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Casper the Friendly Ghost - The ghost of a
little boy who didn't want to scare anybody as seen on the animated cartoons
CASPER THE FRIENDLY GHOST/SYN/1953, THE NEW CASPER CARTOON SHOW/ABC/1963-67;
CASPER AND THE ANGELS/NBC/1979, with Caper paired with a hairy ghost called
Harry Scary and two police women; and THE SPOOKTACULAR NEW ADVENTURES OF
CASPER/FOX/1996-98.
Casper first appeared in Paramounts' Famous Studios 'Noveltoon' series The
Friendly Ghost (1945) directed by Isadore Sparber, written by Seymour Reit
and illustrated by Joe Oriolo. The sequel There's Good Boos Tonight aired
in theaters in 1948.
In September 1949, St. John's publishing issued the first Casper comic book
Casper the Friendly Ghost. It was this comic that first gave our
"friendly ghost" the name of Casper. Harvey Comics later purchased the rights to
all the Casper products from Paramount Studios in the 1950s.
The plot in most Casper stories followed the ghost of a little boy and
his quest to make friends with various people or animals, but first he must
convince them that he is not out to scare them. By the end of each cartoon,
Casper wins new friends by being friendly or helpful in some way.
Over the years other ghostly characters such as Lu, a female ghost who made
her first appearance in "To Boo or Not to Boo";
Spooky
the Tuff Little Ghost,
Casper's buddy;
The Ghostly Trio (Stretch, Fatso & Stinkie) who enjoyed
scaring people; and
Nightmare, the ghost of a friendly female horse costarred
with Casper in his many theatrical and TV cartoons.
Casper even had a human friend named
Wendy who first appeared in "Casper the
Friendly Ghost" #20, May 1954 (one month after the first appearance of Nightmare
the horse). Wendy lived with her witch aunts, Thelma, Velma, and Zelma in an
enchanted forest.
In 1995, Casper appeared in his first full-length live-action feature film
Casper: The Movie produced by Universal. In the film, Dr, James Harvey (Bill
Pullman), self-styled "ghost therapist" and his 12-year-old daughter Kathleen
"Kat" Harvey" (Christina Ricci) travel to Friendship, Maine and moves into a
haunted mansion (Whipstaff Manor) to exorcise the resident spirits, namely,
Casper and his uncles 'The Ghostly Trio'.
By the end of the film, Casper's ghostly spirit was released from its earthly
bond and allowed to enter the afterlife because of a self-sacrificing deed.
Malachi Pearson provided the voice of Casper. The movies tagline: "Get an
Afterlife" All the animated ghosts in the film were computer generated.
Additional Casper films include: Casper Saves Halloween (1979);
Casper: A Spirited Beginning (1997); Casper Meets Wendy aka Casper 3
(1998); Casper's Haunted Christmas (2000); and Casper and Wendy's
Ghostly Adventures (2002).
Casper Theme Lyrics
Casper, the friendly ghost
The friendliest ghost you know!
The grownups might look at him with fright,
But the children all love him so.
He always says hello
And he's really glad to meet ya'
Wherever he may go,
He's kind to every living creature.
Grownups don't understand,
Why children love him the most,
But kids all know that he loves them so,
Casper the friendly ghost!
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