The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

1949

Action / Animation / Comedy / Family / Fantasy / Horror

19
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 89% · 18 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 71% · 10K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.8/10 10 19349 19.3K

based on novel or book halloween mystery villain anthropomorphism canon

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Plot summary

The Wind in the Willows: Concise version of Kenneth Grahame's story of the same name. J. Thaddeus Toad, owner of Toad Hall, is prone to fads, such as the newfangled motor car. This desire for the very latest lands him in much trouble with the wrong crowd, and it is up to his friends, Mole, Rat and Badger to save him from himself. - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Retelling of Washington Irving's story set in a tiny New England town. Ichabod Crane, the new schoolmaster, falls for the town beauty, Katrina Van Tassel, and the town Bully Brom Bones decides that he is a little too successful and needs "convincing" that Katrina is not for him.

Director

Clyde Geronimi Photo
Clyde Geronimi

Top cast

Tony Randall Photo
Tony Randall as Headless Horseman
Clarence Nash Photo
Clarence Nash as Ichabod's Horse
Mel Blanc Photo
Mel Blanc as Ichabod's horse
Basil Rathbone Photo
Basil Rathbone as Narrating the Story of Mr. Toad / Policeman
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
626.52 MB
968*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 8 min
Seeds 5
1.21 GB
1440*1072
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles
23.976 fps
1 hr 8 min
Seeds 26

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by IonicBreezeMachine 7 / 10

Easily the best from Disney's era of "package films" with two very strong stories, but still stumbles in the execution.

Two sets of narrators, Basil Rathbone and Bing Crosby, narrate stories featuring popular characters from their respective countries. Rathbone reads an adaptation of 1908's The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame from his native Britain wherein spendthrift and manic Mr. Toad is swindled into making an idiotic deal for a stolen motorcar for which he is then framed for the theft, necessitating intervention from his friends Mole, Ratty, and MacBadger. Bing Crosby then narrates an adaptation of 1820's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow buy Washington Irving which tells the story of a schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane who uses his social connections and community prestige to indulge his appetites as he competes for the affections of a wealthy farmer's daughter named Katrina against the bullyish town hero Brom Bones until one Halloween night, the superstitious Ichabod finds himself pursued by the Headless Horseman.The final package film produced by Disney during the 40s. Originally intended to be its own feature length film, Wind and the Willows was truncated to featurette length not only because of resource scarcity at Disney studios at the time, but also because Walt Disney did not think the material was strong enough to justify a feature film. Initially intended to feature three segments, the third segment, and adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Gremlins never made it to production with only Sleepy Hollow and Wind in the Willows now comprising the release. While it still has many issues that plague Disney's other package films, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is far and away the best of these package features by virtue of showcasing literary characters from the U. K. and United States in grand manner with its library set framing device carrying a dignity and weight that really hasn't been seen in these film's since Fantasia (though admittedly it falls short of it).The first segment, an adaptation of Wind in the Willows where we follow the madcap hijinx of Mr. Toad as he squanders his inherited fortunes of expensive misadventures whose fallout he leaves to his trusted friends to clear up is well told with Basil Rathbone's voicework giving weight and authority to a largely comic narrative with Toad's misadventures landing not only himself into trouble, but also those around him. At its core it's a decent story about friends helping a troubled friend out of trouble, but the ending where Toad reverts to his foolhardy ways blissfully unaware and unrepentant for the trouble he caused himself and his friends is definitely an odd note to go out on (but probably appropriate). The short features clever dialogue exchanges and strong animation with this world of humans and animals not only interacting, but set to scale in a unique and visually striking creative choice.The second segment is really good and is a strong ghost story. What really fascinates me about the adaptation of Sleepy Hollow is in how our protagonist is when you step back and look at him a pompous, avaricious, and opportunistic character who is often ill remembered as an innocent who falls into the supernatural fate that befalls him. While on the surface it seems like the rivalry between Brom Bones and Ichabod would ordinarily favor Ichabod as the default "good guy", Ichabod when he falls for Katrina is fantasizing more about her inordinate amount of wealth and her father dying than he is about Katrina herself. Brom Bones is certainly a very brutish character who seems to have more muscle than brains, but at the same time he does seem to be interested in Katrina purely for herself rather than her money as Ichabod is making an interesting character dynamic where the Headless Horseman payoff feels more like comeuppance. The one drawback I'd give this short is in the casting of Bing Crosby who's fine I suppose, but his rather campy approach to the narration coupled with his upbeat singing that breaks the tone of the short (particularly in the ghost story set up for the Headless Horseman) creates a jarring disconnect. Unlike the rather silly Wind in the Willows where Basil Rathbone's was played probably more serious than the material called for, here Bing Crosby overly camps up the material in a rather head scratching manner that while it doesn't undermine the short that much still is rather head scratching in the creative choice.Like other package films from this era of Disney there's some good elements and some weak elements. I still say this is probably the strongest of the package films produced during this particular era of Disney film history thanks to the film's focus on literary classics and attempting to give the audience well-constructed featurettes, but in the case of Wind in the Willows the material was okay if unremarkable, and with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow it creates a memorable set of characters but undermines itself with Bing Crosby's rather distracting presence that feels like it was added solely to cater to contemporary tastes. Mostly positive if messy experience.
Reviewed by barnabyrudge 7 / 10

Entertaining animated double-header; suffers slightly from a lull during the Sleepy Hollow segment.

Two classic works of children's' literature are presented in this animated double-header from the Disney folks. First up is a splendid adaptation of The Wind In The Willows (by Kenneth Grahame); the second half features a slightly tedious but climactically quite creepy rendition of The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow (by Washington Irving). From the point-of-view of animation, the film is absolutely gorgeous, with richly designed characters and places and seamless movement. From the point-of-view of entertainment, the film is generally charming despite losing its way during the mid-section of the Sleepy Hollow segment.

Toad of Toad Hall is an extravagant creature whose obsessive interest in adventurous pursuits threatens to cost him his stately home. His friends Ratty, Mole and Badger try to help him put his affairs in order, but to little avail. When Toad is falsely imprisoned for car theft, Toad Hall falls into the hands of a bunch of unscrupulous weasels and the devious Mr Winky. Reinstating Toad Hall to its rightful owner rests on the heroes snatching a deed that proves Toad's innocence....

Ichabod Crane, an odd-looking school master, arrives in the peaceful community of Sleepy Hollow to begin work in the local school. He catches the eye of the village beauty Katrina, but this proves mighty irritating for the local hunk Brom Bones. After trying various schemes to get rid of Ichabod, Brom finally hits upon the idea of scaring him out of town by telling the story of the Headless Horseman that roams the nearby woods. Then one night, poor Ichabod personally comes face to face with the ghostly horseman....

Each section is narrated by a big star - the Mr Toad half is brilliantly told by Basil Rathbone, while Bing Crosby uses his soothing, absorbing tone to narrate the Ichabod Crane section. Overall The Wind In The Willows part is the better of the two sections. It has many fabulously funny touches (Cyril, the Yorkshire accented horse, in particular has some great moments) and is vibrantly exciting. The climax, in which the heroes attempt to seize a deed that proves Toad as the rightful owner of Toad Hall, contains moments that are ingeniously funny in the best Disney tradition. The Sleepy Hollow section starts promisingly, but the mid-section becomes repetitive and tedious. Having said that, the finale in which Ichabod flees from the Headless Horseman is absolutely great. The crescendo of dramatic music and the foreboding colours and forest silhouettes make the sequence genuinely hair-raising. On the whole, The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr Toad is an entertaining and pleasing-to-the-eye film with a sufficient variety of pleasures to keep kids and adults alike engrossed.

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