Casper's First Christmas
Casper's First Christmas is a 1979 Christmas television special and crossover produced by Hanna-Barbera featuring Casper the Friendly Ghost and his friend Hairy Scarey from the animated series Casper and the Angels.[1] The special features guest stars Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw McGraw, and Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy. It aired on NBC on December 18, 1979.[2]
| Casper's First Christmas | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Animation Comedy |
| Based on | Casper the Friendly Ghost created by Seymour Reit Joe Oriolo |
| Story by | Bob Ogle |
| Directed by | Carl Urbano |
| Starring | Julie McWhirter Daws Butler Don Messick John Stephenson |
| Music by | Hoyt Curtin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Producer(s) | Alex Lovy |
| Editor(s) | Robert Ciaglia |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions The Harvey Entertainment Company |
| Distributor | Worldvision Enterprises |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | December 18, 1979 |
The theme song ("Comin' Up Christmas Time") sung by Yogi's pals was used again a year later in Yogi's First Christmas, which contradicts the events of this special in which Yogi and Boo Boo (who, being bears are supposed to be hibernating in the winter) can be seen celebrating Christmas with the other cast members.
This also marked the first and only time that this special pairs together the characters from its owners, Hanna-Barbera and Harvey Entertainment. Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contained a laugh track created by the studio.
Network Ten aired the special in Australia.
Plot
Casper and his friend Hairy Scarey are in a house about to be demolished on Christmas Eve and go out to look for a new place to move to after Christmas in California. Then Yogi and his friends get lost and arrive at Casper and Hairy's house and clean and decorate it to celebrate Christmas. Then Casper befriends Yogi and company only for Hairy to try to ruin the party with Casper and his new friends. Then Hairy has a change of heart and celebrates Christmas with Casper and his new friends and ending with Santa Claus saving the house and turning it into Hairy's Haunting Lodge.
Cast
- Julie McWhirter as Casper
- Daws Butler as Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Augie Doggie
- Don Messick as Boo-Boo Bear
- Hal Smith as Santa Claus
- John Stephenson as Hairy Scarey and Doggie Daddy
- Paul DeKorte - Singer
- Ida Sue McCune - Singer
- Michael Redman - Singer
Production credits
- Executive Producers: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
- Producer: Alex Lovy
- Associate Producer: Doug Paterson
- Director: Carl Urbano
- Story: Bob Ogle
- Story Direction: Don Sheppard
- Executive in Charge of Development: Margaret Loesch
- Recording Director: Alex Lovy
- Voices: Daws Butler, Paul DeKorte, Don Messick, Hal Smith, Ida Sue McCune, Julie McWhirter, John Stephenson, Michael Redman
- Musical Sequences Directed by: Tex Avery, Chuck Couch, Tom Yakutis
- Musical Director: Hoyt Curtin
- Musical Supervisor: Paul DeKorte
- Character Design: Don Morgan
- Sound Directors: Richard Olson, Bill Getty
- Layout Director: Steve Lumley
- Layout: Joe Shearer, Shane Porteus, Deane Taylor
- Animation Director: Geoffrey Collins
- Animators: Peter Gardiner, Gerry Grabner, Greg Ingram, Paul Maron, Henry Neville, Susan Beak, Gairden Cooke, Dick Dunn, Peter Eastment, Don Ezard, Nicholas Harding, Chris Hague, Pamela Lofts, Paul McAdam, John Martin, Ray Nowland, Vivien Ray, Andrew Szermenyei, Jean Tych, Kaye Watts
- Assistant Animation Supervisor: Martin Chatfield
- Assistant Animators: Jac Appel, Fernando Bernia, Astrid Brennan, Rodney D'Silva, John Eyley, Ian Harrowell, Paul Baker, Mark Benvenuti, Jo-Anne Beresford, Marc Erasmus, Eva Hellscher, John Hull, Denise Kirkham, Jane LeRossignol, Helen McAdam, Kevin Peaty, Cliff Secto, Geoff White, Lucie Laarakkers, Steve Lyons, Marie Orr, Philip Peppers, Stella Wakil, Milan Zahorsky
- Supervising Director: Chris Cuddington
- Animation Checking: Jan Cregan, Ellen Bailey, Liz Lane, Frances Mould, Renee Robinson
- Backgrounds: Richard Zaloudek, Sue Speer, Jerry Liew, Ken Wright, Milan Zahorsky Snr., Zdenka Ebner, Judy Nicholson
- Production Co-ordinator: Judy Cross
- Production Control: Vicki Joyce
- Xerox: Jack Pietruska
- Paint: Narelle Derrick
- Paint Check: Liz Goodwin
- Camera: Mark D'Arcy-Irvine, Virginia Browne, Carole Conen, Shaun Bell
- Editing: Robert Ciaglla
- Supervising Film Editor: Larry C. Cowan
- Dubbing Supervisor: Pat Foley
- Music Editors: Terry Moore, Joe Sandusky
- Effects Editors: Julia Bagdonas, Sue Brown, Catherine MacKenzie
- Show Editor: Gil Iverson
- Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer
- Post Production Supervisor: Joed Eaton
- A HANNA-BARBERA Production
- Based on the character, owned and copyrighted by HARVEY CARTOONS, a partnership
- Copyright 1979 Hanna-Barbera Productions Inc. All Right Reserved
Home Media releases
Turner Home Entertainment released Casper's First Christmas on VHS on September 26, 1995.[3] On July 31, 2012, Warner Bros. released Hanna-Barbera Christmas Classics Collection on DVD in region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and only in the US. This collection features a trilogy of Christmas specials: Casper's First Christmas, The Town That Santa Forgot and A Christmas Story.
VHS release dates
- December 4, 1986 (Worldvision Home Video)
- December 3, 1987 (Worldvision Home Video/Kids Klassics Home Video)
- September 26, 1995 (Turner Home Entertainment)
- September 29, 1998 (Warner Home Video)
- November 2, 1999 (Warner Home Video)
- October 31, 2000 (Warner Home Video)
- October 16, 2001 (Warner Home Video)
DVD release date
July 31, 2012 (Warner Home Video/Warner Archive)
References
- Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. pp. 41–42. ISBN 9781476672939.
- Woolery, George W. (1989). Animated TV Specials: The Complete Directory to the First Twenty-Five Years, 1962-1987. Scarecrow Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN 0-8108-2198-2. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- https://www.amazon.com/Caspers-First-Christmas-Daws-Butler/dp/156039577X
