Casper the Friendly Ghost made his theatrical debut in I. Sparber's 1945 short "The Friendly Ghost," released by Famous Studios. The gimmick of the short was that a boy-like apparition named Casper, feeling lonely and wanting friends, would causally approach animals and adults to introduce himself only to see them flee in terror. He is, after all, a ghost. Only open-minded children could see that Casper wasn't a threat and befriend him.

The success of "The Friendly Ghost" led to 54 additional Famous Studios Casper shorts that lasted through 1959. Casper also began starring in a series of Harvey Comics in 1951, and the character's mythos expanded greatly. He soon became friends with a witch named Wendy and was bullied by some baddies called the Ghostly Trio. The comics and shorts also spawned multiple TV shows to feature the Friendly Ghost, mostly in the 1960s and 1970s, and his popularity was retained throughout the 1980s through incessant reruns.