Tom Sawyer | |
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Directed by |
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Written by |
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Based on | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Music by | Mark Watters |
Production company | |
Distributed by | MGM Home Entertainment |
Release date |
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Running time | 89 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Tom Sawyer is a 2000 American animated musical adventure film directed by Paul Sabella and Phil Mendez. Released direct-to-video on April 4, 2000, the film was produced by MGM Animation. It is the only MGM Animation production not to be available exclusively through Warner Home Video worldwide. This is also the final MGM Animation film before shutdown in 2002. It is an adaptation of Mark Twain's 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer , with a cast of anthropomorphic animals instead of humans. Most of the characters' voices are generally performed by country music singers. [1]
Tom Sawyer and his half-brother Sid are on their way to school when they see Huckleberry Finn fishing. Tom skips school to join Huck, but changes his mind after he sees Becky Thatcher. He tries to sneak into class, but Sid snitches on him to the teacher, Mr. Dobbins. Tom is made to sit with the girls, which he actually likes since he's able to sit next to Becky. He is also sat beside Amy Lawrence, a friend to whom he became "engaged". She still has romantic feelings for him, but he is too enchanted by Becky to notice. Tom's pet frog Rebel then disrupts the class, meaning they are given early dismissals.
On the way home from school, during the musical number "Hook, Line and Sinker", Tom tries multiple times to steal a kiss from Becky, but is thwarted each time by her father, Judge Thatcher. The next day, Tom is about to go fishing with his friends. However, he was forced to paint the house by Aunt Polly as punishment for what happened at school. Tom, however, gets his friends to paint the house for him instead. While everyone is still painting, Becky stops by and Tom offers her to paint along with everyone else, but under one condition; she needs to kiss him. As Tom prepares for the kiss, he gets kissed by Rebel as a prank, making everyone laugh at him.
That night, when Tom and Huck go treasure hunting, they find Injurin' Joe and his sidekick Mutt Potter uncovering a chest of gold. Deputy Bean, who is visiting his wife's grave, discovers Joe and Mutt. As the boys watch from behind a tombstone, Joe brutally murders Bean who tried to hit him with a shovel, frames Mutt and captures Rebel. Tom knows that Joe can track him down through Rebel, so he and Huck make a pact never to tell anyone what they have seen.
The next day, at school Becky accidentally spills ink on the test results. Amy is so happy because she wants to tell on Becky, but Tom takes the blame, for which he receives a brutal spanking with a ruler by Mr. Dobbins. After school, Tom becomes "engaged" to Becky, before a musical number by Becky and Amy, "One Dream", where the two individually express their shared love for Tom. He then admits he did the same with Amy, causing Becky to break off the engagement and then walks away. Tom and Huck visit Mutt, who is on death row. They try to get him to remember Injurin' Joe murdering Bean, but Mutt doesn't remember. Joe meanwhile finds Tom and Huck, but they escape on a raft. They celebrate their survival and friendship with a musical number, "Friends for Life".
When Tom and Huck swims back to town, they learn that the townspeople are mourning their deaths, believing the boys to have drowned. They disrupt the service, showing up at their own funeral, and are welcomed back. Amy, wanting to make Becky more upset at Tom, kisses Tom in front of Becky making her believe that Tom has chosen Amy over her and leaves before Tom can get a chance to explain, leaving him heartbroken. Judge Thatcher sentences Mutt to be hanged, but Huck and Tom testify against Joe at the last minute. Joe goes after Tom and Huck but fails and is pulled away by a river. Mutt was finally freed and his criminal charges were dropped, and the boys are hailed as heroes.
During the celebration, after making up with Tom, Becky talks Tom into exploring a cave. Amy follows them. Tom and Becky go into a cave and Tom says to Becky that she is the prettiest girl who he ever seen. That made Amy very sad and she stopped to follow Tom and Becky. They get lost and Becky begins to lose hope to finding the exit. Tom sings a number, "Light at the End of the Tunnel" to try and reassure her that they will find a way out. Instead of finding an exit, they find treasure - and Joe. Meanwhile, the townspeople notice Tom and Becky missing and Amy, who saw Tom and Becky go into the cave, reveals where they are. The townspeople go to look for them in the cave. With Huck's help, Tom subdues Joe, causing a rockfall which kills Joe, and is reunited with the townspeople and Aunt Polly.
In the end Amy becomes Huck's girlfriend (after being impressed with how he assisted Tom against Joe) and Becky finally becomes Tom's girlfriend. Amy is no longer jealous of Becky and got over her feelings of Tom. The next day, Sid again tries to snitch on Tom, but it backfires, as Aunt Polly makes Sid paint the house instead of Tom. The movie ends with Tom, Becky, Huck and Amy having a picnic, during which Tom shows the others a gold coin and tells them about another treasure hunt.
Character in the book | Character in the movie | Species | Other characteristics |
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Thomas "Tom" Sawyer | Same | Tabby cat | Has reddish-brownish hair; wears blue overalls and a white shirt. |
Huckleberry "Huck" Finn | Same | Fox | Wears green overalls and has white hair. Also has a straw hat. |
Rebecca "Becky" Thatcher | Same | Russian blue cat | Has short platinum blonde hair. Wears a pink dress and carries a pink parasol with her. |
Judge Edward Thatcher | Same | Wears a suit and cowboy hat. | |
Amy Lawrence | Same | Persian cat | Has orangeish hair tied in two braided pigtails and light blue hairbows. Wears green overalls and a white shirt. She is barefoot throughout the film. |
Sidney "Sid" Sawyer | Same | Has black hair and wears a light blue shirt with a purple bowtie, dark blue overalls and glasses. He is considered to be a snitch. | |
Mr. Reginald Dobbins | Same | Turkey | Black Toupee; has spats on his feet, a purple suit, a red bowtie and wears glasses. |
Injun Joe | Injurin' Joe | Grizzly bear | Wears blue jeans and a brown vest. Also wears a cowboy hat and a necklace. |
Muff Potter | Mutt Potter | Bloodhound | Wears green shirt and brown pants |
Polly Sawyer | Same | Tabby cat | Has grey hair. Wears pink dress with a white smock and glasses. |
Dr. Robinson | Deputy Bean | Bloodhound | Wears a blueish shirt, blueish hat and deputy's badge. |
Tom Sawyer was announced to be in development since March 1998. [2] In June 1998, MGM Animation made a deal with Stone Canyon Investments to fund three animated films over the course of four years, starting with Tom Sawyer. [3]
The film was produced by MGM Animation, who were also responsible for All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 , Babes in Toyland , and An All Dogs Christmas Carol . With animation done by Wang Film Productions in Taiwan. The film was not given a theatrical release, but was a direct-to-video release, then was actually meant to be released in theaters. [4]
Betty White admitted to enjoying playing a character who was both "barrel-chested" and an animal character, explaining that "I'm closer to animals than I am to anything else," and also liked playing a "barrel-chested" woman. When asked how she got cast in a film mostly starring country stars, she answered, "I have no idea where I came into the act." [5]
Tom Sawyer premiered on The Nashville Network on March 27, 2000 and repeated on the channel on April 1. [6] TNN had planned a different program to air the same time and day as Tom Sawyer's repeat airing, that being the live presentation of that year's annual NASCAR Albertsons 300 race; however, due to rainy weather causing a delay, the sports division of TNN owner CBS chose to not have the channel air the event. Thus, Tom Sawyer was aired instead. [7] MGM released Tom Sawyer on DVD and VHS on April 4, [8] its soundtrack issued by MCA Records the same day. [6] The DVD comes with a featurette about the production of the film. [8] MGM later re-released the DVD in the United States on July 30, 2002, [9] the United Kingdom on March 14, 2005, [10] and issued a three-film DVD set on March 5, 2007 that included Tom Sawyer, The Secret of NIMH (1982), and its sequel. [11]
It received generally mixed reviews.
Harlene Ellin of The Chicago Tribune gave a negative review, saying that it "stray[ed] too far from Twain." [12] An uncredited review in the Wichita Eagle was also unfavorable, calling it a "shallow" interpretation of Twain's work. [13]
The New York Daily News strongly praised Tom Sawyer for its "fairly cute" animal characters; "crisp and colorful" animation; voice acting, particularly from Don Knotts; and the musical numbers. However, he found the portrayals of Tom and Becky a "little bland" and the song "Friends for Life" "incongruous, as though it had been tacked on for length." [14] AllMovie also highlighted the animation, [15] while The Star-Ledger spotlight its "pronounced country flavor" songs as well as "attractive extras." [16]
Variety , in addition to the "energetic numbers," highlighted the film's dark content for a children's product, such as the murder sequence and the stakes of a dog character possibly being executed; but dismissed the visual gags and its more sentimental musical numbers as uninventive. [17]
While both AllMovie and Bruce Westbrook of The Houston Chronicle as a good introduction of the source material for children, [15] Westbrook's review wasn't without criticism. While applauding the "school antics" and orchestral score, he called the animation "weak" even for direct-to-video standards, suggested even children would be turned off by the sugarcoating of the material, mocked Atkins' performance as a "witlessly cheerful Gomer Pyle style," and panned the songs' "banal" qualities and "hard-core twang." [18]
Tom and Huck is a 1995 American adventure comedy-drama film based on Mark Twain's 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Brad Renfro, Mike McShane, Eric Schweig, and Amy Wright. The film was directed by Peter Hewitt and produced/co-written by Stephen Sommers. The film was released in North America on December 22, 1995.
Huckleberry Finn and His Friends is a 1979 television series documenting the exploits of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, based on the novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by American writer Mark Twain. The series consists of 26 episodes and was a Canadian/West German international co-production.
Tom Sawyer is the 1973 American musical film adaptation of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and was directed by Don Taylor. The film was produced by Reader's Digest in collaboration with Arthur P. Jacobs, and its screenplay and songs were written by both of the Sherman Brothers, Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a Japanese anime television series produced by Nippon Animation and directed by Hiroshi Saito, which premiered on January 6, 1980, and ended its run on December 28 the same year. It is based on the 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a musical comedy based on the 1876 novel by Mark Twain conceived and written by Ken Ludwig, with music and lyrics by Don Schlitz. The musical is the story of a fourteen-year-old boy growing up in the heartland of America. This Broadway musical version of Mark Twain's novel is set in 1840 in St. Petersburg, Missouri, a bustling town on the banks of the Mississippi River. In the course of the story, Tom matches wits with his stern Aunt Polly, falls in love with the beautiful, feisty Becky Thatcher, and goes on the adventure of his life with Becky and Huckleberry Finn. Along the way he meets a terrifying villain named Injun Joe, Tom's bratty half-brother Sid, and all the other boys and girls in the village.
The Adventures of Mark Twain, also known as Comet Quest in the United Kingdom, is a 1985 American independent stop-motion claymation fantasy film directed by Will Vinton and starring James Whitmore. It received a limited theatrical release in May 1985 and was released on DVD in January 2006 and again as a collector's edition in 2012 on DVD and Blu-ray.
Tom Sawyer is a 1917 American silent comedy-drama/adventure film starring Jack Pickford, Robert Gordon, and Clara Horton; it is based on Mark Twain's 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Directed by William Desmond Taylor, the film was released by Paramount Pictures.
The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an American live-action and animated fantasy television series that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1968, through February 23, 1969. Produced by Hanna-Barbera and based on the classic Mark Twain characters, the program starred its three live-action heroes, Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher, and Tom Sawyer, navigating weekly adventures within an animated world as they attempted to outrun a vengeful "Injun Joe". After the show's original run, the series continued to air in reruns as part of The Banana Splits and Friends Show syndication package.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a 1938 American drama film produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Norman Taurog who had previously directed Huckleberry Finn (1931) with Jackie Coogan and Junior Durkin. The film starred Tommy Kelly in the title role, with Jackie Moran and Ann Gillis. The screenplay by John V. A. Weaver was based on the classic 1876 novel of the same name by Mark Twain. The movie was the first film version of the novel to be made in color.
Tom Sawyer is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by John Cromwell and starring Jackie Coogan. The screenplay by Grover Jones, William Slavens McNutt, and Sam Mintz is based on the 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.
Huckleberry Finn is a 1931 American pre-Code adventure comedy film directed by Norman Taurog, and written by Grover Jones and William Slavens McNutt, based on Mark Twain's 1884 novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It stars Jackie Coogan as Tom Sawyer, Mitzi Green as Becky Thatcher, Junior Durkin as Huckleberry Finn, and Jackie Searl as Sid Sawyer.
Huckleberry Finn is a surviving American silent dramatic rural film from 1920, based on Mark Twain's 1884 classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed through Paramount Pictures. William Desmond Taylor directed Huckleberry Finn, as he had the 1917 film version of Tom Sawyer, using a scenario written by Julia Crawford Ivers, who also had been the writer for Tom Sawyer.
Huck and Tom is a surviving American comedy-drama film directed by William Desmond Taylor and released in 1918. The scenario by Julia Crawford Ivers is derived from Mark Twain's novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). Robert Gordon and Jack Pickford reprise the title roles from the 1917 version of Tom Sawyer, a successful adaptation that was also directed by Taylor.
Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn is a 2014 American comedy-drama/adventure film directed by Jo Kastner and starring Joel Courtney as Tom Sawyer, Jake T. Austin as Huckleberry Finn, Katherine McNamara as Becky Thatcher, Noah Munck as Ben Rogers, and with Val Kilmer as Mark Twain. It is based on Mark Twain's novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). The film was released by VMI Worldwide.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a novel by Mark Twain published on 9 June 1876 about a boy, Tom Sawyer, growing up along the Mississippi River. It is set in the 1840s in the town of St. Petersburg, which is based on Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain lived as a boy. In the novel, Sawyer has several adventures, often with his friend Huckleberry Finn. Originally a commercial failure, the book ended up being the best-selling of Twain's works during his lifetime. Though overshadowed by its 1885 sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the book is considered by many to be a masterpiece of American literature. It is alleged by Mark Twain to be one of the first novels to be written on a typewriter.
Tom Sawyer is a 3-LP box set containing a reading by Bing Crosby of an abridged version of Mark Twain’s classic story The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It was recorded for Argo Records (UK) on September 3 and 5, 1975 at Argo Studios, 115 Fulham Road, London.
Band of Robbers is a 2015 American crime comedy film written and directed by brothers Aaron and Adam Nee, based on Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It stars Kyle Gallner as Huck Finn and Adam Nee as Tom Sawyer. Matthew Gray Gubler, Melissa Benoist, Daniel Edward Mora, Eric Christian Olsen, Hannibal Buress, and Stephen Lang also star.
"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is a 1955 CBS TV film adaptation of Mark Twain's 1884 novel of the same name, starring Charles Taylor in the title role. It was directed by Herbert B. Swope Jr. It aired on September 1, 1955 as the Season 2 premiere of the anthology program Climax!.
Tom Sawyer was a one-hour musical by Frank Luther, originally created for the television series The U.S. Steel Hour. It was broadcast live on CBS November 21, 1956, and marked the first time the anthology series had presented a musical. Luther said the show evolved from his re-reading of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer a few years earlier: "(W)henever an incident or character gave me an idea for a song, I'd write the music and words," Luther told an interviewer in 1957. "By the time I'd reached the end of the book, I found I had written 32 songs. The cast included John Sharpe as Tom Sawyer, Jimmy Boyd as Huckleberry Finn, Bennye Gatteys as Becky Thatcher, Rose Bampton as Aunt Polly, Matt Mattox as Injun Joe and Clarence Cooper as Jim the Narrator. A cast album was released on Decca Records shortly after the broadcast, featuring several songs omitted from the original show. The show's sets and backgrounds were designed by Thomas Hart Benton. At the time of the broadcast, Sharpe was performing in the Broadway cast of The Most Happy Fella. Luther was commissioned to follow up the show with a musical adaptation of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, also starring Boyd, which was broadcast on The U.S. Steel Hour November 22, 1957. There does not appear to be any existing film or kinescope of either broadcast. There is a recording of the original broadcast audio in the New York Public Library's Toscanini Legacy Collection of Sound Recordings.