is a Japanese anime television series produced by Nippon Animation and directed by Hiroshi Saito, which premiered on Fuji Television and its affiliates on January 6, 1980, and ended its run on December 28 the same year. It is based on the 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (and partially on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn).
The series was broadcast on the World Masterpiece Theater, an animation staple on Fuji TV, that each year showcased an animated version of a classical book or story of Western literature, and was originally titled Tom Sawyer no BÃ Âken. It was the second installment of the series, after Rascal the Raccoon in 1977, to feature the work of an American author.
This series was dubbed into English by Saban International and broadcast on HBO in 1988 under the title The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at 7:30 am. It alternated with the later World Masterpiece Theater version of Tales of Little Women. Celebrity Home Entertainment released videos in the United States under the title All New Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It also aired on The Children's Channel in the UK and Network 10 in Australia and has also been dubbed in other languages, including French, Italian, Arabic, Hebrew, Portuguese, German, Hungarian, Dutch, Filipino and Spanish. In January 2011, it was shown in the United States in the original Japanese on the NHK's cable channel TV Japan. In the Philippines, it was shown on ABS-CBN, Q, Kapamilya Channel, A2Z and TV5.
Tom Sawyer is a rustic, and mischievous boy who lives with his stepbrother Sid, his Aunt Polly, and her daughter, Mary. After the death of his parents, Polly raised her sister's two sons as if they were her own, with love, tenderness, and affection. Tom spends most of his time with his best friend, Huck Finn, sharing all kinds of adventures such as playing pirates on the Mississippi River or traveling in a balloon. While enjoying various adventures and fun, Tom and Huck accidentally discover hidden gold, which Injun Joe had supposedly found in the haunted house. He requires much of the heart of Rebecca Thacher, who believes she is his future wife.
English episode titles from the 1988 Saban dub are listed in parentheses.