Casper is a 1995 American live-action and computer animated family comedy fantasy feature film, directed by Brad Silberling. It is based on the Harvey Comics and cartoon character Casper the Friendly Ghost by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo. The film stars Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman, Cathy Moriarty, Eric Idle, and Amy Brenneman. The film also stars the voices of Malachi Pearson as the titular character as well as Joe Nipote, Joe Alaskey, and Brad Garrett. The film makes extensive use of computer-generated imagery to create the titular character and the other ghosts alongside him. It is much darker in tone in comparison to the cartoons, comics, sequels and spin offs. The film was released in cinemas on May 26, 1995 by Universal Pictures. Casper received mixed reviews from critics and it earned $287.9 million on a $55 million budget.