Les trois compères

"Wind in the Willows," a 1987 tv movie was brilliantly made, brilliantly casted, and was a departure from more commercialistic cartoons of its day.

This film starred Roddy McDowell and Jose Ferrer in the roles of Ratty and Badger, respectively in this children's classic. Whereas other cartoons of the '80's promoted products like action games (Q-bert) or toys (GI Joe) this cartoon movie does none of the above and is as well done as a Disney film.

The great performances from the actors are given an assist from a memorable score with a classic "Wind in the Willows" theme song: "Soon, soon you will forget," it goes, "The wind in the willow turns frolic to fret." There's also a song on Mr.Toad that's pretty catchy.

But what's best about this film is that it stay pretty true to the book "Wind in the Willows." Often times, a movie made from a book, especially a cartoon eschews the book to a degree that renders the translation unrecognizable from its original form.

But this version, enjoyable for kids or adults does not. It shows off the characters of Badger, Mole, Ratty, and Toad as representative of certain virtues or failings, much to the author's original intent. Toad is rich but wasteful as well as boastful; Ratty is full of wanderlust; Badger is unsociable but brave and smart; Mole is industrious and friendly. And the Wildwood is forever scary, forboding, mysterious-- everything a forest of fiction is supposed to be.

But together, the characters find they are inseparable-- in some way or another each character needs the others-- and this cartoon movie brings that out. There is a sense of community there among them, to the point that we non-animated humans could learn a little something from these characters!

True, the quality of animation isn't exactly Disney's finest, and some of the human cartoon characters are annoying to watch--especially when up against the animals, but viewers will ignore that in a heartbeat.

I saw this first when I was ten years old, I watched it again when I was 14, and if I still had it on video I would watch it again today. One of the best-- including Disney-- cartoons I have ever seen.

This version of "Wind in the Willows" is superior, by leaps and bounds, to the 1949 Disney version. Not only is it much more faithful to the novel as an adaptation, the animation actually looks better, and closer to many of the illustrations I've seen in different versions of "Wind in the Willows." Roddy McDowall, who you might remember from "Return of the King," is back as the water rat. Jose Ferrer is great as the gruff Badger. Best of all is the looney Charles Nelson Reilly as Toad. This guy has a great voice for cartoons, and his voice fits perfectly for the energetic and crazed personality of Toad, certainly more than the British actor used in the Disney version. I watched this as a little kid and enjoyed it. Watch it with your children, for it is one of Rankin-Bass's greatest TV specials, and a classic of made-for-TV children's animation.

This cartoon adaption of The Wind in the Willows is something rare: a perfect (or at least near-perfect) version of the novel it's based on. Forget the Disney version; this is the one to see. It leaves out only a few parts of the novel, and is very faithful to the tone of the story. Each character is perfectly realized as they were in the novel. The visual style is excellent too; it is what might be called "delightfully grotesque." If you love The Wind in the Willows, and want to see a version that does not ruin it, this is the version you want. Alas, it is unavailable on video or DVD (it was once available on video, but is no longer), and is only rarely (if ever) shown on T.V. I am fortunate that I have a copy taped from T.V. many years, a copy which is, sadly, slowly biting the dust. This movie is hard to find, but if you can find, watch it without delay.

"Wind in the Willows" is one of the all-time classic children's books, no doubt about it. And this is quite a good production, made (I believe) for Saturday morning television. I was about 4 or 5 when this was first aired, we've taped it and had it for the ensuing 15 or 16 years. Even aside from the hilarious 80's commercials (remember how popular claymation was back then?), it's still a treat to pull out the old tape and run it through the VCR again. One of the keys to the cartoon's success was the excellent musical score, with some truly memorable songs (particularly the wistful title tune which perfectly captures the yearning spirit of Rattie). And there's a great sequence with the Seafaring Rat seducing Rattie with tales of the far-off wonders of the world...it gets right to the soul of every adventurous Englishman, divided between the serene comforts of home and the wide world beyond (it's almost a David Lean moment here). The animation is admittedly not up to Disney's caliber, but then neither was Disney at the time this was made (it would be a few years before "Little Mermaid" signified their renewal). Sometimes the drawings are a bit flat, but other times they're wonderfully evocative. All in all, I recommend this if you can find it--I really don't know if it's on video or not although it probably says so on this site. Oh, and one last thing: the voices are dead-on perfect, especially Roddy McDowell as the Rat (just found out it was him recently, but it makes perfect sense in retrospect. There have been many versions of "Wind in the Willows"--a stop-motion production done for PBS in the 90's, a lushly drawn cartoon introduced by Vanessa Redgrave, even a live action version starring the Monty Python crew, which is worth watching...and of course the Disney cartoon which is a big departure from the spirit and story of the book in many ways, but contains that irrestible Disney charm and enthusiasm. Still, in some ways, this remains my favorite production, both for personal reasons (it evokes as much nostalgia for me as Teddy Ruxpin and Mr. Potato Head) and because it is the movie which most lives up to the spiritual undertones in Graham's story.

If I could give this movie a twenty out of ten, it still wouldn't be enough. I've seen several versions of this movie, and except for this one, I didn't think they delivered. It may be that I'm biased because this is the first one I ever saw, but I really do love it. My mom taped it for me when I was three or four, and we've had the tape ever since. (I'm twenty one now.) It was always one of the items that we made sure we had all of the fifteen or so times we moved. Over the years, the quality has become slightly poor, but it is still the one thing guaranteed to make me smile. And things are looking up for my favorite tape, since a friend of mine just transferred it to DVD for me.

I know I'm redundant here, but I just can't say enough what a good movie this is. Everyone learns important lessons, that resonate with real life, and yet, it manages not to be preachy. The songs and dialogue are great, and when I'm not feeling so I hot, I often catch myself singing the title song. Add to that, that my mom calls me Badger, because I hate company, and the fact that we often say, when we're hungry that we'll eat anything but an anchovy, and you have a tiny part of the impact it's had on me for over fifteen years.

A must see if you are lucky enough to find it.