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THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD
Review by Ed Nguyen
Stars:
Bing Crosby, Basil Rathbone, Eric Blore
Director: James Algar, Clyde Geronimi
Audio: English monaural
Subtitles: French, Spanish
Video: Color, full-frame 1.33:1
Studio: Disney
Features: Trivia game, Lonesome Ghosts
cartoon, sing-along, storybook
Length: 68 minutes
Release Date: October 3, 2000
"We're
merrily merrily merrily merrily merrily on our way to nowhere in particular!"
Film
****
The
war years of the 1940's were lean times for the Disney company.
Faced with inevitable rationings and a scarcity of color paint for their
animated Technicolor films, the Disney company resorted to making propaganda
films for the services (Victory Through
Air Power, for instance) and quick little music medley films for everyone
else (Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy
Free, etc.). Film critics of
the day unjustly accused the company of coasting along rather than building upon
the potential it had shown with such relatively recent films as Bambi
or Pinocchio. Shortly
after the conclusion of the war, however, the Disney animators soon set about
restoring the company's diminishing luster.
A few more medley films were made, and then the company released The
Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949).
Though
not strictly a feature film, The
Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad garnered some of the best reviews for
Disney in quite a few years. This
new film displayed a great deal of inventiveness and wild imagination.
Furthermore, it signaled the definite return of the company from the
creatively-bereft doldrums forced upon it by war-time economics.
Disney was back in form (as the following year's Cinderella
would confirm beyond any reasonable doubt), and the Disney animated division had
finally recovered its magical touch.
The
Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
is actually two separate stories, each one approximately one-half hour in
length. The title notwithstanding,
the film starts off first with the Mr.
Toad segment, based on Kenneth Grahame's The
Wind in the Willows. Impeccably
narrated by Basil Rathbone, this delightful story focuses upon the wildly fickle
Toad, ever captivated by the latest technological trend in his on-going quest to
travel faster and further. Toad,
you see, is a speed demon, and when we first encounter him, he is merrily
tearing through the countryside in his horse-drawn cart with Cyril, his faithful
horse. The bills soon pile up due
to the incessant damage that Toad incurs his wake, ever bringing him upon the
brink of bankruptcy. Only the
tireless efforts of his friend MacBadger, on Toad's behalf, prevent Toad from
losing custody of his home, Toad Hall, altogether.
Toad
has two more devoted friends in Rat and Mole.
However, their attempts to persuade Toad to harness his wild ways are
ultimately futile. The final straw
arrives when Toad is caught red-handed with a stolen horseless carriage (one of
those new-fandango motorcars).
Toad is thrown in jail and loses Toad Hall to a nefarious gang of
weasels. Rat and Mole refuse to
believe that Toad has resorted to thievery, suspecting foul play by the weasels,
and with the aid of Cyril, they arrange for Toad's escape from prison and
ultimately the clearing of his good name.
Much
of the charm of the Mr. Toad segment
is derived not only from the inventive sight gags used in the film but also from
Rathbone's humorous narration. He
adds a twist of British dry wit to the proceedings, infusing the light Disney
animation style with class and style. It
makes for a seamless and harmonious match. Also notably, Toad is voiced by Eric Blore, a great character
actor from the old Astaire-Rogers musicals, and his flustered mannerisms are
absolutely pitch-perfect for Toad.
As
if the wild rides of Toad weren't enough, the second half of this film presents
a timeless adaptation of Washington Irving's perennial Halloween favorite, The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This
segment is entirely narrated (and sung) by Der Bingle himself, Bing Crosby.
While his casual, laidback demeanor may seem strange for a
"ghost" story, Bing Crosby is actually extremely good as the narrator.
He brings a great sense of fun to the lackey but lovable Ichabod Crane,
and his Headless Horseman song within this segment is one of the film's
highlights.
As
the familiar story goes, Ichabod Crane is the new schoolmaster in the town of
Sleepy Hollow. Katrina, the local
beauty, catches his eye one day, and he decides to woo her.
However, he has a major rival for her affections in the brawny Brom
(clearly the inspiration for the character Gaston in Disney's later Beauty
& the Beast). The Ichabod
segment follows the humorous courtship ritual between Ichabod and Katrina, with
Brom's futile attempts to intervene.
Brom
gets his revenge, though. On a dark
and stormy All Hallow's Eve, at a town party with most everyone in attendance,
Brom relates the ghostly tale of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.
Ichabod Crane, listening to this ghostly song, starts to let his
imagination get the better of him. This
highly entertaining song could almost be considered the highlight of the Ichabod
segment, except that it is soon followed by the film's most famous sequence -
Ichabod's ride home through the woods and his ghastly encounter with none other
than the Headless Horseman himself!
This
chase finale is top-notch Disney, combining sly humor with prickly goose bumps.
The Horseman himself is rendered quite powerfully, recalling to mind the
"Night on Bald Mountain" sequence from Fantasia.
And of course, everyone knows how the Halloween tale turns out.
But for those few who do not, I leave you with some words of wisdom from
Der Bingle himself: "Don't try
to figure out a plan, you can't reason with a headless man!"
Video
** ½
The
Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
is presented in its original full-frame Technicolor format.
The colors are as bright and cheerful as ever, though the print used for
the transfer, which contains a copious amount of dust and debris, could have
used some clean-up work. There are
traces of color density fluctuations as well, as is typical in these older cel-animated
films. Otherwise, the picture
quality is clear and detailed, and the transfer is decent.
Audio
**
The
film is presented in a monaural format. The
sound is a little scratchy and strains mildly at the upper registers but is
otherwise serviceable.
There
are several songs in the film - a very short intro theme song, one in the Mr.
Toad segment, and several sung by Bing Crosby in the Ichabod
segment with accompaniment by the Rhythmaires.
Features
**
The
extra features on this disc are geared primarily towards children.
There is a sing-along to the "Merrily Song" from the Mr.
Toad segment. The Ichabod segment has its own storybook, which children can either
read on their own or choose to have a narrator read for them.
A
bonus cartoon, Lonesome Ghosts,
features Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy as ghostbusters trying to clean up
a haunted house. They eventually
scare away the ghosts by pretending to be ghosts themselves!
Lastly,
there is a trivia game. For every
question kids answer correctly about the Mr.
Toad segment, a cute little toy car icon will inch further along an animated
country path towards Toad Hall. Each
wrong question results in a flat tire; answer four questions incorrectly and the
game is over. Answer fifteen
questions correctly, and the car reaches Toad Hall!
Here is the best part - winning the game unlocks an easter egg, a bonus
cartoon! It's a famous Disney
cartoon, too, 1952's Susie the Little Blue Coupe, narrated by Sterling Holloway (and
directed by Clyde Geronimi). It is
well worth winning this fairly easy trivial game to see this cartoon!
Summary: