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Casper Meets Wendy

Casper Meets Wendy is a 1998 American fantasy comedy film based on the Harvey Comics cartoon characters Casper the Friendly Ghost and Wendy the Good Little Witch. The film is a sequel to Casper: A Spirited Beginning, and the second spin-off/prequel of Casper (1995). Saban Entertainment co-produced the project.

Casper Meets Wendy
Official release poster
Directed bySean McNamara
Written byJymn Magon
Based onCasper the Friendly Ghost
by Seymour Reit
Joe Oriolo
Wendy the Good Little Witch
by Steve Mufatti (artist)
Produced byMike Elliott
StarringCathy Moriarty
Shelley Duvall
Teri Garr
George Hamilton
Hilary Duff
Richard Moll
Vincent Schiavelli
Blake Foster
Voices:
Jeremy Foley
Bill Farmer
Jim Ward
Jess Harnell
CinematographyChristian Sebaldt
Edited byJohn Gilbert
Music byUdi Harpaz
Production
companies
Distributed by20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release date
  • September 22, 1998 (1998-09-22)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

This was Hilary Duff's first major film, and was released on September 22, 1998, six days before her 11th birthday. The film also marks the second Casper film for co-star Cathy Moriarty, who previously starred as the main antagonist in the 1995 film.

The film was met with mostly negative reviews from critics, but was considered an improvement to its predecessor. Its television premiere was October 24, 1999 on Fox Family.

Plot

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The Ghostly Trio cause panic at a baseball game, and their nephew Casper fails to settle the terrified crowd. The park empties, and after watching their effect with satisfaction, Casper's uncles plan a vacation.

Meanwhile, a malevolent warlock named Desmond Spellman is told by the Oracle in the Mirror that in the future, a good little witch named Wendy will surpass him. Desmond plans to get rid of her with the advised "Mystic Abyss", a dimensional rift that can destroy living beings. He then creates a pair of spies: Jules and Vincent, and assigns them to bring Wendy to him from where she is living in the country with her three mischievous aunts: Gert, Gabby and Fanny.

Jules and Vincent arrive at Wendy's house to escort the young witch to Desmond, but she narrowly escapes with her aunts. To keep Wendy safe from Desmond, her aunts hide and vacation at the same resort hotel in which Casper and his uncles are vacationing. Casper and Wendy meet in a barn and become friends, but they fear that their guardians will not get along because ghosts and witches are natural enemies. Casper and Wendy devise a plan to make them meet at a party. Casper gets the Ghostly Trio to possess three men who happen to resemble them. Wendy convinces her aunts to go to the party to meet men. Thanks to their plotting, they meet and soon the Trio are flirting with the three witches, who are posing as regular women.

The plan is spoiled when the possession wears off and the Trio's real selves are revealed to Wendy's aunts, who, in turn, reveal their real selves and threaten them with magic. Wendy explains to Casper that she and her aunts cannot use high-level magic or else Desmond will be able to track them down. When the Trio suspects Casper is protecting the witches, they pressure him into blurting out that the witches cannot use their powers, prompting the Trio to terrorize Wendy and her aunts. Wendy feels she has no choice but to cast a high-level spell to cover the Trio in plaster, alerting Desmond of her location.

Distraught that Casper broke his promise, Wendy ends their friendship. Casper soon confronts his uncles and tells them that Desmond is coming after the witches and they should help, at which the Trio scoff and refuse. Before the witches can evacuate the resort, Desmond and his spies arrive. After finding and confronting the witches, Desmond explains the Oracle's prediction, and after she tries to resist him, summons the Mystic Abyss and casts Wendy into it, with Casper diving inside in an attempt to rescue her. While inside together, Wendy apologizes to Casper for yelling at him and ending their friendship. Wendy's aunts battle Desmond but are no match for him. Before Desmond can turn the witches into fertilizer, a giant three-eyed monster appears and frightens the warlock who trips over Wendy's broom and falls into the Abyss himself. The monster turns out to be the Ghostly Trio, who had a change of heart. While they hold the door to the Abyss open, Wendy's aunts pull her and Casper out.

Both Casper and Wendy are unconscious from being inside the Abyss, but with encouragement and comfort from their guardians, Casper is restored by his uncles, and Wendy is treated by her aunts. After a touching reunion between the witches and an awkward one between the ghosts, the witches thank the Trio for helping them and the Trio admit it was nice getting to know them. Casper and Wendy's friendship is restored. The Oracle then proclaims that Wendy is the greatest witch because she did something no other witch ever could: she befriended a ghost. Later, Casper, his uncles, Wendy, and her aunts, all bid each other goodbye. Wendy assures Casper they will see each other again very soon. Before flying back home with her aunts, Wendy gives Casper a goodbye kiss, causing him to blush.

Cast

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Main

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Live-action

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Voice

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Supporting

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Critical reception

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Casper Meets Wendy received mostly negative reviews from critics, with a total of 6 reviews from critics on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. 17% gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 4.10/10, which gives the film a slight improvement over its predecessor, but still low compared to the 1995 theatrical film.[1]

Hilary Duff was nominated for a Young Artist Award.[2]

Soundtrack alteration

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In the original airing and VHS release of the film, the Casper theme can be heard in the opening sequence performed by Shana Halligan.[3] In the subsequent DVD releases the lyric is muted though the melody and sound effects remain intact. Halligan is still credited with performing the theme song.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Casper Meets Wendy". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  2. ^ "The 20th Annual Youth in Film Awards". Young Artist Awards. Archived from the original on 2016-11-28. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
  3. ^ "Shana Halligan - Casper the Friendly Ghost (with lyric)". You Tube. 7 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
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