Casper revealed parts of the Friendly Ghost’s backstory, including how he died, adding a layer of tragedy to his story. The adventures of Casper the Friendly Ghost started in a series of cartoons, and in 1995, he made the jump to the big screen in Casper, directed by Brad Silberling. Casper mixed live-action with CGI in order to bring the title ghost and his uncles, the Ghostly Trio, to life, becoming the first movie to have a fully CGI character in the lead role. Although Casper stayed true to the character’s sweetness and ideas against scaring humans, it also went on a darker path by exploring parts of Casper’s backstory.
Casper follows Dr. James Harvey (Bill Pullman) and his daughter Kat (Christina Ricci), who are called by Carrigan Crittenden (Cathy Moriarty) to get rid of the ghosts living in Whipstaff Manor, which she inherited from her father. Dr. Harvey and Kat soon befriend the Ghostly Trio and Casper, and team up to stop Carrigan from kicking them out and stealing Casper’s treasure. Casper addressed themes of grief and death, not just through Dr. Harvey’s search for the ghost of his wife, Amelia, but also through Casper’s backstory, as it explains what happened that led him to become a ghost.
Casper Died From Pneumonia At The Age Of 12
Kat and Casper quickly developed a strong friendship and had moments where they opened up to each other about the tragedies in their lives. However, when Kat asked him about what his life was like, Casper said he couldn’t remember anything before becoming a ghost. One day, Kat found Casper’s toys and other belongings in the attic and set them up for him. This unblocked Casper’s memory, but moments later, after giving Kat his mother’s old wedding gown to wear at her Halloween party, Casper found his old sled, which triggered the memory of how he died and why he didn’t cross over and became a ghost.
Casper told Kat that he begged his father to get him the sled, and one morning, he came down for breakfast and found the sled. Casper then spent the whole day sledding, and though his father told him to stop and go back inside, Casper didn’t care as he was having a lot of fun. Casper continued playing outside for hours until it got dark and colder. As a result, Casper got sick, and as revealed in an old newspaper, Casper died of pneumonia when he was just 12 years old.
Unable to cope with the death of his son, Casper’s father came up with the Lazarus, a machine through which he hoped to bring his son back to life. Casper’s father claimed to be haunted by the ghost of his son, which wasn’t a lie as Casper decided to stay with his father, but his father was sent to a mental institution, where he died. Casper couldn’t cross over after that, so he stayed in his house as a ghost.
Who Plays The Human Version Of Casper The Ghost
Casper was played by two different actors in his first live-action movie. Malachi Pearson voiced Casper the ghost, but when Kat’s mom granted Casper his wish of coming back to life (though only until 10 o’clock), human Casper was played by another actor. Devon Sawa played human Casper, and although his role was very brief, it was enough to establish him as a teen heartthrob. Sawa’s popularity grew even more after starring in the horror movie Final Destination, after which he played Owen Elliot/Sam Matthews in the TV series Nikita and various roles in the TV series Chucky.
