Casper: A Spirited Beginning

Casper: A Spirited Beginning
Home video release poster
Directed by	Sean McNamara
Written by	Jymn Magon Thomas Hart
Story by	Thomas McCluskey Rob Kerchner
Based on	Casper the Friendly Ghost by Seymour Reit Joe Oriolo
Produced by	Mike Elliott
Starring	Steve Guttenberg Lori Loughlin Rodney Dangerfield Michael McKean Brendon Ryan Barrett Jeremy Foley Bill Farmer Jim Ward Jess Harnell James Earl Jones Pauly Shore
Cinematography	Christian Sebaldt
Edited by	John Walts John Gilbert
Music by	Udi Harpaz Jeremy Sweet Inon Zur
Production companies	The Harvey Entertainment Company Saban Entertainment Brookwell McNamara Entertainment Fox Family Films[1]
Distributed by	20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release date	September 9, 1997 (1997-09-09) (United States)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Casper: A Spirited Beginning is a 1997 American direct-to-video fantasy comedy film based on the Harvey Comics cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost. It serves as a prequel, though breaks continuity with the 1995 Universal/Amblin film Casper. The film stars Steve Guttenberg, Lori Loughlin, Rodney Dangerfield, Michael McKean, James Earl Jones and Pauly Shore, with supporting roles of Richard Moll, Sherman Hemsley, Brian Doyle-Murray, Edie McClurg and Ben Stein. The plot explores additional details surrounding the titular character's origins. 20th Century Fox had previously acquired film rights to the character from Universal. The film was produced by The Harvey Entertainment Company and Saban Entertainment and released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on September 9, 1997, and was panned by critics.