Casper the Friendly Ghost in film

Casper the Friendly Ghost as he appears in Live-Action.

The fictional character, Casper the Friendly Ghost who was featured in Harvey Comics, has appeared in five films since his inception, with three being done in live-action mix with computer animation and two being done completely in computer animation, while only one was released theatrically and the rest were released in either television or straight-to-video. Each film has Casper befriending with a different being, whether human, or in-human.

The first live-action film entitled Casper was released in theaters in 1995 by Universal Studios and produced by Amblin Entertainment, with Brad Silberling as director and Steven Spielberg as executive producer. Unlike previous incarnations of the character, the film decided to give Casper a back-story explaining his tragic death, which also gives him more of an identity. This was also the only time where Casper was on screen as a human being. The film became a commercial success on release, but was met with mixed reviews from critics. Despite the film's success, there were talks in doing a sequel, but Amblin didn't produce one feeling that the general public wouldn't be invested, so in 1996 was the release of the spin-off animated series airing on Fox Kids which followed the events of the 1995 film. In the late 1990s, were the direct-to-video releases of Casper: A Spirited Beginning in 1997 and it's sequel, Casper Meets Wendy in 1998. They were produced by Saban Entertainment and released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Both films were regarded as prequels to the 1995 film, but they completely ignored the story line that was presented the theatrical film and don't appeared to be in the same continuity. In 2000, Casper's Haunted Christmas was released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, and unlike the previous three films, this was completely done in computer animation. In 2006, was the second computer animated film, this time made for television: Casper's Scare School which was produce by Moonscoop and released by Classic Media. The film eventually had its own spin-off series with the same title.

Live-Action films

Casper (1995)

With Steven Spielberg as executive producer of the film, he hired Brad Silberling to directed making it Brad's first feature film as a director. The film stars Christina Ricci and Bill Pullman, with Malachi Pearson voicing in the title role. This film was set in Friendship, Maine and makes extensive use of computer-generated imagery to make the ghosts such as Casper and his uncles the Ghostly Trio come to life and have them interacted with the live actors. This was also the first film to feature a CGI character in a lead role.^[1] The film gave Casper a back-story and is the only time that explains his death. In the film, Casper was a twelve-year-old boy living in Whipstaff Manor with his inventor father J.T. McFadden until he died from pneumonia after playing out in the cold until it was past nightfall. This was also the only film to have Casper on screen in his human form. The film opened at #1 over the Memorial Day weekend, grossing $16,840,385 over its first three days from 2,714 theaters, averaging $6,205 per theater. Over four days it grossed $22,091,975, averaging $8,140 per theater. It stayed at #1 in its second weekend, grossing another $13,409,610, and boosting its 10-day cume to $38,921,225.

Direct-to-Video films

Casper: A Spirited Beginning (1997)

With the success of Casper, Simon Wells co-wrote a screenplay for Casper 2, which he was set to direct, but was scraped when Amblin Entertainment cancelled it believing that a sequel wouldn't interest moviegoers, so in 1996 was the release of The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper airing on FOX Kids, following the events of the film. In 1997, The Harvey Entertainment Company and Saban Entertainment produced the direct-to-video film, Casper: A Spirited Beginning released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The film was directed as a prequel to the 1995 film explaining how Casper became a ghost, but it completely ignored the storyline of 1995 film, with Casper dying on present day, no mention of Whipstaff Manor or his father J.T. McFadden and the Ghostly Trio not being directly related to him. While it being a direct-to-video film, the film has a list of an all star cast, such as Steve Guttenberg, Lori Loughlin, Rodney Dangerfield, Michael McKean, James Earl Jones, and Pauly Shore.

Casper Meets Wendy (1998)

After release of Casper: A Spirited Beginning, in 1998 Saban Entertainment returned once more with its sequel while being the second prequel to the 1995 feature film Casper. The film was entitled, Casper Meets Wendy. With Casper Meets Wendy, director Sean McNamara who also directed Casper: A Spirited Beginning wanted to reintroduced a character who was in the Casper comics and cartoon known as Wendy the Good Little Witch. The role of Wendy was given to Hilary Duff in her first feature when she was 11-years-old. The film won the Children’s Programming - Electronic Visual Effects award with Hilary Duff being nominated for a Young Artist Award.

Casper's Haunted Christmas (2000)

In 2000, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released, Casper's Haunted Christmas. This film was all done in computer animation, as opposed to its live-action predecessors. The film was set in Christmas time with Casper and his uncles; the Ghostly Trio being forced by Kibosh to have Casper purposely scare someone on Christmas Eve or else he and his uncles will be sentence to The Dark for all eternity. The film also features Casper's cousin's Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost and Spooky's girlfriend Poil. Brendan Ryan Barrett who portrayed Casper's best friend, Chris Carson from Casper: A Spirited Beginning got to voice the titular character himself in this film.

Television film

Casper's Scare School (2006)

In 2006, was the released of Casper's Scare School which features Casper being sentenced to a school that will teach him how to scare others. In 2009, the film eventually had a spin-off animated series with the same title.

Cancellation

Casper 2

Simon Wells co wrote a screenplay and was set to direct the sequel for the 1995 film Casper, but Ambiln cancel it feeling that the standard movie goer wouldn't be invested in a sequel, and actress Christina Ricci claim that she wouldn't return. As a result, was the release of the animated spin-off/sequel to the film and the as well as the two direct-to-video prequels that are unrelated to the film.

Future

With Classic Media owning the rights to Casper, there are plans to reboot the character in live-action again, and have him return to the big screen as Steven Spielberg had mention that Casper will not return in the small screen like the last four movies.

Cast and Characters

Reception

Box office performance

Critical and public response

See also

• List of ghost films

References

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