Night At The Movies
Casper (1995) (Universal) 
Synopsis:
    Casper, the friendly ghost, needs a friend.  He finds one in Kat, who moves in with her father to help rid the house of ghosts.  Casper and Kat become the best friends, and their friendship is put to the test when Kat's father needs her help more than Casper does.

Availability:
    VHS:  Pan and Scan

Cast/Crew:
Christina Ricci                    Kat
    The Addams Family
        Addams Family Values
        Now and Then
        The Opposite of Sex

Bill Pullman                        James Harvey
        Independence Day
        Newsies
        Spaceballs
        The Rainbow and the Serpant
        While You Were Sleeping
        Mr. Wrong

Miscellaneous:
    This was the first film to actually use a CGI created character to be a main character in a film.  CGI has been used to create dinosaurs in Jurrasic Park, as well as replace various objects or even create new objects which were not in the original filming.
    Casper was based on the Casper comic books from Harvey Publications.
    There are two sequels, which I do not reccomend watching.
                Casper: A Spirited Begining
                Casper Meets Wendy
    Also, a new cartoon series was created, using characters from the movie and the classic Harvey comic books.

MPAA Rating:
    PG for language and some minor viloence, deaths (which result in ghosts).

My Rating:
    The first three quarters of the film is great.  It includes cameos of Father Quido Sarduchi parodying The Exorcist, and Dan Akroyd reprising his Ghostbusters role.  Even Ben Stien of Ferris Beuller fame (Beuller . . . Beuller . . . Beuller . . .) has a cameo.  The storyline is original and it almost seems believable.  We even learn how Casper died.  Unfortunately, it all falls apart towards the end when we learn that Casper's father was an inventor bent on bringing his son back from the dead.  While it moves the plot along, it is a pretty weak plothole.  Every thing climaxes rather quick, but the dance at the end is touching.  Beware: Little Richard sings his version of Casper the Friendly Ghost over the closing credits.
    ***
A-I                    Night at the Movies 1