If they wanted Casper to just be a fantastical creature, they should have called him "Casper the Friendly Spirit". It sounds more rooted in nature than ghost, and no one has to think about dead kids or ghost breeding.
Honestly, even as a kid I always thought Casper was the ghost of a child that had died. All kids know that ghosts come from people dying, so I don't understand why they were so against people knowing that in the first place 😂
The cutaway joke about the jarredness of talking about the mortality of a child while having a ball shaving sponsor ruined me way further than it probably should have.
@@eddache Not all ghosts(AKA spirits) are dead beings, as there are multiple types of ghosts(AKA spirits) that have always been ghosts(AKA spirits). Some originate from the Netherworld(AKA the Spirit World, the Astral Plane, and the Realm of The Dead)(which is the universe(AKA dimension) where beings who originated from the realm of the living go after they die) and embody different aspects of life & nature(examples of this type of ghost(AKA spirit) can be seen in Nickelodeon Productions's "Avatar" franchise and the "Ghostbusters" franchise(such as Slimer, who's an embodiment of gluttony)), and others come into existence as the results of places getting build-ups of negative psychokinetic energy(negative PKE for short) caused by emotionally-charged events. There are 2 sub-types of that last mentioned type of ghost(AKA spirit), with one of them being a sub-type of ghost(AKA spirit) that is a reflection of a specific being who has died, is not self-aware, and performs the same action[s] in a loop over & over again, with that[those] action[s] being the last action[s] that was[were] taken by the dead being that the ghost(AKA spirit) is a reflection of. Before the 1995 live-action movie came along, Casper was traditionally portrayed as being a type of ghost(AKA spirit) that has always been one, hence Casper having ghost(AKA spirit) parents.
@Anthony Headway Aside from the 1995 film, "Casper's Haunted Christmas" is the best one. It's got a lot of jokes & nods in there that would completely fly over the heads of kids. There's a particularly funny shower scene with a nod to "Psycho"[1960]. I'm also 26 and I grew up with both of those films and "Casper: A Spirited Beginning", and it's sequel, "Casper Meets Wendy", which is notable for starring a 10-year-old Hillary Duff in her first major role. The end credits sequence of "Casper: A Spirited Beginning" has an incredibly catchy song called "Love Sensation".
@@Optimegatrongodzilla What you are saying is your speculations and/or comments about ghosts in cartoons. They're not rules for movies and tv shows to follow.
@Pink-A- Palouza I agree. However, not all ghosts(AKA spirits) are dead beings, as there are multiple types of ghosts(AKA spirits) that have always been ghosts(AKA spirits). Some originate from the Netherworld(AKA the Spirit World, the Astral Plane, and the Realm of The Dead)(which is the universe(AKA dimension) where beings who originated from the realm of the living go after they die) and embody different aspects of life & nature(examples of this type of ghost(AKA spirit) can be seen in Nickelodeon Productions's "Avatar" franchise and the "Ghostbusters" franchise(such as Slimer, who's an embodiment of gluttony)), and others come into existence as the results of places getting build-ups of negative psychokinetic energy(negative PKE for short) caused by emotionally-charged events. There are 2 sub-types of that last mentioned type of ghost(AKA spirit), with one of them being a sub-type of ghost(AKA spirit) that is a reflection of a specific being who has died, is not self-aware, and performs the same action[s] in a loop over & over again, with that[those] action[s] being the last action[s] that was[were] taken by the dead being that the ghost(AKA spirit) is a reflection of. Before the 1995 live-action movie came along, Casper was traditionally portrayed as being a type of ghost(AKA spirit) that has always been one, hence Casper having ghost(AKA spirit) parents.
@@ExtremeWreck Pretty much, yeah. 90's media intended for kids did a LOT of skirting around death... especially when localized from Japan for some reason. There are noteworthy exceptions of course, but Eddy's right that Casper was kind of a bigger deal in this regard than even the likes of Lion King.
Everyone knows when a mommy ghost and a daddy ghost loves eachother very much daddy ghost will insert his plasma into mommy ghost and a baby ghost is formed
For me (I was like 13 when i first saw it) the death scene elevated the entire movie for me. First: I was so sick of 'it's for kids, it needs to be fun it needs to be happy' and second, it deepens the character of the fun loving casper immensly. The fun is not his true self, it's there to hide something: the truth, that he in fact is dead due to horrible happenings. Then again, i remember watching watership down not too long before that and boy was that a funny little scene...
I actually read a lot of Casper comics as a kid and getting that bit of backstory in the movie was a revelation for me. So disheartening how they walked back on it years later. It really humanizes him, in more ways than one.
So, fun fact. The pop culture references weren't actually off point for the writers of the film, Deanna Oliver and Sherri Stoner. The two had previous work, both as VOs and writers, on Animaniacs. Sherri voiced Slappy and wrote a lot on the show, while Deanna created and wrote a majority of the Chicken Boo sketches and voiced a character in the series once.
Another interesting fact was they thought the movie was written to be a animated movie. (With the ghosts having a Looney Tunes logic and twisting a person's back, alive.) But Producer Steven Spielberg wanted something more like the 1990 TMMT movie that inspired him to produce the movie with a darker gritty tone. He even wanted Alex Proyas (director of The Crow and Dark City) to direct the film. Proyas wanted the movie less comedic, more deconstructist and more darker and something timeless like Wizard of Oz with raw emotions. But the movie itself is inconsistent with it's tone. It doesn't know if it wants to be a animated comedy like what the writers wanted or a dark drama like what Spielberg wanted. Leading to a movie that suffers an identity crisis. Even the original director for the movie felt the movie was a missed opportunity and the emotions came off forced. I agree.
I might be in the minority, but i LOVE Casper's recount of how he died. It's jarring, but honestly the comedy makes the sadness of that scene much more powerful. As a kid it certainly didn't harm me at all. Just remember feeling sorry for Casper. When i rewatched later i appreciated that scene a lot more. The sequels sucked so bad. Remember as a kid really hating them. Yet i loved the first one.
We never witnessed Casper's death. We only knew what Casper had said to Kat when he found his old sled in the movie. As for Ferdie the fox, we saw the hunter shoot him!
The "ghosts are some mythical magical being" thing also plagued Danny Phantom, where the creator, years after the show was cancelled, said the ghosts were never dead people. I..... there's a whole episode where a bullied kid in the 50s comes back as a ghost to haunt bullies, what are they talking about.
Not to mention Desiree, who died from a broken heart and wanted to grant people's wishes when she became a ghost, because she never got hers (literally told to us in the episode). And Ember, whose song is literally her death story about being killed in a fire. Even in the first episode with the Lunch Lady. I always thought it was implied that she was the lunch lady at Casper High, so when Sam changed the menu, it essentially summoned her for lack of a better term.
Hartman has also said that they generally tried to avoid ghosts being spirits of the dead but that some of the writers actually did pen episodes here and there where they were. That said, there are also several Danny Phantom ghosts that were clearly never alive
I love how all the adults get all up in arms about Casper possibly being a traditional ghost when meanwhile us kids were always theorizing how did Casper die? How old was he when he died? How long as he been dead? I remember Casper being a child victim of cancer being popular in my elementary school and ages usually ranged from 5 to 13.
The problem with the claim by Harvey Comics is that part where Casper's dead pet fox comes back as a ghost. So he was clearly intended to be dead from the start.
That doesn't conclusively track. It makes sense, and is the obvious conclusion. The fox was living then died, becoming a ghost. But Harvey comics specifically gave casper ghost parents...which weirdly adds another step. Where I guess his parents died and then either had him or adopted him. Harvey are dumb...
@@FFKonoko does it though? Ghost parents doesnt necessarily imply that he was born a ghost. It could also be that his whole family died and became ghosts.
@@jacobhargiss3839 Yeah. Even if Casper died before them, his parents are bound to die eventually. Or it could just be that another dead couple saw a young ghost without parents and took him in.
Came down here to say this. They very explicitly had the fox die _on screen_ and become a ghost. They are massive hypocrites if they think they ever meant to imply Casper was literally anything other than a dead child. I think they just changed their minds after that one episode where Bart Simpson hypothesizes that Casper is the ghost of Richie Rich. Of course, it's also something Matt Groening said on his Space Ghost interview, and his original "Life in Hell" comic strip, in any case they had to be aware of the theory.
I found the scene where Casper talks about his death to be haunting and intriguing as a kid and the "can I keep you" scene to be likewise insightful. It explains the state of being a ghost within the context of the movie's world. They don't quite remember how to be people, and their life is a sort of half-remembered dream. Casper's uncles stopped caring about their unfinished business long ago and embraced their new life as ghosts. While Casper still longs for the things he has forgotten and missed. Family, love, and friends.
I thought this was going to be more similar to a Game Theory “How did Casper REALLY die?”. But it was even better. That idea of not treating the Ghost as dead people is the same thing that Butch Hartman changed in the last season of Danny Phantom, and it make all worst.
@@ShadTheSham the ghost are not longer dead people, like Ember, but more monsters, like the weather ghost or the plants ghosts. All of that because Butch Hartman became extremely religious
One of my favourite franchises is Monster High, and they tackle this kind of question in an interesting way. Some characters are just born as undead (Ghoulia is a zombie and was just born that way to zombie parents) while for others it is implied they did in fact die (Draculaura was turned in a vampire, Cleo was mummified)
That opens up a whole new can of worms (or I guess in this case, maggots) Such as, how to zombies procreate if they’re organs don’t function? And also probably half rotten?
@Maeve Doyle Ghosts and spirits are the same thing, and not all ghosts(AKA spirits) are dead beings, as there are multiple types of ghosts(AKA spirits) that have always been ghosts(AKA spirits). Some originate from the Netherworld(AKA the Spirit World, the Astral Plane, and the Realm of The Dead)(which is the universe(AKA dimension) where beings who originated from the realm of the living go after they die) and embody different aspects of life & nature(examples of this type of ghost(AKA spirit) can be seen in Nickelodeon Productions's "Avatar" franchise and the "Ghostbusters" franchise(such as Slimer, who's an embodiment of gluttony)), and others come into existence as the results of places getting build-ups of negative psychokinetic energy(negative PKE for short) caused by emotionally-charged events. There are 2 sub-types of that last mentioned type of ghost(AKA spirit), with one of them being a sub-type of ghost(AKA spirit) that is a reflection of a specific being who has died, is not self-aware, and performs the same action[s] in a loop over & over again, with that[those] action[s] being the last action[s] that was[were] taken by the dead being that the ghost(AKA spirit) is a reflection of. Before the 1995 live-action movie came along, Casper was traditionally portrayed as being a type of ghost(AKA spirit) that has always been one, hence Casper having ghost(AKA spirit) parents.
I am actually stoked for the new ghostbusters film as well! I just hope we don't get something like the last film... (I knew what they were trying to do, but it just felt like shoving a square peg in a round hole a bit too much. Its as if they tried to say that the events of the first film did not exactly happen)
@@JamesTDG That's exactly what they were doing. That film, which has come to be known as "Ghostbusters: Answer The Call", takes place in it's own universe, hence why there's disbelief of the existence of ghosts(AKA spirits) and why the actors from the original films aren't playing the same characters in it.
I loved the Casper movie as a kid and the bit where he talks about his death was one of my favourite parts, not in a morbid way just that it's one of the good emotional parts of the film that felt pretty well done and handled death sensibly for a child audience. Also made me not want to go sledding.
Crittics don't know what they are talking about. As a kid watching this movie, the mature and deeper themes are what made it so memorable. I remember contemplating death, and love, and sex, in very positive ways because of this movie. And they did it with depth and class. It also gave the last act of the movie real tension. I can' imaging the movie maintaining that tension to bring Casper back without the scenes discussing his death.
We’ve finally gone full circle. From the first hot topic of 1995 to the other. TL:DR: Casper may be a movie with a horrible sense of humour, but it has guts and you gotta give it credit for that.
Wish writers would create more films with darker themes. Cut down on silly and leave out the gore. Focus simply on the humanity and tragedy of a character. Show death and life as natural. 😊 Who knows there may be an after life.
It's kind of weird that child mortality is fine in films like My Girl or Bridge to Terebithia, but not here. I suppose because you're right about the tonal shift. With the other two, they were either grounded in reality or had a whimsical darkness that suggested an unhappy end. But at least here, the death is already established. Imagine the horror for kids walking out of those films not knowing the ending beforehand.
“Man, doing that video essay on video game movies really took a lot out of me. I should do something less emotionally taxing for the next video…like talk about dead children!”
It's always a blast when Eddie uploads. Of course my selfish brain wishes they where more frequent but the time, research and love put into these videos is definitely worth the wait
Casper deserves a reboot. If Dreamworks does own Casper then I'd love for them do a Casper animated movie, where he tries to make friends due to not having any in life or something. Casper's too cute to be forgotten.
It was recently discovered on Twitter that there was concept art for an animated Casper movie for DreamWorks around the 2010s. (He kinda looked like a Dr Seuss character.) But we don't know what the plot was or why it was scrapped. I know DreamWorks was also working on a ghost movie called B.O.O. which had a large Casper cameo, but who knows if it was the same. In 2022, it was announced a live action series is in the works for Peacock. And it was said to be inspired by Riverdale (oh boy...) and feature a plot involving someone moving to a town with a dark past, and would've had Casper being a highschooler and having friends with benefits. (Which really misses the point of Casper's naive innocence so he could kiss a teen. It feels like a millennium watched the Ballroom scene from the first movie and got an idea of the plot. 🤮.)
"This was made to be 'in the moment' before the 'moment' became 26 years ago *who gave time permission to keep going like that???* " Seeing as my 26th birthday was 2 days ago this hit close to home...
In regards to Casper having parents, I just figured that he and his parents all died at the same time during some kind of tragic accident that ultimately took their lives. It's the only way I can see that they would all be dead but still together. That may sound bleak and unpleasant, but I like to think of it this way: The three of them were so devoted and loving towards one another that their unfinished business was the love for each other manifested and it keeps them all together as the loving family they always were, just a bit transparent. In a way, it's either beautifully tragic or tragically beautiful, depending on your outlook I suppose. That being said, I actually like the way they handled Casper's death in the movie.
@@loneronin6813 Ghosts and spirits are the same thing, and not all ghosts(AKA spirits) are dead beings, as there are multiple types of ghosts(AKA spirits) that have always been ghosts(AKA spirits). Some originate from the Netherworld(AKA the Spirit World, the Astral Plane, and the Realm of The Dead)(which is the universe(AKA dimension) where beings who originated from the realm of the living go after they die) and embody different aspects of life & nature(examples of this type of ghost(AKA spirit) can be seen in Nickelodeon Productions's "Avatar" franchise and the "Ghostbusters" franchise(such as Slimer, who's an embodiment of gluttony)), and others come into existence as the results of places getting build-ups of negative psychokinetic energy(negative PKE for short) caused by emotionally-charged events. There are 2 sub-types of that last mentioned type of ghost(AKA spirit), with one of them being a sub-type of ghost(AKA spirit) that is a reflection of a specific being who has died, is not self-aware, and performs the same action[s] in a loop over & over again, with that[those] action[s] being the last action[s] that was[were] taken by the dead being that the ghost(AKA spirit) is a reflection of. Before the 1995 live-action movie came along, Casper was traditionally portrayed as being a type of ghost(AKA spirit) that has always been one, hence Casper having ghost(AKA spirit) parents.
@@dontblink2564 Ghosts and spirits are the same thing, and not all ghosts(AKA spirits) are dead beings, as there are multiple types of ghosts(AKA spirits) that have always been ghosts(AKA spirits). Some originate from the Netherworld(AKA the Spirit World, the Astral Plane, and the Realm of The Dead)(which is the universe(AKA dimension) where beings who originated from the realm of the living go after they die) and embody different aspects of life & nature(examples of this type of ghost(AKA spirit) can be seen in Nickelodeon Productions's "Avatar" franchise and the "Ghostbusters" franchise(such as Slimer, who's an embodiment of gluttony)), and others come into existence as the results of places getting build-ups of negative psychokinetic energy(negative PKE for short) caused by emotionally-charged events. There are 2 sub-types of that last mentioned type of ghost(AKA spirit), with one of them being a sub-type of ghost(AKA spirit) that is a reflection of a specific being who has died, is not self-aware, and performs the same action[s] in a loop over & over again, with that[those] action[s] being the last action[s] that was[were] taken by the dead being that the ghost(AKA spirit) is a reflection of. Before the 1995 live-action movie came along, Casper was traditionally portrayed as being a type of ghost(AKA spirit) that has always been one, hence Casper having ghost(AKA spirit) parents.
I was SO obsessed with it! Here in Portugal, it kinda aired every night in reruns, for some reason? And I kinda had a little kiddie crush on the zombie gal. Can't remember her name, tho..
I've been vaguely aware of the harvey girls show for years now but i never once noticed that they were characters from those comics. but now it's like, duh, they have that same richie rich/casper face!!
I remember seeing this movie in theaters with my mom and little brother. I was a bit too old for it, I think (though I watched the original cartoons in reruns earlier and found them ok), because I found it dumb, and wondered what the point of the whole thing was. Then my mom said that it was for kids, and the main idea is clearly to get them not to fear death so much. That really resonated with me because as a younger kid I went through a phase of being very afraid of death to the point of it keeping me up at night. If this is at all true then Casper being dead is the whole point of the film.
I feel like the TH-cam series clover tackled this type of idea really well by having most of the characters be ghosts and talk (hell even sing) about their pasts and how they died. It's like of Casper went all the way while still being light-hearted
I honestly always loved the twist of Casper being a real ghost. It’s personally what endeared me to him so much. I ironically fell in a freezing cold creek when I was little, so that’s probably why I kinda related to him.
@@thetwistedsamurai First off, that's not irony. That's coincidentally. Secondly, the way you phrased it made it sound like you fell with ironic intent, instead of the fall itself being ironic. So it'd be more like 'Ironically, I fell in a freezing cold creek when I was little,'
PLEASE, you, and EVERYONE, if you haven't already, embrace the One True Only God YHWH Jehovah, Only One Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son and Lord and Savior of our souls and the Only One Holy Spirit. God is good. God is love. Jesus is Lord. Jesus IS coming. Your soul depends on it! I have seen God act in my life. He saved my soul, changed my heart, changed my mind, helped people through me, took care of people in my life, people I hurt before I found God. God is the only reason I was able to reconcile with my dad before he died. God worked through Jesus Christ to save our souls. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Be baptized in The Holy Spirit, and if He wills, water as well. Repent of your sins, accept God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your heart, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father Jehovah God but through Him. Not long after I got saved I prayed to God for help understanding the Holy Bible, and that same day someone knocked on my door asking me if I wanted to understand the Bible. The Holy Bible says, "love thy enemy", "turn the other cheek", "If your enemy is hungry, feed him", "if he is thirsty, give him a drink", "pray for those who persecute you", "do not repay evil for evil". LORD willing, all humans may commit sin of almost every kind (gay, straight), and that's wrong, and all humans sin, as God tells us through the The Holy Bible, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Holy Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
I honestly thought it was pretty fascinating that they decided to give Casper a backstory.,definitely felt it pretty compelling . Still pretty bummed they the supposed direct to VHS prequel, a spirited beginning never really elaborated on it.
As a kid who was very specifically afraid of mortality (don't ask), I loved the Casper movie. That scene, may have made me emotional, but they made care about Casper. The uncomfortable scenes if I can remember how I felt were the "haha-goofy-silly" death scenes of the Dad and main antagonist lady.
PLEASE, you, and EVERYONE, if you haven't already, embrace the One True Only God YHWH Jehovah, Only One Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son and Lord and Savior of our souls and the Only One Holy Spirit. God is good. God is love. Jesus is Lord. Jesus IS coming. Your soul depends on it! I have seen God act in my life. He saved my soul, changed my heart, changed my mind, helped people through me, took care of people in my life, people I hurt before I found God. God is the only reason I was able to reconcile with my dad before he died. God worked through Jesus Christ to save our souls. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Be baptized in The Holy Spirit, and if He wills, water as well. Repent of your sins, accept God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your heart, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father Jehovah God but through Him. Not long after I got saved I prayed to God for help understanding the Holy Bible, and that same day someone knocked on my door asking me if I wanted to understand the Bible. The Holy Bible says, "love thy enemy", "turn the other cheek", "If your enemy is hungry, feed him", "if he is thirsty, give him a drink", "pray for those who persecute you", "do not repay evil for evil". LORD willing, all humans may commit sin of almost every kind (gay, straight), and that's wrong, and all humans sin, as God tells us through the The Holy Bible, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Holy Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
Loved this video! Interestingly, Disney just released The Ghost and Molly McGee, and they don’t seem to be shying away from the “ghosts are dead people” idea, at least not from the first five episodes they have on Disney Plus. I’m beginning to wonder if they’ll explain how Scratch died, though my theory is that he’s the ghost of Master Shake from ATHF, and just wants to chill in his house.
I still love the 1995 Casper movie. That is one of my main childhood movies alongside Fieval Goes West, Hocus Pocus and The Neverending Story. As a child, my favorite parts of the movie were the more emotional scenes where Casper talks about how he died believe it or not. I wish we got that deeper more serious version of the movie. Casper might then be remembered as a classic instead of just another 90's movie.
Slimer was actually a king named Remils who died of heart failure in the comics. In 2016's version of Ghostbusters, he was a gangster who shot a waiter who got his order wrong, leading to his execution.
"Not all hauntings are caused by the dead, child. Sometimes they're caused by emotions. Feelings kept locked away so long, that they manifest themselves as a malevolent force." - Ruby Zeldastein / Roger Smith, Poltergasm, American Dad! Or in this case "Friendly". 😏
In that case, the force is actually a person's subconscious dark side 😅 This concept is shown in several films. Most popular was Forbiden Planet where a crazy professor become obsessed with tech from ancextinct alien society.😊
-Funny how The Simpsons predicted the "Cartoon Dark Theories" -Even as a kid, like, Every kid, isn't afraid or the idea of be formely live one (but not Richie Rich) is like a basic idea of ghost -In the Latin American Dub, they change the dialogue of be "Be like Oprah on Hiatus" to a timeless one of "I eat like a sumo Wrestler"
Honestly this kind of reminds me of how with Danny Phantom by season 3 had Butch Hartman say the ghost weren't dead people and were just interdimensional monsters or something. This was even more egregious than Casper since in earlier seasons we saw ghost who were definitely once human and became ghost pretty much implying they died.
yea that was so weird, i mean maybe there's different kinds of ghost but their not very clear on that, it's like where's the location of Springfield or what's under Double D's hat? it's a mystery
@@Numbuh8578 I mean I'd be fine with having some ghost just being monsters since Ghostbusters also played with that at times, but saying all of them are contradicts backstories of certain characters.
Hartman was saying that in interviews well before the third season aired. And even the other writers could never come up with a consistent answer to if the ghosts were supposed to be spirits of the dead or extradimensional beings
I was trying my best to forget that "Casper Scare School" happened, and then this video reminded me of it. I blame it for Casper going on a hiatus till DreamWorks worked on "Harvey Girls Forever"... which ended up changing character designs (and maybe personalities).
Having Casper be...like that...toward girls when his only points of contact were his uncles and TV seems pretty reasonable. TV and media (admittedly, Casper itself being part of that) gave me a lot of weird expectations about relationships, and some of those took a really long time to go away.
Always a pleasure editing these, what was more of a pleasure though? Somehow shoehorning the Muppets into a video about Casper. I truly am a rapscallion
I think making Casper not be an undead child is wrong because it goes against the "twist" nature of the character. The point of Casper is that he's a "friendly" ghost, meaning that most ghosts are not... with the implication that other ghosts are not friendly because they're undead (formerly living) monsters. This is the same twist that runs across several of Harvey's major characters: Wendy is a good little witch (even though most witches are evil), Hot Stuff is a friendly devil (even though most devils are evil), Richie Rich is a nice "poor little rich kid" (even though most rich people are evil ;) ), etc. If Casper's just a natural spirit or something, then there's no reason why that newly invented race of creatures would be typically evil, so there's no ironic twist in having Casper be a friendly natural spirit.
I've always had this one idea for Casper regarding his state of being. What if at some point Casper transcends from being a ghost to like a Spirit of Hope and Kindness. Like he becomes an embodiment of the all hope and kindness mankind has deep down in our souls and is destined to help people and make friends for all of eternity? Just a thought.
Of all the spiritual creatures in pop culture Harvey comics could have gone with, they went with the one that's a dead person, then hated that people thought the character was a dead person Just go with spirit or whatever
I always liked the line "Can i keep you" when that interesting chime music is playing and when Casper was alive for a bit as well... such a creepy off set line in that movie.
I would argue that the ghosts from Ghostbusters could easily be deceased monsters. I mean, Vigo from Ghostbusters II looks like some artistic versions of Count Dracula, for example.
I was a child when this came out. The scene did not disturb me or fill me with uncomfortable questions to bother my mother with, but did pull on my hearts strings, which Mufasa's death did not. I've always liked this movie, the musical score alone is great.
man i love these videos so much. i often go back to long videos like the one about spoof movies and will have them on whilst i do chores around the house to help with my adhd. thanks eddie!
I assume they wanted to make it more macabre since Christina Ricci was fresh off the Addams Family movies. It makes sense they'd want to appeal to the audience for those movies. I mostly like it because it was the first movie I saw at a drive-in (double feature with Apollo 13).
You know, before I watched this, I didn’t even know Casper was a character that had been around since the 40s, this was an interesting learning experience for me.
Mr Eddache I know this is unrelated but could we please get a full video of you nerding out on Star Trek TNG because that is without a doubt the best thing introduced me to your channel when you talked about time travel. Great video!
Fun fact actually: The ghost busters videogame gives us lore for different ghosts and how their original people died, if i remember right, slimer was a gluttonous man who ate so much his stomach just gave out. The game is canon, as it's referenced multiple times in the newer films excluding Ghostbusters2016 which the director specifically stated the game wasn't canon... but then that got de-canonized too, so that cancels his BS out.
I love "Casper the overly friendly ghost". XD I also thought he was really creepy when I watched it, glad someone else agrees. I completely agree with your overall point too, the scene about Casper's death was tragically sweet and I think it was great to have in there.
Because I was a very odd child I read Stephen King novels and collected vintage Harvey Comics. Strangely, while I did know that ghosts are supposed to be the spirits of the deceased, I didn't give any thought to Casper's backstory, perhaps for the same reason why I never questioned how Jughead never aged and got fat or how you never saw Shaggy and Scooby hitting the bong.
I loved Casper when I was younger. I rewatched it with my son about 2 years ago. It hasn’t aged the best (son still loved it) but I really do think that movie had some balls to talk about death in the open. Most kids movies that involve death (Disney especially) mostly dealt with it more off screen and kind of hint at it. But Casper chose to just tackle it head on and not beat around the bush because it is a topic that we can’t beat around the bush when the time comes to talk to kids about death and I just appreciate that they decided to talk about it in a way that makes sense to a younger audience
Eh, I'm indifferent to the idea of Casper being the ghost of a dead person, doesn't really enrich or ruin squat. Sometimes a ghost/spirit just *is* rather then "ever was". Of course a mix of Ghosts who were born ghosts and Ghosts came from someone dying is how I'd do it.
As a kid it never crossed my mind that a child had to die in order for Caspar to exist. Thinking about it now, maybe he was the kid that flew his kite into the pylon and got horribly electrocuted in front of his screaming sister.
My theory as to why Casper can't crossover even after his fathers death is that he's a very special kind of ghost. Everyone is put on this earth for a reason and Casper was so sweet and friendly in life that the mortal realm could not bear to be parted from his memory when he died so young. Instead of being stuck with "unfinished business" he has a new lease on life (or should I say afterlife) of spreading friendship as a spirit.
I'm pretty sure I was the target audience of this movie when it came out (about 9) and it worked for me; it made sense, Casper is a ghost, he must have being alive and die (although I did wonder why no one made a bigger deal of the fact that Casper's dad broke the rules of life and death). When I watched the prequel, I was genuinely upset they retconned the origin from the previous movie
For those looking for a show that plays with the comedy around ghosts being dead folks, there’s a new series out called The Ghost and Molly McGee- and it’s REALLY good
I love it when youtubers get sponsored by manscaped because it is absolutely impossible to transition into from the rest of the video so the sponsorship always starts with something along the lines of "but first off, BALLS! we have 'em!".
Slimer did represent a real human. He represented John Balushi, the actor who died who Bill Murray took the place of. The design team was even told to try and make his face look like Balushis. They failed, but that was what they were going for.
The movie dealing with Casper's death was amazing for kids imo. Being to able to have some understanding of such a emotional and tough subject, especially when it comes from a safe and engaging thing like a fun little movie, prepares them somewhat for when it happens in real life. Kids are humans just like adults. They have the same emotions and have to deal with loss just like adults. Adults just have more experience.
3:17 The fox is killed because of course it is, most children's media that features foxes has them killed eventually, and the more cute and adorable a fox is the bigger the death flag.
I agree with your assessment here. In fact, nowadays whenever people go back to talking about this film it’s usually the darker and sadder moments about Casper discussing his death that are brought up, not so much the dated jokes and brash humour. It’s even elevated with James Horner’s (of Titanic fame) soundtrack that hit deep on the emotional core that this movie was going for underneath. The track _Casper’s Lullaby_ brings up some feeling of sorrow, innocence, and hope that perfectly encompasses the the theme and Casper’s character as a whole. It’s a real tearjerker and one my favourite’s of Jame’s work. I definitely think that Casper could use a reboot updated to our standards that tries to tackles these issues dead on. There’s some great potential of a friendly but hurt little ghost who can relate and teach children a wonderful lesson about mortality and dealing with such loneliness. Looking at this movie now as an adult I feel for it. It makes me relate on my loneliness and how much we take for granted for even being here.
When I was younger my parents had a lot of VHS tapes of these older shows. And I remember there was a Casper one and I don't remember the episode, but I remember he becomes human again and goes to a movie theater and claims he's over 100 years old. Which to me heavily implies that he was at one point human
Gives the same energy as Butch Hartman claiming Danny Phantom's ghosts aren't dead, but beings from another dimension or something like that. Despite them implying otherwise in the show itself lol.
Casper '95 was spellbinding to me as a child. I remember seeing it as a kid and my jaw dropped from the effects. I watch it basically every Halloween and the emotional moments still really resonate with me. I also always thought "can I keep you" was so sweet. As a kid I found it romantic, as an adult I see it as actually really maintaining Casper's innocence as a child. He's obviously a dead child. The fox cartoon from early on cement it.
As a tot I absolutely /adored/ the live-action Casper film, death discussion scene et all. Also I love how Harvey Comics hated that film but not Casper & The Angels (literally Casper in space)
I actually like that Casper is teaching and discussing death tbh, It gives kids to understand it rather than avoiding it like the plague What did Harvey Cartoons expect? They literally made a ghost child and people are going to ask about how he died
It's weird, this comic about an undead character, built entirely on suicide jokes, came out of a policy that expressly forbade portrayals of the undead and of self-harm
If they wanted Casper to just be a fantastical creature, they should have called him "Casper the Friendly Spirit". It sounds more rooted in nature than ghost, and no one has to think about dead kids or ghost breeding.
Exactly!
But can they see the ghost feetus when the ghost woman gives birth
@@Moald That's a cursed image
This is a really good shout! Although what is the actual difference between a ghost and a spirit?
@@tomKATT92 ghosts are people and spirits are uh...
what the fuck is a spirit
Harvey Comics: why do you keep asking if Casper is dead?
Casper fans: because this what happens when you have a ghost character.
Yeah honestly what did they accept
@@panda-peanut expect
And they deleted their comment
@@ciphergacha9100who did
@@CharlietheWarlock panda-peanut, someone I’ve forgotten about
Honestly, even as a kid I always thought Casper was the ghost of a child that had died.
All kids know that ghosts come from people dying, so I don't understand why they were so against people knowing that in the first place 😂
They didn't want to talk about it because they thought children were too dumb. Obviously, kids would know that ghosts are usually dead people.
Yeah, Halloween exists ffs
Children are usually smarter than they get credit for.
on the original anime Casper was never A human Casper was only A human on the real life movies
The cutaway joke about the jarredness of talking about the mortality of a child while having a ball shaving sponsor ruined me way further than it probably should have.
I must admit Casper look good in that 1995 film. That part aged well
It's a little rough around the edges but for what it was in 1995, it's really good
in that newer film he looked awfull but that first movie he looks fine
@@eddache Not all ghosts(AKA spirits) are dead beings, as there are multiple types of ghosts(AKA spirits) that have always been ghosts(AKA spirits). Some originate from the Netherworld(AKA the Spirit World, the Astral Plane, and the Realm of The Dead)(which is the universe(AKA dimension) where beings who originated from the realm of the living go after they die) and embody different aspects of life & nature(examples of this type of ghost(AKA spirit) can be seen in Nickelodeon Productions's "Avatar" franchise and the "Ghostbusters" franchise(such as Slimer, who's an embodiment of gluttony)), and others come into existence as the results of places getting build-ups of negative psychokinetic energy(negative PKE for short) caused by emotionally-charged events. There are 2 sub-types of that last mentioned type of ghost(AKA spirit), with one of them being a sub-type of ghost(AKA spirit) that is a reflection of a specific being who has died, is not self-aware, and performs the same action[s] in a loop over & over again, with that[those] action[s] being the last action[s] that was[were] taken by the dead being that the ghost(AKA spirit) is a reflection of. Before the 1995 live-action movie came along, Casper was traditionally portrayed as being a type of ghost(AKA spirit) that has always been one, hence Casper having ghost(AKA spirit) parents.
@Anthony Headway Aside from the 1995 film, "Casper's Haunted Christmas" is the best one. It's got a lot of jokes & nods in there that would completely fly over the heads of kids. There's a particularly funny shower scene with a nod to "Psycho"[1960]. I'm also 26 and I grew up with both of those films and "Casper: A Spirited Beginning", and it's sequel, "Casper Meets Wendy", which is notable for starring a 10-year-old Hillary Duff in her first major role. The end credits sequence of "Casper: A Spirited Beginning" has an incredibly catchy song called "Love Sensation".
@@Optimegatrongodzilla What you are saying is your speculations and/or comments about ghosts in cartoons. They're not rules for movies and tv shows to follow.
"You will never be as big of an incel as Casper the Friendly Ghost." - Eddache.
The laugh after it, matched my own.
Oh my god Casper's a god now
@@Explodinghairypotatocat Oops XD changed that now
I think Casper being a child who had sadly passed away is in my opinion a good thing because his passing can be a good way to teach kids about death
Also to demonstrate to kids that people can die while they’re still young and it’s not just something that happens when you get really old.
Casper is Richie Rich.
FINALLY, SOMEONE POINTED THAT OUT!!! Why would critics be hateful of that!? Is it because they don't want children to learn about death!?
@Pink-A- Palouza
I agree. However, not all ghosts(AKA spirits) are dead beings, as there are multiple types of ghosts(AKA spirits) that have always been ghosts(AKA spirits). Some originate from the Netherworld(AKA the Spirit World, the Astral Plane, and the Realm of The Dead)(which is the universe(AKA dimension) where beings who originated from the realm of the living go after they die) and embody different aspects of life & nature(examples of this type of ghost(AKA spirit) can be seen in Nickelodeon Productions's "Avatar" franchise and the "Ghostbusters" franchise(such as Slimer, who's an embodiment of gluttony)), and others come into existence as the results of places getting build-ups of negative psychokinetic energy(negative PKE for short) caused by emotionally-charged events. There are 2 sub-types of that last mentioned type of ghost(AKA spirit), with one of them being a sub-type of ghost(AKA spirit) that is a reflection of a specific being who has died, is not self-aware, and performs the same action[s] in a loop over & over again, with that[those] action[s] being the last action[s] that was[were] taken by the dead being that the ghost(AKA spirit) is a reflection of. Before the 1995 live-action movie came along, Casper was traditionally portrayed as being a type of ghost(AKA spirit) that has always been one, hence Casper having ghost(AKA spirit) parents.
@@ExtremeWreck Pretty much, yeah. 90's media intended for kids did a LOT of skirting around death... especially when localized from Japan for some reason. There are noteworthy exceptions of course, but Eddy's right that Casper was kind of a bigger deal in this regard than even the likes of Lion King.
“How does ghost pregnancy work? I don’t know.”
Oh, Eddie, did your parents not give you the ghost bees and ghost birds talk?
he was in a #CONTENT with ghost bees at one point, the "Predicting My Future" one, this concludes my nerd-out
“You see, when a ghost daddy and a ghost mommy love each other very much, they create… death?”
Everyone knows when a mommy ghost and a daddy ghost loves eachother very much daddy ghost will insert his plasma into mommy ghost and a baby ghost is formed
i mean, what do you think ectoplasm is-
When a mommy ghost and a daddy ghost love each other very much, they steal and kill a child
For me (I was like 13 when i first saw it) the death scene elevated the entire movie for me. First: I was so sick of 'it's for kids, it needs to be fun it needs to be happy' and second, it deepens the character of the fun loving casper immensly. The fun is not his true self, it's there to hide something: the truth, that he in fact is dead due to horrible happenings.
Then again, i remember watching watership down not too long before that and boy was that a funny little scene...
let alone the fact that those scenes talking about the suffering and pain of death adds real tension to the end of the movie...
I actually read a lot of Casper comics as a kid and getting that bit of backstory in the movie was a revelation for me. So disheartening how they walked back on it years later. It really humanizes him, in more ways than one.
Casper was only A human on the real life movies he was never A human on the original anime
So, fun fact. The pop culture references weren't actually off point for the writers of the film, Deanna Oliver and Sherri Stoner. The two had previous work, both as VOs and writers, on Animaniacs. Sherri voiced Slappy and wrote a lot on the show, while Deanna created and wrote a majority of the Chicken Boo sketches and voiced a character in the series once.
Another interesting fact was they thought the movie was written to be a animated movie. (With the ghosts having a Looney Tunes logic and twisting a person's back, alive.) But Producer Steven Spielberg wanted something more like the 1990 TMMT movie that inspired him to produce the movie with a darker gritty tone. He even wanted Alex Proyas (director of The Crow and Dark City) to direct the film. Proyas wanted the movie less comedic, more deconstructist and more darker and something timeless like Wizard of Oz with raw emotions. But the movie itself is inconsistent with it's tone. It doesn't know if it wants to be a animated comedy like what the writers wanted or a dark drama like what Spielberg wanted. Leading to a movie that suffers an identity crisis. Even the original director for the movie felt the movie was a missed opportunity and the emotions came off forced. I agree.
I might be in the minority, but i LOVE Casper's recount of how he died. It's jarring, but honestly the comedy makes the sadness of that scene much more powerful. As a kid it certainly didn't harm me at all. Just remember feeling sorry for Casper. When i rewatched later i appreciated that scene a lot more. The sequels sucked so bad. Remember as a kid really hating them. Yet i loved the first one.
@@oneandonlysound3453 I've only seen the one with Wendy and I think it's great
As a kid, the fox becoming a ghost was more depressing than Casper talking about his own death. Is that wierd?
Well you witness the fox dieing, but only hear about Casper's death
no because I felt the same.
We never witnessed Casper's death. We only knew what Casper had said to Kat when he found his old sled in the movie. As for Ferdie the fox, we saw the hunter shoot him!
No, it's not weird. They couldn't have made that fox any more lovable, and then they killed him.
Nope. Ferdie dying broke my 7 year old heart.
The "ghosts are some mythical magical being" thing also plagued Danny Phantom, where the creator, years after the show was cancelled, said the ghosts were never dead people.
I..... there's a whole episode where a bullied kid in the 50s comes back as a ghost to haunt bullies, what are they talking about.
Not to mention Desiree, who died from a broken heart and wanted to grant people's wishes when she became a ghost, because she never got hers (literally told to us in the episode). And Ember, whose song is literally her death story about being killed in a fire. Even in the first episode with the Lunch Lady. I always thought it was implied that she was the lunch lady at Casper High, so when Sam changed the menu, it essentially summoned her for lack of a better term.
Hartman has also said that they generally tried to avoid ghosts being spirits of the dead but that some of the writers actually did pen episodes here and there where they were. That said, there are also several Danny Phantom ghosts that were clearly never alive
@@matityaloran9157 true!
i do think a lot of them are entities that originated in the ghost zone, but claiming NONE of them were alive is wild lmao
@@EALM95 Agreed
I love how all the adults get all up in arms about Casper possibly being a traditional ghost when meanwhile us kids were always theorizing how did Casper die? How old was he when he died? How long as he been dead?
I remember Casper being a child victim of cancer being popular in my elementary school and ages usually ranged from 5 to 13.
Jeasus Christ who knew Casper would cause people to talk about child murder
@@atommidas200 You'd be amazed by what kids will talk about when adults aren't around/paying attention :P
adults of any generation have a tendency of thinking kids are stupid when they're anything but
Casper was only A human on the real life movies he was never A human on the original anime
The problem with the claim by Harvey Comics is that part where Casper's dead pet fox comes back as a ghost. So he was clearly intended to be dead from the start.
Of course! Why else do you see the ghosts rising out of the graves at the beginning of the movie?
That doesn't conclusively track. It makes sense, and is the obvious conclusion. The fox was living then died, becoming a ghost.
But Harvey comics specifically gave casper ghost parents...which weirdly adds another step. Where I guess his parents died and then either had him or adopted him.
Harvey are dumb...
@@FFKonoko does it though? Ghost parents doesnt necessarily imply that he was born a ghost. It could also be that his whole family died and became ghosts.
@@jacobhargiss3839 Yeah. Even if Casper died before them, his parents are bound to die eventually. Or it could just be that another dead couple saw a young ghost without parents and took him in.
Came down here to say this. They very explicitly had the fox die _on screen_ and become a ghost. They are massive hypocrites if they think they ever meant to imply Casper was literally anything other than a dead child. I think they just changed their minds after that one episode where Bart Simpson hypothesizes that Casper is the ghost of Richie Rich. Of course, it's also something Matt Groening said on his Space Ghost interview, and his original "Life in Hell" comic strip, in any case they had to be aware of the theory.
I found the scene where Casper talks about his death to be haunting and intriguing as a kid and the "can I keep you" scene to be likewise insightful. It explains the state of being a ghost within the context of the movie's world. They don't quite remember how to be people, and their life is a sort of half-remembered dream.
Casper's uncles stopped caring about their unfinished business long ago and embraced their new life as ghosts. While Casper still longs for the things he has forgotten and missed. Family, love, and friends.
I thought this was going to be more similar to a Game Theory “How did Casper REALLY die?”. But it was even better.
That idea of not treating the Ghost as dead people is the same thing that Butch Hartman changed in the last season of Danny Phantom, and it make all worst.
I agree, I wish I could burn the final season of Danny Phantom out of my brain for that reason alone
The Real Ghostbusters also pulled that shit after it’s first season.
Wait so what happened in the last season that changed
@@ShadTheSham the ghost are not longer dead people, like Ember, but more monsters, like the weather ghost or the plants ghosts. All of that because Butch Hartman became extremely religious
@@AJSSPACEPLACE fuckin Q5
One of my favourite franchises is Monster High, and they tackle this kind of question in an interesting way. Some characters are just born as undead (Ghoulia is a zombie and was just born that way to zombie parents) while for others it is implied they did in fact die (Draculaura was turned in a vampire, Cleo was mummified)
Omg I totally forgot about that! Yeah!
That opens up a whole new can of worms (or I guess in this case, maggots)
Such as, how to zombies procreate if they’re organs don’t function? And also probably half rotten?
Isn't operetta also born a ghost of a phantom
Why are all the names plays off of the type of “monster” they are?
@Maeve Doyle
Ghosts and spirits are the same thing, and not all ghosts(AKA spirits) are dead beings, as there are multiple types of ghosts(AKA spirits) that have always been ghosts(AKA spirits). Some originate from the Netherworld(AKA the Spirit World, the Astral Plane, and the Realm of The Dead)(which is the universe(AKA dimension) where beings who originated from the realm of the living go after they die) and embody different aspects of life & nature(examples of this type of ghost(AKA spirit) can be seen in Nickelodeon Productions's "Avatar" franchise and the "Ghostbusters" franchise(such as Slimer, who's an embodiment of gluttony)), and others come into existence as the results of places getting build-ups of negative psychokinetic energy(negative PKE for short) caused by emotionally-charged events. There are 2 sub-types of that last mentioned type of ghost(AKA spirit), with one of them being a sub-type of ghost(AKA spirit) that is a reflection of a specific being who has died, is not self-aware, and performs the same action[s] in a loop over & over again, with that[those] action[s] being the last action[s] that was[were] taken by the dead being that the ghost(AKA spirit) is a reflection of. Before the 1995 live-action movie came along, Casper was traditionally portrayed as being a type of ghost(AKA spirit) that has always been one, hence Casper having ghost(AKA spirit) parents.
As a Ghostbusters fan who is looking forward to the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife I love the Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz cameo in the Casper movie.
I am actually stoked for the new ghostbusters film as well! I just hope we don't get something like the last film... (I knew what they were trying to do, but it just felt like shoving a square peg in a round hole a bit too much. Its as if they tried to say that the events of the first film did not exactly happen)
@@JamesTDG That's exactly what they were doing. That film, which has come to be known as "Ghostbusters: Answer The Call", takes place in it's own universe, hence why there's disbelief of the existence of ghosts(AKA spirits) and why the actors from the original films aren't playing the same characters in it.
I loved the Casper movie as a kid and the bit where he talks about his death was one of my favourite parts, not in a morbid way just that it's one of the good emotional parts of the film that felt pretty well done and handled death sensibly for a child audience. Also made me not want to go sledding.
Crittics don't know what they are talking about. As a kid watching this movie, the mature and deeper themes are what made it so memorable. I remember contemplating death, and love, and sex, in very positive ways because of this movie. And they did it with depth and class. It also gave the last act of the movie real tension. I can' imaging the movie maintaining that tension to bring Casper back without the scenes discussing his death.
We’ve finally gone full circle. From the first hot topic of 1995 to the other.
TL:DR: Casper may be a movie with a horrible sense of humour, but it has guts and you gotta give it credit for that.
It's like poetry, they rhyme
@@eddache ok George Lucas
*when the tldr is longer*
@@frogfrogson2670 On one hand, it’s more of a TL:DR for the video itself rather than a single comment. On the other hand, *when the tldr is sus*
Wish writers would create more films with darker themes. Cut down on silly and leave out the gore. Focus simply on the humanity and tragedy of a character. Show death and life as natural. 😊 Who knows there may be an after life.
Fun fact: Casper (1995) was the first film to have a computer-generated character in a lead role
I have no idea if this is true or not, so I'll leave a comment so I get notified just in case this is false and another comment corrects this.
What about toy story?
It still holds up to some degree visually
@@akiraeatsguitarpicks491 casper was may and toy story was november
Assuming Roger Rabbit (1988) doesn't qualify...?
It's kind of weird that child mortality is fine in films like My Girl or Bridge to Terebithia, but not here. I suppose because you're right about the tonal shift. With the other two, they were either grounded in reality or had a whimsical darkness that suggested an unhappy end. But at least here, the death is already established. Imagine the horror for kids walking out of those films not knowing the ending beforehand.
“Man, doing that video essay on video game movies really took a lot out of me. I should do something less emotionally taxing for the next video…like talk about dead children!”
It's always a blast when Eddie uploads. Of course my selfish brain wishes they where more frequent but the time, research and love put into these videos is definitely worth the wait
100% agreed!!!!!
I wish I could make more too but I am but a man. Butterman.
@@eddache Nana nana nana nana nana nana nana nana BUTTERMAN!
@@eddache you’re a butter man than I
@@eddache I don’t have anything funny to say but I wanted to acknowledge this myself
Casper deserves a reboot. If Dreamworks does own Casper then I'd love for them do a Casper animated movie, where he tries to make friends due to not having any in life or something.
Casper's too cute to be forgotten.
It was recently discovered on Twitter that there was concept art for an animated Casper movie for DreamWorks around the 2010s. (He kinda looked like a Dr Seuss character.) But we don't know what the plot was or why it was scrapped. I know DreamWorks was also working on a ghost movie called B.O.O. which had a large Casper cameo, but who knows if it was the same.
In 2022, it was announced a live action series is in the works for Peacock. And it was said to be inspired by Riverdale (oh boy...) and feature a plot involving someone moving to a town with a dark past, and would've had Casper being a highschooler and having friends with benefits. (Which really misses the point of Casper's naive innocence so he could kiss a teen. It feels like a millennium watched the Ballroom scene from the first movie and got an idea of the plot. 🤮.)
"This was made to be 'in the moment' before the 'moment' became 26 years ago *who gave time permission to keep going like that???* "
Seeing as my 26th birthday was 2 days ago this hit close to home...
I had no idea that movie implying Casper was dead was so controversial, and the reaction of it seems a bit overblown if you asked me.
yeah, I mean... he's a ghost, what do they expect?
In regards to Casper having parents, I just figured that he and his parents all died at the same time during some kind of tragic accident that ultimately took their lives. It's the only way I can see that they would all be dead but still together. That may sound bleak and unpleasant, but I like to think of it this way:
The three of them were so devoted and loving towards one another that their unfinished business was the love for each other manifested and it keeps them all together as the loving family they always were, just a bit transparent. In a way, it's either beautifully tragic or tragically beautiful, depending on your outlook I suppose. That being said, I actually like the way they handled Casper's death in the movie.
That’s a great way to look at it. I like that a lot.
@@dontblink2564 Thanks! ^_^ I hope that you're doing well in life and continue to be well in general.
@@loneronin6813 You’re welcome and thank you. You too!
@@loneronin6813 Ghosts and spirits are the same thing, and not all ghosts(AKA spirits) are dead beings, as there are multiple types of ghosts(AKA spirits) that have always been ghosts(AKA spirits). Some originate from the Netherworld(AKA the Spirit World, the Astral Plane, and the Realm of The Dead)(which is the universe(AKA dimension) where beings who originated from the realm of the living go after they die) and embody different aspects of life & nature(examples of this type of ghost(AKA spirit) can be seen in Nickelodeon Productions's "Avatar" franchise and the "Ghostbusters" franchise(such as Slimer, who's an embodiment of gluttony)), and others come into existence as the results of places getting build-ups of negative psychokinetic energy(negative PKE for short) caused by emotionally-charged events. There are 2 sub-types of that last mentioned type of ghost(AKA spirit), with one of them being a sub-type of ghost(AKA spirit) that is a reflection of a specific being who has died, is not self-aware, and performs the same action[s] in a loop over & over again, with that[those] action[s] being the last action[s] that was[were] taken by the dead being that the ghost(AKA spirit) is a reflection of. Before the 1995 live-action movie came along, Casper was traditionally portrayed as being a type of ghost(AKA spirit) that has always been one, hence Casper having ghost(AKA spirit) parents.
@@dontblink2564 Ghosts and spirits are the same thing, and not all ghosts(AKA spirits) are dead beings, as there are multiple types of ghosts(AKA spirits) that have always been ghosts(AKA spirits). Some originate from the Netherworld(AKA the Spirit World, the Astral Plane, and the Realm of The Dead)(which is the universe(AKA dimension) where beings who originated from the realm of the living go after they die) and embody different aspects of life & nature(examples of this type of ghost(AKA spirit) can be seen in Nickelodeon Productions's "Avatar" franchise and the "Ghostbusters" franchise(such as Slimer, who's an embodiment of gluttony)), and others come into existence as the results of places getting build-ups of negative psychokinetic energy(negative PKE for short) caused by emotionally-charged events. There are 2 sub-types of that last mentioned type of ghost(AKA spirit), with one of them being a sub-type of ghost(AKA spirit) that is a reflection of a specific being who has died, is not self-aware, and performs the same action[s] in a loop over & over again, with that[those] action[s] being the last action[s] that was[were] taken by the dead being that the ghost(AKA spirit) is a reflection of. Before the 1995 live-action movie came along, Casper was traditionally portrayed as being a type of ghost(AKA spirit) that has always been one, hence Casper having ghost(AKA spirit) parents.
Can't believe you missed out the weird show that was Casper's Scare School! An absolute classic show from when I was little
I was SO obsessed with it! Here in Portugal, it kinda aired every night in reruns, for some reason? And I kinda had a little kiddie crush on the zombie gal. Can't remember her name, tho..
Nostalgia moment
I legit thought that was a fever dream.
Core memory unlocked, I only remember the vampire
@@squirrelgadget3498Everyone life's vampires 🧛♂️ or ghosts 👻 with relatable backstiries 😅
I've been vaguely aware of the harvey girls show for years now but i never once noticed that they were characters from those comics. but now it's like, duh, they have that same richie rich/casper face!!
I remember seeing this movie in theaters with my mom and little brother. I was a bit too old for it, I think (though I watched the original cartoons in reruns earlier and found them ok), because I found it dumb, and wondered what the point of the whole thing was. Then my mom said that it was for kids, and the main idea is clearly to get them not to fear death so much. That really resonated with me because as a younger kid I went through a phase of being very afraid of death to the point of it keeping me up at night. If this is at all true then Casper being dead is the whole point of the film.
I think the cgi from the 1995 movie holds up rather well. But the prequel and "Scare School" look really dated.
I feel like the TH-cam series clover tackled this type of idea really well by having most of the characters be ghosts and talk (hell even sing) about their pasts and how they died. It's like of Casper went all the way while still being light-hearted
I honestly always loved the twist of Casper being a real ghost. It’s personally what endeared me to him so much. I ironically fell in a freezing cold creek when I was little, so that’s probably why I kinda related to him.
How do you ironically fall?
@@saltygibus5746 It’s ironic because of the Casper story. Did you even watch the video?
@@thetwistedsamurai First off, that's not irony. That's coincidentally.
Secondly, the way you phrased it made it sound like you fell with ironic intent, instead of the fall itself being ironic. So it'd be more like 'Ironically, I fell in a freezing cold creek when I was little,'
PLEASE, you, and EVERYONE, if you haven't already, embrace the One True Only God YHWH Jehovah, Only One Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son and Lord and Savior of our souls and the Only One Holy Spirit. God is good. God is love. Jesus is Lord. Jesus IS coming. Your soul depends on it!
I have seen God act in my life. He saved my soul, changed my heart, changed my mind, helped people through me, took care of people in my life, people I hurt before I found God. God is the only reason I was able to reconcile with my dad before he died.
God worked through Jesus Christ to save our souls. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Be baptized in The Holy Spirit, and if He wills, water as well. Repent of your sins, accept God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your heart, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father Jehovah God but through Him.
Not long after I got saved I prayed to God for help understanding the Holy Bible, and that same day someone knocked on my door asking me if I wanted to understand the Bible.
The Holy Bible says, "love thy enemy", "turn the other cheek", "If your enemy is hungry, feed him", "if he is thirsty, give him a drink", "pray for those who persecute you", "do not repay evil for evil".
LORD willing, all humans may commit sin of almost every kind (gay, straight), and that's wrong, and all humans sin, as God tells us through the The Holy Bible, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Holy Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
I honestly thought it was pretty fascinating that they decided to give Casper a backstory.,definitely felt it pretty compelling . Still pretty bummed they the supposed direct to VHS prequel, a spirited beginning never really elaborated on it.
I feel like Eddie is descending into insanity, I don't like how I relate to that.
That 90s Casper movie is still a guilty pleasure of mine
As a kid who was very specifically afraid of mortality (don't ask), I loved the Casper movie. That scene, may have made me emotional, but they made care about Casper. The uncomfortable scenes if I can remember how I felt were the "haha-goofy-silly" death scenes of the Dad and main antagonist lady.
PLEASE, you, and EVERYONE, if you haven't already, embrace the One True Only God YHWH Jehovah, Only One Jesus Christ His Only Begotten Son and Lord and Savior of our souls and the Only One Holy Spirit. God is good. God is love. Jesus is Lord. Jesus IS coming. Your soul depends on it!
I have seen God act in my life. He saved my soul, changed my heart, changed my mind, helped people through me, took care of people in my life, people I hurt before I found God. God is the only reason I was able to reconcile with my dad before he died.
God worked through Jesus Christ to save our souls. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved. Be baptized in The Holy Spirit, and if He wills, water as well. Repent of your sins, accept God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit into your heart, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus Christ is The Way, The Truth and The Life. No one comes to the Father Jehovah God but through Him.
Not long after I got saved I prayed to God for help understanding the Holy Bible, and that same day someone knocked on my door asking me if I wanted to understand the Bible.
The Holy Bible says, "love thy enemy", "turn the other cheek", "If your enemy is hungry, feed him", "if he is thirsty, give him a drink", "pray for those who persecute you", "do not repay evil for evil".
LORD willing, all humans may commit sin of almost every kind (gay, straight), and that's wrong, and all humans sin, as God tells us through the The Holy Bible, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." The Holy Bible also says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
This and the 90s Casper cartoon were my childhood.
Spooky voiced by Rob Paulsen is underrated
I wasn’t born yet in the 90s but on this channel I post some Casper episodes from the 90s!
Loved this video! Interestingly, Disney just released The Ghost and Molly McGee, and they don’t seem to be shying away from the “ghosts are dead people” idea, at least not from the first five episodes they have on Disney Plus. I’m beginning to wonder if they’ll explain how Scratch died, though my theory is that he’s the ghost of Master Shake from ATHF, and just wants to chill in his house.
İo, ur blocking the road!
Somone pass me the floute or a poke ball
Honestly I love the "They're magical creatures" angle with a literal death turned to a ghost character in that fox ...
I still love the 1995 Casper movie.
That is one of my main childhood movies alongside Fieval Goes West, Hocus Pocus and The Neverending Story.
As a child, my favorite parts of the movie were the more emotional scenes where Casper talks about how he died believe it or not. I wish we got that deeper more serious version of the movie. Casper might then be remembered as a classic instead of just another 90's movie.
Slimer was actually a king named Remils who died of heart failure in the comics. In 2016's version of Ghostbusters, he was a gangster who shot a waiter who got his order wrong, leading to his execution.
"Not all hauntings are caused by the dead, child.
Sometimes they're caused by emotions.
Feelings kept locked away so long,
that they manifest themselves as a malevolent force."
- Ruby Zeldastein / Roger Smith, Poltergasm, American Dad!
Or in this case "Friendly".
😏
In that case, the force is actually a person's subconscious dark side 😅 This concept is shown in several films. Most popular was Forbiden Planet where a crazy professor become obsessed with tech from ancextinct alien society.😊
SUPER glad Harvey girls forever is getting this recognition! It’s a seriously overlooked show!
-Funny how The Simpsons predicted the "Cartoon Dark Theories"
-Even as a kid, like, Every kid, isn't afraid or the idea of be formely live one (but not Richie Rich) is like a basic idea of ghost
-In the Latin American Dub, they change the dialogue of be "Be like Oprah on Hiatus" to a timeless one of "I eat like a sumo Wrestler"
They didn't predict it. It's satire. It's something people even before Simpsons was made was talking about.
Honestly this kind of reminds me of how with Danny Phantom by season 3 had Butch Hartman say the ghost weren't dead people and were just interdimensional monsters or something. This was even more egregious than Casper since in earlier seasons we saw ghost who were definitely once human and became ghost pretty much implying they died.
yea that was so weird, i mean maybe there's different kinds of ghost but their not very clear on that, it's like where's the location of Springfield or what's under Double D's hat? it's a mystery
@@Numbuh8578 I mean I'd be fine with having some ghost just being monsters since Ghostbusters also played with that at times, but saying all of them are contradicts backstories of certain characters.
Well, Butch also turned out to be a grade A Knobhead in general. Death of the Author is in full swing here, pun intended.
Hartman was saying that in interviews well before the third season aired. And even the other writers could never come up with a consistent answer to if the ghosts were supposed to be spirits of the dead or extradimensional beings
@@matityaloran9157 i guess the ghosts are both then. some are the type of ghost that was originally a person but died in some way. others are not.
I was trying my best to forget that "Casper Scare School" happened, and then this video reminded me of it. I blame it for Casper going on a hiatus till DreamWorks worked on "Harvey Girls Forever"... which ended up changing character designs (and maybe personalities).
“STOP TALKING ABOUT DEAD CHILDREN!!!”
Matpat: How about no?
Having Casper be...like that...toward girls when his only points of contact were his uncles and TV seems pretty reasonable. TV and media (admittedly, Casper itself being part of that) gave me a lot of weird expectations about relationships, and some of those took a really long time to go away.
Always a pleasure editing these, what was more of a pleasure though? Somehow shoehorning the Muppets into a video about Casper. I truly am a rapscallion
I think making Casper not be an undead child is wrong because it goes against the "twist" nature of the character. The point of Casper is that he's a "friendly" ghost, meaning that most ghosts are not... with the implication that other ghosts are not friendly because they're undead (formerly living) monsters. This is the same twist that runs across several of Harvey's major characters: Wendy is a good little witch (even though most witches are evil), Hot Stuff is a friendly devil (even though most devils are evil), Richie Rich is a nice "poor little rich kid" (even though most rich people are evil ;) ), etc.
If Casper's just a natural spirit or something, then there's no reason why that newly invented race of creatures would be typically evil, so there's no ironic twist in having Casper be a friendly natural spirit.
I've always had this one idea for Casper regarding his state of being. What if at some point Casper transcends from being a ghost to like a Spirit of Hope and Kindness. Like he becomes an embodiment of the all hope and kindness mankind has deep down in our souls and is destined to help people and make friends for all of eternity? Just a thought.
Of all the spiritual creatures in pop culture Harvey comics could have gone with, they went with the one that's a dead person, then hated that people thought the character was a dead person
Just go with spirit or whatever
That scene was such an amazing moment and honestly a big reason I still remember the film. I forgot about all of Casper’s creepy behavior though
I remember casper scare school it was weird hearing his adult voice and the characters where strange
And Eddie continues to be one of the most talented creators on this site. Less than 200k subs? Them losers don't know what they are missing.
I always liked the line "Can i keep you" when that interesting chime music is playing and when Casper was alive for a bit as well... such a creepy off set line in that movie.
I would argue that the ghosts from Ghostbusters could easily be deceased monsters. I mean, Vigo from Ghostbusters II looks like some artistic versions of Count Dracula, for example.
Just look at the portrait of prince Charles
I was a child when this came out. The scene did not disturb me or fill me with uncomfortable questions to bother my mother with, but did pull on my hearts strings, which Mufasa's death did not. I've always liked this movie, the musical score alone is great.
man i love these videos so much. i often go back to long videos like the one about spoof movies and will have them on whilst i do chores around the house to help with my adhd. thanks eddie!
I assume they wanted to make it more macabre since Christina Ricci was fresh off the Addams Family movies. It makes sense they'd want to appeal to the audience for those movies.
I mostly like it because it was the first movie I saw at a drive-in (double feature with Apollo 13).
You know, before I watched this, I didn’t even know Casper was a character that had been around since the 40s, this was an interesting learning experience for me.
Mr Eddache I know this is unrelated but could we please get a full video of you nerding out on Star Trek TNG because that is without a doubt the best thing introduced me to your channel when you talked about time travel. Great video!
I love the continuity at 0:24
Fun fact actually: The ghost busters videogame gives us lore for different ghosts and how their original people died, if i remember right, slimer was a gluttonous man who ate so much his stomach just gave out.
The game is canon, as it's referenced multiple times in the newer films excluding Ghostbusters2016 which the director specifically stated the game wasn't canon... but then that got de-canonized too, so that cancels his BS out.
I love "Casper the overly friendly ghost". XD I also thought he was really creepy when I watched it, glad someone else agrees. I completely agree with your overall point too, the scene about Casper's death was tragically sweet and I think it was great to have in there.
I remember the old 3d animated movies, loved those
Because I was a very odd child I read Stephen King novels and collected vintage Harvey Comics. Strangely, while I did know that ghosts are supposed to be the spirits of the deceased, I didn't give any thought to Casper's backstory, perhaps for the same reason why I never questioned how Jughead never aged and got fat or how you never saw Shaggy and Scooby hitting the bong.
I loved Casper when I was younger. I rewatched it with my son about 2 years ago. It hasn’t aged the best (son still loved it) but I really do think that movie had some balls to talk about death in the open. Most kids movies that involve death (Disney especially) mostly dealt with it more off screen and kind of hint at it. But Casper chose to just tackle it head on and not beat around the bush because it is a topic that we can’t beat around the bush when the time comes to talk to kids about death and I just appreciate that they decided to talk about it in a way that makes sense to a younger audience
1:01 Eddie :Radical to the max!
Me: Is... Is that sonic?
Eh, I'm indifferent to the idea of Casper being the ghost of a dead person, doesn't really enrich or ruin squat. Sometimes a ghost/spirit just *is* rather then "ever was".
Of course a mix of Ghosts who were born ghosts and Ghosts came from someone dying is how I'd do it.
1:02 love the Eddache Adventure art
Rolling Around At The Speed Of Copyright Infringement
As a kid it never crossed my mind that a child had to die in order for Caspar to exist. Thinking about it now, maybe he was the kid that flew his kite into the pylon and got horribly electrocuted in front of his screaming sister.
My theory as to why Casper can't crossover even after his fathers death is that he's a very special kind of ghost. Everyone is put on this earth for a reason and Casper was so sweet and friendly in life that the mortal realm could not bear to be parted from his memory when he died so young. Instead of being stuck with "unfinished business" he has a new lease on life (or should I say afterlife) of spreading friendship as a spirit.
BRO YOU'RE THE FIRST TH-camR TO MAKE ME EXTREMELY EXCITED WHEN YOU UPLOAD
Have you ever heard of captain disillusion?
Ooooh new Eddache and on Casper this is gonna be interesting especially the whole Harvey comics deal over the movie
No matter how much the critics and creators hated it. I will always love this movie. It's just so emotional of that scene everyone always remembered.
I'm pretty sure I was the target audience of this movie when it came out (about 9) and it worked for me; it made sense, Casper is a ghost, he must have being alive and die (although I did wonder why no one made a bigger deal of the fact that Casper's dad broke the rules of life and death). When I watched the prequel, I was genuinely upset they retconned the origin from the previous movie
3:34 You see, when a mommy ghost and a daddy ghost love each other very much, they [REDACTED] and that’s how it’s done.
For those looking for a show that plays with the comedy around ghosts being dead folks, there’s a new series out called The Ghost and Molly McGee- and it’s REALLY good
I love it when youtubers get sponsored by manscaped because it is absolutely impossible to transition into from the rest of the video so the sponsorship always starts with something along the lines of "but first off, BALLS! we have 'em!".
what about a video about the rolling stones?
"lets get the ball rolling on these stones. Speaking of which..."
Slimer did represent a real human. He represented John Balushi, the actor who died who Bill Murray took the place of. The design team was even told to try and make his face look like Balushis. They failed, but that was what they were going for.
The movie dealing with Casper's death was amazing for kids imo. Being to able to have some understanding of such a emotional and tough subject, especially when it comes from a safe and engaging thing like a fun little movie, prepares them somewhat for when it happens in real life. Kids are humans just like adults. They have the same emotions and have to deal with loss just like adults. Adults just have more experience.
3:17 The fox is killed because of course it is, most children's media that features foxes has them killed eventually, and the more cute and adorable a fox is the bigger the death flag.
I agree with your assessment here. In fact, nowadays whenever people go back to talking about this film it’s usually the darker and sadder moments about Casper discussing his death that are brought up, not so much the dated jokes and brash humour. It’s even elevated with James Horner’s (of Titanic fame) soundtrack that hit deep on the emotional core that this movie was going for underneath. The track _Casper’s Lullaby_ brings up some feeling of sorrow, innocence, and hope that perfectly encompasses the the theme and Casper’s character as a whole. It’s a real tearjerker and one my favourite’s of Jame’s work.
I definitely think that Casper could use a reboot updated to our standards that tries to tackles these issues dead on. There’s some great potential of a friendly but hurt little ghost who can relate and teach children a wonderful lesson about mortality and dealing with such loneliness. Looking at this movie now as an adult I feel for it. It makes me relate on my loneliness and how much we take for granted for even being here.
“They’re just magical creatures, like goblins, fairies, or the French.”
There’s that Brit humor.
When I was younger my parents had a lot of VHS tapes of these older shows. And I remember there was a Casper one and I don't remember the episode, but I remember he becomes human again and goes to a movie theater and claims he's over 100 years old. Which to me heavily implies that he was at one point human
12:46 Casper is the ghost of Dipper Pines.
no he's not fake fan
@@adamk-paxlogan7330Sucks lol what's wrong with you?
like you've got to be memeing right
8:44, Ghostbusters has ghosts that are explicitly spirits of the dead but Slimer is clearly not one of them
Then what is Slimer then?
@@bill-bath9621 Generic monster
Gives the same energy as Butch Hartman claiming Danny Phantom's ghosts aren't dead, but beings from another dimension or something like that.
Despite them implying otherwise in the show itself lol.
Butch says a lot of things, lots of very bad things, we don’t talk about him
The movie also had Ghostbusters being scared of Casper's home, fleeing and the memorable quote, "Who're gonna call? Someone else!
I was not expecting Casper the Friendly Ghost to be voiced by Lewey Duck
Me neither
Casper '95 was spellbinding to me as a child. I remember seeing it as a kid and my jaw dropped from the effects. I watch it basically every Halloween and the emotional moments still really resonate with me. I also always thought "can I keep you" was so sweet. As a kid I found it romantic, as an adult I see it as actually really maintaining Casper's innocence as a child.
He's obviously a dead child. The fox cartoon from early on cement it.
Casper was only A human on the real life movies he was never A human on the original anime
Also, I'm glad someone is talking about Harvey Comics in the present day.
As a tot I absolutely /adored/ the live-action Casper film, death discussion scene et all. Also I love how Harvey Comics hated that film but not Casper & The Angels (literally Casper in space)
I actually like that Casper is teaching and discussing death tbh, It gives kids to understand it rather than avoiding it like the plague
What did Harvey Cartoons expect? They literally made a ghost child and people are going to ask about how he died
It's weird, this comic about an undead character, built entirely on suicide jokes, came out of a policy that expressly forbade portrayals of the undead and of self-harm