ANI-MOVIES, *The Adventures Of Mark Twain

Will Vinton, creator of the California Raisin commercials, spearheaded this claymation movie which was originally meant for children, but has been notorious over the years for its rather creepy imagery.

Mark Twain near the end of his life plans an expedition to catch up with Haley’s Comet in his custom airship, but didn’t count on three stowaways: Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, and Beck Thatcher(who aren’t fictional here). The inside of the airship is leads to several different short stories that Twain wrote, including the steampunk classic of Captain Stormfield.

There is some deep metaphysical and philosophic material going on here, like Twain’s duality with his dark side coming to life, and the nightmarish conversation with Satan himself. Ultimately, Vinton did a revolutionary job with this love letter to the timeless author, and is a real favorite for fans of Twain’s work.