''The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper'' is an animated television spin-off and a sequel of the

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

Casper Casper may refer to: People * Casper (given name) * Casper (surname) * Casper (Maya ruler) (422–487?), ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque * Tok Casper, first known king of Maya city-state Quiriguá in Guatemala, ruling beginning in 426 * David ...

'', which, in turn, was based on the

Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by A ...

cartoon character of

Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a pleasant, personable and translucent ghost, but often criticized by his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio. The ...

Production

At the time that principal filming wrapped on ''

'', a sequel was proposed and a treatment was written, but a combination of less-than-stellar box office gross (although the film grossed $100 million in the US, the budget was more than half of that total and analysts predicted much higher earnings for the film) and the fact that both Christina Ricci and

Bill Pullman William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. He made his film debut in ''R ...

were attached to other projects after ''Casper'' and would not be available until more than a year later caused the idea to be scrapped. The producers then decided to abandon the live-action sequel ideas and instead develop a cartoon series to continue the story. The show aired on Fox Kids television from 1996–1998 for 3 seasons. 52 episodes were produced, but only the first 46 appeared on Fox, with the remaining debuting on

Fox Family Channel The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...

. Many of the same people who worked on this show also worked on ''

Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...

'', ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, until ...

'' and ''

Pinky and the Brain ''Pinky and the Brain'' is an American animated television series that was created by Tom Ruegger that premiered on Kids' WB on September 9, 1995. It was the first animated television series to be presented in Dolby Surround and the fourth col ...

'' (the latter of which was a spin-off from the former; coincidentally, the former had also debuted on Fox). The new ''Casper'' broke from earlier versions, following a sitcom-style pattern of one-liners and pop culture gags in a manner similar to the ''Casper'' feature. The show would also frequently break the fourth wall. The show used old ''Casper'' supporting characters such as Casper's cousin Spooky, Spooky's "ghoulfriend"

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

(or "Poil" as rendered by Spooky's

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

accent), and Nightmare the Ghost Horse who, unlike in the original cartoons and comics, does not talk. The show also introduced new characters, including Casper's super-loud teacher Ms. Banshee.

Characters

* Casper McFadden has been haunting his family home of Whipstaff Manor for some time, having died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

(according to a newspaper seen during the scene in the attic from the feature film) after he played out in the cold for too long when he was 12 years old. Now in the care of his three trouble-making uncles, Stretch, Stinkie and Fatso, Casper's afterlife is not exactly pleasant. He has to put up with his uncles' outrageous antics, and his wish to gain a friend in a human is usually ruined. The only exception to this was when Kat and Dr. Harvey moved into Whipstaff. Kat became a close friend to him. Casper has been a ghost for just over a hundred years, as Stinkie and Fatso once stated that Casper's age is 115 and a half years old. Casper himself is very friendly and outgoing, but he sometimes appears rather shy. Most ghosts view his behavior as unusual, as they believe ghosts should not be friendly or polite in any way. Other ghosts are sometimes even afraid of his good manners, to which Casper sometimes uses to his advantage. One example was when the Ghostly Trio appealed to Casper for help after being convicted in a supernatural court, which denied them to be ghosts any longer as they had no unfinished business on Earth, therefore they would have to crossover. Casper intervened, and revealed quite honestly that his uncles had not taught him how to be scary yet, enabling them to remain as ghosts on Earth. As in the film, Casper is

voiced Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer ...

Malachi Pearson Malachi Pearson (born June 12, 1981, in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States) is a retired American actor. He is known for having performed the voice of Casper the Friendly Ghost in the film, ''Casper''. Filmography *1986 – 1987 ...

. * The Ghostly Trio are Casper's uncles, who love scaring humans, or as they call them, "fleshies", "skinbags", "bone-bags" and "skinsacks". They include Stretch, the tallest, and hot-headed leader, Stinkie, who almost always smells, and in turn loves anything smelly. He uses his bad smell as a weapon or annoyance on others, and Fatso, who is seen as the least intelligent of the brothers, and loves to eat almost anything. The three are chaotic in every sense, and can't resist scaring or causing trouble no matter what the cost. They order Casper around constantly, who they refer to as "Bulbhead" or "Short-sheet". However, despite being considered mean spirits, they do on a number of occasions display compassionate sides. One example was when Casper was accidentally turned into a baby. The Ghostly Trio at first reluctantly, took care of him, but soon bonded with him, particularly Stretch. They also appeared to be worried about Casper when they thought he was going to face "the most evil spirit to haunt the Earth", Whitebeard, on his own. There was a rare occasion when Casper became furious and shouted at the Trio for not restraining their own anger during a "frightening storm", which fed off the fury of others. Casper even planned on leaving his uncles, which surprised them further. However, using the best thing to compliments only the Trio could give, such as "fun to knock around", "easily insultable", and even admitting that they liked him, they persuaded him to stay. In the film, the primary turning point for the Ghostly Trio was when they kept their promise to Dr. Harvey, and brought his wife Amelia, to speak to him one last time. As in the feature film, they are voiced by Joe Nipote, Joe Alaskey and

Brad Garrett Bradley Henry Gerstenfeld (born April 14, 1960), known professionally as Brad Garrett, is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Possessing a distinctive deep voice, he has appeared in numerous television and film roles in both live-action and ...

. Starting with Season 3, however, the role of Fatso was taken over by

Jess Harnell Jess Harnell (born December 23, 1963) is an American voice actor and singer. His notable roles include Captain Hero in the animated TV series '' Drawn Together'', Wakko Warner in '' Animaniacs'', Ironhide in the first three ''Transformers'' fil ...

. * Dr. James Harvey (or "Doc" as he is called by the Ghostly Trio) is a psychiatrist and is shown to be an alumnus of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

. In the film, after his wife Amelia's death, he has gone on to become a "ghost therapist” to find and make contact with his wife, because he believes she is a ghost. However, after learning that she instead became an angel, he and his teenage daughter Kat stay at their new home of Whipstaff, where he continues to work as a ghost therapist, trying (unsuccessfully) to rehabilitate the mischief-making Ghostly Trio. Dr. Harvey is an easy-going guy with a big heart. He obviously loves Kat, although he sometimes appears rather neglectful of his motherless daughter's emotional needs. This was demonstrated in the scene from the film where he speaks with his departed wife when he says he is worried that he's not taking good care of her, but Amelia assured him that he was doing a good job, although she gave him some "motherly" advice ("Don't pick up the extension every time she gets a phone call, french fries are not a breakfast food..." etc.) Dr. Harvey tolerates the Ghostly Trio antics, and it is because of this that they grow to like him, and kept their promise to him so he could speak to Amelia. The animated version of Dr. Harvey deviates slightly from the film version, in that the animated Dr. Harvey was totally focused on being a therapist and used psychological epithets when talking to everyone, including his own daughter. Kat, Casper and the Ghostly trio simply regarded this as an eccentricity. The role was originated by

in the ''Casper'' film, but he is voiced by

Dan Castellaneta Daniel Louis Castellaneta (; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" ...

on the show. *Kathleen "Kat" Harvey is the daughter of Dr. Harvey and is portrayed as the stereotypical teenager who has a sense of humor. She is about 13 years old (about the age Christina Ricci, who originated the role in the ''Casper'' film, was when the film was filmed) and is a good companion to Casper. Kat hates having to put up with the Ghostly Trio because none of them get along with her. Any time they spend together usually involves insulting each other. On one occasion, after the Trio made fun of her for not being able to get a job, Kat made a bet with them saying she could get a job, and bring home a paycheck before they could. The end result was all of them getting a job in the same theatre, which became partly destroyed, after which they declared a draw. But there are rare occasions when Kat and the Ghostly Trio would work together. One example was when to Kat and Casper's surprise, the Trio were trying to return the goldfish Kat won at a fair back to its mother. At first she thought they were going to turn it into a "ghost fish", but when they told her what they were planning, she became slightly emotional and decided to help. Another example was when Dr. Harvey was given his own television show in order to help all ghosts. Both he and Casper became famous and power hungry, resulting in Kat and the Ghostly Trio being neglected, and treated badly. This resulted in them working together to remind Dr. Harvey what was more important. Kat is voiced by

Kath Soucie Kath or KATH may refer to: * Kath (city), the historical capital of Khwarezm * Kath (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * KATH-TV, the NBC TV station in Juneau, Alaska * KATH (AM), a radio station in ...

on the show. * Spooky is Casper's mischief-minded cousin. He looks up to the Ghostly Trio as his heroes and, while having no true dislike for Casper, despises his cousin's lack of interest in scaring humans. As such, Spooky is always trying to out-scare Casper and become the best in class, but usually fails. However, underneath the gruff, ghostly exterior, Spooky may also have a slight soft spot for his cousin. Spooky is visually very similar to Casper, but he has a black nose and freckles, wears a brown "doiby" hat, and speaks in a

Brooklyn accent The sound system of New York City English is popularly known as a New York accent. The New York metropolitan accent is one of the most recognizable accents of the United States, largely due to its popular stereotypes and portrayal in radio, ...

. He is voiced by Rob Paulsen. * Pearl or "Poil" is Spooky's "ghoulfriend". Often absent-minded, Pearl is almost always oblivious to current situations and takes things way too literally. She adores Spooky and everything about him, right down to the freckles on his face and his black nose, is good friends with Casper and doesn't care as much for the Ghostly Trio as Spooky does. She is voiced by

Miriam Flynn Miriam Flynn (born June 18, 1952) is an American voice and character actress. She is best known as Cousin Catherine in the ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' and Grandma Longneck in ''The Land Before Time'' franchises. She has acted in other films ...

. * Miss Maddie Banshee is the teacher at Casper, Spooky and Poil's ghost school. Befitting her name, Miss Banshee can yell and scream loud enough to be heard several towns away, even to wake the dead. Miss Banshee enjoys being a teacher, but dreams of being a professional opera singer. All three of the Ghostly Trio have a crush on Miss Banshee, and constantly compete for her affections. Miss Banshee is okay with the Trio, but remains unimpressed with their efforts. She is voiced by

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series '' Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrenc ...

. * Amber Whitmire and the Jennifers are classmates and rivals of Kat's at Friendship Junior High School. Amber and the Jennifers are portrayed as rich, mean, and spoiled queen bees. Jennifer #1 has dark brown hair and wears glasses and is the closest to Amber, Jennifer #2 has strawberry blonde hair, and Jennifer #3 has light brown hair and a snorting laugh and is the least intelligent of the three as she has been held back two times in junior high. Amber is voiced by Sherry Lynn and the Jennifers are voiced by

Debi Derryberry Debi Derryberry is an American voice actress who has provided voices for a number of animations and video games. Biography Derryberry was born in Indio, California to a family of Hungarian Jewish descent. Her grandparents were Holocaust surviv ...

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1996)

Season 2 (1996–97)

Season 3 (1997–98)

Season 4 (1998)

Voice cast

* Joe Nipote * Rob Paulsen *

* Jim Cummings *

* Joe Alaskey *

Additional voices

Susan Tolsky Susan Gaye Tolsky (April 6, 1943 – October 9, 2022) was an American actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Tolsky began acting in high school and later studied nursing at the University of Texas at Austin before switching her major to the ...

* Benny Grant * Pat Fraley * Jeff Bennett *

* Charlie Adler * Zelda Rubenstein *

Jack Angel Jack Angel (October 24, 1930 – October 18, 2021) was an American voice actor, comedian, and radio personality. He provided voice-overs for animation and video games. Angel had voiced characters in shows by Hasbro and Hanna-Barbera such as '' S ...

Nancy Cartwright Nancy Cartwright (born October 25, 1957) is an American actress. She is the long-time voice of Bart Simpson on the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', for which she has received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Perform ...

Joe Lala Joseph Anthony Lala (November 3, 1947 – March 18, 2014) was an American musician and actor. In 1966, he co-founded the rock band Blues Image. Life and career Lala was born in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, to parents from Contessa Entellina (an ...

* Michael Finnegan * Ben Stein * Sherry Lynn *

Jonathan Harris Jonathan Harris (born Jonathan Daniel Charasuchin, November 6, 1914 – November 3, 2002) was an American character actor whose career included more than 500 television and film appearances, as well as voiceovers. Two of his best-known roles w ...

* David Coburn * Frank Welker * E. G. Daily * Christine Cavanaugh *

Tony Jay Tony Jay (2 February 1933 – 13 August 2006) was a British actor. A former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he was known for his voice work in radio, animation, film, and video games. Jay was particularly noted for his distinctive bari ...

* B. J. Ward *

Gail Matthius Gail Matthius (born December 14, 1953) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member of NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' during its critical and ratings low point at the time (the 1980–1981 season, produced by Jean Doumanian), and ...

* Heidi Shannon *

Edward Hibbert Edward Hibbert (born 9 September 1955) is an American-born British actor and literary agent. He played Gil Chesterton in the TV series ''Frasier''. He also voiced Zazu in both '' The Lion King II: Simba's Pride'' and '' The Lion King 1½''. E ...

Jodi Carlisle Jodi Carlisle (born August 28, 1960 in Joliet, Illinois) is an American actress who has appeared in 46 television shows, 5 feature films, 6 videogames and 4 television movies as well as a number of stage plays. Carlisle is perhaps best known as on ...

Gregg Berger Gregory Alan Berger (born December 10, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Jecht from ''Final Fantasy X'' and the ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'' games, Grimlock from '' The Transformers'', Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter from '' ...

* Steve Mackall *

John Astin John Allen Astin (born March 30, 1930) is an American actor and director who has appeared in numerous stage, television and film roles. He is best known for starring in '' The Addams Family'' (1964–1966), as patriarch Gomez Addams, reprising ...

Sherri Stoner Sherri Lynn Stoner is an American actress, animator, and writer. She also voiced Slappy in the children’s television series '' Animaniacs''. Biography She has worked extensively in animation. She was a writer and producer for such 1990s anima ...

Ginny McSwain Ginny McSwain is an American voice actress, voice casting director, and animation production professional from Los Angeles, CA. Life and career McSwain graduated from Stephens College in 1974, before moving to Los Angeles. She has worked as cas ...

* Paul Williams *

Dorian Harewood Dorian Harewood (born August 6, 1950) is an American actor, best known for playing Jesse Owens in '' The Jesse Owens Story'' (1984), Paul Strobber on '' Strike Force'' (1981–1982), and Rev. Morgan Hamilton in '' 7th Heaven'' (1996–2003). E ...

* Kevin Michael Richardson *

Edie McClurg Edith Marie McClurg (born July 23, 1945) is an American actress and comedian. She has played supporting roles in the films ''Carrie'' (1976), ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), and ''Elvira: Mistress of the Dark'' (1988), and bit parts in ' ...

Dana Hill Dana Hill (born Dana Lynne Goetz; May 6, 1964 – July 15, 1996) was an American actress. She was known for playing Audrey Griswold in '' National Lampoon's European Vacation'', and also known for her roles in ''Shoot the Moon'' and '' Cross Cre ...

Fred Willard Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film '' This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries '' W ...

* April Winchell * Danny Mann * S. Scott Bullock * Mark Hamill *

Nora Dunn Nora Dunn (born April 29, 1952) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on the NBC sketch variety TV series '' Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990, Dr. Reynolds in ''The Nanny'' (1998-1999), and Muriel in '' Home Economic ...

Hinton Battle Hinton Battle (born November 29, 1956) is an American actor, singer, dancer, and dance instructor. He has won three Tony Awards, all in the category of Featured Actor in a Musical. He was the first to portray the Scarecrow in the stage version ...

Robin Leach Robin Douglas Leach (29 August 1941 – 24 August 2018) was a British entertainment reporter and writer from London. After beginning his career as a print journalist, first in England and then in the United States, he became best known fo ...

* Maggie Roswell

Crew

- Casting Director and Voice Director (seasons 1–2) *

Kelly Ward Kelly Ward (born November 17, 1956) is an American actor and voice director for television animation. He is most famous for his role as T-Bird Putzie in '' Grease'' (1978). Biography Ward was born in San Diego. He is the son of Don and Bonn ...

- Voice Director (seasons 3–4)

Home media

From 1996 through 1998, Universal Studios Home Video released episodes from seasons 1, 2, and 3 onto VHS. In 2007/2008,

Universal Studios Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

released two volume collections entitled ''The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, Volume 1'' and ''The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, Volume 2'' on DVD in Region 1. Volume 1 consists of the first 5 episodes of the animated series, while volume 2 contains the last 5 episodes of season 1. No further plans have been made by Universal to release any further DVDs of the show.

VHS

United States

DVD

!DVD Name!!Ep #!!Number of Discs!!Total Running Time!!Release Date!!Additional Information , - , The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper: Volume 1, , align="center" , 5, , Number of Discs , 1, , Total running time , 107 minutes, , , , , This single-disc volume one set contains the first 5 episodes of the animated series. , - , The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper: Volume 2, , align="center" , 5, , Number of Discs , 1, , Total running time , 106 minutes, , , , , This single-disc volume two set contains the last 5 episodes of season 1.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, The 1996 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings 1990s American animated television series American animated television spin-offs American sequel television series Animated television shows based on films Casper the Friendly Ghost English-language television shows Fox Kids Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Television shows based on Harvey Comics Animated television series about children Television series about ghosts Television series by Amblin Entertainment Television series by Universal Animation Studios Television shows set in Maine YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming