Casper

Cast: Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci, Eric Idle and Cathy Moriarty

Director: Brad Siberling

Release Date: 1995

Running Time: 1hr 40 minutes

Genre: Family/fantasy

Rating: PG

Format: DVD

Synopsis: 

A paranormal investigator and his daughter stay in an abandoned mansion populated by three naughty ghosts and one friendly one. 

Based loosely on the popular animated show of the same name by Harvey Comics. Brad Silberling brings the wonderful story of "Casper" to the big screen! Taking an animated TV series and turning it into a big motion picture is always going to be a challenge. They're never going to be quite the same. Carrigan Crittenden (Moriarty) father has recently passed away, she's very interested to know what's been left in the will for her, Carrigan hopes it's a nice chunk of money, only to find that her father has left her a mansion,Whipstaff Mansion in Maine. The thought of inheriting a mansion doesn't excite her in the slightest, more so when she finds that the building is haunted. What does she do? She brings in a parapsychologist Dr Harvey played fantastically by "Independence Day" star Bill Pullman. Dr Harvey drags along his teenager daughter Kat (Ricci) for the ride too. The mischief and mayhem that soon unravels is excellent.

Christina Ricci's performance as Kat is very genuine and heartfelt, her mother has recently passed away, unlike her father she doesn't believe in ghosts and finds it hard to believe that her mother could still be with her, on top of that she's dealing with starting a new school, making new friends, moving house frantically, all the time, then suddenly she finds herself introduced to Casper, a ghost that haunts Whipstaff Mansion. The animation is incredible, however what's more impressive is that Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci are essentially in some scenes working a one man show. As the animation is added later. It certainly makes their performances even more impressive. Eric Idle is a remarkable actor, a truly incredible character actor that most will probably recognize from "Monty Python", his character is never really explained properly, is he Carrigan's partner? Who knows. His performance really is hilarious, he brings fantastic humour to this movie. Be sure to look out for cameo's from Clint Eastwood, Dan Akroyd and Mel Gibson too!

I love that Brad Siberling created a backstory for Casper, the way in which he died is explained, essentially why he stayed behind instead of passing on. I love the curiosity of not knowing what happened to his uncle's, why did they stay behind? Speaking of uncles, Joe Nipote, Joe Alaskey and Brad Garrett are fantastic as the ghostly trio! Although their characters are animated, the actors work beautifully together and the voice over work bounces back and forth brilliantly creating so much humour, in each scene that they are in. The casting for this movie is just great! A truly talented bunch of people! This is quite an emotional story, it dives into an emotional subject, here's one character who wants essentially nothing more then to be alive again and then the other character who wants her mother to be alive, to comfort her, to comfort her dad. To help her on the passage through adolescence. Your heartstrings will tug a little bit.

The biggest challenge the filmmakers must have faced was taking an animation series and creating a real set that worked alongside the character. The production design is just eye opening. The mansion on it's own is a very impressive set. It adds to the storyline perfectly, there's nooks and cranny's, cobwebs, it's old, it's spooky, I was mostly certainly convinced a ghostly trio haunted Whipstaff Mansion. It's the little things, that make this movie so awesome! There are hints to wonderful movies like The Wizard of Oz, Goldilocks and even Jaws! So much creativity has gone into the production of this movie, I love it! Its magical and fun! Beautifully shot in Rockport, Maine. Cinematographer Dean Cundey has captured the beautiful scenery of Maine, even if its for a limited time in the movie, as most is shot on a sound stage. The special effects are most impressive, the perfect combination of hand made special effects and digital effects are fantastic! The fact that you can't tell the difference is awesome!

Of course with an emotional story, comes an emotional score naturally. Scored beautifully by the late James Horner. It speaks volumes about the storyline, as it should! I don't think they could have found a better composer to write the score. It's great! Casper is a wonderful family film that is perfect for Halloween, perfect for family viewing. It's entertaining, it's fun, it's magical! One of the best movies of the early 90's!

5/5 stars