Casper Meets Wendy (1998)

Well if anything “Casper Meets Wendy” is much better than “A Spirited Beginning” despite offering no big surprises. Unless you consider that the only cast member that’s been in most “Casper” movies so far is Pauly Shore. In the former film he played a bad ghost, and here he plays a fortune telling magical mirror. As with most of these movies, there is a whole cast of D list celebrities, and the adaptation of Harvey Comics’ “Wendy The Good Little Witch” is an excuse to introduce future teen star Hilary Duff. To her credit Duff is adorable.

Duff plays Wendy a young witch with amazing powers who has to put up with three mischievous aunts, all of whom are witches. When they find out a Warlock name Desmond is tracking them to capture Wendy who could possibly end his reign as most powerful of them all, the witches flee on vacation. Meanwhile Casper convinces his uncles to also go on vacation after they reveal themselves during a mass haunting. As the pair are put under pressure by their respective families, they learn to bond and become great friends. With Desmond hot on Wendy’s tail, Casper comes to the rescue to help her. “Casper Meets Wendy” is helped big time by Duff who is tolerable in the role of Wendy.

It’s a shame that she didn’t get her own cinematic spin off, as she’s fun here, playing off of her trio of menacing aunts, and looking for a way to fit in with humans. The movie belongs to Wendy, despite Casper sharing the banner. Duff also gets some good supporting players in the way of Teri Garr, Shelly Duvall, and Cathy Moriarty respectively. There’s also George Hamilton who—plays George Hamilton, but this time as a powerful warlock. Duff essentially does what’s expected of her, especially as someone aiming for a Disney spotlight that would make her a teen star for a few years in the early aughts. The character of Wendy is a fun heroine who works well off of Casper and his uncles whose shticks, by now, are wearing thin. “Casper Meets Wendy” is an okay diversion in a series of pretty stinky movies.