4.0 out of 5 stars
The Friendly Ghost and More, August 3, 2005
This review is from: Casper & Friends: Spooking About Africa (DVD)
This Cartoon Craze collection has 4 Casper cartoons, 3 of them very poignant, because Casper wants to be friendly, and not scare anyone, nevertheless, he usually frightens the living, and this saddens him so much that in the first episode, he tries to commit suicide, of course to no avail. Casper was created by Joe Oriolo as a children's book, and when no publisher would buy it, Oriolo offered Casper to Famous Studios, and the rest is history, as Casper is a ghost with a very long life as a cartoon character. All 4 episodes in this collection were made by Famous Studios, and have music by Winston Sharples. Total running time is 62 minutes.
Episode list:
1: "Casper the Friendly Ghost" (1945). Directed by Isadore Sparber, animated by Nick Tafuri, John Walworth, and Tom Golden, with narration by Frank Gallop.
Features Bonnie and Johnny, their mother, and the evil landlord. Casper leaves home to find friends, and after many sad adventures, meets Johnny and Bonnie.
2: "A Haunting We Will Go" (1949). Directed by Seymour Kneitel, animated by Myron Waldman and Irving Dressler, narrated by Frank Gallop.
Features Dudley the Duckling. Casper is the dunce at ghost school, where they memorize sayings like "Boo unto others as you would have others boo unto you" and "Fright is might." He is very lonely until he meets Dudley, and teaches the baby duckling to swim and fly.
3: "Spooking About Africa" (1957). Directed by Seymour Kneitel, animated by Myron Waldman and Nick Tafuri.
Features Wheezy the Elephant. It is interesting to note the different styles between the decades, even though created by the same animators. Casper helps Wheezy with a sneezing problem in this episode.
4: "There's Good Boos To-Night" (1948). Directed by Isadore Sparber, animated by Morey Reden and Nick Tafuri, and narrated by Frank Gallop. Features Ferdie the Fox. There's a lot of tragedy in this episode about Casper's friendship with Ferdie.
5: "Yankee Doodle Donkey" (1944). Directed by Isadore Sparber, animated by Nick Tafuri and Jack Ward, music by Sammy Timberg, for the Famous Studios.
Features Spunky (in his first cartoon without Hunkey), dogs and fleas. A wartime patriotic cartoon, with Spunky wishing he was a dog, so he could "Join the WAGS and Hound the Axis." He does a great job with the Flea Army, and is rewarded.
6: "Ants in the Plants" (1940). Directed by Dave Fleischer, animated by Myron Waldman and George Moreno, music by Sammy Timberg for Fleischer Studios.
Features ants and the anteater. Fabulous artwork, and lots of music in this battle for survival between the ants and the anteater. It's my favorite episode in this collection.
7: "Bunny Mooning" (1937). Directed by Dave Fleischer, animated by Myron Waldman and Ed Nolan, music by Sammy Timberg for Fleischer Studios.
Features Jack and Jill Rabbit, and lots of animals. They sing "Everybody's Getting Ready for the Wedding," and it's an adorable cartoon.
8: "Little Stranger" (1935). Directed by Dave Fleischer, animated by Dave Tendlar and Eli Brucker, for Fleischer Studios.
Features Baby Chick, Mother Duck and her ducklings. A change in the "Ugly Duckling" tale, Baby Chick proves his worth in a good against evil story. This cartoon shows its age with an overall fuzziness and orange tint to it.
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