''Casper's Halloween Special'' (also known as ''Casper Saves Halloween'' and ''Casper the Friendly Ghost: He Ain't Scary, He's Our Brother'') is a 1979 animated

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

television special A television special (often TV special, or rarely television spectacular) is a standalone television show which may also temporarily interrupt episodic programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Some specials provide a full range of ent ...

produced by

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

featuring

Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a pleasant, personable and translucent ghost, but often criticized by his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio. T ...

and his friend Hairy Scarey from the animated series ''

Casper and the Angels ''Casper and the Angels'' is an American animated television series based on the Harvey Comics cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1979, to December 15, 1979. ...

''. The special was directed by

Carl Urbano Carl Urbano (December 20, 1910 – October 16, 2003) was an American animator and director, best remembered for the promotional animated short ''A Is for Atom'' (1953) which promotes atomic energy. Life During the 1950s, Carl would be found dire ...

and premiered on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

on October 30, 1979. Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contained a laugh track created by the studio.

Plot

night, Hairy Scary The

Ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

, Winifred

The Witch A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft. Witch, WITCH, or variations thereof may also refer to: Animals * Witch (lefteye flounder) (''Arnoglossus scapha''), a Pacific flatfish * Witch (righteye flounder) (''Glyptocephalus cynoglossus''), a Euro ...

and Screech The Ghost are plotting their mean-spirited spookings. Casper refuses to join them and decides to go

trick-or-treating Trick-or-treating is a traditional Halloween custom for children and adults in some countries. During the evening of Halloween, on October 31, people in costumes travel from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase "trick or treat". The ...

dressed as a real boy, but neighborhood kids see through his

disguise A disguise can be anything which conceals or changes a person's physical appearance, including a wig, glasses, makeup, fake moustache, costume or other items. Camouflage is a type of disguise for people, animals and objects. Hats, glasses, chan ...

and run away in fear. Casper is heartbroken until he meets a special group of

orphans An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

who accept him for who he is, a ghost. But their fun is soon spoiled as Hairy Scarey and his ghostly crew interfere. Now it is up to Casper and his new friends to stop their ghastly games and save Halloween before it is too late.

Cast

Julie McWhirter Julie McWhirter, also known as Julie Dees and Julie McWhirter-Dees (born October 12, 1947), is a retired American voice actress and impressionist best known for her work as Jeannie in the animated version of '' Jeannie'', Bubbles in ''Jabberjaw' ...

Casper The Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a pleasant, personable and translucent ghost, but often criticized by his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio. T ...

* John Stephenson as Hairy Scary The Ghost / The Butler / Rural Man * Hal Smith as Mr. Duncan / Skull * Diane McCannon as J.R. *

Marilyn Schreffler Marilyn Sue Schreffler (June 14, 1945 – January 7, 1988) was an American voice actress who provided voice-overs for several animated television series, mostly for Hanna-Barbera Productions. Biography Marilyn Schreffler was born in Wichita, Ka ...

as Winifred The Witch *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

as Black Cat / Nice Man / Dog *

Ginny Tyler Merrie Virginia Eggers (née Erlandson; August 8, 1925 – July 13, 2012), known professionally as Ginny Tyler, was an American voice actress who performed on dozens of cartoons and animated films from 1957 to 1993. In 2006, she was named a Disne ...

as Lovella / Bejewelled Dowager / Rural Lady *

Lucille Bliss Lucille Theresa Bliss (March 31, 1916 – November 8, 2012) was an American actress, known in the Bay Area and in Hollywood as the "Girl With a Thousand Voices". A New York City native, Bliss lent her voice to numerous television characters, in ...

as Gervais / Carmelita / Nice Lady * Michael Sheehan as Screech The Ghost * Greg Alter as Dirk

Production credits

*Executive Producers:

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator and cartoonist who was the creator of ''Tom and Jerry'' as well as the voice actor for the two title characters. Alongside Joseph Barbera, he also founded the ani ...

and

Joseph Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian im ...

*Producer:

Alex Lovy Alexander Lovy (September 2, 1913 – February 14, 1992) was an American animator. He spent the majority of his career as an animator and director at Walter Lantz Productions. He was later a producer at Hanna-Barbera, and also supervised the cart ...

*Associate Producer: Doug Paterson *Director:

*Story: Larz Bourne, Bob Ogle *Story Direction: Don Sheppard, Greg Marshall *Recording Director: Art Scott *Voices: Greg Alter,

, Hal Smith,

, Diann McCannon,

, Michael Sheehan, John Stephenson *Musical sequences directed by: Art Scott *Musical Director:

Hoyt Curtin Hoyt Stoddard Curtin (September 9, 1922 – December 3, 2000) was an American composer and music producer, the primary musical director for the Hanna-Barbera animation studio from its beginnings with ''The Ruff & Reddy Show'' in 1957 until his ret ...

*Musical Supervisor: Paul DeKorte *Character Design: Don Morgan *Sound Directors: Richard Olson, Bill Getty *Layout Director: Steve Lumley *Layout: Joe Shearer, Shane Porteus, Deane Taylor *Animation Director: Geoffrey Collins *Key Animators: Peter Gardiner, Gerry Grabner, Greg Ingram, Paul Maron, Henry Neville *Animators: Susan Beak, Gairden Cooke, Dick Dunn, Peter Eastment, Don Ezard, Nicholas Harding, Chris Hague, Pamela Lofts, Peter Luschwitz, Paul Mason, Paul McAdam, John Martin, Ray Nowland, Vivien Ray, Andrew Szermenyei, Jean Tych, Kaye Watts *Assistant Animation Supervisor: Martin Chatfield *Assistant Animators: Jac Appel, Paul Baker, Fernando Bernia, Mark Benvenuti, Astrid Brennan, Jo-Anne Beresford, Rodney D'Silva, Marc Erasmus, John Eyley, Eva Helischer, Ian Harrowell, John Hull, Denise Kirkham, Lucie Laarakkers, Jane LeRossignol, Steve Lyons, Helen McAdam, Marie Orr, Kevin Peaty, Philip Pepper, Cliff Seeto, Stella Wakil, Geoff White, Milan Zahorsky *Supervising Director: Chris Cuddington *Animation Checking: Narelle Nimon, Ellen Bailey, Liz Lane, Frances Mould, Renee Robinson *Backgrounds: Richard Zaloudek, Sue Speer, Jerry Liew, Ken Wright, Milan Zahorsky Snr., Zdenka Ebner *Production Co-ordinator: Judy Cross *Production Control: Vicki Joyce *Xerox: Jack Pietruska *Paint: Narelle Derrick *Paint Check: Liz Goodwin *Camera: Mark D'Arcy-Irvine, Virginia Browne, Carole Laird, Garry Page, Jan Cregan, Sean Bell *Editing: Robert Claglia *Supervising Film Editor: Larry C. Cowan *Dubbing Supervisor: Pat Foley *Music Editors: Terry Moore, Joe Sandusky *Effects Editors: Julia Bagdonas, Sue Brown, Catherine MacKenzie *Show Editor: Gil Iverson *Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer *Post Production Supervisor: Joed Eaton

Home media

Turner Home Entertainment released ''Casper Saves Halloween'' on VHS on August 29, 1995. On October 1, 2013, Warner Bros. released ''Casper's Halloween Special'' on DVD in region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. Also included on this disc is the 1972 special ''The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't'', also produced by Hanna-Barbera. Currently the special is streaming on the

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...

streaming service in the movies section.

References

External links