Huckleberry Finn and His Friends
Huckleberry Finn and His Friends | |
---|---|
![]() German DVD cover; from left to right: Tom Sawyer (Sammy Snyders), Huck Finn (Ian Tracey) | |
Starring | Ian Tracey Sam Snyders Blu Mankuma Brigitte Horney |
Country of origin | British Columbia, Canada |
No. of episodes | 26 |
Production | |
Running time | 25 minutes approx. |
Production companies | Madison Pacific Film Wagner-Hallig Film |
Release | |
Original network | CTV (Canada), BBC (UK), The Family Channel (United States) |
Original release | 1979 |
Huckleberry Finn and His Friends is a 1979 television series documenting the exploits of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, based on the novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884) by American writer Mark Twain. The series is made up of 26 episodes and was a Canadian/West German international co-production.
Plot[edit]
Even though Mark Twain originally wrote the books The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as separate units, this series conjures up both literary works as only one story. Therefore, it places greater importance on Huckleberry's character without putting aside Tom Sawyer's.
Cast[edit]
- Ian Tracey as Huckleberry Finn/Narrator
- Sam Snyders as Tom Sawyer
- Brigitte Horney as Aunt Polly
- Dinah Hinz as Aunt Sally
- Holly Findlay as Becky Thatcher
- Blu Mankuma as Jim
Episodes[edit]
- Welcome Neighbour
- Love in Bloom
- Engagement
- Mystery at Midnight
- The Pirates
- How Nice to Be Missed
- Such a Lovely Funeral
- Muff Potter's Trial
- Buried Treasure
- Huck Is a Hero
- Millionaires
- I Want to Be Free
- Huck Becomes the Victim
- Huck Gets Away
- Huck Finds Jim
- The Rains Come
- Smallpox
- Meet the Grangerfords
- The Thing About Feuding
- The End of the Feud
- Meet the Duke And Dauphin
- Romeo Where Art Thou
- Jim Disappears
- Huck Sawyer - Tom Finn
- The Rescue
- The Whole Truth
Production[edit]
Filming[edit]
The series was directed by Jack B. Hively and Ken Jubenvill.
Huckleberry Finn and His Friends was filmed on location at the Burnaby Village Museum (then known as the Heritage Village) in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.[1] Episode 9 - Buried treasure - was filmed in part at the Alaksen National Wildlife Area.[1]
Sternwheelers[edit]
Various sternwheeler riverboats appear in the series. The Julia Belle Swain appears in the opening and closing credits, and are in fact the only scenes that were actually shot on the Mississippi River.
The wooden steam-powered sternwheeler in episode 6 - How nice to be missed - and 7 - Such a lovely funeral - is the "Samson V".[2] The "Samson V" is now a museum but at the time (1979) was a working snagpuller on the Fraser River. The small sternwheeler in episode 10 - Huck is a hero - was one of an identical pair of boats built in 1964 that ferried tourists around Vancouver's harbour from the 1960s to the 1980s.[3] From the late 1980s until 1999, the "Scenic Bell" and the "Scenic Queen" ferried passengers to Newcastle Island Marine Provincial Park.[4]
Broadcast[edit]
The series was broadcast in many countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Israel, Venezuela and many other Latin American nations.
In the United Kingdom, it was first screened on BBC1 in 1982 in two halves in the Spring and Autumn seasons. It was repeated again during the summer of 1984.
The series was re-shown many times during the 1980s to early 1990s and has grown somewhat of a cult following.
Home media[edit]
In 2007, the complete series was released as a 4 DVD box set by Fabulous Films in the UK. It contains many extras including a 12-page colour booklet and a 30-minute 'making of' documentary featuring interviews with many stars of the series including Sammy Snyders, Ian Tracey, and Blu Mankuma.
References[edit]
- ^ a b End credits
- ^ Samson V Maritime Museum website Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Vessel Registration. Transport Canada
- ^ Valerie Wilson, "Nanaimo's last stern-wheeler bound for New York", Nanaimo Daily News, May 7, 1999, page A1
External links[edit]
- Works based on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
- 1970s Canadian children's television series
- Television shows filmed in Burnaby
- Canadian television shows based on children's books
- 1979 Canadian television series debuts
- Television series set in the 19th century
- English-language television shows
- Works based on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
- Television shows based on works by Mark Twain