The Ghost (Launchpad)

The Ghost is a live action short film in the Launchpad series from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and was released on Disney+ on September 29, 2023.
==Synopsis==
12-year-old Clarice Cheung feels like she’s invisible in her family—especially next to her older sister Naomi. But when a powerful ghost appears in their house, the estranged sisters will have to team up and stop it before their family is torn apart forever.
==Plot==
Clarice is playing street hockey with her friends when her older sister Naomi arrives to angrily inform her that she had forgotten about their father, Kapsoo's birthday. Upon returning home, their mother, Doyeon arrives late, but brings a cake to celebrate. Clarice proceeds to angrily chastise her older sister about how she treats her compared to her parents who have issues of their own (Kapsoo was a former soccer player who suffered a leg injury while their mother works long shifts and is barely at home). As both sisters yell at one another about how they see each other, the power in their house suddenly goes out.
Clarice goes outside and spots a mysterious ghostly looking girl near their house. Inside, Kapsoo sees a bright light and is euphorically drawn to it, only to disappear. Naomi goes outside to bring Clarice in, still angry over their relationship, but upon returning inside, see the ghostly girl entrancing Doyeon who suddenly disappears in a bright light. Both sisters panic and run outside where they witness the lights in their house acting wild. Naomi plans to go back inside to find their parents with Clarice deciding to go inside as well, not wanting to leave her sister alone. When they go back inside, the ghost girl, Elena, pulls Naomi into her world with Clarice jumping in after her.
Clarice finds herself in a brightly lit version of their house where Naomi, Doyeon, and Kapsoo are happily treating Elena as if she were their family. Elena tries to get Clarice to join in as well, but she turns them all down, knowing that this is not what her family is like. Flashback reveals, that Elena yelled at her parents and ran out of the house, only to die by some circumstance. Clarice tells Elena that her parents loved her and that she should not feel sad over their last meeting. Elena releases everyone from her world as Clarice and Naomi happily reunite with their parents.
Later on, the Chung family's relationship as significantly improved. Clarice asks her mother if she feels sad that she does not know her better and she admits to it with Clarice telling her that she is willing to listen to her more. Clarice gives Kapsoo a late birthday present of a soccer ball and the family plays with it in the backyard.
==Cast==
*Hana Marie Kim as Clarice Chung
*Andie Ju as Naomi Chung
*Sook Hyung Yang as Doyeon Chung
*Eddie Shin as Kapsoo Chung
*Ayvah Jordan Vasquez as Elena
*Darius De La Cruz as Elena's father
*Tania Verafield as Elena's mother
*Judah Prehn as Daniel
*Vritika Gupta as Mihara
==Gallery==
Launchpad - Season 2 Poster.jpg
Category:Live-action shorts
Category:Disney+ Originals
Category:2023 shorts