Les trois compères

Perhaps you wouldn't immediately consider The Wind in The Willows a particularly difficult book to adapt for the silver screen, as it could be mistaken as a children's book, a simplistic animal fable. But that would truly under-appreciate a book, that in my opinion, is vastly underrated and incorrectly sold purely as children's reading.

The numerous attempts at filming Willows all seem to fail by varying degrees because they misinterpret the book's wonderful character nuances, the relationship between them, and a tale so beautifully written the story manages to be timeless, poignant, intelligent and relevant.

Most television or film attempts (either live action or animated) come across as simplistic, twee, saccharine-sickly or merely dull. This version, however, rises head and shoulders above the rest.

The Python version with its hideously conceived "dog-food" element, the Disney cartoon, the ITV animated version, and the Cosgrove Hall versions all, while competent, manage to somehow miss the essence of the book. This 1983 animated work of genius, however, is easily the finest.

The casting is truly inspired, the script superb, the songs perfectly judged, the spiritual, ethereal Piper scenes superbly done, and the animation, while a little simplistic, perfectly captures the atmosphere and tone of the British countryside.

The film manages to show the book almost complete, and whilst the songs are witty, and rousing for children, they also entertain adults, and the parts of the book that are a little more mature in scope (the religious/Christ vision of the Piper, the themes of greed and goodwill) are all left intact, and never condescend the younger viewer.

All in all, a magnificent achievement, and 90 minutes of the finest animated entertainment you could want. Shrek who...?

"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.

I first saw this film as fourth grader. The songs and voices of the characters have never left my memories. I showed it to my son, currently a third grader, and he was equally enraptured throughout the entire presentation. Very few theatrical presentations can withstand that test of time. Children today are not as easy to entertain as my generation was. It is a tribute to this production that it still packs a punch. The production, as does the book, teaches children invaluable life lessons in the entertaining manner they need to be taught to hold their attention. My only complaint about this release is that it is not offered on DVD.

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.

Some of the writers in this thread disparaging the animation quality of this 1987 made-for-TV television version of 'The Wind in the Willows' thought it was made by Disney Productions, but of course it was produced by Rankin-Bass, who brought us 'Frosty the Snowman' in the '60s, and so much more. I'd have to say their animation quality in '87 has come a long way since 'Frosty'! Especially in the lush background illustrations and depth of texture and color mixtures.

This is clearly the truest-to-the-book, the intent-of-the-themes, and the animals' characterizations production of this title to date. I can't believe I was 27 years old when this came out and I presumably first watched it that year or possibly a little later, but I might as well have been 10 years old, for this version has really stuck with me (I'm now 45)! A large part of it was the great songs which have stayed in my head over the years, and, yes, especially the (someone said) 'wistful' theme song. Very soothing in sound and lyrics! Roddy McDowall was perfect as the voice of Ratty and Charles Nelson Reilly as Toad was a masterstroke of casting. For me, it really doesn't get any better than this version because I found that the animation and background settings so often matched a lot of the imagery I already had in my head from reading the book when I was about 13.

I believe I saw it twice more in ensuing years, but unfortunately did not make a tape off of TV, so I am now hoping to find it again by chance in some flea market 'bargain bin'. But I would like nothing better than to be able to see it again!