Casper Meets Wendy

Wendy (Hilary Duff) is a child witch who lives with her three playful aunts (Cathy Moriarty, Shelley Duvall, Teri Garr). Meanwhile, a warlock, Desmond Spellman (George Hamilton) is told by his soothsayer mirror (Pauly Shore) that Wendy will be his downfall. Spellman's hunt for the girl sends all four witches to hide out at Sunnybride, a vacation resort where they can remain undetected by Spellman's witch-finding radar, as long as they refrain from using magic. By chance, Casper's friends, the Ghostly Trio, also arrive at Sunnybride to unwind after a season of scaring people. Casper, accompanying the Trio, accidentally runs into Wendy, and it's not exactly friendship at first sight: ghosts traditionally antagonize witches, and vice-versa. But the young pair soon realize they are both misunderstood misfits, and Casper vows to protect Wendy. The pair then decide to convince the Ghostly Trio that witches aren't so bad after all by matching up the three aunts and the three ghosts (possessing the bodies of male partygoers) at a Sunnybride dance. The supernatural sextet get along splendidly--until the Trio and the witches recognize each others' true nature. Wendy has to use magic to halt the ghosts' attack, sending them back to their suite to sulk and rage at Casper for tricking them.

In the meantime, Spellman has now pinpointed Wendy's position. He corners the witches, who prove no match for him, and conjures up "the Mystic Abyss," an endless portal in which he hurls Wendy. Casper flies in with a rope and catches hold of his friend, but all still seems lost until a hideous monster materializes and frightens Spellman into toppling into the Abyss. The apparition is actually the shape-shifting Ghostly Trio, who had a change of heart about helping the witches. Together they pull Casper and Wendy to safety.

Bringing Wendy and her aunts (characters from the Harvey Comics stable, home of Casper and friends) into this predictable plot line at least enriches the tiresome shtick that has been Casper's stock-in-trade ever since the childlike spook was created by cartoonist Joe Oriolo in the 1940s. Unfortunately, as Wendy newcomer Hilary Duff has to wear an embarrassing costume that resembles red long johns--for the proper comparison, imagine if Casper were an actor under a white sheet instead of a slick display of computer-animation effects.

George Hamilton plays his villainous part like a poor man's Vincent Price, while Duvall, Garr, and especially Cathy Moriarty put some gusto into their supporting roles, although Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker played much the same parts in Disney's HOCUS POCUS (1993). Moriarty portrayed a completely different character in the original CASPER, and a handful of actors from other entries in the series do guest shots. In this respect it seems as if the filmmakers recognize that Casper's cinematic repertoire is limited and use the character as a sort of ectoplasmic springboard for a looser, Zucker Bros.-like gagfest. The lamest element is Spellman's two goons (Richard Moll, Vincent Schiavelli), who function as walking quotations from both MEN IN BLACK (1997) and PULP FICTION (1994). On the other hand, a reappearance of the flying cow from TWISTER (1996) and a throwaway line about the "witches' protection program" may bring a smile from jaded older viewers who feel that Casper has just about worn out his welcome. Younger viewers will more easily fall under his prankish spell. (Violence.) leave a comment