watch the first episode of the animated series this weekend and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more! https://t.co/QU6KwsSXI3 pic.twitter.com/vjQhbDNEYd
— Ghostbusters (@Ghostbusters) February 3, 2021
This is all to drum up excitement for the upcoming Ghostbusters movie sequel, which is intended to be a return to form after the largely panned 2016 reboot. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is scheduled for release in theaters this fall, with returning stars from the original joining new comedic actors.
The duo of Ghostbusters shows aren’t the only classic cartoons you can load up on YouTube. A surprising amount of rights-holders post older shows there, including He-Man and She-Ra, GI Joe, and Ghostbusters—no, not those Ghostbusters, “The Ghost Busters,” a 1975 cartoon series that predates the movie and takes liberal inspiration from Scooby-Doo.
Source: Nerdist
