Ghost Vision

Ghost Vision (stylized as GhostVision) is a 1995 American animated fantasy comedy horror film written and directed by Rob Minkoff and starring the voices of Chris Farley, Julia Roberts and Dan Aykroyd, with supporting roles from Jennifer Lopez, Gilbert Gottfried, Thomas F. Wilson, Burt Reynolds, Edie McClurg, and Burgess Meredith. The film follows a young man named Willie who is reluctant on becoming a ghost catcher to save the town from haunting ghosts despite his father's wishes.

Ghost Vision was produced by Silver Pictures and released on October 27, 1995 in the United States by Warner Bros. under their Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label, with Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International handling international distribution. The film grossed over $324.5 million, becoming Farley's highest-grossing film in his lifetime, and his only animated voice role. A sequel titled Ghost Vision II, was released on September 1, 2000.

Plot
In the 1960's, a young man named Dennis and his wife Lauren, are professional ghost hunters who never fail at catching ghosts. One day, they find themselves catching ghosts where they meet a very evil ghost by the name of Ratar who ends up taking Lauren from him. Lauren eventually sacrifices her soul in order to let Dennis live and is never seen again.

30 years later, in the present day, a now adult Willie zooms out his home after his daily routine to go to work and sees a mysterious item outside his house which Dennis later identifies it as a vacuum but a special one that captures ghosts, which Willie later becomes uninterested and throws it at his dad which injures him as he goes to work while Sal, Willie's grandfather, laughs at Dennis.

3 hours later while at work, he sees on the news that a house on the hills is haunted and calls it a huge joke as he continues on with his job. Later that evening, after getting off work, he gets a call from an unknown number which is his old friend telling him to check out the mansion which he ignores as well. After being kidnapped and tied up, he is reunited with his friend Brittany, Walter, and his dad Dennis who all tell Willie that ghosts are real.

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Soon, Willie finds the ghost capturing machine and captures Ratar sending him to the afterlife while reuniting with his Mom. Willie and his friends are crowned heroes and certified Ghost Capturers. A few months past where Willie and Megan are later married and live in a big mansion after going to his Grandfather's funeral where he passed away a day after Willie is given the crown of the city. The film ends showing Sal and Billy dancing around reunited again while Sal's gravestone is shown.

Cast

 * Chris Farley as Willie, a young adult who doesn't want to follow in his dad's footsteps of being a ghost catcher.
 * Julia Roberts as Megan, a young woman who has a crush on Willie and doesn't believe that his parents are ghost catchers.
 * Dan Aykroyd as Walter, Willie’s childhood friend who is a millionaire and ends up going with Willie to the haunted mansion for support.
 * Jennifer Lopez as Brittany, an old friend of Willie's who actually believes in ghosts and has conspiracy theories.
 * Gilbert Gottfried as Billy, Willie's wisecracking dead uncle who is a ghost.
 * Thomas F. Wilson as Ratar, an evil ghost who plans to haunt the whole town.
 * Burt Reynolds as Dennis, Willie's ghost catching dad who wants his son to follow him in his footsteps.
 * Edie McClurg as Lauren, Willie's missing and presumed dead mom.
 * Burgess Meredith as Sal, Willie's old and wise-cracking but rude grandfather, who doesn't believe in ghosts and discourages Willie from going towards being a ghost-hunter.

Additional Voices

 * Jack Angel
 * Robert Bergen
 * Mary Kay Bergman
 * Bill Bowles
 * Rodger Bumpass
 * Corey Burton
 * Robert Clotworthy
 * Jim Cummings
 * Jennifer Darling
 * Debi Derryberry
 * Denise Dowse
 * Paul Eiding
 * Bill Farmer
 * Don Fullilove
 * David L. Lander
 * Anne Lockhart
 * Sherry Lynn
 * Cynthia Marion
 * Mickie McGowan
 * Patrick Pinney
 * Phil Proctor
 * Jan Rabson
 * Marcelo Tubert
 * Erik von Detten
 * Diz White

Production
During a late stage in the production of Free Willy in 1992, Rob Minkoff, a fan of Tales from the Crypt, wrote a treatment for a new film inspired by Crypt and immediately pitched it to Warner Bros. Pictures which they ended up green-lighting. Production began in early 1991 under the title GhostVision.

Soundtrack

 * Main article: Ghost Vision/Soundtrack

Theatrical
Ghost Vision was originally set to be distributed worldwide by Columbia Pictures and was scheduled for a December 1994 release. However, due to production difficulties, the release date was pushed back to October 1995 and Warner Bros. under its Family Entertainment label purchased the distribution rights in North America, while Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International obtained the foreign distribution rights.

Home media
Ghost Vision was released by Warner Home Video on VHS and LaserDisc on April 9, 1996 in the United States and Canada, and internationally by Columbia TriStar Home Video in different countries throughout the 1990s. The film later re-released on VHS and DVD on November 13, 2001 by Warner Home Video. Then it was released in 2005 as part of a 10th anniversary special edition DVD and later on Blu-ray in October 27, 2015 as part of the film’s 20th anniversary with the film digitally transferred.

Merchandise
The film led to many video games such as Ratar's Revenge.

Box office
Ghost Vision grossed $121.2 million in North America and $203.4 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $324.5 million.

Critical reception
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an average grade of 53%, based on 40 reviews. On Metacritic, the film has an average grade of 56 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Television series and sequels
A television series of the same based on the film was made and ran from 1997 to 1999.

In 1994, Rob Minkoff stated that a sequel would immediately be made after the first film was released with Chris Farley reprising his role and production immediately started in November 1995 due to the huge box office success of the film. Ghost Vision II was released on September 1, 2000.

A second sequel was in development hell for over two decades until it was officially announced in 2020, that a third Ghost Vision film would be released and made in stylized computer-animation. The film is titled Ghost Vision: Corrupted Souls and is scheduled to be released in 2024 while also serving as the finale.