Casper the Friendly Ghost. Just like the song says, Casper’s the friendly ghost you know. Though grown-ups might look at him with fright, the children love him so. Yet any viewer who is even aware of Casper as a movie or a character notices something about him that is quite troubling: he is a child that is also a ghost, meaning he is the spirit of a dead child.
This innocent cartoon character has raised plenty of questions over the years regarding his origin — do ghosts just exist, or for Casper to be a ghost, does he have to be a dead child? It is a long-standing question that most adaptations of the characters tend to avoid, likely due to the grim reality of talking about a dead child and how that certainly does not make for a family-friendly viewing experience. However, the question has been asked so often regarding if Casper is a dead child, and how he died if so, that it has not only been pondered by audiences but even filmmakers. It would be about 50 years before the character got a proper explanation for his status as a ghost child. Here is a breakdown of how Casper came to be.
History of Casper the Ghost
Casper first appeared in a series of theatrical animated shorts from Famous Studios titledCasper the Friendly Ghost. Casper was created by Seymour Reit, Joe Oriolo, and Vincent E. Valentine II. The shorts ran from 1945 to 1959, which is around the time Harvey Comics purchased the rights to the Casper character from Famous Studios. Harvey had been publishing Casper comics since 1952 when he was one of the company’s selling titles.
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Casper’s stories tend to follow a similar format: Casper tries to befriend humans but his ghostly appearance scares them, and he has to deal with his “uncles,” the Ghostly Trio, who are often scaring people. This has been the basis for many Casper stories, with the fact that he is a child not mattering to the plot but only really existing as a fun way to feature a cute cartoon character for kids to connect with. It was sort of a given that this ghost was also a child, but as generations of fans grew up with Casper and got older, the question of the character’s mortality began to be raised.
Previous Explanations For Casper as a Ghost
For much of Casper’s existence, his status as a ghost kid never really was brought up in his original cartoons or comics. The most that got revealed was in the wholesome Harvey comics from the 1960s, that Casper is a ghost because his parents are ghosts. He didn’t die but was instead just born a ghost. So he isn’t a dead child but, instead, ghosts are sort of a separate species that can apparently procreate. Aside from the many more questions that raises about ghosts, it provided a semi-answer, although not an entirely satisfying one for fans.
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However, Casper being a kid ghost was a troubling notion for some. It was even joked about onThe Simpsons, where Bart theorizes that Casper is the ghost of fellow Harvey comics character Richie Rich. That funny observation was made in the season two episode “Three Men and a Comic Book,” which aired in 1991. This set the stage for the upcomingCaspermovie to finally answer the age-old question: how did Casper die?
The Movie Reveals What Killed Casper
The 1990s saw a major boom inadaptations of classic television series. This ranged from live-actionfranchises likeThe Addams Family,Mission: Impossible, andThe Fugitiveto animated series getting the big live-action treatment, such asThe Flinstones,George of the Jungle, andDudley Do-Right. In 1995, Universal Pictures releasedCasperonMemorial Day weekend. The film was notable for being the first to have a CGI title character, and brought the lovable cartoon character to life like never before.
Yet with a big feature film adaptation, the filmmakers were tasked with finally explaining why there is a ghost child. Director Brad Silberling and screenwriters Sherri Stoner and Deanna Oliver crafted a backstory for Casper. In the film, it is revealed his real name was Casper McFadden (the first time he was provided with the last name). Casper was a 12-year-old boy who died of pneumonia after playing out in the snow for too long. His death motivated his father to spend the rest of his life trying to find a way to bring his son back, and his invention becomes a catalyst for the rest of the film.
Casperis a rather dark take on the classic material, but the filmmakers embraced the concept of death intrinsic to the character and made it the thematic hook of the movie. The entirefilm is about dealing with death. Showcasing that even a child can die is a bold creative risk for a family film, yet it makes for an emotionally powerful movie and even elevatesCasperbeyond its source material. Not much has been done with the character in recent years, though it was reported recently that a newCasper series on Peacockis being developed. It will be interesting to see if they keep the origin from the 1995 film or create a new explanation for why Casper is a ghost boy.
