Fluentiama Perfect cast and a good story

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Hayleigh Joseph This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Vimacone Since the start of WWII, Disney's feature films were compilations of short films strung together, often unrelated to each other. Some of these were ideas for single narrative feature films. This would be the last of those package features, while gearing up for the return to the single narratives.The only thing that the two featured stories have in common is that they're both well known stories in literature; One British and one American. Although The Wind And The Willows was published within the lifetimes of Walt and his staff. The wrap arounds take place in a quaint live action Technicolor library.Both films have very strong character animation and excellent staging. Toad and Cyril are fun and entertaining characters. I love the dark and dramatic staging during Toad's escape from prison and they're sneak into Toad Hall to retrieve the Deed. Later generations will recognize virtually every character from this segment in MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1983). Sadly, by that time all the voice actors were long gone. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow seems like a curious choice for a Disney adaptation. Bing Crosby's smooth narration enhances the upbeat and suspenseful moments. While most of the action is pantomime, the character animation is still top notch. Most of the sequences revolve around the rivalry between Ichabod and Brom Bones over Katrina. The memorable scenes come toward the end during Ichabod's spooky journey through the woods late at night and his terrifying, but comical, encounter with the Headless Horseman. Both stories are condensed versions of the original stories but are otherwise faithful to their source material. One can imagine how these would have looked had Disney produced them as separate feature length films. The best time to watch this is during the Holidays.

Hitchcoc As near as I can tell, there is no connection of any kind between these two films. It was probably a method by which a couple of expensive products of the Disney studios could get people into the threaten to see them. It was war time and they had to cut budgets. Anyway, we have two classics. One is a segment from Kenneth Grahame's "The Wind in the Willows." It involves Mr. Toad of Toad Hall, a rich character who has a fixation on expensive gadgets. He buys himself a motor car and proceeds to terrorize the countryside. Eventually, getting put in prison. The question is, "Does he learn a lesson?" The second is probably the most famous Halloween story: Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." This, of course, is the story of Ichabod Crane, the scrawny schoolmaster who falls in love with Katrina Van Tassel. Unfortunately, a man known as Bram Bones, a huge man and a bully is also vying for the fair maiden's hand. There is also a legend of a headless horseman which permeates the story. Great narration and fine filmmaking. See these if you can. Both are delightful.

William O. Tyler 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.

John T. Ryan ONE MAY SEARCH for hours, days or even longer and they will no find such a story anywhere in the annals of the English language. And this would be for good reason; for you see, the title is an invention of convenience and necessity for this Walt Disney Production, NOW, AS WE know, just about all of the great Disney animated features are adaptations from some literary, folk tale or actual historical occurrence. So why this bizarre and otherwise meaningless handle?SIMPLY STATED, THIS title is an incorporation of two names, or at least a portion thereof, of two separate, disparate literary works adapted within the framework of this single "movie". The first segment is of Englishman, Kenneth Grahame's THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS; with the second half's being devoted to Yankee author, Washington Irving's, THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW.THE FIRST SEGMENT gives us a look inside the world of "eccentric/mad" Mr. Toad and his anthropomorphic friends, Mac Badger, Rat and Mole; as they do their best in standing by their obviously slightly insane, upper class friend. Toad's insatiable desire for high times and adventure lead him to carving out a destructive path across the English countryside aided by a cart-pulling horse named Cyril. Eventually Toad is framed for "Grand Theft Auto" and looses the Deed and clear Title to ancestral home, Toad Hall to a gang of (both literally and figuratively) Weasels.THE SECOND HALF of the picture moves to early 19th Century New York State for our encounter with the gangly schoolmaster with the voracious appetite, one Ichabod Crane. The story relates about how this scarecrow-like appearance caused a great disturbance to the locals in the village of Sleepy Hollow. The kindly man of letters eventually finds himself at odds with roughneck leader, the broad-shouldered Brom Bones, over the affections of the lovely Trina van Tassel.OF COURSE, AS we all know, the highlight of the story is Ichabod's encounter with the legendary Headless Horseman, the local ghost of some hapless British soldier killed in the American Revolutionary War. We can personally testify of just how well done and truly frightening is the sequence where the two meet In the woods at night. (It really and truly scary it was to this writer, then about 7 years old in circa 1954,not original release) ALTHOUGH THIS TWO completely different stories in one film may seem like a new way for presenting us with a Disney Animated feature, the company had done some multi-segmented films previously. One only need to look at MELODY TIME, MAKE MINE MUSIC and even the much praised, even cult status "concert feature", FANTASIA, in order to see that the principle had been applied previously.* THE PRODUCTION(S) SPORTED a great cast of actors such as Eric Blore, Claude Allister, J. Par O'Malley and even Pinto Colvig (long time voice of Goofy and Pluto).DOING THE NARRATION for the stories are Basil Rathbone (WIND IN THE WILLOWS) and Bing Crosby, who also sang (for THE LRHEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW).FUNCTIONING AS SORT of an in betweener bridge and opening to the film is a beautifully done sequence in a library. In this way we are introduced to the stories via copies of the books being conveniently on display on the book shelves.NOTE: * THE STORIES TOLD by being combined in this manner were most likely combined as more of a pragmatic and cost saving measure. Our guess is that the two stories were sort of middle ground films. That is, they were too short to make as a feature, but too long to be produced as short subject cartoons.