Casper: A Spirited Beginning

Casper: A Spirited Beginning
Casper, his uncles and the evil Kibosh
Directed by	Sean McNamara
Produced by	Mike Elliott
Written by	Karey Kirkpatrick Jymn Magon Thomas Hart Thomas McCluskey(story) Rob Kerchner (story)
Based on	Casper the Friendly Ghost by Seymour Reit Joe Oriolo
Starring	Steve Guttenberg Lori Loughlin Rodney Dangerfield Michael McKean Brendan Ryan Barrett Voices: Jeremy Foley Bill Farmer Jim Ward Jess Harnell James Earl Jones Pauly Shore
Music by	Udi Harpaz
Cinematography	Christian Sebaldt
Edited by	John Walts John Gilbert
Production company	Harvey Films Saban Entertainment
Distributed by	20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release dates	September 9, 1997
Running time	90 min.
Language	English

Casper: A Spirited Beginning is a 1997 direct-to-video film based on the Harvey Comics cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost. It is the first prequel/spin-off to the 1995 film Casper, produced by The Harvey Entertainment Company and Saban Entertainment and released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on September 9, 1997 after the company's acquisition of Casper from Universal.

Plot

Casper is on a train full of ghosts, with no idea of where he is and is completely unaware of the fact that he is actually a ghost himself. Instead of going to Ghost Central, where the train is headed, he is kicked off the train. Casper then finds himself in the city of Deedstown, where he unintentionally scares all of the town's citizens. Only then does Casper realize that he is a ghost.

Meanwhile, a boy named Chris Carson, a loner with a passionate obsession with the supernatural, has a strained relationship with his father, work-obsessed Tim Carson, who is attempting to demolish the Applegate Mansion to begin plans for a new renovation for the town. However a group of protesters, led by Sheila Fistergraff, are against the demolition of the building, which they consider as a historic landmark. Tim tries to reason with them, saying that the old building is falling apart and that he only wants to improve the community by building a new mini-mall in its place. The protesters refuse the change, but just as the bulldozer is about to tear down the building, the wrecking crew and the protesters are tormented by Stretch, Fatso, and Stinky, the Ghostly Trio. They scare everyone away and take possession of the old mansion.

Meanwhile, Chris runs into a gang of bullies on his way to school who tease and antagonize him about his obsession. The frightened victims from the ghost attack run past them, allowing Chris to flee from his antagonists. Chris enters the mansion and meets the Ghostly Trio, who are celebrating their victory. Chris desperately wants to become a member of the Ghostly Trio and enthusiastically requests to join their group. However, the ghosts rebuff and harshly reject him, since he is human.

Meanwhile, the train that Casper was on arrives in Ghost Central, where new spirits are trained to learn the proper ghost lifestyle and work to receive a haunting license. Ghost Central is run by the evil Kibosh and his spineless assistant Snivel who realizes Casper is missing. Kibosh immediately becomes furious and worried about how he would look if some rookie ghost was wandering around without any proper schooling. Kibosh instructs Snivel to find Casper and bring him back to Ghost Central.

Back in Deedstown, Mayor Johnny Hunt informs Tim that if Applegate Mansion is not demolished by the next day then he will be fired. At school, the bullies try to pull a prank on Chris by dropping a balloon full of gunk on him, but it fails and lands on Principal Rabie instead. Angered, he grabs Chris and a bully named Brock. However, Chris is saved when his teacher, Fistergraff, intervenes and says that Chris should stand up for himself. A news report then comes on the TV, with the mayor and Tim informing the press that the demolition project will proceed as planned, despite a series of setbacks, by which Fistergraff is outraged.

Chris runs into Casper and they instantly become friends. Chris is thrilled to meet another ghost and Casper is excited to find a human who will not scream at him or run away; and Casper and Chris both have something in common. Together they go to Applegate Mansion. Casper admits that he doesn't know how to act like a ghost. Chris tries to teach Casper how to act like a real ghost until the Ghostly Trio shows up and confront the boy. Chris introduces Casper to the Trio who are impressed with meeting another ghost and become excited when they find out that Casper never went to training, and is therefore unspoiled by Kibosh. The three ghosts see a golden opportunity to prove that their techniques are better than Kibosh's. The Ghostly Trio decides to accept Casper as part of their group and teach him everything they know. However, unknown to them, Snivel finds them (and was eavesdropping) and leaves to inform Kibosh. Casper's lessons with the trio begin, with him learning new techniques such as "stealth mode" (become invisible) and how to go through solid walls. Meanwhile, Snivel calls Kibosh and informs him that he found Casper with the Ghostly Trio and that the trio has been teaching Casper unorthodox and illegal ghostly techniques, which angers Kibosh.

Chris is disappointed when his father does not show up to his school's open house that night and Fistergraff tries her best to comfort and support Chris. However, back at the mansion, Casper is still lacking the ability to act scary, because he just wants to be friendly. With that the Trio sends Casper out. The next morning Chris is still disappointed that his dad did not show up and Tim promises to spend more time with him. Chris is excited until a sad Casper floats into to his room and informs him what happened. Chris offers to help Casper and teach him what he needs to know. While Chris is giving Casper ghost lessons at school, Brock and his gang show up and tease Chris. Amazingly, one of them, Jennifer, sticks up for Chris. Casper attacks Brock by dropping a globe on his head and then rocketing him out of the library with a fire extinguisher. Brock then gets into trouble with the principal.

Excited by his accomplishments, Casper flies off to test his new powers. During a test, he is able to scare away a man who attempts to rob a convenience store and the owner of the store thanks Casper for saving his life. Casper is ecstatic and decides to use his ghostly powers to help people. Meanwhile, Tim's office catches on fire because of an accident caused by Bill Case, a professional bomber hired by Tim, and he is unable to attend the meeting. Disappointed, Chris storms off but soon becomes hopeful that his dad will remember their other plans. Fistergraff shows up at Chris's house to return something that he left at school and Chris briefly invites her inside for a short visit.

Snivel sees Casper acting like "the fleshie's slave" and leaves to report back to Kibosh. Unable to tolerate any further, Kibosh leaves Ghost Central to retrieve Casper himself. The Ghostly Trio finds out about Casper's good deeds as well and abduct him. Chris tries to introduce Tim to Casper, but Tim does not believe Chris and leaves to visit the mayor. Chris feels betrayed by Casper and runs away from home. But then Brock and his gang grab him and lock him in the mansion, unaware that Bill has planted a bomb inside.

The next morning, Kibosh arrives in Deedstown and captures The Trio. Snivel is sent out to find Casper. Tim wakes up and discovers that Chris is gone, having left a note that he ran away. Casper flies in and meets Tim, who is at first frightened but then listens to Casper and they both decide to go out and find Chris. Tim rushes to save Chris when he discovers that his son is in the Applegate Mansion, which is about to explode and hitches a ride with Fistergraff. Casper arrives at the mansion and finds Chris trying to escape. Tim gets his son out of the house and Casper eats the bomb which explodes in his stomach, saving the mansion. Kibosh is impressed with Casper's trick and Casper informs him that the Ghostly Trio taught him how to do it. Kibosh says that only ghosts who are a family can haunt together, so The Trio lies to Kibosh and say that they are Casper's uncles. Kibosh allows Casper to stay with his 'uncles' and leaves them in peace. Chris and his father reconcile and Brock and his gang get their comeuppance when the Trio hang them from the branches of a nearby tree.

Cast

• Steve Guttenberg as Tim Carson
• Lori Loughlin as Sheila Fistergraff
• Rodney Dangerfield as Mayor Johnny Hunt
• Michael McKean as Bill Case
• Brendan Ryan Barrett as Chris Carson
• Richard Moll as Principal Rabie
• Shannon Chandler as Jennifer
• Steven Hartman as Brock Lee
• Logan Robbins as Danny
• D'Juan Watts as Leon
• Sherman Hemsley as Store Owner
• Ben Stein as Grocer
• Brian Doyle-Murray as Foreman Dave
• Edie McClurg as Librarian
• Roger Halston as Stan
• Casper Van Dien as Bystander
• Michael James McDonald as Sarcastic Protester

Voice cast

• Jeremy Foley as Casper
• James Ward as Stretch
• Jess Harnell as Fatso
• Bill Farmer as Stinkie
• James Earl Jones as Kibosh
• Pauly Shore as Snivel

Soundtrack

Casper: A Spirited Beginning: The Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	October 24, 1997
Label	EMI-Capitol

See also

• List of ghost films

External links

• Casper: A Spirited Beginning at the Internet Movie Database
• Casper: A Spirited Beginning at AllMovie