The Disney Discussion - The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

Over the course of the year, we'll be spending our Wednesdays with Walt, having a discussion about each of Disney's animated films...

Movie #11 of The Disney Discussion

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

Featuring the voice talents of Bing Crosby and Basil Rathbone

Directed by Jack Kinney, Clyde Geronimi, and James Algar; Ben Sharpsteen (production supervisor)
***The Wind in the Willows portion of this film is streaming on Netflix***

Summary (in 150 words or less):

Two classic stories for the price of one!  First, we head to England and meet up with J. Thaddeus Toad, an eccentric amphibian who becomes obsessed with owning a newfangled gas-powered automobile.  Worried for his safety, his friends Ratty, Moley, and Angus McBadger try and protect him to less than ideal results.  Next, we head to the United States where we encounter Ichabod Crane, a new schoolteacher in Sleepy Hollow, a small New England town.  Crane falls for the lovely Katrina van Tassel, but Katrina is also being wooed by Brom Bones, a "man's man" who isn't too keen on his territory being encroached upon by Crane.  Knowing that Crane is wildly superstitious, Brom tells a story of the Headless Horseman who hunts down men to steal their noggins, sending Crane into a scared frenzy.

Let the Discussion Begin...

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is the Walt Disney Company's eleventh full-length animated feature film and was released on October 5, 1949.

This is the last "package film" to be released by the Walt Disney Company as future projects (with the exception of Fantasia 2000 [and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in a way]) all told a cohesive singular story.  With World War II over and his animators back in house, Disney shifted his focus back to telling an actual full-length story.

The company originally intended for both segments of this film to be feature length.  Production of The Wind in the Willows began in the early 1940s (pre-WWII), but Disney decided that the animation wasn't up to his standards for a feature length film (which I don't agree with in the slightest).  With the war putting a dent into his budgets for feature length films, he decided to shorten The Wind in the Willows and include it in a package film.  As for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, it was determined early on that there wasn't enough story to create a full length film.

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad was nominated and won the Golden Globe for Best Color Cinematography in 1950.

The Characters

(The Best...The Worst...The Villains...)

Much of the success of The Wind in the Willows segment of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad comes from the characterization of the beloved amphibian himself.  J. Thaddeus Toad is a bit of an obsessive compulsive in that he finds himself fawning over the latest fad, allowing his obsession to fester until he can get his hands on whatever it is he wants.  In our story, it's a gas guzzling car -- a new invention the likes of which he's never seen before.  The crazed and seemingly delusional bouts of constant giddiness (even when he's being put on trial) stand in stark contrast to the proper and somewhat stodgy English folk that surround him in the short.  While the other characters may blend together into the stereotypical "English bloke," Toad stands out and does so with much vigor.  You can't help but find yourself smiling whenever he's onscreen.

This isn't to say that characters like Ratty, Moley, and Angus McBadger are dull weights, but they certainly are attempting to be the voices of reasons amidst the chaotic ramblings of Toad.  Still, the trio of Toad's friends are given the opportunity to really amp up their energy in the short's manic finale which is reminiscent of a Three Stooges/Marx Brothers bit of madcap mayhem.  

The characters in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are not quite as rambunctiously fun as those in The Wind in the Willows, but Ichabod Crane is certainly a well-rounded character.  When we're first introduced to Crane, his nose is in a book, a seemingly appropriate place for the pointy schnoz of a schoolteacher.  We stereotypically think that based on his skinny appearance and profession that Crane is going to be shy and lacking charisma, but the opposite is true.  The ladies fawn over him and Crane takes advantage of that, stuffing his lanky frame with all the food provided him by these various amours.  

Crane's superstitious nature is shown to the audience in an early scene, but doesn't rear its ugly head again until the end when the town ladies' man (until Crane's arrival) Brom Bones takes advantage of this fault of Crane's by touting the story of the Headless Horseman.  Brom is quite jealous over the fact that Crane had successfully wooed the prettiest gal in town -- Katrina -- for himself and will stop at nothing to win her back.

Rather surprisingly, the villain of the piece doesn't make his arrival until the short's final minutes.  My six year-old self remembered this scary guy taking on a much more prominent role than he actually does.

It is certainly fitting to discuss the two narrators of these tales as well, particularly Bing Crosby's take on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  While Basil Rathbone lends a certain aire of prestige and properness to the proceedings in The Wind in the Willows, Crosby's jaunty tones are easygoing.  Right from the beginning when Bing refers to Crane as "Old Icky," we know we're essentially getting Bing's take on this beloved Washington Irving tale.  Not only does he narrate, but he voices Ichabod and Brom and sings a tune or two.  While I don't dislike the manner in which Crosby presents things here, I can understand how some might find it poking fun at the source material, or, at the very least, taking it lighter than it should be.  Then again, this is an animated film, so we shouldn't go into this expecting a Tim Burton-esque take on things.

The Music

While you won't necessarily be humming any of the songs from either segment of the film, the musical pieces that are present are fitting.  The Wind in the Willows segment only features one tune -- a ditty called "Merrily on Our Way" (by some of Snow White's collaborators) -- but it's a perfect fit in that it's somewhat manic and all over the map in terms of lyrics.  This, of course, is quite befitting of Mr. Toad who sings it while galloping down the road in his horse and buggy.  It is, in fact, our first glimpse of Toad and it sets the stage for his character completely.

And could you really expect a short narrated by Bing Crosby to not feature a song or two?  I've always been a fan of Bing's easygoing style and sound (I always imagine him warbling "boo-boo-boo-boo-boo") and he doesn't disappoint.  

My Favorite Scene

Although I do enjoy the finale of The Wind in the Willows, Toad's instantaneous "motor-mania" when he first lays eyes on a gas-powered car starts the short off on a perfect note, setting the stage for one of the most underrated characters in the Disney pantheon.

Random Thoughts

• As soon as The Wind in the Willows segment started, I immediately started to miss Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in Walt Disney World that was taken away in 1998.
• There is something slightly odd about the mix of humans and talking animals co-existing in the world created by the animators here.  (Admittedly, I'm not familiar with the books, so maybe this is culled from them.)
• Bing's jaunty voice makes me smile.

Final Analysis

(Does It Belong in the Revered Disney Pantheon and How Does It Stack Up to Past Films?)

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a very nice way to end the "package film era" of Disney's animated output.  It's certainly and undoubtedly the best of this era.  I went into this expecting to like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow better, but I ended up being fully entranced by the frivolity and manic nature of The Wind in the Willows.  Clocking in at 68 minutes, both shorts hit just the right notes in their short running time, never overstaying their welcome.  The animation in both tales is decent -- although not quite up to the caliber of "feature length" films, but we'll be heading back to that quality quite soon.

Admittedly, Sleepy Hollow was a bit of a letdown as I remembered this one from my childhood and was eagerly looking forward to seeing it again.  It's not as if the short is bad by any means, but I was surprised by the lack of tension created leading up to the infamous ending which my inner childhood self remembered as (a) taking up a lot more of the run time and (b) being much scarier and foreboding.  Still, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has its moments, is humorously narrated by Bing Crosby (whose jaunty voice may be the reason the tension never came to fruition), and is, overall, a solid short film.

The Wind in the Willows with its oftentimes cacophonous tone was a real treat.  With a main character in Toad who is surprisingly well-rounded despite seemingly having only the characteristic of "crazy" placed upon him, I was instantly enamored with the story.  So far in this Disney Discussion, The Wind in the Willows is the biggest surprise to me and it's certainly welcome after the dullness of some of the package films that came before it.

Honestly, this is a "forgotten" Disney film.  No one really thinks of its existence when you talk about Disney animation.  That's a bit of a shame as I found it utterly amusing (particularly during its first half).  As I mentioned above, the character of Mr. Toad is utterly charming and unique amongst his Disney brethren.  

As an added note, The Wind in the Willows is available to stream instantly on Netflix.  Unfortunately, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is not at this time.

The RyMickey Rating: B

Join us next Wednesday for Cinderella, the twelfth film in The Disney Discussion.