dweilermg-1 As a child I loved the Casper comic books and televised cartoons and was anxious to take my daughter to this movie. It gave a new depth to the character by explaining who little Casper was before he died and how he died which no cartoon or comic book ever explained. This movie truly captured the spirit of what made us baby boomer kids love the character.

n-mo There's a lot to like in "Casper." Though the plot centered around early teenager Kat Harvey is fairly conventional and formulaic, the film makes up for it with fairly meaty side plots, solid dialogue and acting and special effects that are unpretentious yet perfectly executed and more than adequate for suspension of disbelief.A lot of people disliked this film or thought it unsuitable for children. I guess nowadays people tend to view death as not a "kid" subject, a curious point of view considering its ubiquity. "Casper" works as a fantasy-spook comedy because it does not pretend to some sort of "realistic" conception of life after death: it plays off folkish notions inherited from religion, myth and popular legend and offers its own spin that can be viewed as deeply or as lightly as one wishes. Along the way the film hints at potential resolutions for so many of the philosophical and existential conflicts that have puzzled great thinkers for ages: free will vs. destiny, suffering for good vs. reward for evil, temporal vs. eternal, the pain of loss and the need to live.To wit, it's fun and largely free of the worst sorts of vulgarities that plague so many movies of this sort. I would say it's more appropriate as a "family" centerpiece than as sleepover fare, but hardly inadequate for children whose parents have strong convictions and can answer the tough questions that may follow.

ironhorse_iv While, I was never a huge fan of the 1950's Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. I have to say, at least that had some heart. This movie directed by Brad Silberling is nearly soulless. It's child-unfriendly humor and an overly-dark tone, with completely pointless backstory is something, this beloved cartoon didn't need. It was too grim. I don't know why, I gave this movie, a try, when it first came out. Maybe, it's because it had Christina Ricci as the main lead, Kathleen "Kat" Harvey searching why the ghosts, haunt their house, while also looking for buried treasure. She was one of my celebrity crush, when I was growing up in the 1990s. However, I wasn't as obsess with her, like Casper (Voiced by Malachi Pearson) was here. He was borderline creepy in this film. The way, he says 'Can I keep you?' is chilling, not in a good way. Also, the way, he find her, attractive in his dead mother's dress is kinda gross. I thought, he was supposed to be a friendly ghost, not an obsessive serial stalker. I really don't like, the necrophilia type relationship between the two. Another thing, I hate about the film is how annoying and mean-spirited Casper's uncles, are. Are we sure, this movie is based on the Harvey Comics by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo of the same name? I don't really, remember, the ghost that Casper hang out with, being so ugly-headed and obnoxious. I would rather have the original, Fatso, Lazo, and Fusso than these new Ghostly Trio, Stretch (Voiced by Joe Nipote), Stinkie (Voiced by Joe Alaskey) and Fatso (Voiced by Brad Garrett). They are the worst thing about this movie. Their use of vulgar language and toilet humor was indeed too jarring for me. Not only that, but they try to kill the main characters of the film, throughout the film. How are we supposed to cheer for these folks!? Not only that, but this movie's illogical use of pointless celebrity cameos, and several weak plots is another trouble with this film. As much as I love seeing, cameos by Don Novello as the exorcist, Father Guido Sarducci, and Dan Aykroyd as Ghostbusters' Dr. Ray Stantz as good in-jokes. I really don't get, the film's logic, here. The particularly scene where the Ghostly Trio goes inside Dr. Harvey (Bill Pullman) and changes him into Clint Eastwood, Rodney Dangerfield, Mel Gibson, and the Crypt Keeper was odd. It is never mentioned again throughout the rest of the film, nor do the trio ever use their apparent morphing-abilities again. Honestly, what is the rules of this film afterlife!? Supposedly, in this movie; ghosts are the spirits of people who had some important business left unfinished due to their death. So, what the hell is Casper's unfinished business? He says in the film that he became a ghost so that his parents wouldn't be alone since he died, but this makes no sense given the plot, since his parents died afterwards. So, if his original unfinished business was just that. Why is he still, on earth!? I get that, maybe, Casper's unfinished business was his entire life. Dying at such a young age, he never had the chance to live, and thus he remains earthbound until he experiences enough to allow him to pass on. Still, it doesn't explain, what happen to Casper's dead parents!? Did they go to heaven without him!? It's not like them, to abandon Casper! After all, when his father was alive, he built a resurrection machine just to be with his son, again. The worst possibility is that, the parents did become a ghosts, but forgot who they were and ended up leaving the manor without their son, or God punish his parents for 'playing God' and sent them to hell. Even that, doesn't make sense, since the villain of this film, was sent to heaven. The film is full of inconsistent. Way too much of it, like why does the ghosts in the film able to walk through walls, but not through something simple like vacuum bags!? How are they able to pick up some items, yet not others? Why are they able to leave, their place of haunting? Also, isn't it a bit odd, that some of the ghosts look ghostly, cartoonish of their self, while Casper looks nothing like himself, when was alive? I get that, he might be dead for a long time, and forgot what his features looks like, but this forgetting plot doesn't quite work out, since other recent ghost appears to have lost all their memories and still looks like their former selves. It get more confusing, when, Dr. Harvey's dead wife comes into the picture. She looks pretty normal, despite being dead. Also, if a ghost did use the machine, where does the body, come from, and what happen to old body? Also, why didn't Casper's parents used it? Despite all those jarring questions, the CGI work is still very convincing for 1995. Most of the acting was alright. The music by James Horner was ghoulish fun, haunting and emotional touching as well. There's also a musical number by the Ghostly Trio called 'Lucky Enough to Be a Ghost', which was cut because the special effects needed to create it, was too expensive. The rough drafts can still be found on the DVD. In my opinion, the film would work more, if they cut out, other scenes like the whole bullies trying to ruin the Halloween party, sub-plot. Movie has way too much filler as well. Overall: Despite all that, it nevertheless gained a bit of a cult following and was a success at the box office. It gained a few DTV sequels. However, I agree with Russell Harvey, heir to the Harvey Comics legacy, who hated this film. This film is unfunny and very unpleasant to watch, because of that. I can't recommended watching this 1990s kid movie at all.

lisafordeay Casper is a 1995 film that stars Bill Pullman from While You Were Sleeping,Christina Ricci from Penellope and Brad Garrett who voices Fatso in this movie. The movie tells the story of Casper a friendly boy who happens to be a ghost. Kat Harvey(Ricci)and her dad Dr James Harvey(Pullman) (who is a ghost hunter btw)move to another city and land in a house that was once owned by a young boy who use to live there.But what Kat and her dad don't know is that Casper and his uncles Stretch,Fatso and Stinkie are still living in the house. Of course the reason why Dr Harvey moves is because these people(who were going to live in this house that they moved in,is haunted so he stays there with his daughter).Also Dr James Harvey lost his wife so he raises Kat by himself.So when Kat one day is packing her bags in her room,Casper shows up and she freaks out that she can see him. Kat of course has to start school and she gets bullied by this girl who wants to have a Halloween party. But when Kat mentions that she lives in a haunted house,the kids want Kat to have her party in her place. But the girl who bullies her sets up some guy to go with her as a date where she has her party. Of course Casper later falls for Kat and his afraid to admit it since Casper is dead and can't come back to life. So he tells Kat later on in the film that there is a machine that his deceased dad worked on that can bring people back to life again. So will Casper become a human and be with Kat?Well overall I liked this film as a kid and I found it to be a truly heartwarming story. The charcthers are cute and I like the chemistry between Ricci and the guy that voices Casper. Also I like how Casper wishes to be human for one night and Ricci's charcthers mom shows up and makes his wish come true. So he becomes a human for the night to be Kat's date. I found it cute.Overall like I said I liked this movie as a kid and I still do.6/10