Casper the Friendly Ghost

Casper the Friendly Ghost is an American animated series of 55 theatrical short films released between 1945 and 1959, which are based on the children's book by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo. At the end of World War II, Famous Studios adapted the children's 1939 book into a series of Casper theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) This series helped the kids learn the power of friendship and the power of teamwork.
 * 2) It was the only theatrical short film series, directly aimed to preschoolers; which is considered a first for its time.
 * 3) Casper was the most adorable protagonist.
 * 4) Great voice acting.
 * 5) Cutesy animation.
 * 6) Several heartwarming moments.
 * 7) The theme song is so adorable.
 * 8) Unlike the Little Audrey franchise, which had intense slapstick violence, the Casper the Friendly Ghost franchise had used light-hearted humor, as it set to a light-hearted tone.
 * 9) The character designs for this series, are a lot more influenced by Disney.
 * 10) Unlike most of the Paramount cartoons, the Casper series did NOT follow the wacky, zany antics of most Paramount cartoons (including Little Audrey, Baby Huey and Popeye the Sailor) at the time.
 * 11) Some scenes, including the death of the little fox, were purely emotional.
 * 12) It spawned into comic books, feature films, including the 1995 CGI/live-action hybrid, Casper (despite being a flop), and television programs, like The New Casper Cartoon Show.
 * 13) People's reactions to Casper once they realize he's a ghost are extremely hilarious and slapstick-based.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The series can get boring after a while since it copies and pastes the formula almost every episode: Casper tries to make a friend, everyone is frightened by his presence, he finds one willing to be his companion, there's an antagonist in the mix attempting to maim or otherwise murder Casper's friend, Casper saves the day, to the point where it gets very reduntant and repetitive and lessens the enjoyment of the released production.
 * 2) "Casper's Birthday Party" was not a good way to end off Casper's theatrical career at Paramount/Famous Studios due to it being a clip show.