Casper's Haunted Christmas

Good Toy Story-style computer-animation and a clever script marginally recommend this produced-for-video feature in which everyone's favorite friendly ghost is ordered to scare at least one person by Christmas Eve or else be banished to "the dark." Casper is dispatched to Kriss, Massachusetts, where he befriends Holly Jollimore, whose holiday spirit is lacking. Meanwhile, Stinky, Stretch and Fatso, the obnoxious and unfunny Ghostly Trio, don't let losing their haunting licenses get in the way of scaring up trouble in the holiday-happy town. Unlike the Casper cartoons of yore, this is more suitable for the pre-teens who made the first live-action Casper movie a hit. Parental advisories: There are scary creatures (Kibosh, king of all ghosts is a glowering green giant), mild scatological humor (a urine-defiled popcorn prank) and over-their-heads references ranging from Ghost and It's a Wonderful Life to the mirror scene in Duck Soup. Recommended, with reservations. Aud: P. (K. Lee Benson)