''Casper Meets Wendy'' is a 1998 American

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

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 Alf ...

cartoon characters

Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is a fictional character who serves as the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a translucent ghost who is pleasant and personable, but often criticized by his thr ...

and

Wendy the Good Little Witch Wendy the Good Little Witch is a fictional comic book Character (arts), character from Harvey Comics. Like Casper the Friendly Ghost and Hot Stuff the Little Devil, Wendy is an opposite-type character, a girl witch who does good deeds. Publicatio ...

. The film is a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to '' Casper: A Spirited Beginning'', and the second

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

of '' Casper'' (1995).

Saban Entertainment BVS Entertainment, Inc., previously known as Saban Productions, Saban Entertainment and Saban International, is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. Founded on April 24, 1980, as a music production company by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, it ...

co-produced the project. This was

Hilary Duff Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress, singer, author and businesswoman. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Hilary Duff, various accolades, including a World Music Awards, World Mus ...

's first major film, and was released on September 22, 1998, six days before her 11th birthday. The film also marks the second ''Casper'' film for co-star

Cathy Moriarty Cathy Moriarty (born November 29, 1960) is an American actress whose career spans five decades. Born and raised in New York City, she made her acting debut opposite Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's ''Raging Bull'' (1980), for which she recei ...

, who previously starred as the main antagonist in the 1995 film. The film was met with mostly negative reviews from critics, but was considered an improvement to its predecessor. Its television premiere was October 24, 1999 on Fox Family.

Plot

The Ghostly Trio cause panic at a baseball game, and their nephew Casper fails to settle the terrified crowd. The park empties, and after watching their effect with satisfaction, Casper's uncles plan a vacation. Meanwhile, a malevolent warlock named Desmond Spellman is told by the Oracle in the Mirror that in the future, a good little witch named

Wendy Wendy is a given name generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain during the English Civil War in the mid-1600s, a male Captain Wendy Oxford was identified by the Leveller John Lilburne as a spy reporting on his activit ...

will surpass him. Desmond plans to get rid of her with the advised "Mystic Abyss", a dimensional rift that can destroy living beings. He then creates a pair of spies: Jules and Vincent, and assigns them to bring Wendy to him from where she is living in the country with her three mischievous aunts: Gert, Gabby and Fanny. Jules and Vincent arrive at Wendy's house to escort the young witch to Desmond, but she narrowly escapes with her aunts. To keep Wendy safe from Desmond, her aunts hide and vacation at the same resort hotel in which Casper and his uncles are vacationing. Wendy meets a boy named Josh Jackman and they start to become friends until he shows his true colors by pushing a girl away from her game at the arcade and ignoring Wendy when she tries to talk to him in the middle of the game. Casper and Wendy meet in a barn and become friends, but they fear that their guardians will not get along because ghosts and witches are natural enemies. Casper and Wendy devise a plan to make them meet at a party. Casper gets the Ghostly Trio to possess three men who happen to resemble them. Wendy convinces her aunts to go to the party to meet men. Thanks to their plotting, they meet and soon the Trio are flirting with the three witches, who are posing as regular women. The plan is spoiled when the possession wears off and the Trio's real selves are revealed to Wendy's aunts, who, in turn, reveal their real selves and threaten them with magic. Wendy explains to Casper that she and her aunts cannot use high-level magic or else Desmond will be able to track them down. When the Trio suspects Casper is protecting the witches, they pressure him into blurting out that the witches cannot use their powers, prompting the Trio to terrorize Wendy and her aunts. Wendy feels she has no choice but to cast a high-level spell to cover the Trio in plaster, alerting Desmond of her location. Distraught that Casper broke his promise, Wendy ends their friendship. Casper soon confronts his uncles and tells them that Desmond is coming after the witches and they should help, at which the Trio scoff and refuse. Before the witches can evacuate the resort, Desmond and his spies arrive. After finding and confronting the witches, Desmond explains the Oracle's prediction, and after she tries to resist him, summons the Mystic Abyss and casts Wendy into it, with Casper diving inside in an attempt to rescue her. While inside together, Wendy apologizes to Casper for yelling at him and ending their friendship. Wendy's aunts battle Desmond but are no match for him. Before Desmond can turn the witches into fertilizer, a giant three-eyed monster appears and frightens the warlock who trips over Wendy's broom and falls into the Abyss himself. The monster turns out to be the Ghostly Trio, who had a change of heart. While they hold the door to the Abyss open, Wendy's aunts pull her and Casper out. Both Casper and Wendy are unconscious from being inside the Abyss, but with encouragement and comfort from their guardians, Casper is restored by his uncles, and Wendy is treated by her aunts. After a touching reunion between the witches and an awkward one between the ghosts, the witches thank the Trio for helping them and the Trio admit it was nice getting to know them. Casper and Wendy's friendship is restored. The Oracle then proclaims that Wendy is the greatest witch because she did something no other witch ever could: she befriended a ghost. Later, Casper, his uncles, Wendy, and her aunts, all bid each other goodbye. Wendy assures Casper they will see each other again very soon. Before flying back home with her aunts, Wendy gives Casper a goodbye kiss, causing him to blush.

Cast

Main

Live-action

as Gert *

Shelley Duvall Shelley Alexis Duvall (July 7, 1949 – July 11, 2024) was an American actress and producer. She is known for her distinctive screen presence, her portrayals of eccentric characters, and her later productions in children's programming. Her acco ...

as Gabby *

Teri Garr Terry Ann Garr (December 11, 1944 – October 29, 2024), known as Teri Garr, was an American actress. Known for her comedic roles in film and television in the 1970s and 1980s, she often played women struggling to cope with the life-changing ex ...

as Fanny * George Hamilton as Desmond Spellman *

Richard Moll Charles Richard Moll (January 13, 1943 – October 26, 2023) was an American actor known for playing Aristotle Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon, a bailiff on the NBC sitcom ''Night Court'' from 1984 to 1992. Moll also voiced Harvey Dent/Two-Face in t ...

as Jules *

Vincent Schiavelli Vincent Andrew Schiavelli (; November 11, 1948 – December 26, 2005) was an American character actor noted for his work on stage, screen, and television. Described as an "instantly recognizable sad-faced actor", he was diagnosed with Marfan sy ...

as Vincent * Blake Foster as Josh Jackman * Rodger Halston as Larry Tullby * Logan Robbins as Logan * Michael McDonald as Spike-Stretch * Travis McKenna as Phil-Fatso * Patrick Richwood as Vinne-Stinkie *

Pauly Shore Paul Montgomery Shore (born February 1, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for his roles in 1990s comedy films. Shore began as a stand-up comedian at the age of 17, before becoming an MTV VJ in 1989. This led to a starring ...

as The Oracle

Voice

* Jeremy Foley as

* Jim Ward as Stretch *

Bill Farmer Bill Farmer (born November 14, 1952) is an American voice actor. He has performed the voice of the Disney character Goofy since 1987, and has also been the voice of Pluto and Horace Horsecollar since 1990. Early life Farmer was born on Novembe ...

as Stinkie *

Jess Harnell Jess Harnell (born December 23, 1963) is an American voice actor. His roles include Wakko Warner in ''Animaniacs'', Captain Hero in '' Drawn Together'', Jerry in the first two seasons of '' Totally Spies!'', Ironhide in the first three ''Tr ...

as Fatso

Supporting

Alan Thicke Alan Willis Thicke (né Jeffrey; 1 March 1947 13 December 2016) was a Canadian-American actor, songwriter, and game/talk show host. He was the father of singer Robin Thicke. Thicke was best known for playing Dr. Jason Seaver on the 1980s sitco ...

as Baseball Announcer *

Casper Van Dien Casper Robert Van Dien Jr. (born December 18, 1968) is an American actor, best known for his lead role as Johnny Rico in the science-fiction action film ''Starship Troopers'' (1997). Other credits include '' Sleepy Hollow'' (1999), '' Sanctimony ...

as Crewcut Hunk * Billy Burnette as Chef * Maria Ford as Playmate (Fanny) *

Jim Wise James M. Wise (born July 30, 1964) is an American actor, singer, writer and composer. He is perhaps best known for his recurring role as Coach Tugnut in the Disney Channel Original Series ''Even Stevens''. He is also known for his voice-over wo ...

as Hungry Fan *

Patricia Elliott Patricia Elliott (July 21, 1938 – December 20, 2015) was an American theatre, film, soap opera and television actress. Early life Elliott was born July 21, 1938, in Gunnison, Colorado to Clyde and Lavon (née Gibson) Elliott. She claimed dire ...

as Snotty Woman (credited as Pat Elliot) *

Rodman Flender Rodman Flender (born June 9, 1962) is an American filmmaker and actor. Born and raised in a Jewish family in New York City, Flender's early experiences in the arts included roles on Broadway theatre, Broadway and PBS series. He developed his act ...

as Agile Dancer * Elizabeth Gage as Swift Dancer * Larry Robbins as Boogie-Lovin' Dude *

Ben Stein Benjamin Jeremy Stein (born November 25, 1944) is an American writer, lawyer, actor, comedian, and commentator on political and economic issues. He began his career as a speechwriter for U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford before enter ...

as Lawyer (uncredited)

Critical reception

''Casper Meets Wendy'' received mostly negative reviews from critics, with a total of 6 reviews from critics on the review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

. 17% gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 4.10/10, which gives the film a slight improvement over its predecessor, but still low compared to the 1995 theatrical film. Hilary Duff was nominated for a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

Soundtrack alteration

In the original airing and VHS release of the film, the Casper theme can be heard in the opening sequence performed by Shana Halligan. In the subsequent DVD releases the lyric is muted though the melody and sound effects remain intact. Halligan is still credited with performing the theme song.

References

External links

* {{Sean McNamara 1998 films 1998 children's films 1998 direct-to-video films 1990s fantasy comedy films 1990s ghost films 1998 comedy horror films 20th Century Fox direct-to-video films 20th Century Fox animated films Saban Entertainment films 1990s adventure films American children's fantasy films American comedy horror films American films with live action and animation American fantasy comedy films American ghost films American direct-to-video films American sequel films Brookwell McNamara Entertainment films Casper the Friendly Ghost films Direct-to-video comedy films Direct-to-video fantasy films Direct-to-video interquel films 1990s English-language films American films about Halloween Films directed by Sean McNamara Films produced by Mike Elliott Live-action films based on comics Live-action films based on animated series Films based on Harvey Comics Films about spirit possession Films about witchcraft Films with screenplays by Jymn Magon 1998 comedy films 1998 fantasy films 1990s American films English-language comedy horror films English-language fantasy comedy films English-language adventure films