The two-part premiere episode, originally aired on October 8, 1995.
Hoping to have one big adventure before the end of summer, Joe and the others decide to investigate the mysterious "No Name Grave" in Jackson Park. This reminds Wishbone of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.
This is the first of three episodes to be based on a Twain novel. It's followed by "Bone of Arc," which adapts Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, and "The Prince and the Pooch," which adapts The Prince and the Pauper.
One tie-in book was released — Wishbone Classics #11: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, featuring a less compressed adaptation of the original story with comments by Wishbone rather than the modern-day segments. The Adventures of Wishbone #21: Huckleberry Dog would later adapt the first sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which was never adapted by the show itself.
Tropes
- Adapted Out: Joe Harper is cut from the Tom Sawyer adaptation, with only Tom and Huck going off to play pirates and later crashing their own funeral. The iconic Fence Painting episode is also not included.
- And the Adventure Continues: The Tom Sawyer adaptation ends this way: "This is where the story of Tom Sawyer leaves off. It doesn't really end. It just stops for a while until the next story begins." And before you ask, the show did not adapt Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, unless you count the spin-off book The Adventures of Wishbone #21: Huckleberry Dog.
- Attending Your Own Funeral: The Tom Sawyer adaptation includes the scene with Tom and Huck showing up alive at their funeral. As noted above, Joe Harper is omitted.
- Bowdlerize: The character of Injun Joe is given the less offensive name "Crazy Joe". It's left ambiguous whether he's still Native American or if he's been given a Race Lift.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: As the first episode, this one starts off with Wishbone speaking directly to the audience, introducing himself, Joe, and Ellen.
- Grave Robbing: Joe and his friends stumble upon a man attempting to dig up a grave with no name on the headstone that factors in a lot of local ghost stories. Subverted when it turns out the "grave" was where a settler family hid their valuables from raiders, and he's a descendant of theirs.
- Harmful to Minors: The first half has the confrontation with the grave digger while the kids are searching for a dead body in the park. Wishbone goes forward to investigate, and the man lunges at him. Joe, who was hiding, exposes himself by shouting, "Don't you hurt my dog!" The second half opens with the grave digger chasing Joe and the others out. His mother then comes to the park, worried that he was out for so late. Ellen at first is skeptical about Joe's story but goes to investigate when she worries a dangerous man is in the park.
- Mood Whiplash: The first part ends with Wishbone being discovered by a potentially dangerous man, and Joe jumping out while yelling "Don't hurt my dog!"... and then comes the cheery closing credits. The second part inverts this with the theme cutting to Wishbone and the kids running in fright from said potentially dangerous man.
- This Is My Human: Wishbone's introduction of the Talbots: "These are my people, my boy Joe and his mother Ellen."
