|
Casper the Friendly Ghost is the main character of the animated cartoon series of the same name. Created by Joe Oriolo for Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios short cartoons department, Casper went on to become one of the studio's most famous properties. Harvey Comics began publishing Casper comic books in the 1950s, and in 1959 purchased the rights to the character and his film library.
As his name indicates, he is a ghost, but is quite friendly. He tends not to frighten children, although is encouraged to. He is being "trained" by three other mischevious ghosts and is always wondering what he should do. Ultimately he always chooses to be nice because he is not very good at being a mean ghost.
After Harvey bought the rights to Casper and many other Famous properties (including Herman and Katnip, Little Audrey, and Baby Huey), they began broadcasting the theatrical Famous shorts and newly created cartoons (which began production in 1963) under the title Harveytoons. Casper has remained popular in reruns and merchandising since that time, and Hanna-Barbera Productions produced the holiday special Casper's First Christmas and the Saturday morning cartoon series Casper and the Angels in 1979.
In 1995, the friendly ghost was adapted into a live-action feature film entitled Casper. He and his wicked uncles, The Ghostly Trio, were created for the film using computer animation.
Casper is also the name of a freestyle skateboarding trick.
|
