Oh, where to begin with this movie. I'll start with some of the good: Eric Schweig was perfectly cast as the murderous, intimidating, menacing Injun Joe. If I could create my own Tom Sawyer classic movie, I'd recast him. Same with Michael McShane as Muff Potter. Jonathan Taylor Thomas sounds like the perfect Tom Sawyer on paper; he does have a history of playing rambunctious, trouble-making boys, and he has a special place in my heart as Simba from The Lion King, my favorite Disney movie. But here...he's just alright. He doesn't have as much of the edge that made Tom Sawyer such a fascinating, dynamic character. Most of the blame for that goes to the writers though; I'm sure Thomas would have done much better had he been given better material to work with. Everyone else was sorely miscast (i.e Huckleberry Finn, Becky Thatcher, Aunt Polly, Widow Douglas, Joe Harper, etc.), and the characters who did have decent casting (Judge Thatcher, Ben Rogers, Mr. Dobbins, etc.) didn't stand out very much.
No attempt was made to create the atmosphere of Tom Sawyer (the dialect, the plot, the setting, the characters, etc.) Every boy, including Tom Sawyer, went barefoot in the book, but in the movie they all wore shoes. This may not seem like a big deal, but it's part of the edge Tom Sawyer and his friends have in the book; they're not afraid to get down and dirty in the adventures they have, and the boys who do wear shoes in the book are looked down upon as sissies.
In the novel, Tom Sawyer gets whooped at least twice. In this version, he doesn't even get it once.
Huckleberry Finn in the books was carefree, laid-back, and is satisfied with his independent lifestyle. Although he is despised by every "respectable" adult in St. Petersburg, he's envied and friends with most of the children, and he doesn't feel sorry for himself. Brad Renfro's Huck is snide, irritable, sarcastic, and even somewhat of a bully, nothing at all like Twain's Huck. This Huck DOES feel sorry for himself, and often takes his frustrations out on Tom.
Becky Thatcher in the book is a bit too demure and puts on airs. But she isn't a bitch. In the book, Tom gets back into her good graces by taking the hit for her (literally) and their relationship grows even stronger in the cave scene. In the movie, she's portrayed as a bitch plain and simple; in fact she holds a continuous grudge against Tom throughout the movie, which makes their bonding in the cave scene really forced. Not to mention that Rachael Leigh Cook as Becky Thatcher is probably the worst case of miscasting in this movie; she was way too old and was a good two heads taller than Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
Disney could have made their own version of Tom Sawyer great, especially with Jonathan Taylor Thomas as the lead. What a wasted, missed opportunity.
No attempt was made to create the atmosphere of Tom Sawyer (the dialect, the plot, the setting, the characters, etc.) Every boy, including Tom Sawyer, went barefoot in the book, but in the movie they all wore shoes. This may not seem like a big deal, but it's part of the edge Tom Sawyer and his friends have in the book; they're not afraid to get down and dirty in the adventures they have, and the boys who do wear shoes in the book are looked down upon as sissies.
In the novel, Tom Sawyer gets whooped at least twice. In this version, he doesn't even get it once.
Huckleberry Finn in the books was carefree, laid-back, and is satisfied with his independent lifestyle. Although he is despised by every "respectable" adult in St. Petersburg, he's envied and friends with most of the children, and he doesn't feel sorry for himself. Brad Renfro's Huck is snide, irritable, sarcastic, and even somewhat of a bully, nothing at all like Twain's Huck. This Huck DOES feel sorry for himself, and often takes his frustrations out on Tom.
Becky Thatcher in the book is a bit too demure and puts on airs. But she isn't a bitch. In the book, Tom gets back into her good graces by taking the hit for her (literally) and their relationship grows even stronger in the cave scene. In the movie, she's portrayed as a bitch plain and simple; in fact she holds a continuous grudge against Tom throughout the movie, which makes their bonding in the cave scene really forced. Not to mention that Rachael Leigh Cook as Becky Thatcher is probably the worst case of miscasting in this movie; she was way too old and was a good two heads taller than Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
Disney could have made their own version of Tom Sawyer great, especially with Jonathan Taylor Thomas as the lead. What a wasted, missed opportunity.