4 min read
Written By: Don Dougherty
Air Date: February 25, 1989
Production Number: 166028A
Season: 1 (Episode 25 by air order; DVD: Vol. 5, Disc 4, episode 12b)
As Peter Venkman reads Slimer the bedtime story of Jack and the Beanstalk, Slimer imagines himself and his friends cast in the tale.
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| Character | Voice Actor |
|---|---|
| Peter Venkman | Dave Coulier |
| Slimer | Frank Welker |
| Slimer's Mother / Janine | Kath Soucie |
| Rafael | Charlie Adler |
| Professor Dweeb / The Giant | Jeff Altman |
| The Giant's Mother / Elizabeth (The Giant's Dog) | June Foray (guest) |
Peter sits down to read Slimer the bedtime story of "Jack and the Beanstalk." As he reads, Slimer interjects suggestions, casting himself and his friends as the characters, giving the classic fairy tale a distinctly Ghostbusters spin.
In Slimer's version, Slimer lives with his mother (played by Janine) in a cottage that is recognizably the Firehouse, outside a village. Janine reveals the household finances are in bad shape and asks Slimer to take Bessie, rendered here as Chilly Cooper's Ice Cream Truck, to the village to sell her. On the road, a character called Rafael offers to trade Bessie for a magic bean. Slimer agrees. Janine is furious when he returns empty-handed.
Slimer adds a drop of water to the bean and a giant beanstalk sprouts, its rungs resembling an escalator. A sign at the top reads "Gold This Way." Slimer climbs alone and lands in a giant water dish, coming face to face with an enormous dog named Elizabeth. He flees toward a nearby castle, squeezing in through the front door's mail slot. Inside he finds the Giant, played by Professor Dweeb, being scolded by his mother. When the grandfather clock strikes, Dweeb hurries to a locked room where he counts gold he has swindled from the villagers below, selling them magic beans in exchange for their riches.
While Dweeb gorges on food in the kitchen, Slimer hides in a fruit bowl and spots the key to the gold room hanging on Dweeb's necklace. Slimer steals both the key and Dweeb's sandwich. He opens the gold room but finds the bag too heavy to carry, so he pours Dweeb's magic beans and rides the bag down the resulting beanstalk flow. Dweeb and Elizabeth give chase down the beanstalk, but Slimer finds a button at the base that sends them rocketing back up into the clouds and into their own castle. Dweeb's mother grounds him for the trouble.
Back in the real world, Peter declares they all lived happily ever after and looks over to find Slimer cowering. Peter assures him there is no such thing as giants, then peers out the window to see a giant Professor Dweeb, who cheerfully tries to sell Peter and Slimer magic beans.
Slimer serves as the story's protagonist, standing in for Jack. His quick thinking and impulsive deal-making drive the plot, and his ability to navigate the giant's castle by hiding and improvising reflects his established personality across the Slimer! series.
Professor Norman Dweeb, the recurring antagonist of the Slimer! cartoon series, is cast as the Giant in Slimer's fantasy. He is voiced by Jeff Altman throughout the series. Within the imagined story, Dweeb operates a scam selling villagers magic beans for gold, a conceit that mirrors his usual scheming nature. His mother serves as his authority figure, and Elizabeth, his loyal giant dog, acts as the castle's guard. For more on Professor Dweeb as a character across the series, see the Slimer! series pages.
Rafael is a one-off character appearing only within Slimer's imagined version of the story. He plays the trader who offers Slimer magic beans in exchange for Bessie, setting the fantasy plot in motion.
Voiced by guest performer June Foray, the Giant's Mother appears briefly but wields authority over the Giant (Dweeb), scolding and eventually grounding him at the episode's resolution.
Elizabeth is the Giant's enormous dog, also voiced by June Foray. She guards the castle and pursues Slimer through the kitchen and back down the beanstalk.
Bessie: In Slimer's imagination, Chilly Cooper's Ice Cream Truck takes the role of the cow Bessie that Jack (Slimer) must sell at market.
The Firehouse / Slimer's Cottage: Slimer's cottage in the fairy-tale version of events is recognizably the Ghostbusters' Firehouse.
The Giant's Castle: The Giant's (Dweeb's) castle in the clouds holds the locked room where he stores the gold swindled from the villagers.
