Some characters are so extremely simple in design and purpose that they become timeless and live on long after their creators have departed, leaving behind a legacy that only becomes stronger with age. It was just under eighty years ago when audiences were first introduced to Casper the Friendly Ghost, whose reputation as the most congenial and adorable of the undead remains relatively uncontested. Through these early days right to the 1960s (his peak of popularity, particularly because he was brought to life on television) and beyond, the character has enjoyed a lot of popularity, and become a cultural icon in his own right. It was this that propelled Steven Spielberg to commission a live-action feature film centred around the character, since it was clear that there was enough goodwill felt towards the character that a bigger and more ambitious production seemed appropriate. While he did not direct the film, Spielberg hired Brad Siberling to helm Casper, which became his film directorial debut, and essentially kickstarted a very promising career that would eventually peak about a decade later with Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, one of the greatest family films ever made, and one that clearly had its roots with Casper, an oddly audacious work of family-oriented filmmaking. Serving as the first big-screen adaptation of the character, and an opportunity to experiment with the format as a whole, this film proved to be quite a complicated affair that ultimately resulted in a wonderfully eccentric, upbeat paranormal comedy designed to entertain and enthrall all viewers in equal measure. Nearly thirty years later, Casper remains a truly wonderful film, and one with as much heart as it has a sense of humour, which exists in abundance throughout this delightful comedy.

The appeal of Casper the Friendly Ghost as a character is, as his name suggests, the idea of inverting common perceptions of popular ideas. The concept of a ghost who is not only the opposite of terrifying but actually goes out of his way to be friendly to all he encounters is a good foundation for any long-lasting piece of media, since such a straightforward concept has a lot of potential that can go in many different directions and isn’t bound to a particular place or time. This is what Siberling, as well as screenwriters Sherri Stoner and Deanna Oliver (who had the unenviable task of cobbling together decades of media into something that captures the appeal of the character, but is also original enough to warrant a feature of its own) and everyone involved in Casper set out to do, creating a vibrant comedy that can appeal to everyone while still staying true to the origins of the character. This is mostly done through keeping everything very simple – the plot (which could have travelled down numerous avenues) is kept simple, following a simple premise and not veering off too frequently in other directions. The premise consists of archetypal characters that serve a very specific purpose, but still have some sense of complexity, and the entire story moves at a rapid, economic pace that shows some sense of self-awareness that they were never going to be able to make the definitive film featuring this character, but instead would riff on the general concept associated with Casper, while delivering a unique and compelling production on its own. It’s a very charming film, but its best qualities are those that underline its simplicity, since it could have likely had less-than-ideal results had it not paid attention to how it was crafting its narrative.

Looking back on Casper nearly thirty years since its premiere, we can very easily judge it based on some of the visual effects, which are certainly clunky at the best of times. There’s a tendency for modern audiences to look at older works and believe that their solid criticism invalidates their merits because of some dated technology, when in reality, these films set the groundwork for the growth of the industry, and without these experimental attempts with new technology, the industry likely would not have grown to what it is today. Despite some of its slightly imperfect visual choices, Casper is very well-made and has a lot of heart to go with the technological innovation that sat beneath the surface. This is the first film to be entirely led by a computer-generated character, which is an impressive achievement, and there are few properties more appropriate to break this record than Casper the Friendly Ghost, who is a character that exists for this kind of artistic tinkering, making this quite a charming affair, if not an overly familiar one. The film’s technological innovation is certain front-and-centre throughout – the majority of the narrative is kept quite simple, and the majority of the effort went into creating the characters, as well as trying to find the right balance between practical and computer-generated effects. It may not be on the same level as we may have seen in only a few years after computer-generated filmmaking skyrocketed, but Casper remains a truly lovely film, albeit one that doesn’t offer too much in terms of a storyline, instead being more impressive as a holistic achievement that came about as a result of many different departments working in tandem to bring this story to life.

While our adorable ghost companion is the lead of the film, Casper unfortunately could not rely entirely on him as a protagonist, and instead had to introduce a few other characters to give the story structure. Christina Ricci, who had amassed quite a body of work in a number of these quirky, more off-the-wall family comedies, takes one of her first leading roles as the young girl who proves to be the only person willing to take the time to get to know Casper, whereas Bill Pullman is at his most sympathetic as her widowed father mourning the death of his wife so much, he begins a new career as a ghost therapist solely in the hopes of reconnecting with her spirit. The villain of the film is Cathy Moriarty, a great actor who was perpetually stuck playing these scene-stealing antagonists rather than doing some of the genuinely interesting work she had done earlier – but to be fair, if anyone is going to play the glamorous, slightly eccentric villain, Moriarty is a tremendous option, as is Eric Idle as her long-suffering stooge whose entire purpose is to be the brunt of her abuse and delusions of grandeur. The film also features a wide array of brief cameos from the likes of Clint Eastwood and Mel Gibson. Rodney Dangerfield, Dan Aykroyd (reprising his role as one of the Ghostbusters, presumably with the others declining the offer to appear) and even the world’s greatest clergyman, Father Guido Sarducci, an unexpected addition to this film that many younger viewers today may not realise is extremely subversive and unexpected. Spielberg took advantage of his connections in the industry and managed to cobble together quite an impressive roster to bring this film to life, which only supplements an already compelling production.

While it may not be perfect by any means, and some of its flaws are quite notable, Casper is one of the best examples of family entertainment that strives to be entertaining and compelling without trying to be particularly different or daring, which may imply that it lacked ambition, but in favour of reliability, which is still quite valuable in this context, especially in executing everything that this film intended to achieve. It’s not a particularly complex affair, but it does exactly what was required, and clocks in all the time necessary to tell us a charming story without overstaying its welcome or doing anything that feels counterintuitive to the aims of the film as a whole. Ultimately, Casper had a clear target audience that it was focused on providing for, so there wasn’t going to be anything particularly subversive (although there are a few very clever jokes designed to appeal to older or more seasoned viewers, so there is essentially something for everyone here), but it all comes to form the foundation for this very charming and captivating film that is a good way to introduce younger viewers to more genre-specific filmmaking without throwing them directly into the deep end when it comes to horror, and instead the hilarious sight gags, genuinely funny characters and lovable plot makes Casper a delight, even if it hasn’t aged quite as well as some other films produced at the time, while still very a lot of fun for those willing to surrender to its more quirky aspects.