I remember watching this animated show (we called them cartoons then) as a child and marveling at the way Casper's friends treated him. That was probably very inspirational in the way I have always tried to treat others. I definitely didn't want to be compared to those three mean spirited rascals (pun intended).

Characters

Of course the main character is Casper, The Friendly Ghost. He's a loveable guy who seems childlike in his actions, speech and mannerisms, which is probably why children can relate to him easily. He's usually soft-spoken like a timid child and he's always concerned about others. Another positive is his perfect manners. His main goal in life is to make friends - he appears lonely and just wants a friend.

His friend Wendy, the Good Little Witch, sometimes joins Casper in this cartoon. Wendy is also fun and loveable and the two of them are constantly helping others steer clear of trouble.

To add a little spice to the show, the creators came up with the Ghostly Trio (Stretch, Stinkie and Fatso). These obnoxious fellows were constantly searching for humans to scare and their favorite toys were chains and other noisemakers.

Background

Ok, this is going way back! Casper first came into being in 1946, in Noveltoons, which were produced by Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios. In 1958, cartoons and all were sold to Harvey Publishing, the same company that produced the Casper comic books. The Casper cartoons first appeared in 1959 on Matty's Funday Funnies, but it took a few years to get the big dream off the ground. Finally in 1962, Casper first appeared on ABC and it didn't take long (less than a year) for Casper made the big time - the show was featured in the Saturday morning lineup. The cartoon went off the air at the end of 1969. Like all other great shows, Casper was syndicated and can be seen on various cartoon networks.

Little Known Trivia About Casper

Did you know that Casper is Harvey Publishing's most famous character? Actually the only character known by more people is Mickey Mouse - Casper comes in second worldwide. There's something to be said for being a friendly ghost!

Casper was Paramount Studios biggest animated star after Popeye. After realizing Casper's marketing potential, Paramount began cashing in with various Casper products.

When the character of Casper became ultra popular, Paramount used this to their advantage. From the mid 1970's until recently, Casper has been a "spooks" person (as they call him) for Unicef, General Electric, Collegeville costumes, the Apollo 16 flight to the moon, Major League Baseball's National League, the American Dental Association, the Boy Scouts of America, Sugar Chex Cereal, Target Stores, Pizza Hut and KFC.

The 1995 movie, "Casper", based on this cartoon, didn't do extremely well at the box office, but did spur on a new series of cartoons that aired on FOX and Fox Family Channel.

Could anyone guess that Casper is actually 50 years old? And he still is as charming and loveable as ever (and hasn't seemed to age one bit!).





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