Casper
Summary
ground on the Harvey ComicCasper the Friendly Ghost , Universal Pictures put out a fancy film in 1995 simply titledCasperthat still has a furor fall out to this sidereal day . Starring Christina Ricci , Bill Pullman , and Devon Sawa , the pic follows a vindictive heiress who charter Dr. James Harvey to hunt ghosts from her latest manse . What result is Dr. Harvey and his daughter , Kat , making friends with Casper and his uncles as he tries to get them to cover over .
The film was a low achiever at the box office and is still show up every Halloween on television . 28 age after the movie first slay theaters , it even became a top 10 cyclosis option on Netflix , present that the love forCasperis still there . Despite the moving picture being a darling ' 90s family classic , there ’s a slew modern audience might not know about the movie , like whereCasperwas filmed . Casperlaunched the star of Devon Sawa and cemented Christina Ricci as an accomplished player at a young age , so it ’s no wonder so many people have such tender store of the movie .
Fans all lie with the 1995 film Casper The Friendly Ghost , starring Christina Ricci and Bill Pullman . But the story behind the role is really sad .
The Actors Spoke To Tennis Balls Instead Of Ghosts
With Casper and his uncles being specter , the talented people behind the picture had to create a focal point for the actors to reckon at before the animators went in and supply CGI . To attend to , they placed tennis balls on strings and had the actors look at them while play .
Wherever the actor ’s eye movement go through the conversation is where the animators add the ghost ’s movements . Even in today ’s CGI - laden blockbusters , CGI can be quite expensiveand having such a luxury in the ' 90s – when the engineering science was only being hone at the time – was a huge deal .
Universal Studios Had Casper Exhibits
Universal Pictures and Universal Studios theme park seem to go hand - in - hand these days with props from movies often being put on display at the Mungo Park . That usually require something like a railcar from theFast & Furiousfranchise that sports fan can pose with , but in 1995 whenCasperhit theaters , that was an full exhibit that theme parking area visitant could walk through to help promote the film ’s release .
The display was set up at the theme park for four months . It included things like airplane propeller on display but also exhibits explain the technology used in the movie , and even a partial recreation of Whipstaff , the mansion in which Casper lives .
Casper Really Was Filmed In Maine
Because Dr. Harvey was a man who could mouth to the dead , he traveled across America with his girl Kat . When he got the call to talk to the ghosts inside Whipstaff Manor , he and Kat traveled to Friendship , Maine . As it turns out , most ofCasperreally was filmed in Maine .
While Friendship was said to be the town they were in , Casper’sFandompageadmits that most shots were filmed in the nearby town of Camden , Maine . Camden produce that safe yet haunt vibe so many family - friendly scary movies have .
Most Of The Mansion’s Scenes Were Shot On A Set
UnlikeDisney’sHaunted Mansion , which has a definite location in California , the location of Whipstaff Manor is blurry at best . Cinemaholicnotesthat Whipstaff Manor is a existent estate on the easterly side of Canada , though others claim Whipstaff was mirror after the Casa Batlló in Barcelona , Spain .
But no matter of where the exterior was pullulate , most of the internal shots were all filmed on set . The ballroom where Kat has her shoal ’s Halloween dance has been used in another project though .
The Backstreet Boys Visited Whipstaff
It ’s no mystery that set firearm can be reused quite a bit in Hollywood . It ’s not often , however , that such a decided - sounding set like the pieces build up to make Whipstaff mansion house , get used in a way that audiences would be able to realise them . That ’s just what hap when the Backstreet Boys take one of their music television though .
The euphony video for “ Everybody ( Backstreet ’s Back ) ” utilizes while of the set created for Whipstaff . Specifically , the saltation hall chronological succession uses the main base of Whipstaff from Casper . It ’s in reality a very good selection since the euphony video recording sees the various members come out as definitive movie monster .
There Was A Cut Musical Number
Casperdoes seem like a motion picture that would have one or two musical Book of Numbers in it . One can imagine Casper look up at the moon and babble a soft melody about leave out his mother . Maybe Kat would be singing a like song since she too missed her mother .
As on - gunpoint as that sounds , Casperhas no melodious number in it but that was n’t always the plan . Casper ’s uncles were supposed to break into vocal . Titled"Lucky Enough to Be A Ghost,“the Sung was about the trio ’s depression and the difficultness of being a ghost . The fit , however , was abridge because it was too expensive .
Steven Spielberg’s Cameo Was Cut
After search Whipstaff Manor and understand there were real ghosts inside , Dr. Harvey runs into the can to wash his face because he ca n’t conceive what he thought he saw . As he looks in the mirror , his look quickly changes to Clint Eastwood ’s , Rodney Dangerfield ’s , and in conclusion Mel Gibson ’s ( above ) . As fun as these cameos were , there was supposed to be one morecameo made by Steven Spielberg .
Spielberg film the fit but when it came time for the editing process , there were just too many cameos . Spielberg ’s bit ended up bring forth the cut because he was n’t the " strongest " of the group . Bill Pullman did an awesome occupation of being terrify at the three face , though .
The Studio Lost Confidence In Casper 2
After the succeeder ofCasper , fan wanted to see more . A sequel seemed like the next logical footprint but before it could be filmed , Universal relinquish a few direct - to - picture sequels to keep fans interested ( i.e. Casper : A Spirited BeginningandCasper Meets Wendy ) .
Sadly , the direct - to - video subsequence did n’t do so well , which made Universal hesitant about any furtherCasperprojects . After hiring director Simon Wells to pen and aim the reckon follow - up , it was finally cancel due to scheduling conflicts with Christina Ricci and Bill Pullman .
Bill Pullman Portrayed Dr. Harvey For His Kids
Bill Pullman did a fantastic Book of Job as a single begetter and sorrow widowman . However , his name was n’t the only name in the pool of likely actors to play Dr. Harvey .
According to theCasper Fandompage , actor like Tom Hanks , Tim Allen , and Robin Williams were all potential candidates . The A.V. Club , meanwhile , reports that Pullman snagged the part of Dr. Harvey because of his tike . He say , " That was one I really retrieve look forward to taking , so that I could bring my kidskin to the solidifying . They were right at the arrant age to savor all the magic of that . "
Casper Was Voiced By A Real Child
When Casper transform into a untried male child , he ’s portray by Devon Sawa . But when Casper is a ghost , his voice is not Devon Sawa ’s but Malachi Pearson . At the time , Pearson was a minor who also did voice work .
According toE!,Pearson audition for the role six timesand did n’t think he did well enough to down the part . " I think I blew it so bad , I told my mom , ' I do n’t think I got this one ! This one ’s over . ' " Not too long after that , Pearson was offer the role of one of the most famous CGI ghosts in cinematic history .
