This Christina Ricci Movie Takes Place In Ghostbusters Continuity, According To Dan Aykroyd

In Brad Silberling's 1995 kid-horror film "Casper" (starring Christina Ricci), Cathy Moriarty plays Carrigan Crittenden, a bitter and avaricious woman who has just inherited a haunted house from her late father. She and her lawyer, Paul (Eric Idle), however, are afraid to enter the house, as it is quite haunted. Audiences will know, of course, that one of the four restless spirits in the haunted house is merely Casper (Malachi Pearson), a friendly ghost who is constantly bullied by his three ghostly uncles. The PG-rated "Casper" doesn't present any kind of real danger to anyone, and the ghosts aren't terribly scary. 

But at the beginning of the film, it was important to establish that they were scary enough to keep Carrigan and Paul out of the mansion. To communicate this to the audience, there is an opening scene wherein Carrigan and Paul are standing outside the house when they hear loud, ghostly moaning from inside. The door bursts open, and Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd) runs out, scared of whatever was happening inside. He stops right in front of Carrigan and Paul and says, "Who you gonna call? Someone else." He then flees. 

Ray Stantz, of course, was one of the four title characters from the hit "Ghostbusters" movies. Whatever was in the "Casper" mansion was too scary even for one of the "Ghostbusters." It's a cute cameo in a cute film. 

Recently, Aykroyd appeared on the "Talking Strange" podcast (covered by Deadline) to talk shop, and the interviewer asked the actor about his "Casper" cameo. Was it just a cute, winking reference, or did Ray Stantz's appearance imply that "Casper" and "Ghostbusters" take place in the same universe? Aykroyd confirmed that, yes, it's definitely the latter.

It's worth noting that "Casper" was produced by Steven Spielberg, and his involvement in the project attracted multiple cameo appearances. Early in the film, ghosts take possession of Bill Pullman's body and force him to shapeshift into several celebrities. He briefly looks like Clint Eastwood, Rodney Dangerfield, Mel Gibson, and the Crypt Keeper (John Kassir) from "Tales from the Crypt." Dan Aykroyd, it seems, got a call from Spielberg about a cameo in "Casper," and Aykroyd was pumped to. When asked if his involvement implied a larger narrative connection between two ghostly entertainment franchises, Aykroyd said easily: 

"I think so, given the fact that Spielberg asked for me and said, 'Come and do this,' and that they built me in there. [...] Of course, it's a beautiful nod to what we were doing with Ivan and everybody. I think you gotta include there in the canon, no doubt." 

Ivan, of course, is Ivan Reitman, the director of "Ghostbusters." And that, as they say, is that. 

The implication in "Casper" is that the ghosts in the central haunted house are so scary that even a seasoned Ghostbuster like Ray Stantz would flee in terror. My headcanon, however, dictates another narrative. Ray, a gentle character in general, and it's possible that he discovered Casper's friendliness. Ray, moved by the young ghost's strength of character, and perhaps knowing about his tragic backstory (explored elsewhere on /Film), merely refused to bust this ghost. He wanted to leave Casper alone. Who you gonna call? Someone else. Someone less soulful and decent than Ray Stantz. 

Now that Casper and the Ghostbusters are in the same universe, however, fans may wonder if another crossover is nigh. As of this writing, no such crossovers have been announced.