Huckleberry Finn and His Friends

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.

Huckleberry Finn and His Friends
German DVD cover; from left to right: Tom Sawyer (Sammy Snyders), Huck Finn (Ian Tracey)
StarringIan Tracey
Sam Snyders
Blu Mankuma
Brigitte Horney
Country of originBritish Columbia, Canada
No. of episodes26
Production
Running time25 minutes approx.
Release
Original release1979

Plot

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

Episodes
  1. Welcome Neighbour
  2. Love in Bloom
  3. Engagement
  4. Mystery at Midnight
  5. The Pirates
  6. How Nice to Be Missed
  7. Such a Lovely Funeral
  8. Muff Potter's Trial
  9. Buried Treasure
  10. Huck Is a Hero
  11. Millionaires
  12. I Want to Be Free
  13. Huck Becomes the Victim
  14. Huck Gets Away
  15. Huck Finds Jim
  16. The Rains Come
  17. Smallpox
  18. Meet the Grangerfords
  19. The Thing About Feuding
  20. The End of the Feud
  21. Meet the Duke And Dauphin
  22. Romeo Where Art Thou
  23. Jim Disappears
  24. Huck Sawyer - Tom Finn
  25. The Rescue
  26. The Whole Truth

Production

Filming

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

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

The series was broadcast in many countries such as Germany, Australia, Canada, South Africa, 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

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 color 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
  1. End credits
  2. Samson V Maritime Museum website Archived 2011-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Vessel Registration. Transport Canada
  4. Valerie Wilson, "Nanaimo's last stern-wheeler bound for New York", Nanaimo Daily News, May 7, 1999, page A1
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