The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows
| 10 May 1949 (USA)
The Wind in the Willows Trailers

This animated fairy tale for kids tells the classic story of a dapper, automobile loving fellow named Mr. Toad, whose passion becomes a problem when he's framed for stealing cars by a band of rogue weasels.

Reviews
Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?
Micransix Crappy film
Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
utgard14 Originally part of the movie The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, this condensed version of the Kenneth Grahame novel tells the story of madcap Mr. Toad's obsession with the newfangled automobile and how his friends try to help him. It's a fun, well-paced cartoon with lots of humor and action. The courtroom scene is a treat. It features the talented voice work of Eric Blore, Pat O'Malley, Claude Allister, Campbell Grant, Colin Campbell, and the great Basil Rathbone as narrator. The music is lively and cheerful. The animation is just gorgeous! The characters and backgrounds are beautifully-drawn and the Technicolor is so rich it's a feast for the eyes. Classic Disney animation was so attractive and so much fun to watch. This is a perfect example of that.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "The Wind in the Willows" is a Disney animated short film, which runs for slightly over half an hour and was made over 65 years ago. I have to say from that duology I found the Ichabod part more interesting. This one here is basically about the adventures of a toad and it's again made in a way that it's not only for children, but also includes some more serious references here and there although not as many as Ichabod and also no horror references. I personally felt that this film here dragged on several occasions and did not really have too many memorable characters. For Ichabod they got Bing Crosby as the narrator and for this one here they got Basil Rathbone, a two-time Academy Award nominated actor who is today mostly known for his participation in the Robin Hood film and for his Sherlock Holmes performances of course. The rest of the cast here I am not familiar with. All in all, I must say the animation was okay, but the story just did not feel memorable at all to me this time. Not recommended.
TheLittleSongbird While the story does drag in places, this is a lively and cute animated cartoon based on a truly great book. It mayn't be the best adaptation of the book, that goes to the animated film with Rik Mayall as the voice of Toad, but it is so worthwhile. It is for one thing lovingly animated, with some beautiful backgrounds and lovely colours. The music is also terrific, with some lyrical, rousing and fun themes that are certainly memorable. The story while understandably condensed is still effective, and the scripting is good. The voice acting is very expressive, with Basil Rathbone who I best know as Sherlock Holmes brilliant as the narrator and Eric Blore a lot of fun as Toad, who is just as rascally as he is in the book. I also liked Badger, the gruff and firm character who in the book tries to make Toad change his ways and Cyril, the horse. Plus the courtroom scene is hilarious. Overall, a fun and worthwhile cartoon. 9/10 Bethany Cox
Ron Oliver A Walt Disney Cartoon Short Subject.The enthusiasms of a wealthy & irrepressible Toad and his passion for motorcars brings hilarious turmoil to the lives of his friends along the Riverbank.Disney's THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, originally the first half of THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD (1949), gives a drastically shortened & much revised view of Kenneth Grahame's classic book, focusing entirely on the chapters dealing with the marvelous Mr. Toad. As such, it is a fine introduction to the original, but one can only wonder what Disney could have done with a feature length animated film that included the bucolic charm of the book, as well as the high jinks. The production values are excellent, and Eric Blore & J. Pat O'Malley obviously have a high time voicing Toad and his equine pal Cyril Proudbottom, but a true fan of the book can't help longing for a little more...In the Prologue, narrator Basil Rathbone compares Toad very favorably to some other fabulous characters from English Literature - Robin Hood, King Arthur, Becky Sharp, Sherlock Holmes & Oliver Twist. A bit curious, as there was nothing fabulous about young Oliver (either Fagin or Micawber would have been a better choice) and considering Rathbone's own long association with the Holmes character.Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a storm of naysayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.