Casper the friendly ghost was created in 1930 by Joe Oriolo and Seymour Reit. The two got together with the idea of creating the ghostly character for a children’s book, but not many gave their idea serious consideration at that time. Eventually the book was sold to Paramount’s animated division and it was released in 1945 with some minor changes to the original book. The plight of Casper centers on his desire to make friends with people and the horrified responses that he gets from people and animals. The poor friendly ghost is saddened by his inability to make any friends until he meets Bonnie and Johnny, two neighborhood children who bring him home to meet their family.
There was concern during this time that the character of Casper was actually a dead little boy. He was shown living next to a gravestone and there was no other explanation given in the early cartoons. Later the story that Casper was a ghost because he was the child of two ghosts was the answer given by Harvey Comics about the ghostly little boy.
There were two more books after the initial one called A Haunting We Will Go and There’s Good Boos To-Night. These were also produced into films and eventually Casper got his own cartoon series in 1950. The series enjoyed success during this initial run and another series was developed in 1963 and featured a number of cartoons introduced by Harveytoons.
In 1995, Casper was developed into a feature length film and finally Casper was given a back story. The film told the story of Casper as a twelve year old boy who died of pneumonia while living with his father. There are many who believe that the story of Whipstaff Manor that is depicted in the film as Casper’s home with his father is actually the story of the Schroeppel family who, while living in Schroeppel Mansion in Syracuse, NY lost a twelve year old boy named Casper while living in that home and many believe that the boy haunts the mansion today. The Casper in the 1995 film, however had his name changed to Casper McFadden instead of using the Schroeppel name.
One of the biggest developments in the story of Casper brought about by the 1995 film is that it finally puts a real boy behind the notion of Casper which is something that was very controversial when the character was first introduced to the world. Concern over showing the ghost as a dead little boy horrified those who were in control of the character during its initial launch. Today, the story of Casper McFadden does not seem to horrify the public or children anymore.
For decades Casper has delighted children with many kids happily donning Halloween costumes designed to emulate their favorite friendly ghost. Another series made its way to the television screen after the 1995 film. There were also two other films that are considered by some as sequels and prequels to the 1995 version although many people believe that the subsequent films do not follow the same path as the first.
Baby boomers and Harvey Comics: Baby-Boom children grew up with Harvey Comics. This page explores the various comics released in the Baby-Boom era, including Casper the Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost, Number 63: A sample cover of one of the 1957 Casper comics
1995 movie: The production of Casper the Friendly Ghost in 1995
Casper Theme Song: The original theme song for Casper the friendly ghost helped the 1950s cartoon become a big hit
The Art of Harvey Comics: History of the comic company responsible for the friendly ghost
Seymour Reit Biography: Biography of one of the two creators responsible for bring Casper the Friendly Ghost to television
Casper History: History of the friendly ghost's career from cartoons to comics to feature length movies
Casper Scare School: Official site of the 2006 animated movie that was released on Cartoon Network
The friendliest ghost you know: Who are Casper and his friends Wendy and Spooky?
No such thing as ghosts?: Reviews of the 1995 Casper movie starring Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci
Reviews: A compilation of reviews from the movie including reviews by Roger Ebert and U.S.A. Today
Article written by Janice D. McDonald