Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (1996)

Mole's (Steve Coogan's) underground home is bought by the Weasels from wealthy landowner Mr. Toad (Terry Jones) and Mole is thrown out. He and Rat (Eric Idle) start to fight to get his home back from evil Weasels.

Director:

Terry Jones

Writers:

Terry Jones (screenplay), Kenneth Grahame (novel)

Stars:

Steve Coogan, Eric Idle, Terry Jones

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Coogan	...	Mole
Eric Idle	...	Rat
Terry Jones	...	Toad
Antony Sher	...	Chief Weasel
Nicol Williamson	...	Badger
John Cleese	...	Mr Toad's Lawyer
Stephen Fry	...	The Judge
Bernard Hill	...	The Engine Driver
Michael Palin	...	The Sun
Nigel Planer	...	The Car Salesman
Julia Sawalha	...	The Jailer's Daughter
Victoria Wood	...	The Tea Lady
Robert Bathurst	...	St John Weasel
Don Henderson	...	The Sentry
Richard James	...	Geoffrey Weasel and Mole's Clock

Storyline

Mole's (Steve Coogan's) underground home is bought by the Weasels from wealthy landowner Mr. Toad (Terry Jones) and Mole is thrown out. He and Rat (Eric Idle) start to fight to get his home back from evil Weasels.

---

Plot Keywords:

weasel | mole | toad | rat | mating | 

---

Taglines:

Go wild in the country!

---

Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for fanciful villainy and gunplay

Did You Know?

Trivia

During this movie's U.S. release in the fall of 1997, Columbia Pictures, the original theatrical distributor of this movie, put this at a porno theater in Times Square, New York City, according to Terry Jones, when he was filming a documentary over there. He was told this by telephone and rushed to Times Square, only to find this out.

---

Goofs

The judge bangs a gavel to maintain order in the court and confirm Toad's sentence. British judges don't use gavels.

---

Quotes

Mole: [pointing the gun at St John] You destroyed my home to build a dog meat factory.
St John Weasel: [hands up] The area needs one. Our market research shows...
Mole: You put my friends in a mincer!
St John Weasel: Just a harmless joke!

---

Connections

Version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1980)

---

Soundtracks

Messing About On The River
Music by Tony Hatch
Lyrics by Terry Jones
Performed by Eric Idle

User Reviews

Sun drenched, cheery fun.

A splendid, energetic version of one the classics of children's literature which benefits from a stellar cast of British acting talent. Aside from nearly every Python appearing to good effect, we have a touching performance from Steve Coogan as the downtrodden Mole, Anthony Sher as a hissable Chief Weasel and... well to many famous faces to mention.

What makes this version stand out is the stunning costume and production design by James Acherson. This is a caricartured version of olde England, with the animals played by cartoonish humans rather than anthromorphosised animals. The sun always shines, everything is polished and colourful. There's some subtle satire about the class system going on in the background but director Jones doesn't let that get in the way. Only the factory subplot strikes a wrong note, tending to clutter up the last half of the film but not seriously. Genuinely for children of all ages.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

Filming Locations:

Dover Castle, Dover, Kent, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$72,844, 2 November 1997

Gross USA:

$72,844

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allied Filmmakers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1