History WesternAnimation / CasperTheFriendlyGhost

[[caption-width-right:344:[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic One ghostie you should definitely giggle at.]]]]

The ghosts in the Casper stories look like they do because they are all [[BedsheetGhost cartoon caricatures of burial shrouds]], a [[AluminumChristmasTrees once-common way of burying the dead]].

* CostumeEvolution: In "Casper and the Spetrals" Wendy and Hot Stuff's outfits were totally redesigned, Wendy doesn't wear her pijama-like red robe, instaed she is more of a modern goth witch, and Hot Stuff changed his classic asbestos diaper for a punk outfit.

* BrooklynRage: Spooky is much more "tuff" than spooky (since he looks about as cuddly as Casper), is somewhat of a hothead, and even his "Boos" look more he's flipping out. He speaks with a Brooklyn-style FunetikAccent: his girlfriend Pearl is "Poil" and his [[NiceHat derby hat]] is a "doiby"

* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Spooky and Casper. Though not identical, they look similar enough to fool some.
** In an early theatrical short, Casper calls the other ghost "Cousin Spooky." This relationship was dropped in the comic book series.

* TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation

* ClothingDamage: Hot stuff, in the third issue of Casper and the Spectrals, had all of his clothes burned by lava leaving him totally naked.

* HeroicSacrifice: In Casper and the Spectrals [[spoiler: Hot Stuff sacrifices himself to save Wendy, however his body is healed by fire in the comic's ending]

* BroughtDownToNormal: In "Not Ghoulty", Casper is tried in a ghost court for unghostly conduct (i.e. saving a baby from a burning building) and the judge removes his ghostly abilities until he scares someone again. This does not work out in Casper's favor, as his newfound friends, unaware of his powers being lost, get mad at him when he keeps screwing up good deeds he was a natural at before (i.e. a shopkeeper asks Casper to phase through a locked door to open it, but Casper can't, so he accidentally smashes through the shop window to unlock it). Fortunately, Casper turns the tables on the other ghosts--[[HorrifyingTheHorror he poses as a Ghost Exterminator and scares the crap of them]], restoring his powers.

* FaunsAndSatyrs: Hot Stuff's devil race are a child-friendly version of these.

* StrictlyFormula: Most of the cartoons are virtually interchangable from each other save for some superficial settings and slightly different characters (who all serve identical purposes in the plot). One FamousStudios animator, Lee Mishkin, even had a quote about it:

* FiveRaces: The [[HotStuffTheLittleDevil devils]] are the Stouts, the [[WendyTheGoodLittleWitch fairies and witches]] are the Fairies, the [[OurGnomesAreWeirder gnomes]] are the Mundanes who live to invent and build things, the [[WizardClassic wizards]] who occasionally [[HermitGuru mentor]] Casper or Wendy are the High Men, and the [[CasperTheFriendlyGhost ghosts]] are the Cute despite their [[PeekABogeyman scare superpower]].

Casper, a ghost who [[IJustWantToHaveFriends wants to be friendly but scares people away]], debuted in a 1946 WesternAnimation/{{Noveltoon|s}} released by Creator/FamousStudios for Paramount Pictures, [[AdaptationDisplacement adapted from a children's story]] made by Joe Oriolo. Casper appeared in 55 animated shorts and became Paramount's most popular character after ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}. In 1958, Paramount sold the character to Creator/HarveyComics, where he frequently crossed over to ComicBook/RichieRich stories.

* [[WitchSpecies Magical Species]]: In the Harvey comics and most of the cartoons, ghosts and witches and devils (as well as [[WingedHumanoid butterfly-winged good fairies]] and [[OurMonstersAreDifferent monsters from ''Monster Land'']] are nothing more than different magical species.

The ghosts in the Casper stories look like they do because they are all [[BedsheetGhosts cartoon caricatures of burial shrouds]], a [[AluminumChristmasTrees once-common way of burying the dead]].

Casper's television debut was on the Creator/{{ABC}} AnimatedAnthology series ''Matty's Funday Funnies'', sponsored by Creator/{{Mattel}} Toys. The Casper shorts were syndicated during the 1962/63 season, after which they returned to ABC, accompanied by new supporting segments, in ''The New Casper Cartoon Show''. In 1979, Creator/HannaBarbera produced ''WesternAnimation/CasperAndTheAngels'' for Creator/{{NBC}} Saturday mornings, with the voices of Creator/JulieMcWhirter as Casper and Creator/JohnStephenson as Hairy Scary. Since 1995, Casper has been the star of a Fox AnimatedSeries (''WesternAnimation/TheSpooktacularNewAdventuresOfCasper''), an AllCGICartoon (''WesternAnimation/CasperScareSchool: The Series''), and a series of live-action/CGI films (starting with [[Film/{{Casper}} a feature]]); one of the direct-to-video movies, ''Film/CasperMeetsWendy'', launched the career of Music/HilaryDuff.