Twain's MYSTERIOUS STRANGER animated by Will Vinton

In 1985, Will Vinton Studios produced the ambitious The Adventures of Mark Twain, a surreal, claymation feature film. The story followed Tom Sawyer, Huck Fynn and Becky Thatcher as they stow away aboard a fabulous airship piloted by Twain, the writer who created them. Twain was born 1835, the same year Halley's Comet passed by Earth. Now it's 1910, the comet is due for another pass, and a tired, elderly Twain plans to end his life by flying into space to meet it.

The film flopped and is rather obscure today, but it has a small cult following. It's an uneven but compelling anthology picture, telling a variety of Twain's short stories through animated sequences done in different styles. It's got plenty of charm, but Twain had a dark side and the film doesn't ignore that. The creepiest sequence by far is below, five minutes of slowly escalating horror as the innocent children meet Twain's Mysterious Stranger and see the curious things he can do. If your exposure to Vinton began and ended with the California Raisins, this clip will rattle your brains but good. (Click the image at left to buy the film on DVD.)





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