“The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad” Review

Disney’s adaptations of both “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “The Wind in the Willows” are among the finest adaptations of either story.

When you think of early Disney films, most people think they know the order: “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Pinocchio,” Fantasia,” “Bambi” and “Cinderella.” But “Bambi” was released in 1942 and “Cinderella” in 1950. So what the hell was Disney doing for eight years?

Well, because of WWII, Disney didn’t have the budgets or the amount of animators (many of them serving their country) to make big films like they could before. So, from 1942 to 1949, Disney released six anthology films, otherwise known as “package films,” of animated segments. Many of these segments were later cut out of the films and shown on either The Disney Channel or as their own short film. In fact, you’ve probably seen several stories from these films. The Mickey and The Beanstalk short came from “Fun and Fancy Free,” Casey at the Bat from “Make Mine Music” and The Legend of Johnny Appleseed from “Melody Time.” 

Thanks to Disney+, most of these films are now widely available in their entirety and now you can watch them. But every Halloween, I love to watch the final of these package films: “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.” With its two strange and somewhat spooky stories, this film is a must watch every October for people of all ages.

The film’s basis for this anthology is a dark library where an unseen narrator, one for each story, tells us a classic of literature with brilliant animation from Disney. It’s probably best to talk about each story individually.

The first is an adaptation of “The Wind in the Willows,” narrated by Basil Rathbone, and is set in England where animals and humans coexist together, with animals being able to talk and be a part of society. In this world, Toad (voiced by Eric Blore) is a wealthy eccentric who is obsessed with the latest fads and “manias.” When his obsession with motorcars lands him in jail with his prized mansion now in the hands of a pack of weasels, Toad’s friends Rat, Mole, MacBadger and Cyril (voiced by Claude Allister, Colin Campbell, Campbell Grant and J. Pat O’Malley respectively), must break Toad out and prove his innocence.

Toad and Cyril go romping about the countryside in the first half of the film which adapts “The Wind in the Willows.”

Not only is the story entertaining, with animation and jokes that crack me up, but it also has a surprisingly dark tone to it. When Toad is in jail, it’s almost gothic by design and you really want him to get out. The characters are also very well defined with Toad being delightfully crazy, Moley being kind and patient, Cyril having all the witty retorts and MacBadger and Rat trying to keep Toad’s bizarre behavior under control.

The animation not only has a fun flow but it makes the climax, where our heroes are trying to get the deed to Toad’s mansion from the weasels, exciting. 

As someone who’s read the book, it’s a good adaptation and has managed to stand the test of time. The characters are so memorable that they’ve even appeared in other Disney films like “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.” 

But as delightful as the first half of the film is, the real reason to watch this film around Halloween is the second half which tells the story of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Narrated by Bing Crosby, who voices most of the characters, this story sees a strange looking schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane move to the small town of Sleepy Hollow in 1790. As he adjusts to life in the community, he tries to woo a rich woman named Katrina and makes an enemy in Katrina’s other suitor, Brom Bones. 

One night, Crane attends a Halloween party at Katrina’s home where he hears the story of The Headless Horseman, a ghost who lost his head to a cannonball in the American Revolution and rides on Halloween night looking for a new one. While riding home, Crane meets the Horseman and the rest of the film is him being chased by the ghost in a climax that is both frightening and funny.

I remember first hearing this story when my third grade teacher read it to the class on Halloween. Looking back, it’s one of my favorite short stories and what I love the most is how it lets you get to know Ichabod before the Horseman enters the picture. Most of this story is Ichabod interacting with the town and the rivalry between him and Brom, which leads to some fun slapstick.

The animation is a lot of fun and the story’s three songs are incredibly catchy and, of course, Bing Crosby sings. Since it’s Bing Crosby, it sounds fantastic, especially the song about the Headless Horseman which is both spooky and catchy, like a predecessor to “Thriller” or “This is Halloween.” 

The film also manages to capture a lot of the beautiful atmosphere around fall with colors that are warm and welcoming one minute and creepy the next. 

The animation of the climactic chase of “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad” is some of the best animation Disney every made during this time period.

But what everyone remembers about this film is the final chase with the Headless Horseman. What I love is, just like the rest of the story, it doesn’t rush in. A lot of what makes the chase so exciting is the build-up which is deliberately slow. Ichabod is riding his horse slowly as elements of nature cause him to become nervous like the noises of animals sounding like “Ichabod,” “Beware,” “Here He Comes” or “Headless Horseman.” 

Then he hears horse hooves and becomes terrified only to discover that it’s cattails bouncing on a log. When he and his horse start laughing at how scared they were over nothing, then the Headless Horseman comes in and his evil laugh, provided by Billy Bletcher, is chilling and awesome at the same time. The chase is a lot of fun and has a great balance of fear and delight. 

I think a lot of comedic horror took notes from this like “The Evil Dead” series and “Shaun of the Dead,” because this film manages to elicit fear out of children but it only makes them want to watch it more. The film also clearly has a strong influence on Tim Burton’s Hammer Horror homage “Sleepy Hollow.”

While there’s no shortage of family films to watch around Halloween, this is an underrated classic worth a watch on Disney+.