Plot
Late in the evening, a worker named Sam finishes a giant cuckoo clock in the Toy Tower building. He tells the night watchman the clock is a European antique that hasn't run in over 100 years, its gears jammed on purpose. Sam gets it working and leaves for the night. Three ghosts then exit a portal in the clock. A demon orders them to find a suitable victim and bring him back. The ghosts possess three small toys.
The next day, the Firehouse is set up for a birthday party for Louis' nephew, Lawrence. Peter has been watching the boy to pay off a $50 debt to Louis, and Lawrence runs him ragged with a scary mask and a remote control truck, even tripping up Winston carrying laundry.
Ray, Slimer, and Louis shop at the Toy Tower for a present. Lawrence is spoiled and already owns every toy in the place, but Louis wants him happy, especially since the boy's parents took a vacation on his birthday. The three possessed toys overhear and rig their $200 price tag into a "3 for 1" deal to lure Louis, who buys them.
At the party, Egon makes balloon animals of various pathogens, including an exotic Amazon-valley fever virus and a bacterium long thought extinct, to a flat reception. Peter performs as "Venko the Clown." Lawrence opens his presents, complaining he already has them all, until the three possessed toys burst from Louis' gift and start eating the food. One transforms into a jet; Lawrence and the toys climb aboard and fly off.
Ecto-1 chases the jet to the Toy Tower. Egon's P.K.E. Meter confirms the toys are haunted. The giant cuckoo clock strikes noon and glows; Peter leaps onto the jet just as it flies into the clock's portal, which closes at 12:01. Egon explains it is a pan-dimensional portal to an unknown dimension, and that blasting the clock would release energy that permanently destroys the portal.
Lawrence and the toys arrive in Toyland. The demon greets Lawrence and sets a toy on Peter, who falls onto a pile of stuffed rabbits, then commandeers a toy fire truck to follow. At a castle, the demon proclaims Toyland is now Lawrence's kingdom. He traps Peter in a candy-cane prison and introduces himself as Lothgar.
Back at the Toy Tower, Ray reasons the portal only opens at a set time. Egon realizes it is when the clock's hands point straight up, at noon and midnight. Winston forces the hands up and the portal opens for Winston, Ray, Egon, Slimer, and Louis. They free Peter (Slimer licks the cage open), and Egon looks Lothgar up in his pocket Tobin's Spirit Guide. Lothgar is a demon trapped in this dimension by his own greed; his only escape is to trick another greedy person into taking his place. Over 100 years earlier, villagers discovered the scheme and sealed the clock he used to lure victims. The Ghostbusters realize Lawrence is the target and race to the castle.
Lothgar fills a room with toys, televisions, and video games and convinces Lawrence to claim it all. They shake hands, Lothgar reverts to his true form, and Lawrence begins to transmogrify. The Ghostbusters break in; Louis tackles Lothgar, who flies for the portal. Using Peter's fire truck, the team heads him off and blocks the portal with their Proton Streams, then raises the truck ladder so Louis can jump clear. With Louis safe, they confine Lothgar and Slimer traps him.
Without an entity anchoring it, Toyland collapses and everyone flees through the portal. Back in the Toy Tower, the Ghostbusters blast the clock to seal the portal for good. Lawrence apologizes for being a jerk and says that when he grows up he wants to be a real Ghostbuster like his Uncle Louis, leaving Peter stunned.
Episode entities
Lothgar
Lothgar is the episode's main antagonist, voiced by Patrick Pinney. He is a demon whose own greed condemned him to a barren pocket dimension he calls Toyland. His powers include flight, illusion-casting (he makes the empty dimension appear as a toy paradise tailored to Lawrence's desires), and other magic. His only means of escape is to trick a suitably greedy person into shaking hands with him, which transfers the curse. Over 100 years ago, European villagers uncovered this scheme and jammed the gears of the enchanted cuckoo clock he used as a lure. The clock eventually reached New York's Toy Tower, where a mechanic named Sam unknowingly restored it and reopened the portal. Egon finds Lothgar's entry in Tobin's Spirit Guide during the episode. Lothgar's ultimate fate is left open: it is never shown whether the ghost trap stayed behind in the collapsing Toyland or was carried back through the portal by the team.
Lothgar's Minions
Three unnamed ghost minions serve Lothgar by possessing toys to ensnare victims. In this episode they inhabit three toys purchased by Louis at Toy Tower; one of them can transform into a large jet capable of carrying passengers through the pan-dimensional portal.
Lawrence Tully
Lawrence Tully is Louis' spoiled eight-year-old nephew, the first and only family member of Louis depicted in the series. Like his uncle he wears over-sized glasses and a bow tie. Lawrence already owns virtually everything for sale at Toy Tower, including a Karate Chameleon action figure, two Brain Buster computer games received at Christmas, a toy airplane, car, tank, boat, and two cameras. His parents left him with Louis on his own birthday to take a vacation. Lawrence is the episode's target: Lothgar selects him specifically because of his greed. Once Lothgar is trapped and his hold on Toyland is broken, Lawrence returns to normal. His final scene, declaring he wants to be a Ghostbuster like Uncle Louis, is played as a comedic punchline at Peter's expense.
Featured items
Two toys mentioned during the Toy Tower shopping scene, the Karate Chameleon (an anthropomorphic karate-master action figure) and the Brain Buster (a computer game built around difficult trivia questions), both make a non-canon cameo on the Toy Tower storefront in Ghostbusters Volume 2, Issue #3 (IDW Publishing).
Notes and trivia
This episode is the first and only appearance of Louis' nephew, Lawrence.
Lothgar's ultimate fate is left open. Because the episode never shows whether the trap stayed behind in Toyland or came back with the team, it is unclear whether Lothgar remains stuck in Toyland or now sits in the Containment Unit.
The episode's title and story play on the operetta Babes in Toyland. Peter's "Venko the Clown" wears a hairstyle similar to the clown character Grimm played by Bill Murray in Quick Change, which had been released about six months before this episode.
Janine does not appear in this episode.
In one scene, the blinking cursor on Egon's P.K.E. Meter floats in the air just above the device.
Ray's Ghostbuster-themed boxer shorts make their third on-screen appearance when Winston is tripped by Lawrence.
Peter demonstrates juggling proficiency during his "Venko the Clown" performance.
Louis Tully has a standout heroic moment, deliberately placing himself in danger by jumping Lothgar to stop him reaching the portal.
Production
The episode was recorded on May 30 and 31, 1990, with both Frank Welker and Dave Coulier recording alone on May 31.2
Episode navigation
By air date, "Busters in Toyland" follows "Very Beast Friends" and precedes "The Magnificent Five". In DVD order it follows "The Slob" and precedes "My Left Fang". It is included on The Real Ghostbusters Box Set Volume 5, Disc 1.
References
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Eatock, James and Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 40. CPT Holdings, Inc.
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Marsha Goodman (1990). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report, "Busters in Toyland" (1990).
