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Casper Meets Wendy
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Wikipedia article
'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 is the second spin-off/prequel of 'Casper'. Saban Entertainment, co-produced the project. The film also marks the second 'Casper' film to co-star Cathy Moriarty, who played the villainess in the 1995 film.
This was the first major film for Hilary Duff, who was 10 years old when the film was released on September 22, 1998, six days before her 11th birthday, and 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
A mysterious "spaceship" floats over a baseball game eventually revealing Stretch, Stinkie, and Fatso, The Ghostly Trio, who cause panic in the ballpark. Their nephew Casper, attempts to settle the terrified crowd, but they are just as scared of him. The park empties, and after watching their effect with satisfaction, Casper's uncles plan a vacation.
Meanwhile, a malevolent warlock named Desmond Spellman believes himself to be the greatest warlock to have existed until he receives an unwelcome message from the Oracle in the Mirror, who tells him that in the future, none other than Wendy the Good Little Witch will surpass him. To avoid this, Desmond plans to get rid of her once and for all with the advised "Mystic Abyss", a dimensional rift that can destroy living beings upon entering. He then creates a pair of spies: Jules and Vincent, and assigns them to bring Wendy to him 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 a resort hotel which happens to be the same place in which Casper and his uncles are vacationing.
Casper and Wendy meet in a barn and, due to their amiable personalities and having been bossed around by their respective guardians, they become great friends. Unfortunately, they fear that each of their guardians will not get along because ghosts and witches are natural enemies. However, the pair are certain their guardians would get along if they only got to know each other. In order to do that, they devise a plan to make them meet at a party. Casper tricks the Ghostly Trio to break the record for possession and they 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.
Though everything goes well at first, with the ghosts and witches unwittingly enjoying each other's company and finding that they have a lot in common, 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. However, as Wendy explains to Casper, she and her aunts cannot use any high-level magic or else Desmond will be able to track them down. She begs Casper not to tell anyone about this. Unfortunately, when the Trio suspects that Casper is protecting the witches, they interrogate and 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, thus alerting Desmond's magic tracker 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. The Trio scoff at first and refuse, but Casper reminded them that at the party the Trio showed that they could get along with the witches if they put their differences aside.
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 to destroy her, with Casper diving inside in an attempt to rescue her. Wendy's aunts attempt to 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, while recoiling in fear, trips over Wendy's broom and falls into the Abyss himself. The monster turns out to be the Ghostly Trio, who have a change of heart and decide to help after they combine their powers to defeat Desmond. While they hold the door to the Abyss open, Wendy's aunts pull her and Casper out.
Both Casper and Wendy are weak and 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. 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. Before flying back home with her aunts, Wendy gives Casper a goodbye kiss, causing him to blush.
Cast
Main
Live-Action* Hilary Duff as Wendy the Good Little Witch
* Cathy Moriarty as Gert
* Shelley Duvall as Gabby
* Teri Garr as Fanny
* George Hamilton as Desmond Spellman
* Richard Moll as Jules
* Vincent Schiavelli as Vincent
* Pauly Shore as The Oracle
* Blake Foster as Josh Jackman
* Logan Robbins as Logan
* Michael McDonald as Spike-Stretch
* Travis McKenna as Phil-Fatso
* Patrick Richwood as Vinne-Stinkie
Voice
* Jeremy Foley as Casper the Friendly Ghost
* Jim Ward as Stretch
* Bill Farmer as Stinkie
* Jess Harnell as Fatso
Supporting
* Norm Macdonald as Human Stretch* Rodger Halston as Larry Tullby
* Alan Thicke as Baseball Announcer
* Casper Van Dien as Crewcut Hunk
* Billy Burnette as Chef
* Maria Ford as Playmate (Fanny)
* Jim Jackman as Jerry Jackman
* Sheila Travis as Jean Jackman
* Clay Crosby as Honeycakes
* Tamie Lea Logan as Squeekums (Credited as Tami Logan)
* Ramsey Krull as Newsboy
* Paul Di Franco as Spectator (Credited as Paul di Franco)
* Howie Gold as Agitated Fan
* Charles Moore as Amazed Fan
* Emily Jennifer Grunfeld as Pretty Fan
* Manny Fernandez as Handsome Fan
* Michael Spagnoli as Panicked Fan
* Jim Wise as Hungry Fan
* Ricky Luna as Catcher
* John Rizzi as Cubana Boy
* Sebastian Hitzig as Desk Clerk
* Patricia Elliott as Snotty Woman (Credited as Pat Elliot)
* Sue Ellen Enright as Maid
* Cecile Krevoy as Snooty Lady
* Rodman Flender as Agile Dancer
* Michelle Marie as Rockin' Dancer
* Lisa Salazar as Smart Dancer
* Elizabeth Gage as Swift Dancer
* Karen Welch as Spinning Dancer
* Rick Dean as Table Occupant
* Lacey Taylor Robbins as Kim
* Larry Robbins as Boogie-Lovin' Dude
Critical reception
'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 4.05/10, which gives the film a slight improvement over its predecessor, but still low compared to the 1995 theatrical film.
Soundtrack alteration
In the original airing and VHS release of the film, the Casper theme can be heard in the opening sequence performed by Shana Halligan. In the subsequent DVD releases the lyric is muted though the melody and sound effects remain intact. However, Halligan is still credited with performing the theme song.
Awards and nominations
Despite the negative reviews, 'Casper Meets Wendy' won the 'Children's Programming - Electronic Visual Effects' award. Hilary Duff was nominated for a 'Young Artist Award'.
See also
*List of ghost films
References
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