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