The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

It seems like the best Disney animated classics opened with a shot of a hardcover storybook, and that's doubly true for this film, which ties together literary classics "The Wind in the Willows" (narrated by Basil Rathbone) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (narrated and sung by Bing Crosby). Each segment runs just over 30 minutes. Both stories are entertaining and fun for all ages, with excellent character animation from Disney's Old Men.

"Sleepy Hollow" has become a Halloween favorite, but I feel that "The Wind in the Willows" is the stronger short. It's just great, with Eric Blore's enthusiastic Mr. Toad, a Cockney horse, motor mania, devious weasels, a prison escape, and a brilliantly madcap free-for-all at Toad Hall. "Sleepy Hollow" takes a while building to the famous Headless Horseman climax, and the anachronistic Ken Darby pop tunes don't feel right with the colonial setting. The library framing device ties the two animated segments together nicely, and the celebrity narrators do a commendable job. A great little movie.