Die Abenteuer von Ichabod und Taddäus Kröte

From English and American literature come two fabulous characters who will forever excite readers with THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD.

This was the last of Disney's compilation or anthology films - a form necessitated by the exigencies of the War years - and is actually a double featurette. Both halves would eventually be spun off into individual short subjects and work very well independently of each other. Their connections are quite tenuous: besides featuring 'fabulous characters' each story showcases a celebrated wild ride - one of which would, indeed, provide a long-lasting 'dark show' attraction at Disneyland.

First up is THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, which gives a drastically shortened & much revised view of Kenneth Grahame's classic book, focusing entirely on the chapters dealing with the exploits of the marvelous Mr. Toad and the troubles arising from his fixation with motorcars & speed (although much more time is spent showing him in his canary-coloured gypsy cart). As such, it is a fine introduction to Toad Hall, but one can only wonder what Disney would have done with a feature length animated film that included the bucolic charm of the novel, the glories of the Riverbank & the terrors of the Wild Wood as well as the high jinks. The production values are excellent, with narration by the inimitable Basil Rathbone, and Eric Blore & J. Pat O'Malley obviously have a high time voicing the wanton Toad and his equine pal Cyril Proudbottom, but a true fan of Grahame's original creation can't help longing for a little more...

Washington Irving's famous story, THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, comes alive in the second half of the movie. Bing Crosby's singing narration and the top-notch animation tell a tale of humor and genuine fright. Ichabod Crane, the pedantic pedagogue, is a triumph of the animators' art, while the film's climax - the ride through the Hollow & the appearance of the hideous Hessian - is a celebration of pacing and stylistic understatement. Based on material much shorter than Grahame's, the plot fits into the half hour time slot more easily and still has the luxury of introducing a wholly original & hilarious minor character in the chubby little Tilda, who completely steals the dancing sequence. It is the Horseman, however, who should remain the longest in the viewer's uneasy dreams - the embodiment of every Halloween nightmare.

The Adventures of Ichabod is an October favorite for us; this year we watched both together. The adventures of Mr. Toad is a bit slower, and mostly of interest because of the wonderful Disneyland ride. Seb seems to have loved "Mr. Winkie," and seemed surprised that he was evil, despite the name.

Reviewing in 2020, the first time we watched it after a fabulous weekend in Sleepy Hollow last year. I was struck by how much they laughed at the first part of the show, which is almost entirely slapstick/romantic comedy, followed by a sudden shift in mood at the Halloween party, where Brom Bones sings his song about the horsemen, leading into terror for the rest of the film. My kids made a great observation: there's no dialogue in Ichabod, only the voice of the narrator, Bing Crosby, and Brom Bones' song.

Having never seen 'Mr. Toad', I can only comment on the 'Legend of Sleepy Hollow', having seen it many times as a child when 'Disney's Wonderful World' was running on the CBC. This has got to be some of the greatest work of Walt Disney. Washington Irving's original story is closely followed, unlike Tim Burton's 1999 version (still an awesome movie in its own right). The sequence involving Ichabod Crane's terrifying ride through the woods is undoubtedly the best, from the toads croaking 'Ichabod' to the Headless Horseman chasing Ichabod through the woods - it's alternately funny and frightening. It always appeared at Halloween on the Disney show, and I can't remember ever missing it.

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.

Finally Walt Disney Home Video has got their act together and released "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" in its entirety (the two stories have been available in separate forms for quite some time). I'll admit that the clunky title doesn't inspire much more enthusiasm than it did back in 1949 (the film tanked, from what I've heard), but I hope some people will give this a chance just based on the Disney name. "The Wind in the Willows", narrated by Basil Rathbone, is a delightfully comic adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic novel, keeping the proper British tone (children may not get some of the UK slang used) while still remaining a lot of fun. The highlight is the courtroom scene, featuring a bullying prosecutor (voiced by Disney animator/voice artist John McLeish, who also narrated the Goofy "How to" shorts) going toe-to-toe with a wonderfully insolent Toad (a great performance by Eric Blore). "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", based on a story (not a novel, as the film suggests) by Washington Irving, is even better, making the most of its American colonial setting with some especially interesting layouts and backgrounds. The humor found in the rivalry between schoolteacher Ichabod Crane and local roughneck Brom Bones for the hand of the manipulative tease ("coquette", in the film) Katrina von Tassel is some of Disney's best. The Halloween sequence leading up to the Headless Horseman's appearance is the most skillfully directed piece of animation I have ever seen outside of "Fantasia", conveying a magnificent sense of dread through both sound (the chilling echo of whistling and laughter, crickets chanting Ichabod's name, frogs croaking "headless horseman" over and over) and image (fireflies inside a tree trunk forming the eyes of a shrouded ghost, Ichabod's sweaty, nervous terror, the subtle cloud effect of hands closing over the moon). This is far more frightening than any horror film I have seen. All in all, a smart (listen to the narration and learn some new vocabulary words) film in every way. One final note: I have not seen this film in years (I saw it plenty of times on The Disney Channel during the 1980s), and I noticed the many scenes involving both alcohol and weapons, particularly in "The Wind and the Willows" segment. I accepted the scenes back then as a child and had no problem with them now, thanks to the general tone of the picture. Although the concept of Toad being restrained from blasting a bayonet-wielding weasel with a shotgun and seeing Toad and his friends running from various flying knives, swords, and axes sounds like something to stay away from, it is all harmless fun. Give it a chance.