https://blackgirlnerds.com/cult-classics-casper-a-deeply-tragic-yet-oddly-wholesome-coming-of-age-tale/

In the early 1990s, young director Brad Silberling (A Series of Unfortunate Events) was working in television when, out of the blue, he was contacted by Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park). After another project fell through, Spielberg tapped him to direct the live-action adaptation of Casper the Friendly Ghost. The huge IP would be his feature directorial debut, so no pressure.

Spielberg, serving as an executive producer, also had Sherri Stoner and Deanna Oliver (Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs) pen the script, later hiring a young J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) to do some uncredited rewrites. 

Casper made it to theaters on May 26, 1995, Memorial Day weekend, and was a hit at the box office. It was also the first film with an entirely CGI lead character and similarly a milestone in cinema history like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Director of Photography Dean Cundey and other crew members worked on both productions, including the talented animators over at George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic. However, many critics didn’t like the subject matter, believing it was too morose for a kids’ movie. But as we continue to revisit childhood favorites, we see that several shows and movies we watched were darker than we thought. 

To kick off this family-friendly movie about death, we meet heiress Carrigan Crittenden (Cathy Moriarty), who just inherited the rundown Whipstaff Manor from her recently deceased father. After her initial tantrum, her attorney/assistant/errand boy Paul “Dibs” Plutzker (Eric Idle) finds a flimsy document suggesting there’s hidden treasure inside the mansion.

Without any further research or proof that it even exists, Carrigan makes it their mission to find the alleged treasure in the property she doesn’t want. However, they run into a snag when they’re eagerly greeted by Casper (Malachi Pearson). It takes less than five seconds before they start shrieking and fleeing. 

With the help of the titular friendly ghost and his baffling ability to travel through phone lines, Carrigan sees a news story about Dr. James Harvey (Bill Pullman), a self-proclaimed therapist for the “living impaired” and his “loner” (an unnecessary and hilarious descriptor from the newscaster) daughter Kathleen “Kat” Harvey (Christina Ricci). Following the unsuccessful attempts of priests, construction workers, and a Ghostbuster, Carrigan hires Dr. Harvey to get the spirits to move on. 

As the father-daughter duo make their way to Whipstaff Manor in Friendship, Maine, we learn that James’ real goal is to contact the ghost of his wife Amelia (Amy Brenneman). Unlike the stereotypical snarky tween, Kat is kind and understanding of her father’s obsession (to a point) but she’s also so over his cross-country quest and the intrusive media attention that follows. 

For someone who works in the field of parapsychology, James is oddly disbelieving and terrified when he and Kat see Casper for the first time. Then enter the chaotic Ghostly Trio — Stretch (Joe Nipote), Stinkie (Joe Alaskey), and Fatso (Brad Garrett) — Casper’s supposed uncles. It’s safe to say that this is the first time James has actually seen ghosts but he recovers pretty quickly.

At school, Kat gets attention from a boy, Vic (Garette Ratliff Henson), which inadvertently makes her a target for the obligatory blonde mean girl, Amber (Jessica Wesson). In their first class, she’s asked to introduce herself, and after Amber gets in a few digs (which the teacher just lets her do, by the way), another kid volunteers Kat’s new abode as the venue for their Halloween party. Kat seems fine with the classmates she just met inviting themselves to her home and we don’t see her breaking the news to James, so he’s seemingly down with the inconvenient plan too. 

A lot of the comedy comes from the Ghostly Trio, though Bill Pullman goes full Looney Tunes as a slightly clumsy, easily spooked, sweater-wearing dad. There are several pop culture references to celebrities like Markie Mark and Oprah. In addition to Ben Stein’s brief appearance (because it’s not a ’90s movie without Ben Stein), there are other random but impressive celebrity cameos from Clint Eastwood to the Crypt Keeper. 

But it’s not all laughs. Aside from Kat and James still mourning the loss of their mother/wife, the eternally 12-year-old Casper lives with three abusive uncles in an empty mansion where he watched his father’s mental health decline. He’d forgotten most of his time as a human until he and Kat are in the attic.

He starts to remember the days leading up to his untimely death, how he went sledding with his dad and caught a fatal case of pneumonia. The heartbreaking backstory wasn’t from the Harvey Comics source material but was written specifically for the film. Pearson delivers the monologue with such sadness: “It got cold, I got sick, Dad got sad.” James Horner’s (Titanic, Jumanji) hauntingly beautiful score enhances this and the other melancholic moments throughout the film. In a behind-the-scenes featurette, Horner describes the melody as a fairy tale about Casper’s “lost quality of youth and childhood.” 

The whole film is somewhat of a fairy tale. On the night of the party, Casper is granted time as a living human. He uses the brief time in corporeal form, famously played by the dreamy Devon Sawa, to slow dance with Kat and share a slightly awkward but sweet kiss on the dance floor and whispers, “Can I keep you?” He had said this to a sleeping Kat while he was a ghost, but this time it is a tad less creepy. Operating on a bizarre Cinderella time constraint, Casper only gets until the stroke of 10:00 PM (not even midnight) before he’s back to being translucent. 

Despite being a Halloween favorite, Casper doesn’t exactly feel like it’s taking place during spooky season. The middle school costume party is really the only Halloween-related element. However, the nearly dilapidated gothic mansion provides an eerie atmosphere with and without any roaming ghouls, especially his father’s basement laboratory, accessed via a whiplash Haunted Mansion-type ride. 

Like most of Whipstaff’s features (swirl designs, stained glass, huge machinery puffing smoke), the old lab is very Burton-esque, including the “Up and at ‘em” machine, a wild contraption you’d see in Edward Scissorhands. If Tim Burton made Casper, there’d be a larger ensemble cast of weird characters, Ricci would be pale and probably more Lydia Deetz-like, and Johnny Depp would have Bill Pullman’s role. I mean, I’d see it. 

Casper is a deeply tragic yet oddly wholesome coming-of-age tale about loneliness and grief. Though the film is essentially a meditation on death, it isn’t all doom and gloom. It still has its zany moments and mid-’90s charm with just enough darkness to satisfy one’s inner goth.

In 2022, Peacock announced they had their own live-action on Casper in development from Kai Yu Wu (American Born Chinese). We’ve yet to hear any updates but we can only hope that Christina Ricci is asked to make a Wednesday-style appearance. 

Catch Casper currently streaming on Netflix.