Caspar The Friendly Ghost: There’s Good Boos Tonight
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Casper as usual wants nothing more than to make friends. But of course as a ghost, he frightens everyone. A cow jumps over the moon to avoid him; a skunk sprays him to drive him off. Poor Casper takes a bath and wrings himself dry, only to soak himself again with his tears. Finally a little fox cub comes close and nuzzles against the ghost. Casper is surprised, then overjoyed, that the fox isn’t scared of him. Casper calls him Ferdie, and the two rapidly become best friends. But that friendship is in jeopardy when a hunter and his two dogs arrive… Animation by Myron Waldman, Morey Reden and Nick Tafuri. Scenics by Anton Loeb. Story by Bill Turner and Larry Reilly. Music by Winston Sharples. Narrator is Frank Gallop. Produced in 1948.
April 13th, 2005 at 9:07 am
NBice to see animation without the use of CADonly the work of artists
April 24th, 2005 at 9:21 pm
I remember this from the time I was around 4. I was especially saddened by what happened to Ferdie the Fox, Casper’s friend. Over the years I have occasionally recalled this cartoon, but have never seen it. Until now. What a nice little thrill it was to see it once again. Hokey, sentimental, yes, but still much better than the tripe they show these days.
July 15th, 2005 at 9:37 pm
As far as Casper cartoons go, this is better but that’s not saying much. How morbid. Get killed and have fun with Casper for eternity!
Caspers are the suckiest cartoons of the golden age of animation.
“Good Boos Tonight.”? I need good booze after watching Casper.
July 30th, 2005 at 2:11 pm
Usually in the most Casper films, They have very happy endings, But I never thought that one of them can be very heart breaking! This one is way too much. Casper goes out and tries to make friends but everybody runs when they see him. Suddenly he meets this cute little fox cub he names Ferdie, They both play together but then a hunter comes and shoots him! That was very unexpected! However this cartoon does have a happy ending, But I still feel for the poor fox. All the rest of the Casper cartoons, His animal friends don’t get killed at all. This one is the saddest one ever made, Even back in the 1940s
August 8th, 2005 at 9:28 pm
This was kinda creepy. Reminded me of the Simpsons episode where Bart theorized about Casper’s origins-
Bart:What do you care about good comics? All you ever read is “Casper the whmpy ghost”
Lisa:I think its sad that you equate friendliness with whimpieness, and i hope it will keep you from ever achieving popularity
Bart:Well you know what i think? I think casper is the ghost of richie rich.
Lisa: (compares a Richie rich comic and casper comic) Hey they do look alike!
Bart: Wonder how he died?
Lisa:Maybe he relized how hollow the pursuit of money is and took his own life
September 6th, 2005 at 2:21 pm
Casper cartoons are usually sickly sweet, but this one is unexpectedly dark and tragic. Casper makes friends with a little fox and they have lots of fun times together until the fox hunters show up. Casper manages to scare them away, but not in time to save the fox, who dies of a gunshot wound. Casper grieves pitifully until he realizes that, being a ghost, his friends don’t necessarily have to be alive, which gives you an idea of how the cartoon ends. I suppose this is supposed to be a happy ending, but it makes death look way too attractive. I wouldn’t show this to any kids who have a problem with depression, that’s for sure. Even kids who are reasonably happy would probably find this toon upsetting enough to make them cry. Have fun, kids!
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **** (though in a way that makes you cry rather than laugh). Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: ***. Overall Rating: ****.
December 18th, 2005 at 2:30 pm
so!
March 5th, 2006 at 11:42 am
Like a recent poster, I remember seeing this cartoon at my aunt’s house when I was about 8. Her stations carried a wider variety of cartoons than the ones in my hometown. That was one of the things I looked forward to when I went to her house. I remember being very moved emotionally by the story. The other guy was right also in that this was much darker tone than most Casper cartoons I remember. Could this one have been the “pilot” of the whole series?
Recently I purchased a DVD at the dollar store that had two 1950s horror movies and this cartoon. I thought of the cartoon with Casper and the fox when I put the DVD in. It was only when Ferdie appeared that I realized this was the one!
Seems that later on in my mind I associated this story with the Resurrection of Christ. Hey, I was always a big thinker even when I was little!
April 16th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
Great debut for Casper the friendly ghost here, as there is some backstory here, and then a bit of a plot about how Casper tries to make new friends, and finally does, with a fox named Gertie. They have plenty of fun together until uh-oh, A fox hunt comes their way, leading to, well, a rather macabre conclusion if I may say so. I was actually quite surprised at how plot-heavy this one was in it’s 8 minute + running time. Finally, what the heck does the title mean?
May 20th, 2006 at 8:52 pm
To answer the last reviewer… I can only guess that the title is based on the song “There’s Good Rockin’ Tonight”. It was first recorded (and written) by Roy Brown, but was a huge hit for Wynonie Harris in 1948. However, it’s best known for being recorded by Elvis Presley at Sun Records in Memphis.
July 20th, 2006 at 4:26 am
The title is a play on words. Gabriel Heatter was a famous newscaster in the 1940’s that would open his broadcast with the introduction, “There’s Good News Tonight.”
September 10th, 2006 at 2:46 am
The real play on words for the title goes back to the time of Prohibition (surely you remember…) and is one of the man colorful colloquialisms that came out of that time. In this case, “there’s good booze tonight” meant there was a party going on and they had something better than that moonshine stuff that could make a bat go blind. Short answer: booze.
July 12th, 2007 at 8:19 am
I wish someone would finally get these films’ old prints and restore the titles. Because EVERY single print of such films has replaced titles and black bars to cover “Paramount Presents” and “Copyright by Paramount Pictures, Inc.” (in this case, someone removed the NTA title card and placed a Paramount logo in the beginning to make it more authentic). At least Warner Bros. restored the titles to all Popeye films (even though they probably won’t be available in my area – Eastern Europe).
September 29th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
i have this one on a dollar store dvd i bought its pretty good but it don’t have as much poularity as bugs bunny did. if i gam still looking for the other casper cartoons that are in public domain as well, don’t get me wrong i love casper!
November 5th, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Casper only has one A in his name (watch the video). I’d revise this submission else continue to be plagued with bad uploading karma!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casper_the_Friendly_Ghost
July 1st, 2008 at 6:00 am
This is really really weird. How could Casper and Ferdie “live happily ever after” if they’re both dead???
July 12th, 2008 at 1:00 am
While this cartoon is sad and perhaps mushy too some people, I find it highlights the human condition. Death is a fact of life. The positive note to me is that love and friendship is eternal and cannot be diminished in death. Hopfully we all meet our loved ones in the afterlife (if there is one) and live on.