| Tom and Huck | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Peter Hewitt |
| Produced by | Laurence Mark Stephen Sommers |
| Written by | Mark Twain (novel) Stephen Sommers |
| Starring | Jonathan Taylor Thomas Brad Renfro Eric Schweig Charles Rocket Amy Wright Michael McShane Marian Seldes Rachael Leigh Cook |
| Music by | Stephen Endelman |
| Cinematography | Bobby Bukowski |
| Editing by | David Freeman |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 22, 1995 |
| Running time | 97 min. |
| Country |  |
| Language | English |
| Gross revenue | $23,735,802 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Tom and Huck is a 1995 Disney film starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Brad Renfro, Joey Stinson, and Rachel Leigh Cook; it is based on Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In the film, a mischievous young boy, Tom Sawyer, witnesses a murder by the deadly Injun Joe. Tom becomes friends with Huckleberry Finn, a boy with no future and no family, and is forced to choose between honoring a friendship or honoring an oath because the town alcoholic is accused of the murder. The movie was released in the U.S. and Canada on 22 December 1995 [1]. The movie received an PG rating from the MPAA for some villainous acts and mild language.
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Plot
The film opens with Tom Sawyer (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) running away from home. He and his friends ride down the river on their raft, but they hit a sharp rock, which throws Tom into the water. His friends find him washed up on the shore, and as Tom finds out later, it was Huck Finn (Brad Renfro) who pulled him to safety. Huck learns of an unusual way to remove warts by taking a dead cat to the graveyard at night. It is there they witness a murder of Doc Robinson, the town doctor (William Newman) by a killer named Injun Joe (Eric Schweig) while trying dig out a coffin of a dead man named Murrell. The town drunk, Muff Potter (Michael McShane) is framed for the murder, but Tom and Huck had signed an oath that stated if either of them came forward about it, they would drop dead and rot. The duo then goes on a search for Injun Joe's treasure map (which he found in Vic Murrell's coffin), so they can declare Muff Potter innocent and still keep their oath. The only problem is, the map is in Injun Joe's pocket. After Joe finds the first treasure, he burns the map and discovers that Tom was a witness to the murder. However, at the time, the entire town thought he was dead, and the friendship between Tom and Huck starts to decline, due to the fact their evidence (the map) to prove Muff innocent while preserving their oath is destroyed. At the trial of Muff Potter, Tom decides that his friendship with Muff is more important than his oath with Huck and discloses the truth to the court, who then declares Muff innocent of all charges, and goes after Injun Joe, who then tries to kill Tom after the disclosement. Huck becomes angry with Tom for breaking their oath and leaves town, much to Tom's displeasure. During a festival the next day, a group of kids, including Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher (Rachael Leigh Cook), enter the caves where Tom and Becky end up lost. They stumble upon the second treasure and Tom tells Becky to go get her father and bring him back. Just then Injun Joe shows up to kill Tom again, but not before Huck returns to help Tom take out Joe, who then falls into a bottomless chasm inside the caves. The two boys reconcile and are declared heroes by the people. Tom is put on the front page of the newspaper and Widow Douglas (Marian Seldes) decides to adopt Huck.
Background and Production
Parts of the movie were filmed in Cathedral Caverns in Woodville and the town of Mooresville, Alabama.
Cast
- Jonathan Taylor Thomas as Thomas "Tom" Sawyer
- Brad Renfro as Huckleberry "Huck" Finn
- Eric Schweig as Injun Joe
- Charles Rocket as Judge Thatcher
- Amy Wright as Aunt Polly
- Michael McShane as Muff Potter
- Marian Seldes as Widow Douglas
- Rachael Leigh Cook as Rebecca "Becky" Thatcher
- Courtland Mead as Cousin Sid
- Heath Lamberts as Mr. Dobbins
- Joey Stinson as Joseph "Joe" Harper
- Blake Heron as Benjamin "Ben" Rodgers
Box office
The U.S. and Canada box office for Tom and Huck was $23,920,048[1].
Trivia
- Preceding the film in theaters was a 3-minute Timon and Pumbaa short of the song "Stand By Me." While not included on the home video release, it has appeared on various Disney videos and on the Timon and Pumbaa animated series.
- There is no Region 1 widescreen DVD version of the film. The Region 1 DVD version is pan and scan only. The film was shot in 2.39:1 aspect ratio.
- Injun Joe's partner who originally did not have a name in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was named Emmett by Stephen Sommers and David Loughery.
- The school segment where Tom gets whipped on his rear with a switch by Mr. Dobbins was omitted from this version of Mark Twain's classic.
References
- ^ a b Box Office Mojo box office figure Retrieved 24 July 2007
