Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Meet the Marshmallow Man

[ Stay Puff sings "Ohh Happy Days!!" ]
Written by Kal-El

Who is the most cutest out of the Ghostbusters characters in the Movie? Although Slimmer was just mainly disgusting and slimey with goey drippings, but I have to say it was the Stay Puff Marshmallow man, will for one he was kinda big, i mean he nearly demolished the whole of NY City.

He was a character for both Movie and also the animated series The Real Ghostbusters. He was the cartoon mascot of the fictitious Stay Puft Corporation which produced marshmallows. He was a parody of the real-life Pillsbury Doughboy ('Poppin' Fresh') and slightly resembles Bibendum, the Michelin tire man, as well.

In the film, an ancient Sumerian god called Gozer arrives atop an apartment building on Central Park West in New York City, where it tells the Ghostbusters that the next thing they think of will be the form Gozer will assume to destroy their world. Despite their efforts to clear their minds, Ray Stanz imagines the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. As he explains, Mr. Stay Puft "just popped in there" as "something that could never possibly destroy us." Moments later a giant (112 feet 6 inches [34.3 meters] tall) Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is seen walking towards the apartment building. The Ghostbusters shoot at Stay Puft with their proton packs, setting him on fire, but not stopping his advance.

[ "Bad Stay Puff"' ]

The Ghostbusters eventually stop Stay Puft when Egon suggests that the Ghostbusters cross their proton pack streams as they fire at Gozer's portal—although Egon himself had warned them early in the film that crossing the proton streams "would be bad," he does assure them that there is a very slim chance in this case that they could survive. The plan succeeds in causing "total protonic reversal", destroying the gate.

The explosion generated by the event incinerates the Stay Puft man, raining molten marshmallow down onto the roof of the skyscraper they are on and the street below.They looked like they were covered with milky melting white chocolates after that.

[ Kenner's Version of Stay Puff ]

Kenner's Marshmallow Man action figureThe Stay Puft Marshmallow Man also appears in the animated series The Real Ghostbusters,"I Had That!". Although It contradicts the events of the original film. This is however explained that Mr. Stay Puft is not Gozer, but rather the result of all the ectoplasmic marshmallow residue left from the battle of Gozer, hence as time goes his aggression dissipates and becomes rather childlike. Although Stay Puft was portrayed originally as a mindless monster in "Cry Uncle" by later episodes he became a heroic figure. On at least two occasions, he helped the Ghostbusters defeat a mantis ghost, in The episode "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis" explains that after imprisoning him in the Ghostbusters' containment unit, the Ghostbusters managed to control Mr. Stay Puft through experimentation and to render him harmless, allowing him later to develop a friendly persona.

It is even revealed that he is a good friend of Slimer and communicates with him now and then. The character was voiced by John Stocker, and later by Frank Welker aka. Megatron.

Over the years, a moderate amount of merchandise has focused around the character and has become an icon for the Ghostbusters film. A number of McDonald's Happy Meal toys have featured the character. To coincide with the film's release, Kenner released an action figure with limited articulation that included rotation in the head and arms in 1986. A Japanese vinyl kit of the character was also released by Tsukuda as was Kenner's plush Marshmallow Man.

In their own version, NECA's 15 inch figure In 2004, company NECA licensed the Ghostbusters franchise to produce a number of modern Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (and other Ghostbusters related) merchandise such as a Bobble-head toy, a resin statue and a 15 inch roto-cast plastic action figure. The NECA version of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man displayed a more menacing and evil version of the character compared to that of Kenner's, which portrayed the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man as a more gentle looking figure.A Happy one for the least. This was probably what he would have looked like as he was destroying New York, rather than Kenner's, which would portray him as the more consumer friendly version that would appear on packages of Stay Puft Marsmallows.

[Stay Puff has a more menacing look, NECA 2004]

So there you go for my pick this week on Classic Articulation, Mr.Stay Puff will forver be on our memories, even on our stomach whenever we see marshmallows sold in Hua Ho's. Stay cool readers.