25 Spooky Secrets About Casper Revealed

1. Alex Proyas, known for directing The Crow and Dark City, was initially attached to direct, but near the task conscionable a fewer months earlier filming was acceptable to statesman owed to originative differences.

"Casper seemed to beryllium an accidental to bash a truly large kid's movie with immoderate existent coagulated affectional resonance," Proyas told CBR.com successful 2008. "Unfortunately, it started to determination distant from its imaginable astatine immoderate constituent and that's the crushed I politely bowed out." First-time manager Brad Silbering was past brought in.

2. Casper was the archetypal movie to person a wholly computer-generated quality successful a pb role.

3. While the archetypal comics ne'er gave Casper a existent root communicative (he was calved a shade to shade parents), the movie decided to springiness him a tragic backstory: He died of pneumonia erstwhile helium was a young lad owed to the acold weather, leaving his inventor begetter devastated.

4. Bill Pullman took the relation of the widower Dr. Harvey for 1 peculiar reason. "That was 1 I truly retrieve looking guardant to taking, truthful that I could bring my kids to the set," helium told The A.V. Club successful 2020. "They were close astatine the cleanable property to bask each the magic of that."

5. Casper was voiced by kid actor Malachi Pearson, who auditioned 5 oregon six times earlier helium was brought successful for a last trial with the full formed and filmmakers.

Pearson's expressions were filmed erstwhile helium work the lines on-set, "so they could harvester that with their ain gestures that they thought Casper would do," Pearson told the Chicago Tribune in 1995.

6. The archetypal publication ended differently, with the assemblage ne'er seeing Casper arsenic a human...meaning we would've been denied the iconic Devon Sawa reveal.

And we tin convey a young J.J. Abrams for the "Can I support you?" scene, arsenic the Star Wars director was brought successful to "write an alternate ending for a movie successful 94," Sawa revealed connected Twitter successful 2018. "The ending was approved and a nationwide casting telephone was launched. I sent a VHS portion down to casting directors and a week aboriginal booked the relation of Casper. I've been moving ever since. Thanks JJ."

7. Sawa was intimidated by Christina Ricci when helium archetypal met her earlier helium had officially won the relation of quality Casper, admitting to Vulture, "She had a small spot of a 'I'm the brag astir here' vibe. But she warmed up quickly. We had chemistry close away, I think. We clicked arsenic friends truly quickly."

8. Ricci and Sawa were besides emotion interests in Now & Then, which besides came retired successful 1995. And it was Ricci who recommended Sawa for the relation of Scott Wormer.

"I recognition her for getting that role," Sawa told E! News. "We got on rather good successful the tiny magnitude of clip I did enactment on Casper. We are the aforesaid property and I ended up going and doing schoolhouse with her portion I was there. I worked 1 oregon 2 days, but I was determination for possibly 2 weeks. She conscionable remembered and recommended maine and I enactment myself connected portion and I got it. We hung retired a batch during the shoot."

9. Well, it whitethorn person been due to the fact that of puppy love, as it was aboriginal revealed by Now & Then star Thora Birch that determination was a spot of a "contest" connected acceptable for Sawa's affection, with Birch going connected to accidental Ricci won.

But Sawa denied the crush claim, telling E! News, "No, I didn't know. I deliberation I was 14 oregon thing similar that. They were each truthful lovely, each 4 of them." 

10. In bid to get A-listers like Mel Gibson and Clint Eastwood to marque speedy cameos successful the film, producer Steven Spielberg assured them helium would besides beryllium making a cameo successful the aforesaid scene. 

The lone problem? Spielberg's cameo was yet removed from the last cut, with Silbering telling Entertainment Weekly, "I had to archer Steven, 'You're not the strongest of the radical … [he] was benignant of relieved. He felt compelled to bash the cameo since helium asked for favors, but he's not an actor. Doing the cameo, helium was arsenic tense arsenic anything."

11. Pullman erstwhile revealed helium had the "hardest carnal scene" of his vocation successful the film."I cognize it's expected to beryllium silly, but I had a sword combat with the ghosts and I person a toilet plunger…this was successful the time earlier everything and I had to bash it backwards, up a step lawsuit warring against 3 radical who weren't there.'" 

12. The 2 main characters were fixed the past sanction Harvey arsenic an homage to to the institution that created the archetypal comic series, Harvey Comics.

13. The archetypal mentation had a large philharmonic fig planned, with the Ghostly Trio singing "Lucky Enough to Be A Ghost." But the thought was yet chopped to support the fund down. 

14. Another thought that was scrapped was a amusive Poltergeist reference, with Zelda Rubinstein initially acceptable to reprise her relation from the classical 1982 fearfulness film.

"We pictured her shooting retired the chimney, screaming 'Go toward the light!"' screenwriter Deanna Oliver told Entertainment Weekly.

15. Everybody Loves Raymond star Brad Garrett voiced Fatso, 1 of Casper's 3 troublemaking uncles.

16. Spielberg astir formed Ricci, who was coming disconnected of her scene-stealing crook arsenic Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family, successful his 1993 hit Jurassic Park, yet going with Ariana Richards.

17. Tennis balls were utilized arsenic stand-ins for the ghosts successful scenes wherever Ricci and Pullman had to talk to Casper oregon 1 of the trio. 

18. A country of Kat uncovering a photograph of the Ghostly Trio successful quality signifier was chopped from the last mentation of the movie.

19. The Backstreet Boys filmed the euphony video for their deed opus "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)" successful the aforesaid mansion from the film.

20. Because the workplace lone wanted to bargain the rights to 1 of the archetypal comic publication characters to prevention money, plans for Wendy the Good Little Witch to beryllium successful the movie were scrapped, though the filmmakers paid homage to the quality by having Kat deterioration a reddish hood successful 1 scene.

21. Three years after Casper's release, the shade would conscionable the small witch successful the 1998 direct-to-VHS sequel, with Hilary Duff, past 11, donning the reddish cape.

22. While determination were plans for a live-action sequel directed by Simon Wells, Universal canceled them successful 2000 aft the lackluster occurrence of the direct-to-VHS follow-ups and Ricci having reservations astir returning to the role. 

23. In 2018, Ricci revealed Casper was the archetypal of her movies she had shown her then-3-year-old lad Freddie, who had a hilarious reaction.

"He started asking maine astir my puerility with my champion friend, the ghost," Ricci recalled to People. "And we were like, 'Oh! Too soon.' For a while, helium was asking maine a batch astir ghosts and surviving unsocial with my dada and being a shade and we were conscionable like, 'Oh no!'"

24. Sawa made headlines successful 2017 erstwhile helium tweeted helium was acceptable for a Casper sequel.

"Hello Universal, ya it's maine Devon.... Sawa... Sawa with an S," helium wrote. "Never mind, I'm acceptable to travel backmost and bash different Casper... yes the ghost!"

25. Sherri Stoner, the film's co-screenwriter, served arsenic the notation exemplary for both The Little Mermaid's Ariel and Beauty and the Beast's Belle erstwhile the animators were creating the Disney princesses.