Some Facts:
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr.Toad is a two part animated feature, and both parts are based on classic pieces of literature, “The Wind in the Willows” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” respectively. It was released on October 5,1949, making it the last Disney movie of the decade. This film was exceptionally well received at the time with Bing Crosby and Basil Rathbone narrating, The film grossed $1,625,000 worldwide, $17.6 million today, and at the time had a 93% approval rating throughout the country. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr.Toad took two classic stories, one American and one English, and told them in an entertaining, fast-paced animated adaptation that was very well received and a great way to end the 1940s.
Too Long;Didn’t Watch
The movie opens in a library where we walk past several classic novels to land on our first story, “The Wind in the Willows.” The pages open themselves and the story begins. We are introduced to Mr.Toad as he cruises the countryside. We then cut and meet Mr.Toad’s three good friends, a badger (Macbadger) ,a water rat (Ratty), and a mole (Moley). They are all at Toad Hall, a beautiful building owned by Mr.Toad and his family. Macbadger is the Toad family accountant and is warning Mr.Toad of his spending issues. Mr.Toad stops MacBadger in his tracks to tell him he has traded Toad Hall for an automobile that he spotted while out riding around with his horse friend (Cyril). However, later that day, Mr.Toad is arrested for stealing the car! We cut to the trial of Mr.Toad, who claims he traded his home for the title to the vehicle, and that he did not know it was stolen when he traded for it. Toad brings his star witness, Mr.Winky, up who falsely testifies that the toad tried to sell him the stolen automobile. Mr.Toad is then found guilty and sentenced to twenty years in prison. It is then Christmas Eve, while Mr.Toad is still in prison, so Cyril sneaks in dressed as his grandmother and helps Mr.Toad escape from prison. Mr.Toad evades the police and makes it to Ratty’s home to convince his friends to help him go to Toad Hall, where Mr.Winky and his group of weasels are held up partying. The group sneaks into the house and steals the contract off of a sleeping Mr.Winky. Mr.Toad is then exonerated and given back the deed to Toad Hall. This story ends with Mr.Toad spending his money on a new airplane.
We then move the second story of the film, which takes place in October of 1790 outside of New York in a small town of Sleepy Hollow. We meet our hero of the night, Ichabod Crane, a school teacher, lady’s man, and talented singer. He marches into town and sweeps everyone off of their feet; however, Ichabod develops feelings for the Sleepy Hollow’s most eligible bachelorette Katrina Van Tussle, a young attractive lady whose father also owns the biggest farm in the town. Ichabod is not the only one with eyes for Katrina. There is also the town brute, Brom Bones, who wants her. Ichabod and Brom compete for the affection of Katrina, Ichabod always barely edging out Brom using his brain to defeat Brom’s brawn. Ichabod is then personally invited to Katrina’s Halloween party. He borrows a donkey from another farm to get to the party. While at the party, Brom discovers that Ichabod is terribly affected by scary stories. Brom then tells a scary story of a headless horseman who on Halloween night hunts for a head to replace his own. This story frightens Ichabod, and he is spooked several times on his way home to the details of the story, only to find that the headless horseman is real! The horseman chases Ichabod who is trying to reach the bridge where the magic of the horseman stops and he can chase no more. Ichabod races across the bridge and turns to find a jack-o-lantern being thrown at him. Ichabod is never seen again after that night, and Brom goes on to marry Katrina. The film then ends.
Winner of the Movie:
Seeing as how there are two stories in this film, I have decided to give out two winners. The winner in the Mr.Toad story would have to be Mr.Toad; proving he is innocent of the crimes he was convicted of and bringing his friends along with him in the process is a huge victory. Mr.Toad gets to continue to live his life as a free man, enjoying all the wealth I am assuming his father earned for him.
The winner of the Sleepy Hollow situation would have to be Brom. For one, he ends up getting the girl and the farm, and I’m sure the “Bones family” went on to become a very successful family- mainly because Brom is a murderer. Yes, I 100% believe that Brom was the headless horseman. While watching the film in the Brain v. Brawn situations, Ichabod always just barely outsmarts Brom to win. Likewise, when the Horseman is chasing Ichabod, the headless villain falls for many of the same foolish tricks, only besting Ichabod once he thinks he has reached safety from the Horseman. Brom committed murder in order to have Katrina as his wife, and knew there was no way he could fairly beat Ichabod. I am sure as time went on Brom would continue murdering foes of his in the same manner, scaring other farmers, or people who opposed him as he grew richer and more powerful, using the scary story to cover up his terrible actions. In a dark twist, Brom is the winner of the second story.
Loser of the Movie:
In the Mr.Toad storyline, I think that Mr.Winky is the loser. I do not 100% know what happened to him because the story does not go into the events after Mr.Toad is release; However, we can assume that Mr.Winky will be convicted of perjury, which currently is about five years in prison along with some fines.I also believe that Mr.Toad would be able to sue Mr.Winky for defamation of character, since the claims made by Mr.Winky were all of the following: false,published,injurious. Mr.Toad has a pretty easy road to victory to win this claim. Mr.Winky, while not being put away for an extremely long time, and could be released early I’m sure on good behavior, will be buried in lawsuits by Mr. Toad will emerge with almost nothing to his name (also in no way,shape,or form am I providing legal counsel to anyone reading this blog. I have no formal education on this matter, and I am talking about a frog suing a bartender who leads a pack of weasels, come on folks).
The overall loser of the Sleepy Hollow story could of course be poor Ichabod Crane. The slick and smart school teacher was murdered in cold blood over a woman. He was not given the chance to back off and spare his own life and move to another town to teach. He was killed, some say, by a spirit searching for a head. However, I would say the loser of this tale is the entire town of Sleepy Hollow. Brom has now thrown a cloak of manipulation over the Sleepy Hollowans who will be crippled by the fear of a headless horseman who took the life of a beloved educator, while Brom lives his life knowing there is no such thing. Brom will continue to convince the town to follow his morals and his ideals justifying them with the killings of the headless horseman. I feel sorry for the town of Sleepy Hollow after these events. Not only did they lose a great school teacher, but they gained a narcissistic sociopath who will mold the future of their town.
Song of the Movie:
Not very many songs in this movie; however, my favorite song was the song from the Ichabod story where Brom tells the story of the headless horseman. It is called “The Headless Horseman Song.” Again, this is not a song movie, however, “The Headless Horseman Song” is a big plot point and has some pretty funny visuals with it.
Awards Won:
The Adventures of Ichabod Crane and Mr.Toad won the Golden Globe for Best Cinematography Color. The movie was not nominated for any Academy Awards.
Review:
The Adventures of Ichabod Crane and Mr.Toad was a very fun watch, and I enjoyed the overall movie; however, there are a lot of slow portions of the entire movie. The story-telling aspect of Mr.Toad gets hung up on some jokes/details that you could move through a little faster, and it would probably still get the same amount of story out. I would give this movie a 5.7 out of 10. It is a fun movie with two good stories, but it’s a very slow movie that I would watch if they were separate. I could find myself fast-forwarding through the Mr.Toad part to watch The Headless Horseman.
McGlone out of Proportion 