Tom Sawyer

Now I love animation, but while there are a number of exceptions, when it comes to animated films adapting a book or story, it loses some or most of the essence. When I heard there was an animated version of Tom Sawyer I was curious. The book by Mark Twain has a very strong narrative and appealing characters, and I was a little worried they would lose the essence of this great story. Now I don't mind films that are unfaithful to their books, as long it maintains its spirit.

And I was surprised. This animated film was really good, I was really surprised! Not to mention apart from changing a few names and making the characters animals, it is fairly faithful as an adaptation and maintains the strong narrative and appealing characters of the book. The story is consistently engaging, with some humorous and touching parts, and the characters are still likable. Tom Sawyer is really likable, while being quite rebellious and mischievous, Huck is endearing, Aunt Polly is wonderful, Becky is cute and beautiful and Amy(I am so glad they included her here) is appealing. Injun Joe was quite frightening as well, but this sinister presence worked.

Another lovely surprise was the animation. I was expecting flat colours and tacky backgrounds, but instead the backgrounds are pretty and the colours are luscious. Plus all the characters are drawn very well. I also really liked the songs, I am admittedly not the biggest fan of country music, but this worked here. The songs are very catchy, memorable and upbeat and are well sung, and they don't interfere with the story too much. Mark Watter's score once again is a gem, beautiful and dramatic. The dialogue is humorous and touching, and that was a major plus in my book.

The voice acting is top notch, Betty White, Mark Wills, Rhett Atkins and Kevin Michael Richardson are all right on the money, being really talented at what they do I am not surprised. The film is perhaps a little too long by about two minutes, and some of the middle half drags, but overall it is a solid animated film and a surprisingly good adaptation. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This movie is the best version of Tom Sawyer ever put to film! My little sis used to watch it repeatedly, and I didn't even mind- THAT'S how good it is! It features Country music as the soundtrack, and I was okay with it- THAT'S how good this is! Plus, it's a good, old-fashioned hand-drawn animated film the likes of which we rarely if ever see made anymore! So, this is a nostalgia-trip and a pure treasure. Perfect to watch with any animation lover or kid in your life. I'm not even that big a fan of animation, but I still think fondly of this movie often- THAT'S how good it is!

It's cute, it's fun, and it tells a classic story in such a delightful way. Recommended.

Tom Sawyer is an MGM animated film at heart. It has corny songs, requisite love interests, physical humor and that signature art style. But Tom Sawyer is different. MGM usually makes sequels to animated films, putting little thought into them and stripping their essence away. But here they retell a classic story in their own unique way, staying true to the source material's strong narrative. And maybe that's why Tom Sawyer succeeds where so many other MGM features have failed. No habits are broken here, but it's an enjoyable ride all the same. I can't stand the corny country music-flavored songs, but eh. The art is really nice too.

Mark Twain's beloved novel has once again been adapted for film, with some subtle changes (Injun Joe becomes Injurin' Joe) and some not-so-subtle ones (all of the characters are animals). However, this new animated version, brought to us by MGM and the same people who made the direct-to-video films "Babes in Toyland" and "An All Dogs Christmas Carol," remains a fairly faithful adaptation. It is very, very well animated with a memorable score by Mark Watters. The voice casting, comprising of mostly country music stars with a few veterans like Betty White and Don Knotts, is right on the money. Rhett Akins as Tom Sawyer is simply wonderful. Add to this a selection of great country music songs and you've got good, clean family entertainment.

I found this to be a decent movie that isn't that bad. The movie stay true to the source material it have in it and even some of the dark parts too. I found the animation to be pretty good with the details they put onto the characters and some of the backgrounds looks nice too. The voice acting is also good too with performance by Hynden Walch, Kevin Michael Richardson, & Betty White. But Rhett Akins and Mark Wills feel miscast because they made the main character sound too old. Although they performance is passable. The movie is entertaining to watch on how it's never boring and a couple of things happened in it. There are side plots that goes nowhere interesting like the love triangle is obvious on where it goes. I also feel like it needed more character development to itself because some of them feel one-dimensional. The music number is a hit or miss with a couple of them are pretty catchy with good singing performance to them.

Tom Sawyer is a fun movie that probably kids will like.