When it comes to supernatural movies, most of them show menacing or harmful spirits whose sole purpose is to harm humans. But, even then our morbid fascination with the afterlife has not swayed a bit and it is still very strong. Our love for all things spooky is glaringly visible during Halloween and while watching scary movies that we truly enjoy.
The audience got to see a refreshing side of the spirits in 1939 when Casper, the Friendly Ghost made its appearance on screen. Casper was a young and relentlessly kind protagonist desperate for a friend and longing to be accepted by people who are scared of his spectral presence. The story of Casper was adapted into a Noveltoon by Paramount Pictures in 1945 and it made its first comic book appearance in 1949 by St. John Publications, and later in 1952 by Harvey Comics. Since then, the friendly ghost has grown into a pretty big franchise.
But Casper only became a household name in 1995 with Universal Pictures’ release of Casper which told the backstory of the friendly ghost. Directed by Brad Silberling, the film features revolutionary CGI animation considering the time period it was released and the movie is also imbibed with the theme of friendship and grief. Not to mention, it is the perfect movie to introduce your children to the horror genre.
When the movie released, on Memorial Day weekend, the movie stayed in the #1 spot for two consecutive weeks and even beat Braveheart on its opening weekend. The movie follows the story of Casper and his three wicked uncles named Stinkie, Fatso, and Stretch, and they continue haunting a seaside mansion called Whipstaff Manor. This beautiful building is constructed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi and it is later inherited by the greedy Carrigan Crittenden.
In order to make the building ghost-free, he asks for the help of paranormal therapist Dr. James Harvey. When Dr. Harvey arrives at the place with his daughter Kat, Casper starts adoring her and she helps him remember his past. As their friendship grows, Dr. Harvey spends his time psychoanalyzing Casper’s uncles in order to help the confused souls to cross over. In order to show the ghosts in a spectral form, the special effects team embraced new graphics instead of using practical effects as seen in movies like Poltergeist and Ghostbusters.
Casper also empathizes with Kat when she tells him that she is forgetting the little details about her mother; like how she used to apply lipstick and how her perfume smelled.
Later on, it is revealed that Casper passed away due to pneumonia after playing too long in the snow on a sled he had begged his father to buy him. Casper premiered on this day 25 years ago and upon its release, the critics didn’t really like it. While the movie was praised for its amazing use of special effects, the movie got poor reviews because it focused on Casper as a dead child more than a ghost. However, with time, it has become a classic.
Whatever the case might be, Casper was definitely one of my favorite movies from childhood. Tell us about your favorite movie moment in the comments.
This content was originally published here.