The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
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Guide to Animated Disney Movies
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a 1949 American animated package film produced by Walt Disney Productions. The film consists of two segments, the first based on the 1908 children's novel The Wind in the Willows by British author Kenneth Grahame, and the second based on the 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by American author Washington Irving.
As the film's animated segments are based on literary works, they are both introduced in live-action scenes set in a library as a framing device. The first segment is introduced and narrated by Basil Rathbone, and the second segment is introduced and narrated by Bing Crosby.
The Wind in the Willows
The story is set in and around London, England. The protagonist J. Thaddeus Toad, Esq. is introduced as an incurable adventurer who never counted the cost. As the story's one disturbing element, although he is the wealthy proprietor of the Toad Hall estate, Toad's adventures and positive mania for fads have brought him to the brink of bankruptcy. As a last resort, Toad's friend Angus MacBadger volunteers as Toad's bookkeeper to help Toad keep his estate which is a source of pride in the community.
One summer day, MacBadger asks Toad's friends Ratty and Moley to persuade Toad to give up his latest mania of recklessly driving about the countryside in a horse and cart, which could accumulate a great deal of financial liability in damaged property. Ratty and Moley confront Toad, but are unable to change his mind. Toad tries to escape from them, but then sees a motor car for the first time and becomes entranced by the new machine, having been taken over by motor-mania.
In an attempt to cure Toad's new mania, Ratty and Moley put Toad under house arrest. However, Toad escapes and is later arrested and charged with car theft. At his trial, Toad represents himself and calls his horse Cyril Proudbottom as his first witness. Cyril testifies that the car which Toad was accused of stealing had already been stolen by a gang of weasels. Toad had entered a tavern where the car was parked and offered to buy the car from the weasels. However, since Toad had no money, he instead offered to trade Toad Hall for the car. The prosecutor and judge show disbelief toward the statement, so Toad then calls the bartender Mr. Winkie as a witness to the agreement; however, when told by Toad to explain what actually happened Winkie falsely testifies that Toad had tried to sell him the stolen car. Toad is found guilty on the spot and sentenced to 20 years in the Tower of London. As the months passed by, Toad's friends make every effort to appeal his case, but to no avail.
On Christmas Eve, Toad appears to have an epiphany about his careless ways, but once Cyril visits Toad in disguise as his grandmother and helps him escape by giving him a disguise of his own, all that flies out the window. Toad quickly runs to a railway station and hijacks a 2-4-0 steam locomotive and drives out of the station heading toward the river bank without getting caught by the police on another train. Though seeming to drown due to his ball and chain dragging him down to the bottom of the river, he then arrives at Ratty's house. However, while Moley is happy to see him again, Ratty is insistent that Toad return to prison and pay his debt to society, especially when they hear what they think is the police at the door. Instead, it is MacBadger who enters, informing them that Winkie is the leader of the weasel gang, and that Toad indeed traded Toad Hall for their stolen motorcar; Winkie himself is in possession of the deed. Ratty then apologizes to Toad for thinking ill of him.
Knowing that the deed bearing both Toad and Winkie's signatures would prove Toad's innocence, the four friends sneak into Toad Hall using a secret passage near the river by boat. Though Toad nearly louses up the plan by almost shooting the guard outside on the bridge, the four manage to sneak in. Finding the weasels and Winkie drunk and passed out, they attempt to lower Moley on a makeshift rope to swipe it. Unfortunately, Toad's actions from before had caused more damage than originally thought as the guard investigates, finds the passageway and wakes up the Weasels and Winkie. A grueling chase around the estate ensues to take the document, during which a number of antics happen, including Moley folding the deed into a paper airplane and then Toad producing numerous ones to confuse Winkie and the weasels and the quick switch-around with the hidden wall panel. Though the four manage to escape with their lives, they appear to not get the deed. However, Toad proudly produces said deed from his pocket.
The film then ends on New Year's Day with Toad exonerated and regaining his house while it is implied that Winkie and the weasels have been arrested and imprisoned. As MacBadger, Ratty, and Moley celebrate the New Year with a toast to Toad, who they believe has completely reformed, Toad and Cyril recklessly fly past on a 1903 Wright Flyer; Toad has not truly reformed and has developed a mania for airplanes instead.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
In October 1790, Ichabod Crane, a lanky and superstitious, yet charming dandy arrives in Sleepy Hollow, New York, a small village outside Tarrytown that is renowned for its ghostly hauntings, to be the town's new schoolmaster. Despite his odd behavior, appearance, and rather effeminate mannerisms, Ichabod soon wins the hearts of the village's women and forms good friendships with his students, though the latter is mainly in order to get invitations to suppers at said student's homes which he would not be able to afford on his meager salary.
Brom Bones, the roguish town hero, does his best to bully and play pranks on Ichabod, such as interrupting his singing lessons with the town ladies choir by having a dog howl in the middle of Ichabod singing a series of notes, making it seem like Ichabod himself produced it. However, the schoolmaster is very good at ignoring these taunts and continues to interact with the townspeople.
One day at a town picnic, Ichabod meets and falls in love with Katrina van Tassel, the beautiful daughter of the wealthy farmer Baltus van Tassel, and whom Brom is equally infatuated with. Despite being obsessed with Katrina's beauty, Ichabod mainly desires to take her family's money for himself. Brom, who has never been challenged like this, proceeds to compete with the schoolmaster, but Ichabod wins Katrina over at every opportunity and unintentionally makes a fool of Brom in the process. Unbeknownst to both men, Katrina is only using Ichabod to make Brom jealous and force him to try harder for her affections.
The two love rivals are invited to the van Tassel Halloween party. Brom attempts to get Ichabod to dance with a plump woman who is a wild and impetuous dancer instead of Katrina, and later attempts to have him fall through a cellar door, but both attempts comically backfire. While both men dine, Brom catches Ichabod accidentally knocking the salt shaker over and nervously tossing salt over his left shoulder. Discovering Ichabod's weakness is superstition, he decides to sing the tale of the legendary Headless Horseman in order to scare him. The horseman supposedly travels the woods on Halloween each year, searching for a living head to replace the one he had lost, and the only way to escape the ghost is to cross a covered bridge. Everyone else, including Katrina, finds the song amusing, while Ichabod starts to fear for his life.
Riding home from the party through the very woods from the song, Ichabod becomes paranoid of every sound he hears in the dark woods. While traveling through the old cemetery, Ichabod believes he hears the sound of a horse galloping toward him, but discovers the sound is being made by nearby cattails bumping on a log. He and his horse begin to laugh hysterically in amusement at being scared by something so small... when their laughter is cut short by the appearance of the real Headless Horseman, wielding a sword and riding what appears to be Brom's black horse. After being chased through the dark forest, Ichabod, remembering Brom's advice, rides across the covered bridge to stop the ghost's pursuit. The horseman stops in Ichabod's tracks, and rises in his stirrups, and throws his flaming head, revealed to be a jack-o'-lantern, right at the schoolmaster. Ichabod tries to dodge the terrible missile, but is too late when it hits him on the head in his face, presumably knocking him out, and tumbling him from his horse into the dust.
The next morning, Ichabod's hat is found at the bridge next to the shattered jack-o-lantern, but Ichabod himself is nowhere to be found. Sometime later, Brom takes Katrina as his wife. Rumors begin to spread that Ichabod is still alive, married to a wealthy widow in a distant county with children who all look like him. However, the superstitious people of Sleepy Hollow insist that he has been spirited away by the Headless Horseman.
As the film's animated segments are based on literary works, they are both introduced in live-action scenes set in a library as a framing device. The first segment is introduced and narrated by Basil Rathbone, and the second segment is introduced and narrated by Bing Crosby.
The Wind in the Willows
The story is set in and around London, England. The protagonist J. Thaddeus Toad, Esq. is introduced as an incurable adventurer who never counted the cost. As the story's one disturbing element, although he is the wealthy proprietor of the Toad Hall estate, Toad's adventures and positive mania for fads have brought him to the brink of bankruptcy. As a last resort, Toad's friend Angus MacBadger volunteers as Toad's bookkeeper to help Toad keep his estate which is a source of pride in the community.
One summer day, MacBadger asks Toad's friends Ratty and Moley to persuade Toad to give up his latest mania of recklessly driving about the countryside in a horse and cart, which could accumulate a great deal of financial liability in damaged property. Ratty and Moley confront Toad, but are unable to change his mind. Toad tries to escape from them, but then sees a motor car for the first time and becomes entranced by the new machine, having been taken over by motor-mania.
In an attempt to cure Toad's new mania, Ratty and Moley put Toad under house arrest. However, Toad escapes and is later arrested and charged with car theft. At his trial, Toad represents himself and calls his horse Cyril Proudbottom as his first witness. Cyril testifies that the car which Toad was accused of stealing had already been stolen by a gang of weasels. Toad had entered a tavern where the car was parked and offered to buy the car from the weasels. However, since Toad had no money, he instead offered to trade Toad Hall for the car. The prosecutor and judge show disbelief toward the statement, so Toad then calls the bartender Mr. Winkie as a witness to the agreement; however, when told by Toad to explain what actually happened Winkie falsely testifies that Toad had tried to sell him the stolen car. Toad is found guilty on the spot and sentenced to 20 years in the Tower of London. As the months passed by, Toad's friends make every effort to appeal his case, but to no avail.
On Christmas Eve, Toad appears to have an epiphany about his careless ways, but once Cyril visits Toad in disguise as his grandmother and helps him escape by giving him a disguise of his own, all that flies out the window. Toad quickly runs to a railway station and hijacks a 2-4-0 steam locomotive and drives out of the station heading toward the river bank without getting caught by the police on another train. Though seeming to drown due to his ball and chain dragging him down to the bottom of the river, he then arrives at Ratty's house. However, while Moley is happy to see him again, Ratty is insistent that Toad return to prison and pay his debt to society, especially when they hear what they think is the police at the door. Instead, it is MacBadger who enters, informing them that Winkie is the leader of the weasel gang, and that Toad indeed traded Toad Hall for their stolen motorcar; Winkie himself is in possession of the deed. Ratty then apologizes to Toad for thinking ill of him.
Knowing that the deed bearing both Toad and Winkie's signatures would prove Toad's innocence, the four friends sneak into Toad Hall using a secret passage near the river by boat. Though Toad nearly louses up the plan by almost shooting the guard outside on the bridge, the four manage to sneak in. Finding the weasels and Winkie drunk and passed out, they attempt to lower Moley on a makeshift rope to swipe it. Unfortunately, Toad's actions from before had caused more damage than originally thought as the guard investigates, finds the passageway and wakes up the Weasels and Winkie. A grueling chase around the estate ensues to take the document, during which a number of antics happen, including Moley folding the deed into a paper airplane and then Toad producing numerous ones to confuse Winkie and the weasels and the quick switch-around with the hidden wall panel. Though the four manage to escape with their lives, they appear to not get the deed. However, Toad proudly produces said deed from his pocket.
The film then ends on New Year's Day with Toad exonerated and regaining his house while it is implied that Winkie and the weasels have been arrested and imprisoned. As MacBadger, Ratty, and Moley celebrate the New Year with a toast to Toad, who they believe has completely reformed, Toad and Cyril recklessly fly past on a 1903 Wright Flyer; Toad has not truly reformed and has developed a mania for airplanes instead.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
In October 1790, Ichabod Crane, a lanky and superstitious, yet charming dandy arrives in Sleepy Hollow, New York, a small village outside Tarrytown that is renowned for its ghostly hauntings, to be the town's new schoolmaster. Despite his odd behavior, appearance, and rather effeminate mannerisms, Ichabod soon wins the hearts of the village's women and forms good friendships with his students, though the latter is mainly in order to get invitations to suppers at said student's homes which he would not be able to afford on his meager salary.
Brom Bones, the roguish town hero, does his best to bully and play pranks on Ichabod, such as interrupting his singing lessons with the town ladies choir by having a dog howl in the middle of Ichabod singing a series of notes, making it seem like Ichabod himself produced it. However, the schoolmaster is very good at ignoring these taunts and continues to interact with the townspeople.
One day at a town picnic, Ichabod meets and falls in love with Katrina van Tassel, the beautiful daughter of the wealthy farmer Baltus van Tassel, and whom Brom is equally infatuated with. Despite being obsessed with Katrina's beauty, Ichabod mainly desires to take her family's money for himself. Brom, who has never been challenged like this, proceeds to compete with the schoolmaster, but Ichabod wins Katrina over at every opportunity and unintentionally makes a fool of Brom in the process. Unbeknownst to both men, Katrina is only using Ichabod to make Brom jealous and force him to try harder for her affections.
The two love rivals are invited to the van Tassel Halloween party. Brom attempts to get Ichabod to dance with a plump woman who is a wild and impetuous dancer instead of Katrina, and later attempts to have him fall through a cellar door, but both attempts comically backfire. While both men dine, Brom catches Ichabod accidentally knocking the salt shaker over and nervously tossing salt over his left shoulder. Discovering Ichabod's weakness is superstition, he decides to sing the tale of the legendary Headless Horseman in order to scare him. The horseman supposedly travels the woods on Halloween each year, searching for a living head to replace the one he had lost, and the only way to escape the ghost is to cross a covered bridge. Everyone else, including Katrina, finds the song amusing, while Ichabod starts to fear for his life.
Riding home from the party through the very woods from the song, Ichabod becomes paranoid of every sound he hears in the dark woods. While traveling through the old cemetery, Ichabod believes he hears the sound of a horse galloping toward him, but discovers the sound is being made by nearby cattails bumping on a log. He and his horse begin to laugh hysterically in amusement at being scared by something so small... when their laughter is cut short by the appearance of the real Headless Horseman, wielding a sword and riding what appears to be Brom's black horse. After being chased through the dark forest, Ichabod, remembering Brom's advice, rides across the covered bridge to stop the ghost's pursuit. The horseman stops in Ichabod's tracks, and rises in his stirrups, and throws his flaming head, revealed to be a jack-o'-lantern, right at the schoolmaster. Ichabod tries to dodge the terrible missile, but is too late when it hits him on the head in his face, presumably knocking him out, and tumbling him from his horse into the dust.
The next morning, Ichabod's hat is found at the bridge next to the shattered jack-o-lantern, but Ichabod himself is nowhere to be found. Sometime later, Brom takes Katrina as his wife. Rumors begin to spread that Ichabod is still alive, married to a wealthy widow in a distant county with children who all look like him. However, the superstitious people of Sleepy Hollow insist that he has been spirited away by the Headless Horseman.