The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

An animated adaptation of "The Wind in the Willows" followed by an adaptation of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow".

Directors:

James Algar, Clyde Geronimi

Writers:

Washington Irving (story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"), Kenneth Grahame (story "The Wind in the Willows")

Stars:

Bing Crosby, Basil Rathbone, Eric Blore

Won 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bing Crosby	...	Relating the Story of Ichabod Crane (voice)
Basil Rathbone	...	Narrating the Story of Mr. Toad / Policeman (voice)
Eric Blore	...	Mr. Toad (voice)
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Cyril Proudbottom (voice) (as Pat O'Malley)
John McLeish	...	Prosecutor (voice) (as John Ployardt)
Colin Campbell	...	Mole (voice)
Campbell Grant	...	Angus MacBadger (voice)
Claud Allister	...	Water Rat (voice) (as Claude Allister)
Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires	...	Additional voices (voice) (as The Rhythmaires)

Storyline

Two stories. 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.

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Plot Keywords:

headless horseman | england | thought bubble | new york | bowler hat | 

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Taglines:

Two Tall Tales by the world's top story-tellers in one hilarious All-Cartoon Feature!

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 January 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ichabod and Mr. Toad

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Washington Irving is though to have partly based his story of the Headless Horseman on a headless horseman featured in the "Legends of Rübezahl" by folklorist Johann Karl August Musäus (1735-1787). Rübezahl is a mountain spirit associated with the Krkonose mountains of modern Czech Republic and Poland. He was a popular figure in German folklore, featured in multiple tales of the supernatural.

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Goofs

When Ichabod is in his bed, writting in his book with a feather pen, his shadow can be seen in the wall next to him, but the pen's shadow is missing.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: If you were asked to choose the most fabulous character in English literature, who would it be? Robin Hood? King Arthur? Becky Sharp? Sherlock Holmes? Oliver Twist, perhaps? Well, any one of them would be an excellent choice. Still, for the most fabulous character of all, I would nominate... a toad - J. Thaddeus Toad, Esq. Have you ever met him? You'll find his story in this delightful little book, "The Wind In the Willows". Toad, you might say, was the one disturbing element: ...

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Connections

Referenced in Beauty and the Beast (1991)

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Soundtracks

Ichabod
(1949) (uncredited)
Written by Don Raye and Gene de Paul
Performed by Bing Crosby and Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires

User Reviews

Excellent binding of two classic stories

I am a huge Disney fan at 17, and while The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad is not the best of the Disney canon, it is hugely enjoyable and definitely worth seeing. While I would rank both The Wind in the Willows and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow a 9/10, personally if I were to say which was better, the latter but only marginally. Merely because it holds more of a nostalgic value.

The Wind in the Willows is a condensed but very faithful 30 minute or so cartoon, based on the Kenneth Graheme literary classic. While it does drag in places, it does very well with what it crams into such a short running time. It is very lovingly animated, with some rich backgrounds and lovely colours. I also liked the music, it was lyrical, rousing and fun, the sort of music you will find in a Silly Symphony. Also the voice acting is very expressive, Basil Rathbone who I know best as Sherlock Holmes(well one of the actors playing the fictional detective) is brilliant as the narrator and Eric Blore is a lot of fun as Toad. Other characters I liked were Badger, who is very firm and gruff and Cyril, the Horse, a character who featured in one of the more memorable scenes from the cartoon, second only to the hilarious Courtroom scene.

On the other hand, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a terrifying yet worthwhile classic. One of my favourite moments in anything to do with Disney along with Willie the Operatic Whale. Bing Crosby is sublime as the narrator, never overdoing it, it was just right. The animation has an appropriately dark visual style, and the music is also memorable and fitting. The famous story features a schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane, and his love for Katrina and rivalry between him and Brom Bones, who like Gaston is a handsome tower of strength. Perhaps the most memorable moment of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is the part when Ichabod meets the Headless Horseman, a character that was so scary he gave me nightmares when I was little. The Headless Horseman is the sort of character who is imitated in stuff like Scooby Doo yet never as well, the very look of him here makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

Overall, this is an excellent binding of two classic stories. 9/10 Bethany Cox