The Canterville Ghost
Stephen Fry (Sir Simon de Canterville) previously played Oscar Wilde, the author of the short story on which the film is based, in Wilde (1997).,It's clear from his gravestone that Sir Simon lived and died during the seventeenth century. His ghost, however, is dressed in sixteenth century style.,[repeated line]
Louis Otis, Kent Otis: [pointing to each other] It Was Him,After the credits there is a sound of something breaking followed by the Otis Twins blaming the ghost until it's pointed out their home is no longer haunted leading them to blame each other,Version of The Canterville Ghost (1944),Well there's never going to be a better version of this than Charles Laughton's 1944 iteration, but this is still actually quite a watchable adaptation of Oscar Wilde's short story. It centres around an American family who relocate to creaky and spooky old "Canterville Chase" - a stately pile that is reputedly haunted by a menacing spectre. The "Otis" family have three children and after the odd eerie visitation, they become distinctly unafraid of their haunting buddy - indeed they are soon trying to find some way of helping "Sir Simon" to lift the curse that has trapped him in limbo for some three hundred years and also to reunite him with his long lost love before the Grim Reaper wins the day. The animation is adequate and there are plenty of whimsical goings on - it's just that the story is over-stretched, there's way too much dialogue and I actually find this works better with real people/scenarios. Animation offers too few limitations on the creative ghostliness and so at times this looks a little too much like an episode of "Scooby Do". Maybe daft to write, but it isn't quite real enough for me! Still, it's good that this story is still doing the rounds - it's a fun tale of true love that's stood the test of time well.,