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

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

'' Casper'', 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 Alf ...

cartoon character of Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Production

At the time that principal filming wrapped on '' Casper'', 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 Christina Ricci ( ; born February 12, 1980) is an American actress known for playing unusual characters with a dark edge. Ricci works mostly in Independent film, independent productions, but has also appeared in numerous box-office hits. She is ...

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. Pullman made his film debut i ...

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 Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...

television from 1996–98 for 4 seasons. 52 episodes were produced, but only the first 46 appeared on Fox, with the remaining debuting on Fox Family Channel. Many of the same people who worked on this show also worked on ''

Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It originally aired from September 14, 1990 to December 6, 1992, airing in syndication before eventually settling a ...

'', ''

Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...

'' and '' Pinky and the Brain'' (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 (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...

(or "Poil" as rendered by Spooky's

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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 sometime, having died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

(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 quite shy. Most ghosts view his behavior as unusual, as they believe that 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 refe ...

by Malachi Pearson. * 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". 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. But 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 Brad H. Gerstenfeld (born April 14, 1960), known professionally as Brad Garrett, is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Garrett was initially successful as a stand-up comedian in the early 1980s. Taking advantage of that success in the la ...

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

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 ...

. * Dr. James Harvey (or "Doc" as he is called by the Ghostly Trio) is a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

and is shown to be an alumnus of

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

. 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 that she is a ghost. But 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 quite 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 is 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. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, ...

on the show. * Kathleen "Kat" Harvey is the daughter of Dr. Harvey and is portrayed as the stereotypical

teenager Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated wi ...

, who has a sense of

humor Humour ( Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids i ...

. She is about 13 years old (about the age

, 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 Soucie (, ). is an American voice actress, known for voicing Phil, Lil and their mother Betty DeVille in '' Rugrats'', Lola Bunny in the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise, Fifi La Fume and Li'l Sneezer in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Maddie Fent ...

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. But 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. He is voiced by

Rob Paulsen Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Pro ...

. * 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 is an American Voice acting, voice and character actor, character actress. She is best known as Cousin Catherine in the ''National Lampoon's Vacation (film series), National Lampoon's Vacation'' films and Grandma Longneck in ''The ...

. * 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 "Tress" MacNeille (; born June 20, 1951) >https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/macneille-tress-1951 is an American voice actress, who has contributed to voice-over work with credits including vo ...

. * 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. Having been held back two times in junior high. Amber is voiced by

Sherry Lynn Sherry Lynn is an American voice actress who has played roles in anime, animated television series and video games. She portrayed Sasami Jurai in the ''Tenchi Muyo!'' franchise. In January 2010, in terms of total film gross, she was the Highest ...

and the Jennifers are voiced by

Debi Derryberry Debi Derryberry (''née'' Greenberg; born September 27, 1960) is an American voice actress who has provided voices for a number of animations and video games. She is best known for voicing Jimmy Neutron, the titular protagonist of the Jimmy Neutr ...

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1996)

Season 2 (1996–97)

Season 3 (1997–98)

Season 4 (1998)

Voice cast

* Malachi Pearson *

* Joe Nipote *

Jim Cummings James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in over 400 titles. Cummings has frequently worked with the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., serving as the offic ...

* Joe Alaskey *

Additional voices

* Susan Tolsky * Benny Grant *

Pat Fraley Pat Fraley is an American voice actor and voice-over teacher, known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones, Baxter Stockman and numerous other characters in the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated television series and voiced Falcon in ...

Jeff Bennett Jeff Bennett (born October 2, 1962) is an American voice actor. He voiced the titular character of ''Johnny Bravo'', Dexter and Dee Dee's Dad in ''Dexter's Laboratory'', List of The Powerpuff Girls characters#Ace, Ace, List of The Powerpuff Gi ...

* Charlie Adler * Zelda Rubenstein *

Jack Angel Jack Angel (October 24, 1930 – October 18, 2021) was an American voice actor and radio personality. Angel voiced characters in shows by Hasbro and Hanna-Barbera such as '' Super Friends'', '' The Transformers'' and '' G.I. Joe'' and was involve ...

Nancy Cartwright Nancy Jean Cartwright (born October 25, 1957) is an American actress, best known as the long-time voice of Bart Simpson on ''The Simpsons'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and an Annie Award f ...

* Joe Lala * Michael Finnegan * Ben Stein *

* Jonathan Harris * David Coburn * Frank Welker * E. G. Daily *

Christine Cavanaugh Christine Josephine Cavanaugh (''née'' Sandberg; August 16, 1963 – December 22, 2014) was an American actress, who had a distinctive speaking style and provided the voice for a large range of cartoon characters. She was the original voices o ...

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 raspy ...

* B. J. Ward * Gail Matthius * Heidi Shannon * Edward Hibbert * Jodi Carlisle * Gregg Berger *

Steve Mackall Stephen James "Steve" Mackall (born December 9, 1959) is a Canadian-American voice actor, voice-over announcer, comedian, director, screenwriter and songwriter. He was known as the voice of NBC's Must See TV, and performed the voice of the lead ...

* John Astin * Sherri Stoner * Ginny McSwain * 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), Det. Paul Strobber on '' Strike Force'' (1981–1982), and Rev. Morgan Hamilton in '' 7th Heaven'' (1996–2003 ...

* Kevin Michael Richardson * Edie McClurg * Dana Hill *

Fred Willard Frederick Charles Willard Jr. (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with Christopher Guest in his mockumentary films ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984), ''Waiting for Guffman'' (1996), ''Be ...

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

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Luke Skywalker in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, and the Joker (character), Joker in various animated DC Comics projects, starting with ''Batm ...

Nora Dunn Nora Dunn (born April 29, 1952) is an American actress and comedian. She first garnered popularity during her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990. Following her departure from ''SNL'' ...

* Hinton Battle * Robin Leach *

Maggie Roswell Maggie Roswell is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer from Los Angeles, California. She is well known for her voice work on the Fox network animated television series ''The Simpsons'', in which she has played recurring characters s ...

* Edward Asner * Greg Eagles *

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the musical film '' The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London, 1974 L ...

* Cam Clarke * Sheryl Bernstein *

Gary Owens Gary Owens (born Gary Bernard Altman; May 10, 1934 – February 12, 2015) was an American disc jockey, voice actor, announcer and radio personality. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offered deadpan recitations of total nonsense, wh ...

* Dee Dee Rescher * Patti Deutsch * David Arnott * Kenneth Mars * Susanne Blakeslee * Valery Pappas * Billy West

Crew

* Ginny McSwain - casting director and voice director (seasons 1–2) * Kelly Ward - 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 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 animated television series debuts 1998 American television series endings 1990s American animated comedy television series 1990s American children's comedy television series 1990s American horror comedy television series American animated television spinoffs American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated fantasy television series American children's animated horror television series American sequel television series Animated television shows based on films Casper the Friendly Ghost television series American English-language television shows Fox Kids Television shows based on Harvey Comics Animated television series about children Animated television series about ghosts Television series set in the 1990s Television series by Amblin Entertainment Television series by Universal Animation Studios Television shows set in Maine Fox Broadcasting Company animated television series