Thanks to Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, and Rodney Dangerfield Made Cameos in This Spooky PG-Rated Movie

If you're a child of the '90s like me, then there's a solid chance you spent many a Halloween cozied up with your candy watching Casper. It doesn't transcend its limitations as a broadly appealing family film, complete with dated references and a cookie-cutter plot. But its attention to the details of production design and visual effects combine with its cheeky sense of humor to make for one of those films that's eager to poke you in the ribs with a good scare or a well-executed joke, often at the same time. One of the best jokes in the film involved some major string-pulling from the film's super producer, Steven Spielberg, who corralled a series of cameos from big names who frankly had no business being in such kid-friendly fare — but that makes the gag all the funnier.

What Is 'Casper' About?

Dr. Harvey (Bill Pullman) and his daughter, Kat (Christina Ricci), have just moved into a haunted mansion in order to properly exorcise it, and they're unprepared for what awaits them inside. Not only do they have to befriend the friendly Casper (Malachi Pearson), but they must also contend with his trio of disgusting uncles, who seek only to mercilessly bully everyone in the house. One of their most devious tricks they pull on poor Harvey involves surprise possessing him in the bathroom and changing his appearance, like that one scene from Poltergeist you keep trying to forget.

Since this is a PG movie, this doesn't lead to graphic face tearing, but instead, Harvey sees himself turning into a bonkers train of celebrities: Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood, and Rodney Dangerfield. They all show up on screen just long enough to drop a reference to each of their respective careers, before shapeshifting into the next person. Frankly, as a kid, I always assumed these were really convincing impersonators, because my pea brain couldn't fathom why any of them would waste their time doing such a slight sight gag. Childhood me clearly didn't understand the mighty and powerful respect that Spielberg held in mid-1990s Hollywood, as he was apparently able to pull this hat trick off with ease.

Steven Spielberg Called Up His Famous Friends for Cameos in 'Casper'

Funnily enough, that infamous mirror scene in Poltergeist was exactly what director Brad Silberling wanted to reference in doing this scene in Casper, according to a Syfy Wire article. He allegedly came up with the idea of having Harvey turn into different celebrities, but had no idea how to get any famous names involved. That's when Spielberg stepped in and worked his magic by assuring Silberling "don't worry about it. I'll make some calls," leading to the triple threat line-up of Gibson, Eastwood, and Dangerfield. It's anyone's guess why it was those three specifically (besides the classic excuse of scheduling), but Eastwood got his start in the film industry as a contract player for Universal, so he likely had a more sentimental attachment.

However, Eastwood only agreed to do it if Spielberg would film his own cameo, which Spielberg only did with the assurance it would never appear in the final cut. You have to appreciate that Clint Eastwood is probably the only person in history who could call the shots to Spielberg's face at the height of his powers, likely due to Eastwood himself already being long-established as a top dog director in his own right, by the mid-90s. Plus, given that Spielberg rarely stepped in front of the camera for cameos (one notable exception being Austin Powers in Goldmember), it's a real shame that he vetoed his own appearance.

Steven Spielberg Also Made a 'Ghostbusters' Reference in 'Casper'

But those three weren't the only people that Spielberg was able to get involved. Earlier in the film, there's a joke where the film's villains are trying to get the ghosts out of the house, and they call different people to try to exorcise the ghosts (this is before they call Dr. Harvey). One of the people they call is Dan Aykroyd reprising his role as Ray Stantz from Ghostbusters, who's apparently vastly ill-equipped to combat the uncles, even with his trusty proton pack. This is possibly the funniest idea in the whole film, because it implies that the Ghostbusters, a team that has defeated world-domination-driven demons, couldn't handle the equivalent of knuckleheads out of a 1980s sitcom.

Unsurprisingly, Aykroyd's presence was also courtesy of Steven Spielberg's savvy, as he was also tight with Columbia Studios and knew they would do him a favor, and he knew Aykroyd since they worked together on his notorious debacle, 1941. Honestly, if there's any real takeaway from this, it's that you can't underestimate the power of being one of the truly nice people to maintain power in Hollywood, as it brings you so many more genuine friends who can come through for you in the clutch when you need them the most.