Thirty Years Later, Casper Remains a Safe Watch for Families this Halloween

Image courtesy of Universal Pictures 

By Luis Zonenberg

Continuing our look back at some popular films to watch this Halloween season, it was high time I found a good one for families of all shapes and sizes to enjoy. Since it’s celebrating its 30th anniversary, I thought it would be best to revisit the live-action Casper film from 1995. It was the brainchild of none other than Steven Spielberg, with him hiring director Brad Silberling to helm the project back in the early 1990s to reimagine the character for modern audiences. 

The story focuses on Dr. James Harvey (Bill Pullman) being hired by a greedy businesswoman named Carrigan (Cathy Moriarty) to exorcise the ghosts plaguing her house. Harvey moves in to investigate the house, along with his daughter, Kat (Christina Ricci). There, they encounter a surprisingly friendly ghost named Casper (Malachi Pearson and Devon Sawa) who lives in the house with his uncles, Stretch (Joe Nipote), Stinkie (Joe Alasky), and Fatso (Brad Garett). 

While Harvey and Kat are initially scared of the ghosts upon first entering the house, they soon grow to form a bond between them, particularly with Casper. While some scenes between Casper and Kat are a little awkward to watch today, you can definitely feel the strong chemistry between the two and understand their growing affection for each other as the film progresses. Bill Pullman’s character also pulls some real weight here too, with his search for his long lost wife serving as a nice emotional anchor for the audience. 

The film surprisingly explores themes of loss and grief, showing how death cannot only push people away but bring them together as well. It is quite a heavy lesson for a family film, especially since it came out around a time where most family films chose to explore themes of independence and the power of belief. While I cannot say this film explored these topics in depth enough or as well as more recent family films like Coco, I do think it’s something worth admiring if simply from a storytelling perspective. 

Malachi Pearson does a great job voicing Casper here, imbuing the character with a child-like innocence and naiveté that made the character so charming and likeable all those years ago. Christina Ricci works well off of Pearson, with the two having some nice chemistry despite never actually sharing the screen together. Bill Pullman is a real highlight here as Dr. James Harvey, bringing in a lot of energy and emotion that really does anchor the film. Cathy Moriarty and Eric Idle had some occasionally funny moments on-screen together, though their characters left a lot to be desired by the end. 

The production and set design for the film was quite exquisite, showcasing an eerie gothic mansion in the best ways possible. It greatly contrasted the more lively, modern aesthetics of the town in Maine, really embracing the autumnal season on-screen. The cinematography made sure to highlight these sets and locations as wonderfully spooky or whimsical as possible, really catering to the child-like innocence of the film. 

The VFX, while cheap-looking today, were quite ambitious for the time. This film came not long after Jurassic Park, showing how quick the leap in evolution for CGI had gone. The film is particularly important for being the first movie to have a fully CGI main character interacting seamlessly with live-action co-stars, surely a daunting task for any animator back then. At times, the ghosts really do blend well, and even if it doesn’t always blend together seamlessly, it is still beautiful to admire knowing how much work went into these effects at the time. 

While not the most complex or groundbreaking family film, the movie does offer some good antics for children to indulge in for the Halloween season. It’s much more grounded and mature themes are surely admirable for their intentions, making sure children have something to think about, if even for just for a little while, after watching the film. Thirty years later, Casper’s amazing VFX and talented cast anchor its surprisingly dark story to deliver some spooky thrills for children of all ages. 

Casper is now available to purchase from digital retailers. 

Rating: ★★★ ½ of five