Full Of It #310 - Casper
Added 2024-10-19 23:00:05 +0000 UTCCasper is an animated ghost character who's floated his way through countless television series and comics since 1945. Most commonly known to audiences as the first CGI character to star in his own motion picture, Casper, in 1995 - the lore surrounding the character has weirdly never been set in stone. This confusion about the story of Casper appears to come from the realisation, many years into his ghostly career, that it's actually incredible difficult to make a fun, frothy franchise about a dead child.
Comments
I LOVE Caspar! What I appreciate about it now is how genuinely the movie treats children's grief. Kat's grief is played so softly, yet real, and the whole storyline of how she and her father can finally come together to get some closure about the mom's death is one of those things that I really felt watching as a kid who struggled to communicate with my own family. We do have the sharp and quick divide between the broad humor and those slower, more serious scenes, and I think that almost mimics how children move so solidly from one emotion to another, but happiness in one moment doesn't make something like sadness or being hurt any less real to kids in another, any more than it does for adults. As for the Uncles, I think they just don't fit with the new backstory they gave Caspar, but they obviously couldn't write them out of the movie. If I had to give an answer, I'd say they aren't Caspar's biological uncles at all, but they're just a trio of ghosts that started hanging around with Caspar something after the father passed. Caspar's desperate for socialization and I can see a 12 yo from the 1910's-20's (did they have Stanger Danger back then?) just rolling with a situation where he gets any attention, even if he has to be a servant to keep them around. Loved the ep! and yall can always drop something spooky for content around halfway-to-Halloween if you feel like actual Spooky Season was cut too short.
Josiah Coleman
2024-10-25 20:48:09 +0000 UTCI remember enjoying this movie as a kid, but what really stands out (and stood out) to me is James Horner's score. There's a great video on Youtube that features Horner discussing recording the music for Casper; it's a treat. The way he described Casper was "a kind of sad fairy tale," which led him to say yes to the project, and his music fits that to a tee. Slightly more plaintive and poignant than his music for Titanic, and less obnoxious than something like Braveheart. It seems to me that Horner realized, "This is, at its core, a bittersweet fairy tale about a dead child," and went from there. Thanks for another great episode!
Floppabottomus
2024-10-22 15:40:02 +0000 UTCThis was such a nostalgia trip! I loved Casper and would watch it every night when my mum tucked me into bed, it’s one of those films that will always be “cosy”. Going to give it a rewatch tonight for the first time in years! Been re listening to some older pods the last few weeks to get me through stock shifts at work (that dreaded shoe shop that rhymes with marks) Glad to hear nova is up and running again! Fab pod as always and very excited for the rest of spooky seasons content, Big love! Ash x
Ash
2024-10-22 14:40:42 +0000 UTCHey Lymp! There's a part in Casper where they bring in a priest. At the time I didn't know Father Guido Sarducci was an established character from Saturday Night Live. He says "its a piece of cake....piece of crumb cake" and as a kid I died laughing every time I heard that line.
Ash (chippedmetal) Zitano
2024-10-22 12:38:52 +0000 UTCHere we go, loved the pod derling! I tried watched Casper, but I just couldn’t shake the sad feeling about the dead kid stuff, so never finished it. Though Casper and Wendy is such cack, one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. As always lady Mary is turning into a horse.
DivaQueenCat
2024-10-21 11:30:56 +0000 UTCHey lymp! I could listen to your dulcet tones talk about kack for hours! I was the one who sent in the stories you read aloud on absolute agony! (The girl seeing the tall man and the dog in the forest). I loved getting both of your perspectives on it. It's fascinating to hear people interpret the situation with "fresh ears". I liked your logical thinking and agree on parts, like it's true the story has probably be bastardised over and over that things start to get exaggerated. I will however fight you on the animal noises from the forest 😅 I know it didn't sound like much written out, but to experience it was truly terrifying. I can't wait to hear all the other stories!!
Tom Bird
2024-10-21 10:35:48 +0000 UTC🎵Kat’s Ghost Diaries!🎵
Mark Hall
2024-10-21 08:01:03 +0000 UTCI wasn’t allowed to watch Casper as a kid, wish I had the same connection to it as people who did. Watching it now just seems a little much for me because his death is so real, much different from more unrealistic deaths in movies. Touching on your point of children not wanting to watch things from the 90’s, I have two much younger siblings who love the studio ghibli films from the 80’s, I think it stands that media which has its own unique charm stays timeless and engaging for a long time. I would absolutely love a full of Berve about Silent Hill because the story in the film is interestingly different to the one in the game. I’d love to see how you and Nova differ when it comes to how the story is told in each interpretation. Thanks for the pod as always.
Squid2210
2024-10-21 07:53:47 +0000 UTCHello! First time commenting, just joined the Patreon! Casper is so nostalgic for me, it takes me back to staying at my grandma's as a kid. She had the old cartoons on VHS so I'd sit and watch them. I haven't seen the live action in years, perhaps time for a rewatch. P.S. loving catching up on all the pod episodes. :)
Callie Dawn
2024-10-20 11:52:30 +0000 UTCI was born in the 2000's and still spent a lot of time happily watching the flintstones ect. But my niece won't watch anything thats not fairly recent, something I find awful because a lot of new animation feels kind of souless and creepy
Lamics
2024-10-20 11:27:31 +0000 UTCHave you watched the deleted song 'Lucky Enough To Be A Ghost' from the film? It's on YouTube. It was cut because it was too expensive to do in CGI, but the song's premise is basically the uncles telling James how much they prefer being dead because they were mentally sick in life...I guess indicating they could have killed themselves? Yikes. It ends with them lifting him up and dropping him, hence why Kat says her dad "kind of hit the ceiling" about the party which doesn't really make sense otherwise.
Joanne Butcher
2024-10-20 10:47:57 +0000 UTCWhen my husband heard me listening to this pod, he got really excited and insisted we rewatch Casper. He recalled nearly every detail, but I didn't, even though I recall liking it in the 90s. This spooky season I am determined to watch 31 scary or Halloween themed movies, and Casper fit perfectly into my playlist. You and Nova inspired some of my other favorites, including The Babadook, Absentia, Lake Mungo and Skeleton Key. I generally watch the same old same old, so this has really been a treat seeking out different styles of horror. Looking forward to viewer scare shares next time! 👻🖤
Scary Clarey
2024-10-20 03:18:35 +0000 UTCI never even thought of the uncles being there, you are so right did they move in after Casper died ? Were they brothers or in some poly situation sharing a bedroom is suspect. I have in my head that they were mob related maybe it's the nicknames and cadence if their voices? I know they all possessed the dad so we knew what they all looked liked, very odd. Also so true about Casper's dad as he had LITERAL unfinished business as he was an inventor with an unfinished machine! I'm with you about Casper all my sister's fancied him but between you and I, I prefered the Dad. Great pod as always!
Richard Prendiville
2024-10-20 01:04:40 +0000 UTCSometimes it’s absolutely wild to go back and look at old movies from your childhood and recognise actors that are well known from other things. Realising Devon sawa from the final destination franchise was human Casper , was such a strange moment to me. I’m glad he stuck within the spooky genre mostly . Ps when are we getting the podcast about serial mom?
tommy
2024-10-19 23:05:18 +0000 UTC
