The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985)

I'm a fan of Mark Twain as well as of claymation, so it's a given I like this feature! Will Vinton is not a household name any longer but the impact he had on the field can not be overrated (he even coined the term "claymation"). In the 80s, he was still a big name and had already done tons of animation, yet the production of "The Adventures of Mark Twain" must have been a real adventure. This is not easy stuff, it's not targeting children, and animation for adults has always been - and will propably always be - a big financial risk. Still, "Don't be such a sissy in face of a real adventure!" as he lets his main character say to himself.Basically, we have a frame story (M.T. chasing the comet where he plans to end his earthly life, with Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer and Becky as stowaways on board) framing several episodes from his writings, most of them from his more cynical works. Not every episode works equally well but overall the quality is OK and there's a certain momentum built up towards the conclusion. The gags are rarely laugh-out-loud but mostly hit the spot, and the outstanding thing is the animation - the quirky sets, the lively faces, the colours! There may be more creative animation out there, but never in a 90 minute feature. It's a feast for claymation fans (and should be for every cinephile but still animation carries that birthmark of childishness).Is this film perfect? No, and I guess no work which ventures that far from the trodden path can ever be. Some episodes rather stop than advance the story; the faces of the children look too grown-up; sometimes the dialogue feels pretty forced just to prompt one of M.T.'s aphorisms; and some of the visual gags seem targeted at children while the story as a whole is certainly not for them. But the wonderful animation and philosophical depth make up for such shortcomings - while by now Aardman or Laika have surpassed this film from the technical POV, it still remains one of the most grown-up claymation features I know.

I don't know how they did it. This movie is as close to memorable as "movie magic" will ever get. As i sifted through the previously posted comments i came to realize that i wasn't the only one who was completely "tranced" by its animation and story line as a little kid. Unbelievable! Kudos to those who did it.I watched it only once before, i think i was around 7, and i NEVER EVER forgot about it! Then i watched it again yesterday, and then an avalanche of unexplained and repressed memories came down trickling as things became clearer. Well, a bit more clearer! At any rate, now that i know what it's about, i can't say i am disappointed. This time nostalgia really paid out. Beautiful movie, even if broody, in every respect. That said, this clearly isn't a movie for everyone.

This is a movie that I watched a lot as a kid, having taped it off (I presume) HBO. It's one of those movies that stays with you. I haven't seen it since I was in grade school, but, watching it now, I'm not sure if I forgot even a second of it. It was the first feature film made entirely with clay. Mark Twain plans to fly his airship to meet up with Halley's Comet. Three of his most famous characters, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Becky Thatcher, stow away on the ship. When discovered, Twain makes them his crew. On the ship, they are told some of Twain's stories, and here plenty of his famous witticisms (almost all of Twain's dialogue is made up of his nuggets of wisdom). The movie starts off pretty slow, and some of the comedy early on is only moderately amusing. However, as it moves on, the film becomes darker, discovering the cynicism and sadness that exists in the works of Mark Twain. The most memorable sequence has the children meeting Satan, inspired by the posthumously published work The Mysterious Stranger. My other favorite segment is from The Diaries of Captain Stormfield, where a man arrives at an alien version of Heaven. Thanks go to the Onion's A.V. Club for pointing out that this was released on DVD a while back. I never would have caught that myself.

My mother brought this movie home from the library once when I was a young child, about 4. I didn't understand it very well, but I was thrilled by the clay animation. When I was about 13, I came across it tin the library again and after checking it out, I found a post-it note stating: "May not be understood by children under Junior High level." When I watched it again, I understood it. There was the story of Adam and Eve and how they didn't understand what each other did, and thought each other foolish. Then there was the dark side. I still didn't understand it quite as well after watching it a second time, but it was slightly understood.This may not being a good movie for younger children, but they do get a thrill out of the animation, although they may not fully understand it.