“Three of the world’s great storytellers – Walt Disney, Bing Crosby, Basil Rathbone – bring you two of the most fabulous characters ever screened!”
So declared the original theatrical trailer for Disney’s 1949 animated feature The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. While all of those names splashed across the coming attraction may seem like an odd mash-up, so does combining Kenneth Grahame’s book The Wind in the Willows with Washington Irving’s story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
The result, however, is a movie that has become a beloved Disney classic, with one part of the film now a Halloween favorite for many every October. And this year, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad celebrates its 75th anniversary.
The film came at the end of an era of “package films” at Disney, such as Make Mine Music (1946) and Melody Time (1948), which didn’t have a traditional story but instead were short segments with a common theme.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad was a “double feature” of a film, like Fun & Fancy Free (1947), which included “Bongo” and “Mickey and the Beanstalk,” using one half of the film to tell each story.
The Wind in the Willows was in production as a full-length feature as far back as the early 1940s, as Bambi was nearing completion. It was eventually shortened to a featurette length and paired with a truncated adaptation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The feature was initially to be called Two Fabulous Characters before being changed to The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.
Directed by Ben Sharpsteen, Jack Kinney, Clyde Geronimi, and James Algar, the film opens in a library with Basil Rathbone’s narration, introducing us to J. Thaddeus Toad, as a copy of The Wind in the Willows comes off the shelf.
From here, we follow the misadventures of the wealthy Mr. Toad as his obsession with the latest fad has him abandoning his horse-drawn cart for a motor car. Set up by the nefarious weasels, who hang out at a local pub run by the equally weaselly Winky, the bartender, Toad is charged with car theft and thrown in jail.
When Toad breaks out of jail, thanks to help from his horse, Cyril, put-upon friends Ratty and Mole, as well as accountant Angus McBadger, assist Toad with stealing back the deed to the car from his mansion, Toad Hall (where Winky and the weasels have taken over), to clear Toad’s name.
The Mr. Toad section of the film is a great balance of animated personalities and freewheeling animation. Of note is Frank Thomas’ work on the over-the-top attorney and Hugh Fraser’s fluid movements of the weasels.
Toad’s escape from prison is filled with a non-stop barrage of sight gags, including one where Toad, disguised as his grandmother, drops his ball and chain from under his nightgown, which pulls him “clanging” down the stairs. There’s also a chase aboard a locomotive that borders on the surreal.
The cast includes actor Eric Blore as Toad, Colin Campbell as Mole, Campbell Grant as Angus, Claud Allister as Rat, and J. Pat O’Malley as Cyril Proudbottom.
As the section ends with Toad finding a new mania by flying away on a plane, we are returned to the serene library.
Here, Bing Crosby takes over narration duties to tell the story of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which tells the tale of lanky Ichabod Crane, a new schoolmaster who arrives in the small town of Sleepy Hollow in New York.
He meets and is smitten with Katrina, the daughter of the wealthiest man in town. This is to the chagrin of the burly Brom Bones, who looks to bully Ichabod out of this triangle.
Brom succeeds in doing this at the town’s annual Halloween dance, where he relays the local legend of the Headless Horseman, who travels the woods every year on Halloween night, looking for a head to replace the one that he lost.
The song that Brom sings, via Bing, aptly entitled “The Headless Horseman” (by Don Raye and Gene dePaul), is a creepy and catchy ditty that stays with one long after, thanks to its infectious lyrics (“With a hip-hip and a clippity clop, he’s out lookin’ for a top to chop!”).
The other songs, “Ichabod Crane,” which announces the schoolteacher’s entrance into town, and “Katrina,” the swooning ode to Ichabod’s love, are also very pleasing and perfectly performed by Bing.
Like Mr. Toad, the character animation shines through in the Ichabod section, and the standout – and now iconic moment – of this part of the film is when Ichabod encounters the Headless Horseman on the ride home, and a chase ensues.
It is staged like a great, funny, terrifying roller-coaster ride (with the eerie addition of the Horseman’s echoing laugh). As Ichabod attempts to evade the Headless Horseman, we get images – the demon horse breathing down Ichabod’s neck, the schoolteacher staring into the abyss of the Horseman’s shoulders, and a sequence that leaves Ichabod riding on the back of the Headless Horseman’s steed – that rank among the Disney’s studio’s most exciting moments.
Frank Thomas and John Sibley were among the animators who contributed to the sequence, which sprang from equally brilliant story ideas from artists Joe Rinaldi and Ed Penner.
Released on October 5, 1949, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad was received well by critics who saw the film as somewhat of a return to form for Walt and his Studio. The New York Times stated, “As a craftsman who had strayed slightly from his chosen field, Walt Disney is to be congratulated on his return to the realm of pure animation in The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.” The critic also noted, “…Mr. Disney has included enough elements of entertainment to make his newest film package solid entertainment.”
The segments of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad were shown separately in the 1950s on the Disneyland TV series, and most people remember them in these shorter forms.
This is especially true of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which has become a Disney Halloween standard, after being shown as part of the specials Halloween Hall O’Fame (1977) and Disney’s Halloween Treat (1982), and then home video.
Seventy-five years later, both segments of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad continue to entertain, with Ichabod and the Headless Horseman always providing the appropriate spooky season vibe. Just hearing the Horseman’s maniacal laugh each year elicits reactions in many that are best summed up by Bing Crosby’s ending line in the film: “Man, I’m gettin’ out of here!”
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
“…a creepy and catchy ditty that stays with one long after….” Boy, you just said a great big mouthful of Halloween candy right there. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow first came to my attention when I heard Thurl Ravenscroft’s recording of the Headless Horseman song at a friend’s house when I was in first grade, and it really freaked me out. I developed a morbid obsession with the Headless Horseman, worrying that he’d jump out at me in the dark, and I had nightmares about him. This, mind you, was after hearing the song just once and seeing the illustration on the record jacket; I had never seen the film itself. My father thought it might allay my fears if he read the original Washington Irving story out loud to me at bedtime. That didn’t work.
I finally saw the Disney featurette on television one Halloween when I was in college, and I found it funny and wildly exciting but, thankfully, not too horrific to handle. It’s become one of my favourite pieces of Disney animation, but the Headless Horseman song, whether sung by Bing or Thurl, still gives me the shivers.
As for Mr. Toad, I was lucky enough to see that featurette on the big screen back in 1980, give or take a year, when it preceded either “Lady and the Tramp” or “Sleeping Beauty”. To date I have never seen Ichabod and Mr. Toad back-to-back, as originally intended, but I suppose it was only due to the economic realities of film distribution in 1949 that those two disparate featurettes were ever released together in the first place. Still, they can be enjoyed either as a set or a la carte.
Happy birthday, Ichabod and Mr. Toad! Here’s to seventy-five years of laughs and spine-tingling thrills!
There is nothing like the original version of this film, which has been praised as a closer return to full-length animated feature storytelling, but has also been criticized for its unlikely pairing of two seemingly disparate elements. Yet a closer look might uncover strong connections between the two stories. Both heroes are somewhat disaster-prone as well as being none too endearing or sympathetic on their own. It’s really through their interactions with others that their characters and personalities are defined. Particularly in the case of Toad, whose loyal friends certainly stick by him in adversity.
Much of the richness of Kenneth Grahame’s book is glossed over in Disney’s sprightly, lively interpretation–yet few animations have been able to do justice to the poetic and fanciful nature of “The Wind in the Willows.” The characters are deeper and more complex than Disney shows, and yet there are traces. I especially enjoy the very brief Christmas scene when Mole and Rat believe Toad to be still imprisoned. This scene briefly shows their loyalty and devotion to their wayward companion. It is really through the compassion of Rat, Mole, and Badger (MacBadger in the Disney version) that Toad becomes redeemable in the eyes of the audience. Thus, as an interpretation of Grahame, this film is not so much–yet as a slapstick romp with some pathos thrown in–it works, on its own terms.
On the other hand, the Sleepy Hollow section is one of those rare times when Disney stuck close (or fairly close) to its source material. Bing Crosby’s narration style is a good fit for the easy, ambling prose of Washington Irving. Many of Irving’s original words and phrases are rendered intact, or with only minor variations. It was definitely a bold departure on Disney’s part to invest so much of a story in a lead character who is utterly self-centered and mercenary–just as in the original. Ichabod Crane is not meant to be a sympathetic character–yet the Disney version does manage to make him seem somewhat endearing despite his flaws. And to preserve the ending where (spoiler alert!) he does NOT get the girl is a very bold move. Where other movie versions have played it safe by making Ichabod a more sympathetic character (even in one instance, making him a police detective trying to get at the root of the mysterious doings in Sleepy Hollow) Disney thankfully did not go this route but instead preserved the somewhat cynical nature of Irving’s original tale.
My only real quibble with the Sleepy Hollow section is that there is almost too much humor injected into the story–even though this is somewhat justified through Irving’s style and attitude. The sequence between Ichabod and Brom Bones as rivals goes on for much too long, My family members when I was young all got bored at the courtship scenes and left the room, leaving me to watch the climax on my own. This tells me that audiences cannot relate well to those scenes. Also, I feel there is too much slapstick inserted into the chase scene with the Headless Horseman, at a point when the viewer really wants to be more scared than amused. These quibbles aside, I consider “Sleepy Hollow” as one of Disney’s minor masterpieces.
It wasn’t until Disney Channel ran this film in its original form that I appreciated the pairing. Now I think the combo works extremely well. It is certainly an apt intro to the holiday season, as, like “Nightmare Before Christmas”, it covers both Hallowe’en and Christmas in the same movie.
Your summations are pretty much how I feel about both stories. “The Wind in the Willows” seems to be one of those books where a movie treatment just won’t match up – my favorite has been the David Unwin directed one. The style recalls the classic E.H. Shepard drawings, and it includes ‘Wayfarers All’ and ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’, which often get left out.. Still, there are entire scenes I’d like to see that aren’t there.
The big chase in “Ichabod Crane” does have an uneven funny-to-scary ratio – seeing how effectively scary they could go just makes me wish it leaned more heavily that way. As a kid I was rooting for Ichabod, but as an adult I can see what a mercenary he was.
It still does seem like an odd combination to me. They did the Reluctant Dragon not too long after this (I think). Surely that would’ve made more sense to pair with Mr. Toad. The title is even strange… although it is a faithful adaptation of Irving’s story, calling it the adventures of Ichabod in the title sort of implies Ichabod Crane is going to be the protagonist.
Sometimes I wonder if Disney passed up on doing Rip Van Winkle instead of Sleepy Hollow because Rip involves the American Revolution and the end of a monarchy – something that might’ve been distasteful to Walt.
I’d like to re-watch this one. There have been a number of adaptations of Wind in the Willows. I always remembered liking the Rankin-Bass one the best (except that I think they may have omitted the Piper at the Gates of Dawn chapter). But this Disney has got to at least have superior animation.
“The Reluctant Dragon” came out eight years prior, but it wouldn’t have been unlikely for Disney to bundle the two together during TV airings or home media. Curiously, Mr. Toad and The Reluctant Dragon did eventually get together in animation during a short-lived TV show in 1970, courtesy of Rankin-Bass.
By all accounts I think the ‘Piper’ chapter of Wind In The Willows is the one most left out of adaptations and even some publications, which is surprising given its impact on pop culture as being the namesake for Pink Floyd’s debut album.
One minor correction, it was actually Ollie Johnson who animated the attorney in “Wind in the Willows”. His voice should be familiar with Disney fans; John McLeish (AKA John Ployardt) also narrated the Goofy How-To films. He also did the same for other studios, most notably on “The Dover Boys” at Warners.
McLeish has a great voice! Another Looney Tunes short I really like him in is “The Ducktators”.
My favorite Disney animated movie. I believe this film (along with The Three Caballeros, also in my top five) was the best use of the “package feature” format. Some might carp about the brevity and truncation of the two stories, but I feel that also gives the segments brisker pacing, eliminating the dull spots that are so common in feature-length cartoons. It also contains inventive layout and editing, in addition to the Disney animators at their peak. Perfect rainy afternoon viewing. Think I’ll dig out my Blu-ray this weekend.
One of the all time great Disney movies! I try to watch it every October. Both segments have great characters and lots of memorable moments. It also inspired me to read the original The Wind in the Willows, which has become one of my favorite books.
One of the delights of the home video era was that they released all the package features in pretty much their original form. As a tail-end boomer encountering most of the segments on “World of Color”, it was a surprise to learn they had originally been parts of features rather than freestanding shorts, and I then despaired of ever seeing them as first released.
It does make an interesting holiday choice. The first half ends with Christmas and New Year’s, and then we backtrack to Halloween.
Trivium: According to Maltin’s “The Disney Films”, “Wind in the Willows” ran on the Disneyland TV show in February of 1955 — just a few months before the park opened (The Headless Horseman” ran the following season). A calculated choice to plug Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride?
This movie’s a mix to me: Mr. Toad is fantastic while Ichabod is horrendous.
I neglected to mention in my original comment how well I think the Colonial America setting was captured here (Mary Blair’s unmistakable work on display once again). That’s an era – Ben and Me, the “Hector Heathcote” series, and a few others notwithstanding – seldom depicted in animation.
Very fine film, with an odd mix of approach to casting-first, the ensemble headed by Basil Rathbone as narrator and Eric Blore as Toad, for Wind in the Willow, and then basically just Bing Crosby (who that year had IMO his best non-holiday hit with FAR AWAY PLACES).
“Robot Carnival” — itself a sort of package film — featured a combined homage to Bald Mountain from “Fantasia” and Ichabod. Weird semi-robotic creatures rise up in a sleeping city’s streets, and a robot with a red cape pursues a lone human trying to escape on a motor scooter until dawn causes the machines to collapse.