Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysToronto Int'l Film FestivalHispanic Heritage MonthIMDb Stars to WatchSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

The Friendly Ghost

  • 1945
  • TV-G
  • 9m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
575
YOUR RATING
The Friendly Ghost (1945)
AnimationComedyFamilyFantasyShort

Unhappy with the antics of the other ghosts, Casper leaves home to make friends. After scaring several others by accident, Casper befriends two young children.Unhappy with the antics of the other ghosts, Casper leaves home to make friends. After scaring several others by accident, Casper befriends two young children.Unhappy with the antics of the other ghosts, Casper leaves home to make friends. After scaring several others by accident, Casper befriends two young children.

  • Directors
    • Izzy Sparber
    • Nick Tafuri
  • Writers
    • Bill Turner
    • Otto Messmer
    • Joseph Oriolo
  • Stars
    • Frank Gallop
    • Jack Mercer
    • Mae Questel
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    575
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Izzy Sparber
      • Nick Tafuri
    • Writers
      • Bill Turner
      • Otto Messmer
      • Joseph Oriolo
    • Stars
      • Frank Gallop
      • Jack Mercer
      • Mae Questel
    • 7User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos21

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 13
    View Poster

    Top cast4

    Edit
    Frank Gallop
    Frank Gallop
    • Narrator
    • (voice)
    Jack Mercer
    Jack Mercer
    • Ghost
    • (voice)
    • …
    Mae Questel
    Mae Questel
    • Johnny
    • (voice)
    Cecil Roy
    • Casper
    • (voice)
    • Directors
      • Izzy Sparber
      • Nick Tafuri
    • Writers
      • Bill Turner
      • Otto Messmer
      • Joseph Oriolo
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews7

    6.6575
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    7ccthemovieman-1

    The Introduction Of 'Casper'

    This cartoon has historic value in that it is the first "Casper" animated short, so they give a short introduction about the main character. The narrator even gives the viewers the option of believing in ghosts, saying if you do, you'll like the story and if you don't well.....just pretend you do! Who says people weren't "tolerant" in the "old days?"

    The basic premise is that all the ghosts in the haunted house would go out each night and scare people. However, Casper preferred to stay home and NOT scare people. Hence, the title "the friendly ghost." He would even sit and read a book called, "How To Win Friends."

    The story is about how he gets disgusted with his fellow ghosts and one night decides to leave his house to go out and try to make friends in the world. He finds that easier said than done as people freak out when they see him!

    This Technicolor cartoon would look really good with a nice restoration job as has been done with Looney Tunes and Popeye cartoons. The color and artwork in this one is excellent.
    7springfieldrental

    Casper's Film Debut

    Casper the Friendly Ghost saw his movie debut in November 1945 "The Friendly Ghost." The cartoon was part of a series created by the newly-established the Famous Players, Paramount Picture's animated film department. When Paramount took over the financially-failing Fleischer Studios in 1941, it renamed the division Famous Players, and continued to produce Popeye the Sailor and Superman cartoons. In an addition to its lineup, the studio developed 'Noveltoons,' whose purpose was to draw one-shot characters. It soon discovered a few of these characters were popular and deserved their own series. Casper the Friendly Ghost, one of Noveltoons' first cartoons, is introduced in "The Friendly Ghost." Casper lives in a haunted house with other ghosts taking delight in scaring people around the neighborhood. The boy ghost Casper gets bored by his fellow ghosts' antics, and decides to go into the world intending to make friends with mortals. But everyone he meets are deathly afraid of him. He's so sad he attempts to commit suicide by straddling tracks before an oncoming train. Since he's already dead, his efforts are futile. Casper meets two kids, who befriend him. They take him home, but their mother is scared out of her wits. Casper makes amends by frightening a mortgage banker about to repossess the family's home, causing the banker to do something unheard of in cartoons.

    This pattern is nearly duplicated in nearly every Casper cartoon, so much so it prompted film historian Leonard Maltin to describe Casper as "the most monotonous character to invade cartoonland since Mighty Mouse. It seemed as if every Casper cartoon followed the same story line, with only minor variations." A slimmer version of Casper received his own series in 1950 and ran in theaters until 1960 where the ghost became a television fixture.
    10ja_kitty_71

    An excellent start of the "Casper" cartoon series

    This is the first Casper cartoon, and it is a fine start to the series. I recall viewing this short on an old VHS tape that also had the other two early Casper cartoons. Unfortunately, we lost the tape quite some time ago.

    The story starts with a pudgy Casper running away from home, upset about the ghostly antics of his many siblings. Along the road, Casper tries to make friends, but they all run away. Poor Casper was so sad and depressed that he tried committing suicide by sitting on the railroad tracks, but he forgot he was already dead and wept. At that moment, two children came by and asked Casper if he wanted to play with them. Of course, Casper said "yes," and it looks like he made two friends. But will it last? I highly recommend watching it. I absolutely love this cartoon! It's a fantastic introduction to the Casper series.
    9Popeye-8

    Interesting Little Gem opens CASPER Franchise

    This first CASPER cartoon is an engaging little film (though Casper is almost unrecognizable--his design was later "cleaned up" and streamlined as he developed, much like Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny) that has much to offer younger children. Issues such as fair play, overcoming peer pressure and being accepted for who you are (not by how you appear) make this a charming bit of animation for children that offers a nice moral education as well.

    Later on, as Famous Studios would try to understand how to approach Casper as a character, they would often get esoteric (THERE'S GOOD BOOS TONIGHT is an example of how they tried to make Casper a "serious" cartoon, and features actual death). Ultimately, Harveytoons would make Casper into a brain-dead ghost--but here he is a ghost with a soul.
    7TheLittleSongbird

    A good start for the Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoons

    The Friendly Ghost may not be the best of the Casper cartoons, there is understandably a not-quite-found its feet yet. However, this still manages to be a good start, and made room for better to follow.

    The Friendly Ghost is not the best-looking of the series, it's not quite as lush or colourful, the grainy picture quality doesn't help and Casper did look odd and as if his design was still developing (understandable). Overall however, it is still quite good, most of the characters are well drawn and move well, some of the colours are beautiful and the backgrounds are very detailed and have a lot of atmosphere in the early parts of the cartoon. Winston Sharples' music as always is outstanding and often one of the best assets of all the cartoons they feature in. It's beautifully orchestrated, lively, poignant-sounding without being saccharine and in the early parts it's also quite spooky.

    Dialogue here is sweet and moving (this is not the sort of cartoon that's particularly funny, the man at the end's fright at seeing Casper is wonderfully exaggerated), though Casper feeling sorry for himself doesn't quite avoid being too sentimental. The story, while not particularly innovative, is incredibly cute, with the befriending of the children, has a lot of charm and atmosphere and is quite poignant (if not as heart-wrenching as the cartoon made afterwards). I do agree that the family's acceptance of Casper was too rushed and too quickly introduced. The moral does avoid being laid on too thick or heavy-handed. The characters are engaging, and the voice acting is very solid.

    All in all, there is better in the Casper the Friendly Ghost series but this is a good start. 7/10 Bethany Cox

    More like this

    There's Good Boos To-Night
    6.6
    There's Good Boos To-Night
    Life with Feathers
    7.0
    Life with Feathers
    Hair-Raising Hare
    8.0
    Hair-Raising Hare
    Brave Little Tailor
    7.5
    Brave Little Tailor
    Lonesome Ghosts
    7.5
    Lonesome Ghosts
    To Duck... or Not to Duck
    7.3
    To Duck... or Not to Duck
    The New Casper Cartoon Show
    6.4
    The New Casper Cartoon Show
    Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur
    6.6
    Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur
    Rabbit Fire
    8.3
    Rabbit Fire
    The Night Before Christmas
    7.9
    The Night Before Christmas
    Odor-Able Kitty
    7.0
    Odor-Able Kitty
    The Three Caballeros
    6.3
    The Three Caballeros

    Related interests

    Daveigh Chase, Rumi Hiiragi, and Mari Natsuki in Spirited Away (2001)
    Animation
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Drew Barrymore and Pat Welsh in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
    Family
    Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
    Fantasy
    Benedict Cumberbatch in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)
    Short

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This short is one of several Famous Studios cartoon shorts that entered the public domain in the United States due to the last claimant neglecting to renew the copyright on time.
    • Quotes

      Casper: It's no use... I'm just a scary ol' ghost...

    • Connections
      Edited into Cartoon Carnival Vol. 2 Featuring Casper and His Friends (1983)
    • Soundtracks
      Casper the Friendly Ghost Theme
      (uncredited)

      Written by Winston Sharples

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 16, 1945 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Каспер: Дружній привид
    • Production company
      • Famous Studios
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 9m
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.