Review of Tom Sawyer

Introduction

When it comes to 2D feature animation, the American film industry seems to be in the doldrums lately. The current vogue is for CGI, for 3D extravaganzas full of exciting imagery, wit and humour that appeal to audiences of all ages. The powerhouses behind the biggest selling movies nowadays are studios like Pixar and DreamWorks, and once great titans like Disney seem a pale shadow of their former selves. It`s no surprise, that for their next feature, even Disney have ditched the cel and ink in favour of the graphics artist and the workstation. Traditional 2D animation seems to be confined solely to the small screen, and the few features that do make it into cinemas are derived from small screen franchises like Rugrats or Spongebob Squarepants. The doe eyed characters of traditional Disney are becoming increasingly rare. But turn to television and the cute characters of a bygone age can still be found, anthropomorphising old stories with family friendly animal characters and warm power ballads. MGM`s Tom Sawyer is just one such animation.

Based on the classic Mark Twain tale, Tom Sawyer tells the story of a fun loving boy, happy dreaming of buried treasure and vanquishing pirates. He doesn`t pay much attention to school, and prefers playing hooky to go fishing with his best friend Huck Finn. It`s only when new girl Rebecca starts at school that he starts paying attention to his lessons. However, fame and fortune beckon, and he and Huck plan to visit the old Boneyard during the full moon, to look for buried treasure. However, that night gets them into a whole heap of trouble, when the stumble across Injurin` Joe (yes, political correctness has been applied) as he searches for his own treasure. They also spy deputy Jesse, who interrupts the outlaw being murdered for his troubles. Tom and Huck make their escape, but not before Joe catches Tom`s pet frog Rebel. Soon poor Mutt Potter is sentenced to die for the murder of the deputy. Tom and Huck must decide whether to come clean and risk the wrath of Injurin` Joe, or to keep quiet and let an innocent man die.

Video

Tom Sawyer is presented in a 4:3 format. By and large the image is adequate, the picture is clear and colourful, although there were moments that the outlines of characters seemed jagged, and one scene looking through water seemed beset with pixellation.

It`s impossible to completely escape the encroach of CGI, and the film is book-ended by the appearance of a 3D paddle steamer. The rest of the film resolutely remains traditional 2D animation though. The animation seems lacklustre though, with the character designs lacking any varied expression of emotion, and some moments were quite jerky and static. The backgrounds also consistently lacked detail, despite the extravagance of colour in the foregrounds. The whole film actually felt stage bound.

Audio

This being an MGM back catalogue disc, there are a wide selection of soundtracks to listen to. As well as DD 5.1 English, there are also tracks in DD 2.0 Surround French, German, Italian and Spanish. The film is subtitled in all these languages, as well as Dutch. The sound is pretty front focussed, with the surround used mainly for the music. In the grand tradition of Disney, there are plenty of songs to hum along to, all Country and Western, and all instantly forgettable. In one of those petty annoyances, not a single singing voice matched a speaking voice.

Features

Are you kidding?

Conclusion

I think that the use of animals to tell a story is a charming idea, and an old one in literature. Inserting cute furries in the place of human characters can make a classic tale more accessible to the young `uns. That`s if it is done well. Tom Sawyer doesn`t manage this. The character designs don`t help. I`m pretty certain that Tom was meant to be a cat; I think he was a cat. It took me half the film to figure out that Huck Finn was a fox. The quality of the animation is unimpressive and the production values simplistic. That wouldn`t matter if the story was interesting, but this interpretation of Tom Sawyer is hardly gripping.

It doesn`t seem so much a complete story as it is a loosely pieced together collection of scenes, few of them actually having much to do with the others. Despite the relatively short 85 minute running time, I felt my attention wandering, and I wonder if the same would happen with the intended target audience. There are some moments of humour, some slapstick mostly with the harried schoolmaster, but these are few and far between. Not nearly enough to constitute entertainment for most children.

There is also the desire to emulate Disney, not only in the tweeness of the characters, but also in the attempt to shoehorn a musical number in every few minutes. None of them made any significant impression on me. But the fatal flaw in the film is the sheer annoyance of the lead character. The endless optimism of Tom Sawyer and the never changing expression of barely controlled glee actually had me wishing him ill. I doubt that was the effect the filmmakers intended.

Tom Sawyer is unimpressive to look at, the characters are thin and lack dimension, and Disneyesque pretensions are defeated by a complete absence of charm. Your children may not thank you for this one.