Casper: A Spirited Beginning

Casper: A Spirited Beginning
Home video release poster
Directed bySean McNamara
Written byJymn Magon
Thomas Hart
Story byThomas McCluskey
Rob Kerchner
Based on
Casper the Friendly Ghost
by Seymour Reit
Joe Oriolo
Produced byMike Elliott
StarringSteve Guttenberg
Lori Loughlin
Rodney Dangerfield
Michael McKean
Brendon Ryan Barrett
Jeremy Foley
Bill Farmer
Jim Ward
Jess Harnell
James Earl Jones
Pauly Shore
CinematographyChristian Sebaldt
Edited byJohn Walts
John Gilbert
Music byUdi Harpaz
Jeremy Sweet
Inon Zur
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release date
  • September 9, 1997 (1997-09-09) (United States)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$10 million[2]

Casper: A Spirited Beginning is a 1997 American direct-to-video fantasy comedy film based on the Harvey Comics cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost. It serves as a prequel, though breaks continuity with the 1995 Universal/Amblin film Casper. The film stars Steve Guttenberg, Lori Loughlin, Rodney Dangerfield, Michael McKean, James Earl Jones and Pauly Shore, with supporting roles by Richard Moll, Sherman Hemsley, Brian Doyle-Murray, Edie McClurg and Ben Stein. The plot explores additional details surrounding the titular character's origins. 20th Century Fox had previously acquired film rights to the character from Universal. The film was produced by The Harvey Entertainment Company and Saban Entertainment and released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on September 9, 1997, and was panned by critics.


Plot

In a ghost train bound for Ghost Central, Casper is unaware of where he is or that he is a ghost. He is kicked off in the city of Deedstown and realizes his own nature after unintentionally scaring a bunch of the town's citizens. Meanwhile, Chris Carson, a lonely boy obsessed with the supernatural, has a strained relationship with his work-obsessed father Tim, who plans to demolish the historical Applegate Mansion to build a new mini-mall. A group of protestors, led by Chris's teacher Sheila Fistergraff, oppose the demolition, and the mansion is inhabited by the Ghostly Trio, consisting of Stretch, Fatso, and Stinkie. The Trio terrorize both the demolition crew and the protestors, cutting the demonstration short. Chris witnesses the commotion and wants to join the Trio, but they reject him because he is human.

At Ghost Central, where new spirits are trained in the art of haunting, the ghoul Kibosh is furious to discover Casper's absence and orders his spineless assistant Snivel to retrieve him. Back in Deedstown, the press confirms that Tim and Mayor Johnny Hunt will proceed with the demolition despite the setback, with the mayor threatening to dismiss Tim if he fails. Chris encounters and befriends Casper, who is surprised that a human is unafraid of him. Chris insists on teaching Casper to be a real ghost and introduces him to the Trio. The Trio, delighted that Casper has not been educated by Kibosh, decide to train him themselves, hoping to prove their worth and end Kibosh's pursuit. Snivel overhears this and reports the plan to Kibosh, enraging him. Casper masters invisibility, but fails at every other lesson. His desire to be friendly rather than frightening leads the Trio to expel him.

After Tim misses an open house at Chris's school, he promises to spend more time with him. Chris continues teaching Casper, who successfully uses his powers on the bully Brock and gets him into trouble with the principal, after which Casper begins helping people around town. When Tim again fails to appear at a parent-teacher conference, Chris and Casper prepare dinner for him. Snivel witnesses Casper acting in service to a human and informs Kibosh, who decides to retrieve Casper himself. The Trio discover Casper's good deeds and abduct him to save their reputation, which ruins Chris' opportunity to introduce Casper to Tim. Tim dismisses Chris and leaves to see the mayor. Feeling betrayed by Casper, Chris runs off, but is captured and locked inside the mansion by Brock and his gang, unaware that a professional bomber hired by Tim has planted an explosive.

The next morning, Kibosh arrives in Deedstown, captures the Trio, and sends Snivel after Casper. Tim learns that Chris ran away and meets Casper, and they both set out to find him. Casper races to the mansion just as it is about to explode, while Tim, riding with Fistergraff, arrives in time to extract Chris as Casper swallows the bomb, which detonates harmlessly inside him. Kibosh is impressed by Casper's technique, which Casper claims was taught to him by the Trio, and Kibosh allows the Trio to stay and haunt. The Trio, in turn, secure permission for Casper to stay with them by claiming to be his uncles after Kibosh stresses the importance of family, and Kibosh departs peacefully. Chris and Tim reconcile, a classmate turns on the bullies and apologizes to Chris, and the Trio hang Brock's gang from a tree by their underwear. Casper proclaims himself Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Cast

Live-action cast

Voice cast

Production

While Universal Pictures planned their own sequel to the 1995 film Casper for a tentative 1999 release, Harvey Entertainment, which owned the rights to the IP, shopped the property around looking for other studios interested in producing projects based on the character.[3] After the merchandising portion of Universal's rights to Casper the Friendly Ghost expired in April 1996, Universal retained certain rights such as the in-development theatrical sequel and the animated television series The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper while Harvey itself managed to secure the rights to produce direct-to-video productions off its characters and signed a production deal with Saban Entertainment.[4] Harvey eventually set up production of a direct-to-video prequel film with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.[3] After finishing work on 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain, director Sean McNamara approached producer Mike Elliott about the directing job and after showing Elliott 3 Ninjas, McNamara was hired.[3] The film was produced on a $10 million budget.[2]

Critical reception

Based on 5 reviews on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 0% of critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 2.2/10.[5]

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album, containing songs from the film, was released on CD and cassette by EMI-Capitol on October 24, 1997.

Track listing
No.TitleArtist(s)Length
1."Casper, the Friendly Ghost" (opening theme)KC and the Sunshine Band and Kool & the Gang featuring James "J.T." Taylor3:30
2."Love Sensation"9113:36
3."Delicious"Shampoo2:59
4."Mansize Rooster"Supergrass2:34
5."Best Friend"C.T.F.G.2:57
6."I'm Not Alone"Ellen ten Damme2:38
7."Don't Worry, Be Happy"Bobby McFerrin3:54
8."I Wanna Be with You"Backstreet Boys4:05
9."Spooky Madness"Big Bad Voodoo Daddy3:00
10."Kandy Pop"Bis2:46
11."No One Lives Forever"Oingo Boingo4:14
12."Big Bomb Bomb"Whitey Don3:54
13."You're in Trouble"C.T.F.G.2:46

Score

The film's score was composed and conducted by Udi Harpaz. The score includes the 1980 John Williams recording of Alfred Newman's 20th Century Fox fanfare, which was used in Star Wars films including The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."20th Century Fox Fanfare" (composed by Alfred Newman; conducted by John Williams)0:23
2."Casper (Main Title)"2:36
3."Casper Scares Deedstown"1:11
4."Stop the Demolition"1:45
5."Brock vs. Chris"1:00
6."Trio in Action"2:36
7."Snivel's Training Station"2:22
8."Balloon Explodes on My Head"0:55
9."Sad Casper"1:14
10."Casper's Ghost Lesson"1:16
11."Trio Meets Casper"2:12
12."My Office Is on Fire!"1:34
13."More Trio Antics"1:09
14."Casper's Flying Lesson"0:58
15."Great Kid, Crummy Dad"1:57
16."Sheila's Surprise Visit"1:48
17."Dad Is Mad at Chris"1:39
18."Chris Is Leaving Home"3:01
19."Dad Meets Casper"2:14
20."Sheila and Dad to the Rescue"3:30
21."Stop the Bomb"2:56
22."The Old Mansion Survives"2:11
23."Father and Son"2:03
24."Finale"1:47

Home media

Casper: A Spirited Beginning was released on VHS in 1997 and DVD in 2002, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. It was re-released on DVD in 2005, by Classic Media and Sony Wonder, and has been re-released in 2021, by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The original VHS release included the US version of the music video for 911's "Love Sensation" as a special feature, though it has been omitted from the subsequent DVD releases.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Petrikin, Chris (February 18, 1998). "Fox renamed that toon". Variety. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  2. 1 2 Mallory, Michael. "Programming power house". Variety. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Scapperotti, Dan (September 1997). "Ghost in the Machine". Cinefantastique. Fourth Castle Micromedia. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  4. ↑ "HARVEY IN CONTROL". Variety. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Casper: A Spirited Beginning". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
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