The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

Undescribable Perfection

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

The acting in this movie is really good.

In the 1940's, Walt Disney Animation Studios was not doing very well financially. For the past seven years, the company had been most devoted to making films known as "package films" which were generally many shorts films compiled together to make a full length feature. The reason behind this is because their last full length film that wasn't a package film, "Bambi" lost the studio lots of money due to the film not making money in Europe because of the ongoing Second World War. As for their package films, most of them range from being okay to decent. However, "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" is an exception. This film cleverly adapts two classic novels and treats them in a very faithful manner. For this review, I am judging both segments as their own separate piece as I think it would be the fair thing to do.The first segment is "The Wind in the Willows" (narrated by Basil Rathbone) which follows on the wealthy and rambunctious J. Thaddeus Toad. He is obsessed with the many fads and his crazy adventures have brought him to the brink of bankruptcy much to the dismay of his friends Moley, Ratty and MacBadger. After Toad's attention is turned to getting the latest invention of a motorcar, he is determined to get the new device only to find himself arrested for car theft. During a trial it is revealed that he had traded the car for his own estate Toad Hall. Not wanting to give more details away, I will now discuss the second segment of the movie which is "The Legend of Sleepy Hallow" (narrated by Bing Crosby). In 1790, a strange but charming man named Ichabod Crane moves to the town of Sleepy Hallow, New York to become the towns new schoolteacher. While he does win the hearts of the women in the town, he also gets the jealousy of the town hero Brom Bones. Ichabod then falls in love with the daughter of the richest man in town named Katrina and vows to try to get her to marry him in order to get her fathers money. What happens next is him and Brom competing for the hand of Katrina and the famous climax involving the Headless Horseman.Out of the many package films that Disney has released, this one was clearly the best. What works about this film where the others failed is the fact that the two stories shown actually work together. The balance of a story with happy and uplifting tone combined with the story featuring the dark sinister tone set the mood up perfectly resulting in a very enjoyable movie. Both stories have funny and memorable moments and are very good adaptations in their own right. The animation is top notch as always for Disney's earlier films. The colors are just right and match the moods of the movies perfectly. As for the characters, I love how memorable and funny they can be. I think more laughs came from me during "The Wind in the Willows" segment mainly because of the character of Cyril. I also love the entire climax from the "Sleepy Hallow" segment which can easily be considered a Halloween classic."The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" is not one of Disney's best films, but I think it has plenty of memorable moments that I can highly recommend it. The two stories are fantastic, the animation is beautiful and the characters are memorable in the right ways. It's usually rare for two different stories are paired together and work perfectly, but in this case it definitely works.

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad comes from a time in Disney's history where it was cheaper to make shorts than feature length films. So that's exactly what they did, and would combine various shorts together, disguised as feature length films for the audience. Here, the stories of The Wind in the Willows and Sleepy Hollow form to make a feature that focuses on fabulous characters from classic literature.The Mr. Toad segment of the film is manic, completely wacky and whimsical. It brings some great character animation and some true squash and stretch that bring a real energy to the story. The characters and their designs are all memorable, even if they seem simple and small compared to the usual grandeur that comes from Disney. The story balances on silly and serious, tackling issues of trust and control while still bringing laughs and moments of cuteness. But as kinetic as Mr. Toad's wild ride is, the true fun begins with the second segment, focusing on the tale of Ichabod Crane.Disney doesn't often delve into the horror genre, and when it does it usually looks like heffalumps and woozles or pink elephants on parade. Here, we are introduced to characters through silly gags and songs that feel very much Disney and very much like the previous segment. But this retelling climaxes in one of Disney's great scares as Ichabod encounters the Headless Horseman.Movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Frankenweenie and The Hunchback of Notre Dame may be better examples of Disney's take on horror, but this take on Sleepy Hollow is both hair-raising and iconic. As the mood becomes clearer, the story becomes quiet, aside from the narration, and there is a real sense of isolation, allowing the imagination to begin to play its games. Drastic colors and lighting are on full display here, as well as other elements that would prove frightening to some adults, let alone any child. Again, the animation becomes kinetic and manic and expressive, but this is quite beautiful in a way that Mr. Toad's story was not and leaves a lasting impression on anyone who has the pleasure to view it. This segment has even directly inspired scenes in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow.Despite not being part of Disney's usual, popular fare, both Ichabod and Mr. Toad's stories are entertaining and bring a sense of excitement in their own right. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is not a film to treat lightly, with its spectacular character animation, bold sequences and dynamic energy. And all this wrapped up within a narration by Bing Crosby and Basil Rathbone.

"The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" is one of the anthology films that Disney was putting out around the late forties. These include films like "Make Mine Music", "Fun & Fancy Free", and "Melody Time", among a few others. After having seen "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad", I'm excited to explore some of these Disney anthology films which I have been, surprisingly, unaware of for the longest time!The premise of this film is simple, two classic tales ("The Wind in the Willows" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow") are adapted in the animated Disney format, and are shown back to back. They are two really different stories, that also make two very different short films, But, they both have their similarities. They're both dark, while still being very light and funny at times, and they are both GREAT!Although people seem to always give the "Sleepy Hollow" segment the most credit, "The Wind in the Willows" adaptation is equally fantastic in my opinion. The humor, characters, and engaging story keep it very entertaining and, simply, amazing! "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" may seem to have a much more memorable climax, but, to me, "The Wind in the Willows" also deserves a lot of credit! It is an excellent piece of animation!Now, this doesn't mean that I think that "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is worse or anything, I think it deserves equal credit and is equally classic! In "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", we get a pretty different format than we did in "The Wind in the Willows". "The Wind in the Willows" is made in a much more conventional way than "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", and this is mainly due to one artistic decision. "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" has practically no dialogue! Everything we need to know is narrated and song by Bill Cosby, or is just shown to us visually. This works very well and makes the short a bit more interesting than it already was.Of course, the climax between Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman is absolutely classic and has always been the part that everybody remembers. And how couldn't they? It is an amazing scene! It is chaotic, scary, and even includes a bit of visual gags along the way. Even the scene leading up to the climax, as Ichabod is going through the woods with his horse is stunning, and is even creepier than the climax, in a sense. The atmosphere there is so heavy, that I got a really eerie vibe out of it.In the end, these are two very different classic tales put together in a film that couldn't be more perfect!

This is two classic stories in one film. Mr. Toad's story is from the classic book "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame. Ichabod's story is from the classic short tale "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving. Both cartoon shorts are good and quite funny. But out of the two of them it is Ichabod's tale that is my favorite (I love "ghost stories).I saw this film when I was a kid in the 1970's. They actually brought this film back into the movie houses (big screen) instead of television - so my parents brought me to see the film. I feel in love with it and remembered it all these years later. I recently re-watched this movie -- and yes it is still a fun watch even at my age.This movie is good for the entire family and the kids are sure to love it. It's a good film anytime but really would make a great Halloween/Holiday film.8.5/10