A Direct to Video sequel to Casper: A Spirited Beginning and the second Broad Strokes prequel to the 1995 Casper released on September 22, 1998; this film and it's predecessor A Spirited Beginning were produced by Saban Entertainment and released by 20th Century Fox. This was the first major film for Hilary Duff, who was nearly 11 years old when this film was released.
After drawing the ire of a nefarious warlock named Desmond Spellman (George Hamilton), Wendy the Good Little Witch and her aunts seek sanctuary in a resort in order to stay off the radar. There, Wendy meets Casper the Friendly Ghost, who is vacationing with his quarrelsome uncles. Despite their families' prejudiced warnings, Wendy and Casper become fast friends. Before long, this high-spirited duo decides to team up to take down the bullying warlock.
Tropes in this film include:
- Adaptation Name Change: As with the Ghostly Trio in the previous two movies (save for Fatso), Wendy's aunts in the comics (also known as The Witch Sisters), were given the names of Thelma, Velma and Zelma, but here they are named Gert, Gabby and Fanny.
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Near the end of the film, Fatso strokes Casper on the head after his uncles and the witches save him and Wendy.
- And I Must Scream: What happens if someone is tossed in the Mystic Abyss, which is what Desmond has planned for Wendy. It is a vortex that is magically opened and used to throw victims into which drags them away. After it's closed, very few people can open it again, so a later rescue is out of the question. And it'll work on humans, witches, and ghosts. It's particularly horrific for the ghosts, since a human might be lucky and get bashed in the head, but someone already dead wouldn't have that option.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Desmond. Not only is he a nefarious warlock, he is also quite a wealthy man as evidenced by his huge, glamorous mansion and highly luxurious, almost decadent lifestyle.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: The Ghostly Trio and Wendy's aunts may bully and restrict the kids respectively, but when Casper and Wendy end up in trouble from Desmond and about to be trapped in the Mystic Abyss, they don't hesitate to save them. They're also very sad when they think they lost their niece/nephew.
- Big Bad: Desmond Spellman
- Big Damn Heroes: The last people you would expect end up fulfilling this role near the end; The Ghostly Trio of all people, get a turn at being heroes for once, first scaring Desmond before he can finish off Wendy's aunts and making him fall into the Mystic Abyss, then holding the closing gate open while the aunts pull Wendy and Casper to safety.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Wendy's aunts.
- Bond One-Liner: Just after Desmond falls into the Mystic Abyss, the Ghostly Trio exclaim: "Have a nice trip, see you next fall!"
- Broad Strokes: With it being a direct sequel to "A Spirited Beginning" (the movie that is marketed as a prequel to the 1995 original) it continues the trend of being inconsistent with the 1995 original.
- Cute Witch: Wendy. Casper even describes her as such.
- Cycle of Revenge: Discussed. Desmond wanted to kill Wendy to prevent her from becoming more powerful than him as predicted at a prophecy and, to make sure nobody would try to avenge her, he intended to kill her family.
- Disney Villain Death: Of sorts. A monster (revealed to be the Ghostly Trio) pops up and scares Desmond, causing him to fall into the Mystic Abyss himself.
- Evil Is Petty: Desmond wants to get rid of Wendy for two reasons that are really quite simple, one: because she is greater than him and two: because of a prophecy that will see an alliance between ghosts and witches.
- Extreme Doormat: Casper.
- Fantastic Racism: Witches, like all the living, don't like ghosts. And ghosts don't like witches because "they're fleshies with powers."
- Flying Broomstick: The witches have them. Wendy's seems to be sentient.
- Forced Transformation:
- One of Wendy's aunts persuades an obnoxious tourist to give up her room by turning her into a goat.
- When Casper scares Josh and his friend to get Wendy's wand back, Josh accidentally drops the wand in his panic, the impact of it hitting the ground sets it off, and he and his friend are turned into horses.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Wendy is blonde and a sweetheart, as is standard for Hilary Duff.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Desmond ends up falling into the very abyss he planned to send Wendy to.
- Hurricane of Puns: Just about every character gets involved in at least one pun.
- Interspecies Friendship: Casper the ghost and Wendy the witch.
- Interspecies Romance:
- Casper and Wendy try to invoke this with their uncles and aunts.
- Casper and Wendy themselves also show a hint of romantic feelings for one another.
- Involuntary Shapeshifter:
- A rude lady at the resort is transformed into a goat so that the witches can take her reservation.
- Josh accidentally turns himself and his friend into horses by dropping Wendy's wand.
- Jerkass: The boy, Josh, seems to briefly be semi-nice and cute during Wendy's first meeting with him. By the second, he's shown his true colors as a huge self-centered jerk. He even briefly steals Wendy's wand and tries to destroy it because she wouldn't go on a date with him.
- Magic Mirror: Desmond owns one.
- Magic Wand: Seems to be needed for any major acts of magic from the witches (especially Wendy), but they can't risk using their wands while in hiding.
- Meaningful Name: Someone named "Spellman" is a man with magic. Who would have guessed?
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Casper, as usual, and Wendy, both of whom are pretty friendly and compassionate beings unlike many other ghosts and witches. Naturally, neither the Ghostly trio nor Wendy's aunts are too fond of them as a result, as they are more than happy acting as malevolent beings who delight in terrorizing humans.
- Nice Guy: Both Casper and Wendy are really nice. And that's why their respective relatives have so many issues with them.
- Not a Morning Person: Wendy very much isn't, as evidenced by her first line:Wendy: Mornings would be better if they happened in the afternoon.
- Not So Above It All: Despite famously not liking to scare people, Casper admits that terrifying Josh and his friend was 'cleansing'.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Lampshaded by Casper when he goes to scare Josh and his friend to get Wendy's wand back.Casper: Normally it's against my policy to scare people, but this is an emergency.
- Poor Communication Kills
- Portal Door: How the Mystic Abyss seems to function. It can be opened or closed anywhere with magic, exposing a swirling vortex of power.
- Prequel: Because of it being a direct follow-up to A Spirited Beginning, it still implies of this movie being also a prequel to the 1995 movie, but again in name only.
- Prophecies Rhyme All the Time: The Oracle of the Mirror makes a prophecy about Wendy ended up greater than Desmond and since it speaks in rhymes anyway...
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Casper is the blue to Wendy's red.
- Reluctant Monster: Casper and Wendy are friendly, polite and kind toward human beings, much to the ire of their respective families, who instead happily act like nasty jackasses that are hostile toward mankind just For the Evulz.
- Rhymes on a Dime: Seems to be a requirement for most spells.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Much of the plot is driven because Desmond was told by the Oracle that Wendy will one day surpass him, and attempts to dispose Wendy to prevent her from becoming more powerful than him. Ironically it is his attempts to avert the prophecy that end up fulfilling it, as he ends up imprisoning himself in the Mystic Abyss that he intended to trap Wendy in; thus making her the most powerful witch of all.
- Goes even further, as the reason Wendy would become the greatest witch was because she would be the first witch to befriend a ghost (Capser), whom she wouldn't have met had she and her family not needed to go into hiding.
- Shout-Out:
- The first few minutes involve the Ghostly Trio disguising themselves as a flying saucer that communicated with music. Sound familiar?
- There's also a little girl who says "They're back".
- One of Wendy's aunts makes a joke about being the original Spice Girl before quickly making a pun about Madonna.
- Is Desmond Spellman related to Sabrina Spellman?.
- Aren’t you ladies a little old to be trick or treating?
- A pair of black suit-clad hitmen holding Seinfeldian Conversations and named Jules and Vincent
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: After boasting to the Magic Mirror that he will be foiled by a "little teen witch", the mirror responds: "Think again, you pompous prestidigitator!". Desmond is insulted by this and blows him away.
- Surrounded by Idiots:
- Gert, being a Wicked Witch, has to put up with her sisters Fanny and Gabby, who are unbearably stupid at times, and her niece Wendy, who is a total sweetheart.
- Desmond Spellman also follows this trope, as his own henchmen, Jules and Vincent, sometimes squabble over petty things like if a tomato is a berry.
- Terrible Trio: Two sets of them. The Ghostly Trio and Wendy's aunts.
- Toilet Humour: The Ghostly Trio flush Casper down the toilet at one point.
- Undignified Death: In the film's climax, the Ghostly Trio scare Desmond by pretending to be a big, three-eyed monster. Desmond, a warlock mind you, can do nothing but obnoxiously scream the word "no" several times while pathetically backing away from the creature until he trips and falls into the Mystic Abyss. Even while falling through the vortex he still keeps saying "no"!
- White Sheep: Wendy and Casper are both the only good members of their families and refuse to use their powers to hurt humans just for fun like their relatives do.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The story kicks off when Wendy has to go into hiding because Spellman, tipped off by his magic mirror, learns that she's the only magic user more powerful than him. Essentially, Snow White with witches.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Fed up with Jules and Vincent's constant bickering to the point where they cannot agree on anything, Desmond plans to turn them into milkshakes after he is through with Wendy and her family.
