The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

• Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney, and James Algar
• October 5, 1949

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is one of those things I recall from school generally just shown before us kids were freed to trick or treat. It certainly made an impact on me as a child and this viewing was quite possibly my first since I was in elementary school.

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The Wind in the Willows

• Based on The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame first published in 1908

Voice Cast

• Narrator, Policeman-Basil Rathbone
• J. Thaddeus Toad-Eric Blore
• Cyril Proudbottom-J. Pat O’Malley
• Prosecutor-John McLeish
• Mole-Colin Campbell
• Angus MacBadger-Campbell Grant
• Water Rat-Claude Allister
• Judge, Weasel #1-Leslie Dennison
• Weasel #2-Edmond Stevens
• Mr. Winkie-Ollie Wallace

When incurable adventurer J. Thaddeus Toad is arrested for auto theft, his friends must save him and secure Toad Hall from Mr. Winkie and his band of criminal weasels.

The Wind in the Willows segment is a bouncy little story that will entertain kids. The whole narrative is driven by the general impulsiveness of J. Thaddeus Toad and the undeserved loyalty of his friends Mole, Angus MacBadger, and Water Rat. As a kid you think no deeper than they are loyal pals but as an adult you question why they keep hanging around him. It is a seriously one-way relationship with Mole, Angus MacBadger, and Water Rat really just caring about keeping the estate of Toad Hall from being wasted away by Toad. There is no other reason in the story than that! Seriously shallow and rather sad.

Despite the message of “Screw the person and protect his stuff,” this is a fun child friendly adventure that has animals and people interact. Always wondered about those worlds because do people still eat chickens and ducks and things like that?

The confrontation with the weasels is entertainingly frenetic. It is a great piece of chaotic animated mayhem. Another great element is the Toad mania eye effect. It has been done elsewhere before and since but it acts as such a great tease to whatever is coming next.

The story as a whole is just pretty much what you would expect from Disney of the time. It’s rather bland and kind of safe. The animation was good, but I just was not pulled into the story as an adult. It is pleasant enough to pass the time though.

The Wind in the Willows is squarely for the kids and not something that your average adult will enjoy. I can get why kids would like it and it does not talk down so badly that adults will dislike it.

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

• Based on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving published in 1819

Voice Cast

• Narrator, Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones-Bing Crosby
• Sleepy Hollow Villagers-The Rhythmaires
• Daredevil (Brom’s horse), Ichabod Crane’s scream-Pinto Colvig
• Old Gunpowder (Ichabod’s horse)-Clarence Nash
• Headless Horseman-Billy Bletcher

New Sleepy Hollow schoolmaster Ichabod Crane woos Katrina van Tassel and crosses Brom Bones only on one dark night to encounter the legendary Headless Horseman.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is one of those shorts I recall from my youth and in my mind is inextricably linked to Halloween of my childhood. Watching as an adult I must say while not displeased I am not as enamored as I once was. While the television film The Legend of Sleepy Hollow starring Jeff Goldblum was still good to me during my last viewing, this did not have the sparkle for me it once did. And I say that as it’s a much more faithful adaption of the material. It doesn’t change too much of the narrative though things are a little more compressed.

While faithful yet truncated that truncation creates little buildup on how Ichabod Crane so easily comes to be afraid when he hears the ghost story. There is the hint that he’s meek but he’s not so meek that he’s superstitious-at least not in presentation. That bit essentially gets stated. But we all have an idea on how this is supposed to end and your mind glosses over the issue unless you think about it.

The older the Disney film is, the more songs there are and I feel this has far too many songs. It drowns out the actual narrative and as it is actual story was far too thin. You get good music but no characterization or build up to the ending.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is not bad as Disney shorts go and will appeal to children as well as Disney fans but to general adults not so much.

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The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a great watch for kids or a brief jaunt down memory lane. It is not anything really beyond that so if this is a first time view for you then reconsider.