The New Casper Cartoon Show

I saw a few episodes of this children's cartoon series in the late 1960s, when I worked in London for a television producer who occasionally bought the UK syndication rights to American TV programmes, and whose office accordingly received a steady stream of Yank video recordings.

The original Casper toons from the 1940s and '50s were quite dire, tending to feature muddy colours, shoddy animation, repetitive plots and dialogue featuring children with twee speech impediments. The characters (especially the women) are drawn in a thoroughly 1940s style that instantly became outmoded.

This 1963 series is vastly better, and would still be enjoyable for young viewers today. The TV episodes feature tight clean line-work, detailed animation and interesting stories. The opening sequence features a peppy theme song performed to a barn-dance tune -- 'Come along now and join the party, come among now and have some fun' -- with lyrics that served to introduce the various characters in Casper's universe: 'Here we have the Ghostly Trio, they've got tricks they've never used. And the horse whose name is Nightmare; she will keep you all amused.' Was the ghostly equine Nightmare ever actually featured in a cartoon? I've only ever seen her in this opening sequence ... and in the closer, which featured Casper singing the same tune in a mournful tempo.

The 1940s Caspers were never very funny, so it's good that these 1960s instalments placed little emphasis on humour. They featured Casper in adventure stories as a sort of semi-superhero, with emphasis on his 'ghostly powers': invisibility, flight, and the ability to pass through solid objects. One episode featured Casper on a quest for the Magic Potion of Motion, which would enable one of his friends (a talking tree) to uproot himself and ambulate.

Another episode depicted the villainous Ghostly Trio in a keep-fit mood, doing exercises so they could build themselves up and beat up Casper. Luckily, the Friendly Ghost conveniently got a visit from his cousin Powerhouse (a one-off character, never seen before nor since) who was Casper's exact lookalike except for being built like Schwarzenegger. When Powerhouse visited the Ghostly Trio, they thought he was Casper with muscles ... and he proceeded to beat up all three ghostly baddies, including ironing one of them on an ironing board. The violence in this series was minimal, and extremely exaggerated so as not to traumatise very young children.

Occasionally seen was Casper's friend Wendy, the good little-girl witch. Wendy's adventures seemed to be more predictable than Casper's. In one episode, the Ghostly Trio encountered a little-girl *bad* witch who was conveniently Wendy's exact double, except with brown hair instead of blonde, and wearing a blue robe instead of a red one. Two quick dye jobs, and the fake Wendy was quickly working mischief disguised as the real Wendy.

'The New Casper Cartoon Show' is probably not a milestone in animation or children's programming, but it's vastly better than most of the earlier Caspers, and would stand up to showing today. Maybe the Cartoon Network will revive it.

Personally don't entirely agree with the previous reviewer on the 40s-50s Casper the Friendly Ghost shorts. It is true that they could get repetitive, some of the dialogue was twee and too on the sentimental side and some of the later cartoons did have some not-so-great animation as a result of Famous Studios' cartoons having lower budgets at the time. Most of the cartoons though are very nicely animated, they are sweet, charming, often poignant and a good deal of the early 50s cartoons were funny, not to mention that they all had outstanding music scores, even the lesser ones.

The New Casper Cartoon Show, getting back on target, is a very good, charming show. Is it better than the shorts? To this viewer, yes it is, and is very likely to appeal more to most. Throughout the show is very nicely animated, not as smooth or as mellow as the late 40s Casper cartoons but cleaner and smoother than the animation in the mid-late-50s cartoons. It is very colourful and vibrant with detailed backgrounds that have a simple quaintness and atmosphere and all the characters and drawings are drawn well. All the episodes contain great music too, from the rousingly peppy opening credits to the merry, whimsical and beautifully orchestrated music accompanying the action (which it does beautifully, adding a lot and making everything even better than it already is). Loved the use of Casper's main theme too, and the lyrics in the opening credits introduce the characters very cleverly.

It's a very well-written show too, there is much less cloying moping and more emphasis on playful humour and easy-going wit, something that some will find preferable over the original shorts. Throughout the series, there are some well-timed and never less than amusing gags, that allow the short running time to skip by. The story lines are also much more varied and less repetitive, while still adhering to the basic idea of Casper wanting to make friends and trying to help and pleasingly with more emphasis on his ghostly powers. While not with the most surprising of outcomes, they are very funny stories wisely not trying to do anything too complicated, with plenty of charm and with the odd spooky parts, and any sentimental parts don't feel too much.

Casper as ever is an endearing protagonist, while the Ghostly Trio are menacingly spooky and riotous fun and the supporting characters (Wendy in her occasional appearances being among the most memorable) are worthy supporting characters. The voice acting is solid.

Overall, a very charming and worthwhile show featuring Casper the Friendly Ghost. Not a milestone but time is always well worth spent. 9/10 Bethany Cox