(Casper The Friendly) Ghost and Daniel Johnston

 The Daniel Johnston song "Casper" just came on my ipod. Over the years I have given Daniel many trys. Although there may have been a few decent songs on the album High How Are You/Yip Jump Music, maybe even a few sprinkled over later albums, overall I find him rather annoying. His albums has been on and off my ipod many times. "Casper" and it's partner "Casper The Friendly Ghost" however  are among the only songs which remain there because their inclusion on soundtrack to the Larry Clark movie Kids. According to his biography, Daniel who has been diagnosed with manic depression and schizophrenia, went through a manic episode in the early 90's where he thought he was Casper the Friendly Ghost. These two songs were a result of the episode.


 Listening to "Casper The Friendly Ghost" about the lovable cartoon character which begins "Dropped his last dime down a wishing well, But he was hoping to close and then he fell. Now he's Casper the Friendly Ghost", made me realize just how depresseing the whole basis of the cartoon really is.  Here was this lovable guy, the only thing he wishes for is to find friends. By the way Casper acts, by his body languge, by pretty much everything he does , it's obvious he is just a child. Or should I say WAS just child. Ghosts are not born ghosts and there is only one way to become one: you have to die.

In turns out  Daniel's song is incorrect. Sometime in the 1990's it was finally revealed in a live action movie that Casper was a kid who went sledding and died of hypothermia. How dark and depressing is that?

Yesterday was a slow day at work so thinking maybe my memories of the cartoon were incorrect I decided to watch a few episodes on Youtube. In one of the first episodes entitled "Deep Boo Sea", Casper goes up to an ocotopus resting on a pier, introduces himself and asks if the octopus would like to be friends.Once the octopus realizes what Casper is, he jumps up in the air, with his eyes popping out of his head and all eight arms straight out in every direction screams "A ghost!" Before flinging himself out to sea leaving Casper all alone on the pier. At this point I am thinking "Dude, you are an octopus! With arms all covered in tenctles, you have no right to be scared of a little portly white ghost who's only wish to be your friend".

Over four different episodes not less than sixteen people/things were scared away by just the sight of poor Casper. In one episode a whole waterfall runs away when he see the little guy. A waterfall? Come on, this is even pushing it for a cartoon.

Casper's character made his first appearance in 1945. Can you imagine all these years of no friends? All these years of rejection? A very early epsisode showed Casper in an atempt to escape all the rejection and lonelieness lays down on some train tracks. Unfortunately when the train passes through him Casper is given reminder that he is already dead, his lonlienss will go on for enternity.

Epilogue: To go out on a POSITIVE note, Casper did eventually find a human friend in Wendy "The Good Little Witch" who finally crossed over to meet him, after sharing a comic book with him since the 1950's.