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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Casper (James Horner)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you seek one of James Horner's most charmingly
heartbreaking lullabies for loss and loneliness, performed by solo
piano, choir, and full ensemble over the course of twenty gorgeous
minutes in Casper.
Avoid it... if the presence of the lullaby cannot compensate for a remainder of the work that supplies merely average comedy action and fluffy children's suspense writing common to both the careers of Horner and Danny Elfman.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Casper: (James Horner) Extraordinarily sappy in its
dramatization of the story of Casper the Friendly Ghost, the Steven
Spielberg and Universal Studios production of 1995's Casper was a
pleasant if not somewhat mindless exhibition for the talents of
Industrial Light & Magic. A supernatural psychiatrist and his daughter
inhabit a haunted mansion in Maine by the employment of a wicked woman
who inherited the mansion and wants its mostly not-so-friendly ghosts
exorcized. In the process of getting to know the ghosts of the mansion,
the psychiatrist's daughter befriends Casper, who was a boy about her
age when he died roughly a hundred years prior. The comedy provided by
Casper's three mischievous uncles is balanced by the sorrow of Casper's
desire to be a boy again, and with the help of the ghost of the girl's
own dead mother, the boy's wish is granted for a short time. Among the
highlights of Casper are four or five truly notable cameo
appearances by famous actors, including a reportedly official extension
of the cannon for the Ghostbusters concept in one extermination
scene involving Dan Aykroyd. The career of composer James Horner
experienced a renaissance in the year's time between late 1994 and 1995,
and it was during this period that the composer largely bid farewell to
the children's film genre for more than a dozen years. Because of the
overwhelming popularity of Horner's work for Legends of the Fall,
Braveheart, Apollo13, all released within six months of
Casper, this score (as well as Balto) has floated off to
relative obscurity. Horner was regarded as a leading veteran of the
children's genre at the time, scoring most of Spielberg's animated and
live action productions that were meant to compete with Disney in the
early 1990's. Significant connections exist throughout many of these
scores, and most of their more orchestrally robust structures can be
traced back to The Land Before Time in 1988. The same is true of
Casper, though perhaps this work will be better remembered as the
inspiration for The Spiderwick Chronicles a dozen years later
rather than for its own connections to previous Horner scores.
Casper does benefit from two deviations from the normal equation for Horner's children's scores; first, the composer uses a comical set of themes and rhythms that pushes the work towards the boundaries of animated parody writing, and secondly, he wrote one spectacular lullaby for Casper that would be rearranged, as mentioned previously, for use in The Spiderwick Chronicles. In both of these somewhat unique characteristics, Casper is the closest Horner came to emulating the comical spirit and supernatural beauty offered by Danny Elfman during the same era. The early cues march through Horner's wilder thematic ideas for Casper, emphasizing the motifs that deal with jazzy comedy, goofy action, and silly character sketches. Due to the narrative movement of the film, these ideas do not receive lengthy treatment until the more cohesive suite-like presentation in the "End Credits." A theme for the evil homeowners attempting to drive out the ghosts is summarized in "Carrigan & Digs." It's a harpsichord and saxophone dance with a pompous rhythm for their bumbling buffoonery, punctuated by a notable theremin throwback motif for an old-style haunted mansion. The sax in this cue draws the easiest connection to Elfman's work, and this idea is extended into the even more flamboyant "March of the Exorcists." The suspense and action cues offer other specialty performances and continued Elfman references. The jaunty rhythms of "First Haunting" are pulled from the opening of Beetlejuice, though the latter half of the cue, "The Swordfight" mocks Erich Wolfgang Korngold action from long before. The later action cues are more conventional entries in Horner's typical sound, though the infusion of the material for Casper and, more broadly, the concepts of death and despair, are what elevate the score to a far more memorable status. First introduced in fragments of its secondary piano interlude in "No Sign of Ghosts" and "Casper Makes Breakfast," the idea's primary phrase is finally expressed more freely in "Fatso as Amelia." This main phrase highlights the gorgeous lighthouse sequence in the film, where the melancholy theme formally rolls from its general conveyance of loss with full strings and light choir to Casper's personal interlude on solo piano. The main phrase of Casper's lullaby is a direct holdover from The Land Before Time, the quiet, somber, and surprisingly simple tone anchored by poignant piano performances that expand in scope throughout the film as Casper's relationship with the daughter grows and their shared sadness becomes more evident. The secondary piano interlude in this theme is the heart-stealer, and Horner seemingly intentionally applies its repeating phrases with different forms of tonal resolution depending on Casper's hopefulness at the moment; typically, the interlude simply repeats itself twice in identical form, but at 2:25 into "No Sign of Ghosts" and 0:55 into "Casper Gets His Wish," Horner more elegantly resolves the second phrase to spectacular effect. (Interestingly, neither suite presentation of the idea applies this final chord shift in the interlude, instead concentrating on ethereal counterpoint for choir on top of the identically repeating phrases.) Still, both the primary phrase and interlude of this main theme are crushingly romantic and longing, really deserving a film better than Casper, but they play an important role in the film nonetheless. Various woodwinds and Horner's sweepingly majestic choir offer several full performances of this theme in the concert arrangement recorded strictly for the album ("Casper's Lullaby") and as Casper's wish to be alive again comes true in "Casper Gets His Wish" and "One Last Wish," the latter duo maturing the idea into an even fuller orchestral and choral presence. Note that the interlude is performed by piano when Casper is a ghost but is provided a fully orchestral representation only when he is human again in "Casper Gets His Wish." For these haunting moments alone, the score is worth its price on album. The theme receives a more upbeat series of variations in "Fond Memories," though its sorrowful form sends off the "End Credits" with taste. Aside from the gorgeous lullaby, little remains in this score that is particularly interesting or unique aside from its competent execution. A somewhat Americana theme for the psychiatrist and daughter's move into the mansion in "On to Whipstaff" is fleeting but reprised nicely near the start of the end credits. The comedy mould is somewhat different for Horner in Casper, but much of it sounds too intent on mirroring Elfman to be taken seriously, especially in early scenes. The jazzy material dedicated to the three supporting ghosts in Casper, highlighted in "No Sign of Ghosts" and "Descent to Lazarus," will attract some listeners, as will a rambling creativity in the percussion section that foreshadowed some of the ambitious rhythmic usage in Bicentennial Man during the latter cue. Though refreshing in their application to this film, these sequences aren't particularly listenable outside of context, including the extremely obnoxious "The Uncles Swing" at the finale of the film. While the more dramatic parts of the work definitely reference The Land Before Time, the lack of resounding power from the previous score can be heard in the Los Angeles performers' less robust recording stature. The transformation of the villains' two themes into awe and mystery in "Carrigan Crosses Over" is a bit underpowered, for instance. After his initial recordings, Horner was asked to interpolate the original "Casper the Friendly Ghost" television theme into the score's opening cue, damn near ruining it, and prepare other drop-in-ready fragments of that idea. The 1995 Universal album for Casper was of considerable length, with well over an hour of Horner's score interrupted by only two original songs utilized in the film. Of the two songs, the soft rock piece used for the pivotal party scene at the end of the story is quite decent. It's easy to understand the appearance of Little Richard's performance of "Casper the Friendly Ghost," too, but tolerating it for any length of time is another story. A 2020 limited, 2-CD set of Casper from La-La Land Records offers several significant new cues in its expansion, including multiple notable performances of the lullaby at its best; for enthusiasts of this theme, "Fatso as Amelia" and especially "Casper Gets His Wish" are the main new attraction. While not significantly lengthened, the film version of the score is a superior presentation to Horner's original album, which is included as well on the second disc. Both options are remastered, seemingly pushing the music further to the forefront of the soundscape. The bonus teaser music for the film by Horner is fascinatingly distinct from his final themes but suffers from poorer sound quality. The television theme additions are also included on the 2020 product. In the end, however, the score's redeeming element exists in "Casper's Lullaby" and its twenty minutes of variants throughout the work. Its heartbreaking melody will charm itself to a permanent spot in your collection, even if the rest of the work is affably forgettable. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
1995 MCA Album:
Total Time: 73:15
2020 La-La Land Album: Total Time: 149:21
* previously unreleased ** contains previously unreleased music *** contains "Casper the Friendly Ghost" theme by Mack David and Jerry Livingston
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert of the 1995 MCA album includes no extra information about the score
or film. That of the 2020 La-La Land album contains extensive notes about both.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Casper are Copyright © 1995, 2020, MCA Records, La-La Land Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/24/96 and last updated 4/25/21. |
