The Wind in the Willows

This is easily the gold standard adaptation of the novel even when they go beyond the novel's storyline. This deserves to be available on streaming services.

Great animation and voice acting - perfection.

There is only one word for this movie: legendary! The entire cast plays their parts to perfection, especially David Jason as Toad, but overall, the whole cast of talented actors who have ideally lent their voices to this production deserve praise. They've done themselves well.

A bit abbreviated from the book, but wonderfully done stop motion animation and great voice work. The film manages to capture the magic of this world in a way that traditional animation couldn't quite match. The actors were spot on in their portrayals with David Jason giving life to the irascible Toad but somehow, as noted in the bonus feature, making him sympathetic as well. This film spawned 5 TV series which were quite nice in their own right.

As someone who loved Kenneth Grahame's book "The Wind In The Willows" - my father used to read it to me a lot when I was little - I have seen many TV/film/theatre adaptations of the story. But it was this 1983 feature length film by Rosemary Sisson (produced by the great animation team of Brian Cosgrove & Mark Hall) that, for me, ranks as perhaps the best of the lot. This was perhaps the most faithful adaptation to Grahame's book, and in my opinion, it was this adaptation that got it absolutely spot on!

Everything about this version is excellent - this was exactly the characters and scenes as I imagined them from when my father read me the story and from when I was old enough to read them myself. The Edwardian scenery was just perfect. The often poignant and sometimes hilarious incidental music was awe-inspiring. And the theme tune was so beautiful, so relaxing, and so heart-wrenching all at once!

As for the characters and voice actors... They simply couldn't have made a better choice for Mr. Toad than the fantastic David Jason, who takes to his part with passion and vigour. The great Ian Carmichael's warm, friendly and dry manner was totally perfect Ratty (what a pity they couldn't keep him for series that followed on from this film), and Sir Michael Hordern's gruff, husky and stern yet kind voice made a fabulous Badger. Richard Pearson as the shy and sensitive but lovable Moley was very good too, while Brian Trueman and Una Stubbs were great in their supporting roles. The Weasels are great villains, and some of the scenes, while rather dark and scary, evoke exactly the view and words of Kenneth Grahame.

And then there's the songs. David Jason's "The Open Road" still makes my head turn to the screen even now, and Ian Carmichael singing the Ducks' Dance followed by the amazing sequence of the clay puppet ducks performing a well-timed dance routine... Well, you have to see it to believe what an incredible experience it is.

Whether a child or an adult, this film is an experience to be treasured!

This is legendary animation and a classic of British Tevevision.

The well known Kenneth Gramhame novel is given glorious treatment in stop-motion animation style (before the days of popular Aardman). The animation is perfect, depicting all the colours and textures of the British countryside, and the impressive cast plays to perfection, such as the gruff, unforgettable Badger played by Sir Michael Hordern, the wise, dry Ratty played by Ian Carmichael, and the thoughtful, sensitive mole by Richard Pearson, and the infectious clown Toad played by David Jason.

There are also ingenious visual ideas and direction such as Badger's echoing lecture in the library, and Mole's encounter with the weasels in the wild wood. This is beautiful, atmpospheric stuff for all ages, plus the songs are great, and the theme music is one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever! I can't remember who wrote it - but whoever did deserves some high recognition!!!! In fact, this was later developed into an equally great series, one for each of the seasons, and Peter "Wallace and Gromit" Sallis took over the job of voicing Ratty, but the rest of the cast remained.

In short, they're all perfect! Take that, Disney!