The Adventures of Huck Finn (1993)

Director:

Stephen Sommers

Writers (WGA):

Mark Twain (novel)
Stephen Sommers (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 April 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

They set off in search for freedom and discovered the adventure of a lifetime!

Plot:

Huckleberry Finn, the half-literate son of a drunk, runs away from home and follows the Mississippi River with an escaped slave named Jim...

Plot Keywords:

Con | River | Mississippi River | Slave | Reward

Cast

Elijah Wood	...	Huck Finn
Courtney B. Vance	...	Jim
Robbie Coltrane	...	The Duke
Jason Robards	...	The King
Ron Perlman	...	Pap Finn
Dana Ivey	...	Widow Douglas
Anne Heche	...	Mary Jane Wilks
James Gammon	...	Deputy Hines
Paxton Whitehead	...	Harvey Wilks
Tom Aldredge	...	Dr. Robinson
Laura Bell Bundy	...	Susan Wilks (as Laura Bundy)
Curtis Armstrong	...	Country Jake
Mary Louise Wilson	...	Miss Watson
Frances Conroy	...	Scrawny Shanty Lady
Danny Tamberelli	...	Ben Rodgers (as Daniel Tamberelli)

Also Known As:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
As Aventuras de Huck Finn (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Las aventuras de Huckleberry Finn (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Die Abenteuer von Huck Finn (Germany) [de]
Huckleberry Finnin seikkailut (Finland) [fi]
Huckleberry Finns äventyr (Sweden) [sv]
Le avventure di Huck Finn (Italy) [it]
Les aventures de Huckleberry Finn (France) (video title) [fr]
Oi peripeteies tou Huck Finn (Greece) [el]
Przygody Hucka Finna (Poland) [pl]

MPAA:

Rated PG for some mild violence and language.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-10/7 | Germany:6 | Iceland:L | Peru:PT | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Jefferson Military College - Highway 61, Washington, Mississippi, USA

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

The movie contains no digital effects.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Pap Finn is carrying Huck over his shoulder, down the stairs, we see (at 12:05) looking down from the second floor that the stair landing has a 2-candle sconce on its right wall and its left wall. At 12:11 looking up from the first floor there is no sconce on the right wall of the landing.

Quotes:

Huck Finn: I'm sorry Jim... I didn't want this to happen.
Jim: You're still my best and only friend.

Movie Connections:

Version of Huckleberry Finn (1974)

Soundtrack:

String Quartet No.17 'Jagd' in B-Flat major, K.458

One of the best live-action version of a classic children's story.

I consider this film to be one of the top five best versions of a classic children's story. In some film adaptations, you get the impression the writer has put the characters on pedestals, and the actors are playing them like they're afraid of falling off. This film isn't like that at all.

When I was going to see this film, I thought "I bet they chicken out of the feud scene, and I bet they have Huck say something at the end like 'Y'know, I sorta had a funny feeling my whole life slavery's actually a very bad thing' (or something equally corny)". I'm happy to say I was wrong on both accounts. The feud scene is handled very intelligently for a family movie, capturing the emotion without resorting to SAVING PRIVATE RYAN-style blood & guts (which I don't think would suit a world-famous children's story). And the slavery issue is dealt with head-on, being one of the prime dramatic themes of the story. One of my favorite moments is when Huck is asked by some river folk whether the companion on his raft is black or white. Huch thinks for a moment, and then replies "He's white!" That scene makes up for the famous letter writing scene in the novel, which other versions have included.

Elijah Wood really makes his character shine with impish personality and a casual chatting delivery (and this is still my all-time favorite role of his). He is ably supported by Ron Perlman as Pa, as well as Jason Robards & Robbie Coltrane as the rascally King & Duke. Heck, even Anne Heche looks classy. I am very impressed with a film when it does a scene which I'd actually forgotten about, in this case it was the "Missy Finn" bit. My only disappointment was that Tom Sawyer got reduced to a one-line cameo at the beginning (and it doesn't handle any revivalist preaching satire).

FYI, I haven't seen the Mickey Rooney, Jackie Coogan or Jeff East versions yet, but this one is going to be hard to beat. The only other films that I've seen which come close to this are the Ted Turner & Disney versions of TREASURE ISLAND, and David Lean's OLIVER TWIST. Also the later PETER PAN (2003) is right on par with this in excellent classic storytelling.