Trivia / Casper

• Adored by the Network: Before they lost the rights to the film in 2022, Freeform loved airing this movie during their 31 Nights of Halloween event. So much so, that the film sometimes aired when it wasn't Halloween.
• California Doubling: Friendship, Maine, the setting of the film, is a real place, but none of the movie was shot there. The downtown scenes were filmed in the more touristy Rockport, Maine, while most of the movie, including all the scenes involving Whipstaff, was filmed in California.
• Creator Backlash: In a 2022 interview, Christina Ricci said that she considers her performance in this movie to be "terrible," adding, "I was thirteen. There was a lot going on in my life. Everything was very difficult. I was just always annoyed, and I just don't think I tried very hard, to tell you the truth."
• Creator's Apathy: Eric Idle hasn't spoken ill of the film, but apparently was so disinterested in it that to this day, he doesn't even remember shooting it.
• Cut Song: There was a musical number by the Trio called Lucky Enough to Be a Ghost, which was cut because the special effects needed to create it would've blown the movie's budget right out of the water. It can still be found on the DVD in two versions; the first which includes green plastic models of the Trio that would've been used as a guide for the animators and Bill Pullman, and then a second version of Dr. Harvey on his own which would've been used in the film had they not cut it. The scene where you see Dr. Harvey drop to the floor on the couch is the moment when the song was meant to end, which is why he is so flustered, having just been swooping around through the air on it.
• The Danza: Middle name variety. James is Bill Pullman's middle name.
• Deleted Role:
  • In the mirror morph scene, Dr. Harvey's reflection was originally also going to change into Steven Spielberg. The cameo was actually filmed but cut because it made the scene drag on too long. Spielberg was actually very happy about this, feeling that he's not much of an actor and was quite nervous in front of the camera.
  • A scene was filmed with Zelda Rubinstein shooting out of a chimney and shouting "Go toward the light!", reprising her role from Poltergeist, but it was cut.
• Deleted Scene: The film has a plethora of deleted scenes that were either cut for timing or budget, as talked about in this Script-to-Screen video: A few have already been mentioned above, but here's a brief breakdown of some more:
  • Originally, after the Ghostly Trio first scares Carrigan and Dibs away from Whipstaff, Casper sheepishly tries to explain to his uncles (who remain off-screen at this point) that he was gearing up to scare them himself before one of them throttles him.
  • A scene where Casper crashes a sleepover looking for friendship, scaring the kids, before going downstairs and finding the father watching the tabloid show "Hard Copy", and seeing the story about Dr. Harvey (this was simplified to Casper stumbling on the show in Whipstaff while channel-flipping).
  • Kat would have been properly introduced at her school in Santa Fe, New Mexico, trying out for the school's acapella group (as mentioned in the scene where she and her dad are driving to Friendship). She ends up making the cut for the group but learns immediately afterward from her father that they're moving again, much to her dismay.
  • Kat wandering around the manor looking for a room was meant to be longer, and she had a line that derided Dr. Seuss.
  • During Dr. Harvey's fight with the Ghostly Trio, Casper was originally going to assist after freeing Kat from the closet: when Dr. Harvey first tries to use the vacuum, it does nothing due to being unplugged, but Casper uses himself as an extension cord to power it on, electrocuting himself in the process. Kat notices this, and gives Casper a thankful look as she and her dad "regroup".
  • After the above scene, Kat and Dr. Harvey stay in their car for the night to avoid the ghosts, and share a conversation about Amelia (the former's mother and former's wife), with Dr. Harvey expressing hope to finally see her again, and Kat doubting if she wants to see her again. The next morning, they are woken by Carrigan and Dibs, with the former berating Dr. Harvey again before they leave.
  • The scene with Kat walking to school was going to have bigger ties into her and Casper's relationship and some later scenes that would've given said relationship more depth: Casper follows her, becomes overbearing in trying to be her guide, and in the moment of oblivious love-struckness, admits that he was the reason for her moving to Friendship from Santa Fe, which infuriates her due to it having been the closest she'd come to make friends, and thus leads to an argument that sours their friendship, to the point where she doesn't appreciate his prank with her classmates' shoelaces and retaliates after he trips up Vic in a moment of jealousy. This explains why she acts rather cold to him when Vic comes over and asks her to be her date for the dance. Later, during the lighthouse scene, when Casper reveals that he has no memory of his actual life, it would've implied that Kat forgives him upon learning this, realizing that, as hard as she's had it with making friends, he's had it way worse due to being a ghost.
  • Carrigan and Dib would have had several scenes in the second act of the film as well: first, after the Ghostly Trio prank Dr. Harvey using his feelings for Amelia, they eject him out of the manor in a chair and into a harbor, where the two are dining at a dockside restaurant and witness this; later, the two go through Whipstaff's blueprints and discover the location of the treasure.
  • A scene where Casper, upset at Kat's aforementioned anger at him, goes home to find Dr. Harvey waiting outside, his confidence broken by the Ghostly Trio's prank. Dr. Harvey gives some confusing advice, and Casper thanks him, leading him to regain confidence and confront the Trio again, leading into the above Cut Song, which ends with Kat asking him if she could host the school's Halloween party at Whipstaff.
  • At the end of the bedroom sequence, Amelia was supposed to appear at Casper and Kat's bedside after they fall asleep with it being unknown if she was a ghost or not.
  • The next day, Dr. Harvey would've initially confronted the Ghostly Trio more aggressively but would've given up when they continue to mock him and said attempts. When they express concern, he uses reverse psychology to trick them into going out drinking, with them taking him with them.
  • Casper would've been literally dusting the stairs by scattering dust on them, just before finding his restored playroom in the attic. The attic scene where Casper remembers his life was also going to be longer, and it also included a moment of Casper showing Kat a photo of Stretch, Fatso, and Stinkie when they were alive.
  • The bar scene would've had Dr. Harvey singing "That's Death" a parody of Frank Sinatra's "That's Life", and confiding in the Ghostly Trio that he doesn't feel alone with them.
  • The sequence of Carrigan trying to kill Dibs was apparently going to be longer, as the movie's trailers have a few clips of the scene that aren't in the film, like one of Dibs in a knight suit swinging an axe at Carrigan. The cuts made to the scene are also pretty noticeable in the final product, as Dibs' knight suit just comes out of nowhere and is discarded just as quickly.
  • After Kat lets in her guests for the Halloween dance, she encounters the ghostly Carrigan in the library, who briefly tricks her into handing over the Lazarus potion while disguised as Casper, but is unable to escape with it, allowing the two heroes to reclaim it.
  • In the scene where Kat manages to get her now-ghostly father to remember her and Casper decides to save him by giving up his one chance to return to life, the Ghostly Trio, not wanting to lose their newest addition, were supposed to try to stop this by lording over Casper as usual and demanding that he go do his chores. This, however, pushes Casper to his breaking point with his uncles, and he, finally fed up with their abuse and angered at their insensitive and selfish willingness to leave Kat an orphan just so they could stay a "Quartet", stands up to them, expanding himself in his anger (similar to how Stretch did in the breakfast scene), and telling them that he will no longer put up with their BS, will only do chores on his time and by his choice from this point on and will continue to hang out with the living, and that they won't stop him, and even goes into full-on scare-mode with them when Stretch calls him "Bulb-head", scaring them all out the lab, before calming down, returning to his usual size, and apologizing to Kat for having to see that.
• Disowned Adaptation: Russell Harvey, heir to the Harvey Comics legacy, thoroughly hated this film and how it forced child-unfriendly humor and an overly-dark, completely pointless backstory into something so beloved for its innocence. He also expressed disappointment in Steven Spielberg, whom he felt wasted the perfect opportunity for a legitimately heartfelt adaptation.
• He Also Did: J. J. Abrams did an uncredited rewrite of the script.
• Hey, It's That Place!: Whipstaff was later seen in the Backstreet Boys' music video for "Everybody".
• I Am Not Spock: Though she didn't dislike the movie, Christina Ricci didn't want to be type-cast in children's movies, turning down a potential sequel and refusing to talk about it at length for many years.
• Kids' Meal Toy: Pizza Hut sold glow-in-the-dark puppets of Casper, Fatso, Stretch, and Stinkie.
• Orphaned Reference: There was originally a Cut Song called "Lucky Enough to Be a Ghost", which would have ended with the Ghostly Trio hoisting Dr. Harvey up to the ceiling just as Kat walks in to ask him about having the Halloween party at Whipstaff. This explains Kat's line in the finished film about her father having "hit the ceiling" when he found out about the party. Christina Ricci does deliver the line in a dry enough way to make it non-obvious that it's supposed to be a pun, but it's still hard to imagine the mild-mannered Dr. Harvey hitting the ceiling in a figurative sense either. This song was later used in The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper which follows the movie but for a somewhat different purpose.
• The Other Darrin: When Casper does an Ahnold impression, he's voiced by Jess Harnell.
• Remake Cameo: In the first Brazilian dub, Carrigan is voiced by Juraciara Diacovo, who voiced Casper in the animated series.
• Role Reprise: Dan Aykroyd makes a cameo as Ray Stanz.
• So My Kids Can Watch: A delayed example. Christina Ricci later chose this movie to show to her son when he asked about her work. He ended up thinking she used to be best friends with a ghost in her youth.
• Stillborn Franchise: A sequel was in the works, but languished in Development Hell for a few years before it was officially confirmed in 2000 that it had been canceled, as Amblin felt that audience interest wasn't high enough for a follow-up as well as the disappointing sales from the direct-to-video Casper films. Christina Ricci and Bill Pullman were also attached to other projects but neither wanted to get involved for (see above) reasons.
• Two Voices, One Character: Casper is played by three different people in the course of the film:
  • In his ghost form he is primarily voiced by Malachi Pearson.
  • As noted above, when he does his The Ahnold impression, Jess Harnell briefly voices him.
  • When he has been (temporarily) granted humanity again, he is played by Devon Sawa, whose speaking voice is not dubbed.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Scarlett Johansson and Kirsten Dunst were considered for the role of Kat.
  • John Ritter, Tom Hanks, Dennis Quaid, Kurt Russell, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, Tim Allen, Rick Moranis, Steve Martin, Michael Keaton, Martin Short, Chevy Chase, and Phil Hartman were all considered for the role of Dr. Harvey.
  • Glenn Close, Kathleen Turner, Carrie Fisher, Miranda Richardson, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rene Russo, JoBeth Williams, Debbie Harry, and Elaine Hendrix were all considered for the role of Carrigan.
  • Hugh Laurie, Rowan Atkinson, Rik Mayall, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Bill Murray, Steve Martin, Alan Rickman, Bryan Cranston, Jason Alexander, Michael Richards, Daniel Stern, Chevy Chase, Gene Wilder, Stephen Fry, Patrick McGoohan, Leslie Nielsen, and Gregory Peck were all considered for the role of Dibs.
  • A ride based on the film was in the works for the Universal Studios parks but scrapped as the movie wasn't the monster-success that Universal was hoping for.
  • Steve Barron was approached to direct after Steven Spielberg was impressed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) but he turned it down. He later called it a big regret.
  • Kat was originally going to be named 'Wendy' after Casper's witch friend from the original cartoons. But Universal didn't want to have to get the rights to the character. Kat at one point wears a red hood, as a Shout-Out to Wendy.
  • According to Devon Sawa, the ending where Casper gets to dance with Kat as a human was thought up "in the last couple weeks of shooting" and eventually picked over the planned ending.

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