The Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoons may not be for everybody's tastes , with some finding them too repetitive, twee and over-sentimental. For this viewer, while none of them are personal favourites the cartoons, or at least most of the early ones right through to about the mid-50s, are enjoyable and in the better half of Famous Studios' (somewhat inconsistent) filmography. Of which To Boo or Not to Boo is one of the best of the series.
As it is with the Casper series in general (also true of a good deal of Famous Studios' cartoons though, especially the later Herman and Katnip cartoons), To Boo or Not to Boo is structurally a bit repetitive (following the same formula and structure that much of the series adopts) and some of the dialogue does get a bit too twee in places. On the other hand, the animation is very nicely done, with lush beautifully-shaded colours, a great deal of atmosphere (especially at the spooky beginning, that sets up Halloween pretty brilliantly) and the backgrounds have such a meticulous attention to detail. The drawing and character designs are smoother than in the previous cartoon Boo Hoo Baby, and are closer in style to the style of drawing in the late 40s Casper cartoons.
Winston Sharples' music for the cartoons, as always, is wonderful, it's like the heart and soul of the cartoon and gives it a lot of its energy. It has a great upbeat energy, (especially with the get-up-and-dance-worthy rendition of Skip to the Lou) a luscious whimsy, plenty of lively style and a good deal of emotion, it is also beautifully orchestrated and not only does it add hugely to what is going on it enhances it. To Boo or Not to Boo not only has the spooky Halloween atmosphere at the beginning, but it's also very sweet with the cute friendship between Casper and Lou and its childhood innocence and it's also a huge amount of fun, mainly in the whole party atmosphere dominating the story but also in the inventively varied visuals of the characters' reactions to seeing Casper and some nice visual gags.
There are more touching Casper cartoons, primarily There's Good Boos To-Night, but one of the cartoon's strengths actually was not getting too sentimental or sappy, while still being incredibly heart-warming and Casper does not mope as much as he can do, which may be seen as a good thing by some. The story's atmosphere, swift pacing and nice end twist more than makes up for its rather samey nature, while the characters are all engaging, Casper is an endearing title character and his friendship with Lou is equally cute. The voice acting is solid, right from the distinguished and slightly creepy narration and the emotive voice work for Casper.
Overall, very good Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoon and one of the best of the series. 9/10 Bethany Cox
