THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN [1986 / 2011] [Deluxe 25th Anniversary Edition] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] Come along on a Wonderful Journey Straight to the Heart of Halley's Comet!
This film’s 25th Anniversary, marks the 175th Anniversary of Mark Twain’s birth, the 157th Anniversary of Mark Twain’s pinnacle work, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and the 100th Anniversary of his death.
‘THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN’ is an amazing journey of imagination, humour and heart, and a must for fans of Aardman Animations Studio. Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Becky Thatcher, stow away with Mark Twain on an incredible journey through time, and built around a plot that features Twain's attempts to keep his “appointment” with Halley's Comet! The journey introduces the three friends to a variety of Mark Twain’s storybook characters from “The Famous Jumping Frog of Caliverous County,” “The Diary of Adam and Eve (Letters from the Earth),” “Huckleberry Finn,” “The Mysterious Stranger,” and “Captain Stormfield s Visit to Heaven.” The sequence based on “The Mysterious Stranger” reportedly received over ten million views upon being posted on YouTube. The sequence was allegedly banned from TV due to its 'disturbing content.'
This unique ‘THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN’ film combines the visual richness and the magic of the “Claymation” process, with the sophisticated humour of Mark Twain and an experience to be cherished by all ages. ‘The Adventures of Mark Twain’ was the first full length feature film in the “Claymation” process and directed by Will Vinton, who is best known for “The California Raisins” animation.
Voice Cast: James Whitmore (Mark Twain), Michele Mariana (Becky Thatcher / The Mysterious Stranger / Girl In Crowd), Gary Krug (Huck Finn), Chris Ritchie (Tom Sawyer), John Morrison (Adam), Carol Edelman (Eve), Dallas McKennon (Jim Smiley), Herb Smith (The Stranger), Marley Stone (Aunt Polly), Wilbur Vincent (The Mysterious Stranger), Wally Newman (Captain Stormfield), Tim Conner (Three-Headed Alien), Todd Tolces (Saint Peter), Billy Scream (The Indexivator / Animals), Bob Griggs (First Heckler), Coward Wholesale (Second Heckler), Tom Gasek (Man in Crowd / Homer / Calaveras Miner / Mud People), Sally Sopwith (Woman in Crowd), Will Vinton (Dan'l Webster), Andrew Edwards (First Miner), Harvey Brown (Second Miner), Craig Bartlett (Calaveras Miner), Mark Gustafson (Calaveras Miner), Bruce McKean (Calaveras Miner), Billy Victor (God), Compton Downs (Injun Joe), Nell Suza (Animals / Mud People), Tim Kahn (Animals), Stashu Beencof (Animals), Kim Tonner (Mud People) and Gary Thompson (Baby Cain)
Director: Will Vinton
Producers: Will Vinton, Susan Shadburne and Hugh Kennedy Tirrell
Screenplay: Mark Twain (story) and Susan Shadburne
Composer: Billy Scream
Animation Department: Barry Bruce
Camera and Electrical Department: Bruce McKean
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English: 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English SDH
Running Time: 86 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / EUREKA! Entertainment Ltd
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: This is a really a special tour-de-force of ambitious stop-motion “Claymation” animation, whose apparently premise acts as the springboard for a dazzling and often dark study of Mark Twain’s work. Before Nick Park’s Aardman Animations, there was Will Vinton, the stop-motion pioneer who gave life to the name Claymation as well as creating iconic advertising characters like the “California Raisins.” ‘THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN’ was his labour of love, but one so poorly treated and it was released in Britain under the title unremarkable ‘Comet Quest.’ But it deserves to be more than a footnote in animation for its audacious, surreal use of stop-motion to reflect the art of literature.
The reason the film works is of Mark Twain himself, who is a giant in the American culture, and he is nowhere near the same touchstone over here in the United Kingdom, meaning that much of the power and relevance of this film effectively, is one long Mark Twain love-in and is lost slightly in Transatlantic interpretation. But Mark Twain remains a fascinating and eminently adaptable writer, and especially with his pithy epigrammatic sound bites, like if the film dialogue has been forged before films even had sound, and his feverish imagination devised worlds of escapist adventure and absurdist humour really suited to the cinema.
Will Vinton imagines a Mark Twain at the end of his life, aboard his balloon-powered ship on route to meeting Halley’s Comet! It’s a framing device based on the unusual coincidence of the real-life Twain being born, and dying, on consecutive fly-bys by the comet, which allows Vinton to depict the author as maverick and madman, happily embracing death because he’s got his life’s work to be remembered by. And some of that work, especially the quintessential Mark Twain characters Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and Becky Thatcher, are along for the ride.
The scenes of Mark Twain pontificating to the children, as they ask questions and generally, as well as slightly silly, are some of the slightly flawed part of this “Claymation” animation film and imagine if we had an American version of ‘Doctor Who,’ based on a “Claymation” theme, wow, that would be the most ghastly terrible outcome ever, as this is a typical eccentric British Television type fantasy TV programme and would be useless to have an adaptation with Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer’s joining a Doctor Who adventure, especially with their Southern drawl, despite their authentic lingo. But Will Vinton sees the bigger picture and this is a story about the act of writing, and he turns the ship into a living library, in which the stories are perpetually being acted out so that the children can step into Mark Twain’s fiction shoes.
The “Claymation” film comes to life in short, breezy re-enactments of short stories, two in particular leaping to mind. In “Adam and Eve’s Diary,” Will Vinton delivers a very funny, beautifully timed sit-com from Mark Twain’s wry reimagining of Adam as a carefree man-about-Eden narked by the unwelcome arrival of a woman. And yet, in “The Mysterious Stranger,” Will Vinton creates an uncanny dread from the tale of Satan, with a robed, headless figure carrying a mask that contorts from a grin to a grimace, who builds a world of plasticine people and then casually destroys them it tires him and of their in-fighting and you see, it’s a stark, spectral nightmare.
Between these tales, a much more rounded, complex portrayal of Mark Twain emerges, than was initially apparent. He was a dark man, and Will Vinton isn’t shy about showing it, but mostly this is a tribute, and “Claymation” is exactly the right format for demonstrating the fluid synaptic leaps by which a writer creates stories and characters. Ideas literally spill onto the screen, the clay a writhing mass that morphs and tumbles into new shapes. Vinton is Twain’s match for exuberant imagination, and he doesn’t miss a trick. There are incredibly rich, textured shots that belie stop-motion’s famously labour-intensive methods. Will Vinton simply can’t sit Mark Twain at his organ without giving the pipes pairs of hands that move up and down to play the correct notes, or stop characters’ noses twitches or fingers tapping in the simplest of dialogue scenes. No wonder Will Vinton never ever made another “Claymation” animation feature film; he must have been totally exhausted.
THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN MUSIC TRACK LIST
HEROES (Written by Billy Scream and Paul Jamison) (Lyrics by Susan Shadburne) [Performed by Craig Carothers and the Billy Scream Band
HAPPY BIRTHDAY (uncredited) (Written by Patty S. Hill and Mildred J. Hill) [Performed by Billy Victor]
Blu-ray Image Quality – Despite its age, ‘THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN’ has been granted a very satisfying upgraded 1080p encoded image presentation overhaul, and the results are quite spectacular at times. While white specks and minor print nicks pepper the film, most every other aspect of ‘THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN’ high definition is a sight to behold. Detail in the clay is superb, every line, every smudge, and even the fingerprints of the animators are visible. The tangible texture of the clay is full of unending detail, which creates that sense of wonder I spoke about before. Colours are soft and pleasant, primaries are lovely, black levels are deep, and contrast is consistent and despite only seeing this on a very bad VHS tape, needless to say, this is quite an upgrade and the detail is even more impressive. Truth be told, I was surprised how good this ended up looking fantastic.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – ‘THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN’ 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track is excellent, especially the two-channel soundscape and is a solid release with its audio. Dialogue and voices are warm, clean and perfectly clear, and is right on the button, and every last sound effect and Bill Scream’s music cue sounds about as good as it possibly could and even a sense of weight and notable oomph, especially when it comes to Mark Twain's airship, making this one of the more absorbing sonic experiences available on this classic 1958 “Claymation” release. But the power, faithfulness and unexpected fullness of the stereo mixes, just might take you by surprise. I was swept up in the magic of it all myself. While I would have liked to see a fully realised 5.1 track, especially since there are quite a few parts in the “Claymation” film that would had benefited from a surround sound track, but this 2.0 track does quite nicely indeed.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Audio Commentary by Director and Producer Will Vinton: If you are a fan of the “Claymation” film, you will really will want to listen to Will Vinton retrospectively discuss his “Claymation” film. Will Vinton talks intimately about how he feels about the “Claymation” film, and also discusses the different techniques of animation they used throughout the film. This is a very enjoyable audio commentary, as it is totally fascinating information about all aspects of the "Claymation" film, so don't miss it.
Special Feature: The Story of Claymation and ‘THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN’ [1985] [480i] [1.37:1] [16:44] Here we have an announcer telling us about the early days of Motion Picture and innovators experimenting with different forms of stop motion animation and sometimes they used modelling clay, that eventually came to life on the screen, which we see early examples. In 1932, one such pioneer name Lewis Clark Cook, who made comedic “clay animated” film called ‘The Little Baker’ [1926]. However, 2D cell animation got an early foothold and quickly became the norm, especially for animation. By the 1940s and 1050s 2D animation was the dominant force, especially on Television and in the cinema. With lots of cell animation companies swamping the market, model animation or 3D model animation, was largely denigrated and rarely seen. By the 1960s “Claymation” was completely maligned and called “not suited” for the animation world. Towards the end of the 1960s, Will Winton, native of Oregon, Midfield and architectural of Berkeley University and here he experimented with stop motion animation and pixilation. Because he was influenced by the Gaudi Barcelona Buildings in Spain, experimented in “Claymation” and when he saw his first results, had a total epiphany in animation and clearly felt it had great potential. In early 1970s, while working full time in Portland in Oregon, carried on his pioneering work and with the help of college friend, Bob Gardiner, joined as one of Will Winton’s team, to make his first 8 minute “Claymation,” entitled ‘Closed Monday’ [1974], which went on to garner hundreds of awards, and even an 1974 Academy Award® for the stop motion animation. He then went onto making a “Claymation” for ‘Mountain Fresh Rainer’ 1975 beer advert. He then followed up with his next project; with a more ambitious “Claymation” stop motion entitled ‘Martin the Cobbler’ [2005]. Then what follows is a documentary entitled “CLAYMATION: Three Dimensional Animation” which lets you into the secret world of stop motion animation and explains in more technical detail and how it is a slow painstakingly process. Then we go much more into detail about Will Winton and informing us about more innovative “Claymation” films we are informed about and they are ‘Rip Van Winkle;’ ‘The Little Prince;’ ‘Legacy;’ ‘A Christmas Gift;’ ‘Creation;’ ‘Dinosaur’ and ‘The Great Cognito,’ which went onto winning hundreds of awards over a 7 year period. As time went by, the 3D stop motion improved in leaps and bounds, which attracted advertising agencies, so making great profits for the Will Winton team that helped to other more adventurous projects, like the inventive “Claymation” ‘Festival of Claymation,’ that was shown in cinemas around the world, and the two “Claymation” presenters were Herb and rex., which helped to going onto even bigger projects, like ‘The Adventures of Mark Twain.’ cinema release. Then the Will Winton Team had a massive hit on their hands, when they went onto to do the TV advert for “California Raisins” and the amazing raisins dancing to “I heard It Through The Grapevine,” the eventually they went into popular music videos, especially the “Purple Raisin” dancing with Michael Jackson, which was so successful, they went onto another Michael Jackson “Claymation” music video entitled ‘Moonwalker.’ So from then on there was no stopping the Will Winton Team and their next project was ‘Claymation Christmas Celebration’ for American Prime Time Television, and also ‘Meet The Raisins;’ ‘Claymation Easter;’ ‘The Raisins: Sold Out’ and ‘Comedy of Horrors,’ and then branching out into computer animation and their first project was ‘Cool Tools,’ also the M&M adverts. At the end of the 1990s, computer animation got more adventurous, especially with ‘The PJ’s’ series, which featured Eddie Murphy, and then they moved onto ‘Gary and Mike’ [2001] and because of their pioneering work from the Will Winton team, computer animation is even more popular today and here to stay. This is a great special feature documentary and so very informative, but sad to say, some of the images are not of the best quality.
Special Feature: Behind The Scenes: Pre-Production and Where It All Begins [1985] [480i] [1.37:1] [6:55] At the start of this documentary, we see the Will Winton Team are all sitting on the floor discussing a particular script, for one of their up and coming “Claymation” stop motion film and as we go through the documentary, it is broken up into different sections and they are as follows: “Script,” “Production Design and Storyboard,” “Voice Recording,” Recording Actor’s Voices and reference Filming Their Movements,” and with this particular section, we actually the voice actors acting out the part in the “Claymation” film, while recording at the same time, and we also get a split screen comparing the actors speaking and the actual finished “Claymation” stop motion film. Next section is entitled “Character Construction” where we see a person hand dressing the stop motion puppet and eventually we see the puppet in action. Next up is “Preparing the Clay” which is pretty well self-explanation. Next up is “An “armature” Supports the Figure,” here we see the metal structures puppet doing a sort workout, but eventually you see the puppet get fully dressed with plasticine. Next up is “Sets and props,” where we get to see all the plasticine puppets and the team working on the puppets for certain shots. Next up is “Stop Motion Adventure: Moving One Frame at a Time,” here we get to see the team showing the painstaking movements of the plasticine puppets on the set, then we see some stop motion film. Next up is “Post production: Editing Animation,” which again is self-explanation. And finally we have “Adding Music and Sound Effects,” and again the title says it all. So ends another fascinating look at the Will Winton’s Organisation, but sadly there is no voice over explaining what is going on, but what we do have is very cheesy 1960s type music in the background, which was probably okay when the documentary was originally released.
NEW! Special Feature: Crew Interviews [2011] [1080p] [1.85:1] [54:00] With this particular special feature, it is broken up into 6 separate sections, that you can either watch separately or in one go, and they are as follows: Barry Bruce: Character design/Lead Animator [12:14]; Bill Scream: Music and Sound [10:12]; Mark Gustafson: Animator [Huck Finn] [9:32]; Susan Shadburne: Writer/Composer [9:29] and Will Winton: Director/Producer [12:46]. This is really totally fascinating, especially hearing all of their personal views on working with ‘The Adventures of Mark Twain’ [1985] and especially to seeing them now in 2011, compared to the first previous special feature documentary in 1985. But what was really nice to see was Will Winton, himself in 2011, and personally looks so much better compared to what he looked like in 1985, on top of all that, he is a very interesting person to listen to and explaining his experiences with working on the 1985 “Claymation” animation film and was staggered to hear how much it cost to make in 1985, which took a total of 4 year to make and also had a total of 17 people working for him and doing all the fantastic work in “Claymation” and totally recommend in viewing this special and unique feature.
NEW! Special Feature: The Music of Mark Twain: Selected Music Tracks [2011] [1080p] [1.85:1] [19:45] This special feature, like the previous one, is in different sections, that relate to the different stories in ‘THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN’ and what you view is one still image used with the actual background music used in each story of the 1985 “Claymation” film and they are as follows:
CLAVERAS FROG SUITE: “The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” and “Frog Reprise To Intro Dark Twain.”
ADAM AND EVE THEME SUITE: “Reuniting After The Fall,” “Getting To Know Adam,” “It’s A Fish,” “It’s A Fish . . .;” “Adam Hunting Trip,” “Family reunion” and “Adam and Eve – Soul Mates.”
THE COMET SUITE: “Busting In The Comet” and “Twain and Shadow Depart.”
HEROES: “End Credits Theme.”
Special Feature: Stills Gallery [1985] [480i] [1.37:1] Here we have a slide show of the Will Winton team, that you have to manually move forward to see each slide and you have different sections and they are as follows: BEHIND THE SCENES: You get to view a total of 32 individual slides. CONCEPT ART: You get to view a total of 18 individual slides.
Trailer [1985] [1080p] [1.85:1] [2:17] This is a really nice brand new “Claymation” trailer for the film ‘THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN.’
Finally, ‘THE ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN’ “Claymation” transcends mere entertainment, to become a really thoughtful portrait of an artist and his unique perspective on life and experience. We are shown Mark Twain's compassion and his misanthropy. We are taken on a journey laced with Mark Twain's favourite ingredients: hilarity, terror and poignancy. The Art Direction was brilliantly achieved by Barry Bruce, Joan C. Gratz and Don Merkt. The magical “Claymation” was executed by William L. Fiesterman, Tom Gasek, Mark Gustafson, Craig Bartlett and Bruce McKean and the “Claymation” film was beautifully scored by Billy Scream. But what I love about this “Claymation” film, is the tireless effort of Will Vinton put in many hours to complete the film and the total professional dedication towards this film, and the love of the subject matter to bring to fruition. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
