Casper, 1995
Hi, thanks for joining me. To honor my favorite month, October, I’m covering 13 movies / TV specials that took place on Halloween night. I’ll be covering the wardrobe and story departments and why this particular movie / special is or isn’t a revered classic.
All images owned by Amblin Entertainment & The Harvey Entertainment Company
The first time I saw Casper was at my dad’s house for a family movie night. I was ten years old with a major Devon Sawa crush - my ceiling was literally covered in the four-panel fold out posters from Teen Beat – and a lady crush on Christina Ricci after her role in Now & Then as the tomboy, badass who got to kiss Devon Sawa.
Casper’s initial impact on me was solely in the wardrobe and production design. Whipstaff Manor became my house goals with the elaborate hallways, staircases, and secret doors. I was devastated to find out it was all built in a studio, but I recently discovered Casa Batlló in Barcelona (added to the bucket list) was the inspiration for Whipstaff Manor’s design.
The costuming, designed by Rosanna Norton, shaped my style more than any fad ever did. The simplicity of the pieces chosen, yet the intention to show the characters with the clothing effected not only my style, but my budding writer rituals. This was where I learned to dress my characters.
Let’s talk about Kat’s (Christina Ricci) wardrobe because as a kid, this was everything. The first time we really meet her, she’s annoyed with the world wearing tiny, blacked out sunglasses – for the next three years, this was the only type of sunglasses I would entertain – while riding down a desert road in a Griswold station wagon. It was my introduction to teenage apathy before I was apathetic.
Casper is a movie rooted in nostalgia, not just in the way Dr. Harvey talks about his wife or how Casper sees his toys; its repeated recent viewings are based on Millennials being the most nostalgic generation and I am no exception.
The most nostalgic feeling came to me when Kat finds her room and with a low angle on the floor, we see her boots. It’s not often I remember how I felt the first time I watched any movie, but I remember my heart rose to my throat when I saw her boots with straight leg jeans, then her black cord necklace with a bead charm, and her sweater with too long sleeves.
I promptly insisted to my mother I needed boots, but at the time, JC Penney’s had only brown Timberland knock-offs and rubber rain boots. I settled with ditching sweatpants and drawstring shorts to wear only jeans from that point forward. The 15 year old girl who babysat me gifted me a black cord necklace with a baked clay mushroom and a couple long sleeve shirts close enough to Kat’s that I entered tween-hood feeling like a cool cat (pun intended).
The outfit Kat closes the movie with, the gorgeous antique dress once belonging to Casper’s mother, didn’t jive with me, a misfit 10 year old just discovering grunge music, but as an adult I love this dress and hope to emulate one day, complete with black boots and a necklace.
Dr. Harvey (Bill Pullman), a widowed ghost psychologist (every goth kid is fanning themselves over this title), is so much of a regular adult wearing ill fitting clothing and drinking coffee in the morning with a touch of despair. My first impression was – what a cool adult. My adult impression is – I relate too much to Dr. Harvey, but that cardigan is amazing. I mean, lets be real, Dr. Harvey’s cardigan was the real star of Casper.
There were other wardrobe pieces that stuck with me like Carrigan’s robe and the way she confidently wore the towel in her hair while fighting with hotel room service, which was her one humanizing moment asking for chocolate Haagendaz. Even as vile and selfish as she was, I appreciate the confidence she has balancing that towel and the fluffy cuffs finishing the black robe.
The last wardrobe piece that has stuck with me was belonged to human Casper.
I’ll be honest, I never liked Casper’s wardrobe, though I understand the reasons for it - historically relevant, plain and simple, but he looked like a pirate with the cuffed boots and white shirt unbuttoned at the top. At first, I thought he attempted to dress in a costume for the Halloween party, but then realized this is how he dressed in life. Personally, I would’ve put him in an old timey Halloween costume and done a reveal on the dance floor by taking his mask off or something.
This time around, I’m approximately Dr. Harvey’s age watching Casper alone while my partner was at work.
As the Universal Pictures opening played, I wondered why this movie isn’t a revered classic on people’s Halloween “must watch” list like Hocus Pocus.
I did find my answer, as well as a new appreciation for the film.
Watching this movie through experienced eyes, I caught the adult jokes and laughed even harder when Father Sarducci arrives, but it’s the concept of death in this children’s movie I narrowed in on.
Each character handles death different. Carrigan is unfazed; Kat is jaded; Casper and his uncles are so nonplussed, being dead has become a running joke; and then there’s Dr. Harvey, a lonely widow who can’t move on from his wife’s death.
While interesting, it also causes Casper’s legacy to fall short of its potential. The topic of death is never pushed to its fullest; it’s a punch that’s always pulled where there could have been a good lesson, it’s watered down and lifted with a hug or a joke. The scene where Casper is remembering his sled and how he died, presumably, from pneumonia handled with the softness of talking to a five year old and for a movie using the word “bitch” as many times as the MPAA would allow, I feel like we could have handled a bit more dark reality with our ghosts.
Critically, the best scene I couldn’t appreciate as a child is the reunion of Dr. Harvey and his wife, Amelia.
There is no hammy comedic acting here. It is from the heart when Bill Pullman whispers, “I’ve thought of a million things to say.” And then Amelia hits home with - “You and Kat loved me so well, I don’t have any unfinished business. Don’t let me be yours.” (damn, what a way to say "let go already")
This scene is also the only resolution we’ll get since the owner of the house dead, Dibs has run off, Casper scared the whole party away, and it ends with a dance number between Kat and Dr. Harvey.
I have so many questions! Are they staying? Do they now own Whipstaff Manor? Dr. Harvey did technically find what he was looking for, so does that mean Kat keeps her promise and they’re off to find more ghosts in needs of a psychologist?
I digress. Back to why Casper missed the classic boat.
Most movies with staying power are timeless, or nearly timeless… Casper is the epitome of 1995.
Christina Ricci; Hard Copy; a classic, monotone Ben Stein cameo; a jheri curl joke; plus the promise of Devon Sawa! Not to mention the other cameos – Mel Gibson, Rodney Dangerfield, Dan Ackroyd… a Ghostbuster, sure, but Dan Ackroyd, nah. Even Ben Stein. Can we bring back the norm of Ben Stein random cameos, please?
1995 (great year) aside, I believe Casper’s true issues, like most movies, begin within the script.
For a movie about death and the afterlife, nothing ever seems to be at stake. The ghosts can’t hurt the humans and humans can’t hurt ghosts. Carrigan is after the ‘treasure’, but is not actively trying to harm anyone nor is anyone trying to stop her. The Lazarus comes into play between Carrigan and Casper, but what happens if Casper loses the Lazarus? He stays a ghost… if Carrigan held onto the Lazarus until Dr. Harvey has his unfortunate Happy Hour accident and it’s suddenly between Carrigan and Dr. Harvey for the Lazarus, now we’re talking.
The villains weren’t villainous. Carrigan isn’t evil; she’s a bitch. Ashley is spoiled brat, not an evil high school girl set on putting Kat in her place. I want a Cruella Deville willing to drown puppies for her treasure and a Heather Chandler ready to destroy the egos and self esteem of anyone who dare cross her.
All in all, it’s a great nostalgic film I, and many other Millennials, will return to with starry eyes for one reason or another. Personally, I’ll be returning for Bill Pullman’s cardigan.