Casper introduced not only the title Friendly Ghost but also his chaotic uncles, known as the Ghostly Trio, but the relationship between them is a bit confusing. In 1995, Casper got his first live-action movie, directed by Brad Silberling. Casper was created by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo and made his debut in 1945 in a series of theatrical cartoons. The first Casper movie mixed live-action performances with CGI, becoming the first feature movie to have a fully CGI character in the lead role. Although Casper got mixed reviews from critics, it was a commercial success, making way for prequels, sequels, and more.
Casper followed paranormal therapist James Harvey (Bill Pullman) and his teenage daughter, Kat (Christina Ricci), who were hired by Carrigan Crittenden (Cathy Moriarty) to get rid of the ghosts in the mansion she just inherited. Said ghosts were Casper and his uncles Stretch, Fatso, and Stinkie, with Casper bonding with Kat and the Ghostly Trio building a unique friendship with Dr. Harvey. Although Casper referred to the Ghostly Trio as his uncles, the lack of background information on the latter raised questions about what exactly is the relationship between Casper and these chaotic ghosts.
The Ghostly Trio Aren’t Casper’s Biological Uncles
Despite Being Presented As Such, Casper & The Ghostly Trio Aren’t Related
Casper took a darker tone than the shorts and comic books starring the title character, but it explained how Casper died. Casper opened up to Kat and shared that he died after getting sick following a whole day out in the snow, sledding. Kat then found a newspaper clip in which it was revealed that Casper died of pneumonia at the age of 12. While Casper and Kat developed a strong friendship and opened up to each other, Dr. Harvey tried to help the Ghostly Trio. Although they also became friends, the Ghostly Trio never told Dr. Harvey about their past.
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Who Plays The Ghostly Trio In Casper
Casper introduced the Ghostly Trio, Casper's chaotic uncles, who were key to the movie's comedy – and here's who plays these fun characters.
Casper didn’t tell Kat anything about his uncles, either, and the way they treated the young ghost raised questions about whether they were truly related or not. The success of Casper led the studio to make a direct-to-video prequel titled Casper: A Spirited Beginning, directed by Sean McNamara. In it, Casper, unaware of where he is and that he’s a ghost, is kicked off the ghost train heading to the Ghost Central. What Casper didn’t know was that the train would take him to ghost school to be trained on proper ghost lifestyle and work to get a haunting license.
Chris introduces Casper to the Ghostly Trio, who are delighted to learn that Casper hasn’t gone to ghost school, so they take him in to train him themselves.
Casper meets loner boy Chris and they become friends. Chris had already met the Ghostly Trio at Applegate Mansion as his father was trying to get it demolished, but the Trio were terrorizing the place. Chris introduces Casper to the Ghostly Trio, who are delighted to learn that Casper hasn’t gone to ghost school, so they take him in to train him themselves. After evil ghoul Kibosh, who runs Ghost Central, witnesses Casper eating the bomb that would have destroyed the mansion, Casper tells him the Trio taught him how to do it, and they return the favor by saying they are Casper’s uncles.
How Did Casper’s Ghostly Trio Die?
The Ghostly Trio’s Backstory Is A Mystery
The mystery of the relationship between Casper and the Ghostly Trio was solved in a prequel, but not the mystery of how they died. Neither Casper nor any of the movies that followed have explored how the Ghostly Trio died, but there are theories about what could have happened to them. The most popular ones suggest pretty dark backstories for the Trio, saying Stretch hung himself, Fatso died of a heart attack due to obesity, and Stinkie was poisoned. The cause of death for the Ghostly Trio might never be revealed, but at least their relationship with Casper was already explained.
Casper
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PG
- Director
- Brad Silberling
- Release Date
- May 26, 1995
- Cast
- Bill Pullman , Christina Ricci , Eric Idle , Ben Stein , Chauncey Leopardi , Spencer Vrooman
- Runtime
- 100 minutes
