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"Who're You Calling Two-Dimensional?" is an episode of the animated series The Real Ghostbusters. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, it first aired on September 24, 1987 as part of the show's second season.1 The episode pulls the team into a hand-drawn cartoon dimension created by a long-lost animator, and is a tribute to the classic Disney and Fleischer cartoons of the 1930s and 1940s.
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While Egon examines Slimer's layers through the Spectral Differentializer, popcorn that Slimer has eaten overheats and floods the lab. Janine hands the team a new case from Walt Fleischman Studios. The Ghostbusters are excited to take it, since many of them grew up on the studio's classic cartoons. A studio representative reports strange noises coming from Walt Fleischman's private studio, where the cartoonist vanished decades earlier.
As the team investigates, Egon picks up a paranormal surge. A mysterious door appears and pulls them all in, transporting them to a dimension that runs on cartoon physics. There they meet Ricky Roach and Conqueror Duck, and discover a factory where the villainous Winchester Wolf has been holding Walt Fleischman captive, forcing him to suffer the same slapstick abuse Walt once inflicted on his own cartoon creations.
A rescue attempt drops the Ghostbusters through a trap door into a barren desert. Ray summons his childhood hero, Dopey Dog, who explains what has happened. Walt's mind created a dimension where all his characters were real; he photographed them and became famous, then created more. One of them, Winchester Wolf, grew too powerful and pulled Walt into the cartoon world. With Dopey Dog's help, the Ghostbusters use cartoon logic to free their teammates and march to the edge of the world, recruiting other cartoon heroes along the way. They rescue Walt and escape. Dopey Dog and the others tear up the edge of the film itself, which breaks the contract that gave the dimension its existence, and the characters and their world vanish.
Back home, a grateful Walt sends Ray a package. It turns out to be a giant Dopey Dog doll, to the rest of the team's dismay.
The regular voice cast includes Lorenzo Music as Peter Venkman, Maurice LaMarche as Egon Spengler, Frank Welker as Ray Stantz and Slimer, Arsenio Hall as Winston Zeddemore, and Laura Summer as Janine Melnitz.1 Guest voices include Nancy Kulp and Don Messick.1
The episode carries production number 76012 and was recorded on October 1, 1986.2 In an episode introduction recorded for The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection DVD set, Straczynski confirmed the story was a tribute to the old Disney and Fleischer cartoons that he loved.1
The names are built around real animation history. Walt Fleischman and Fleischman Studio combine the names of Walt Disney and the brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, whose studio produced Betty Boop and Popeye shorts.3 In a closing gag, Ray's gift is labeled "Thanx Max" rather than "Walt," another nod to Max Fleischer. Walt Fleischman is voiced by Don Messick, a veteran voice actor best known for Scooby-Doo and for Dr. Benton Quest in the original Jonny Quest. Messick died in 1997.
This episode shares its central idea, a ghost or being manifesting through a cartoon character, with the later Real Ghostbusters episode Stay Tooned. In the broadcast order, it follows Rollerghoster and precedes Dairy Farm. A full episode listing is in the Real Ghostbusters Episode Guide.
Eatock, James and Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 9. CPT Holdings, Inc. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report, "Who're You Calling Two-Dimensional?" (1986). ↩
Eatock, James and Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 9. CPT Holdings, Inc. ↩
