I have talked before about the huge amount of merchandise produced for the 1995 live action Casper movie. It is easy to recognize this merchandise by the logo used, with Casper peeking over his name like Kilroy. This movie was actually just the first of five, although it was the only theatrical release.

When I was growing up, when movies were released, they were shown in movie theaters, thus the term “theatrical”. People did not have VCRs, Blu-Ray players or streaming services, so a direct-to-video release was not possible. The only alternative was made-for-TV movies, which were generally pretty awful.

The second Casper film, also live action, was released direct-to-video two years after the first. “Casper: A Spirited Beginning” is remembered primarily for contradicting the story and settings of the first movie. Someone felt the premiere of this movie merited a party, and so one was held at the Hollywood Colonnade in Los Angeles, California, a building with a fascinating history. What is even more interesting to me is that KC and The Sunshine Band played at this party. I have loved KC my whole life, and would certainly have taken time off of work and traveled across the country to attend this party had I been invited. I have my pass now, 26 years too late: