The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
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| The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad | |
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| Directed by | Jack Kinney Clyde Geronimi James Algar |
| Produced by | Walt Disney |
| Written by | Homer Brightman Winston Hibler Erdman Penner Harry Reeves Joe Rinaldi Ted Sears |
| Starring | Bing Crosby Eric Blore Basil Rathbone Pat O'Malley Colin Campbell John McLeish Campbell Grant Claud Allister Leslie Denison Edmond Stevens Oliver Wallace The Rhythmaires |
| Music by | Oliver Wallace |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures, Inc. |
| Release date(s) | October 5, 1949 |
| Running time | 68 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is an animated feature produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on October 5, 1949 by RKO Radio Pictures. It is the eleventh animated feature in the Disney animated features canon as well as the final of the "Package films" that Disney made during the 1940s.
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[edit] Segments
There are two segments in the film, both loosely based upon popular works of literature:
- The adventures of Mr. Toad, based on Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows (narrated by Basil Rathbone). In this story, the charismatic J. Thaddeus Toad, Esq.,the happy-go-lucky upper class proprietor of Toad Hall who believes in fun and adventure, has built a great deal of debt from disregarding the financial responsibilities of his insatiable love for transportation vehicles, such as the newfangled motor car. His friends Mole, Water Rat, and Angus MacBadger, try to help him when his mania leads to the loss of the deed to Toad Hall and a charge of car theft. Toad is thrown in jail. Later, Toad's loyal horse Cyril Proudbottom pays a visit and inspires him to escape, which he does, only to learn that Winkie the tavernkeeper and several criminal weasels have taken over Toad Hall. With his friends' aide, Toad redeems his good name by recovering the deed to the estate from the very hands of its captors. Toad promises to reform, but is shown relapsing by recklessly flying a 1908 biplane.
- The story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, based on Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (narrated by Bing Crosby). The gangly and lanky Ichabod Crane is the new schoolmaster in Sleepy Hollow. His somewhat odd behaviors make him the ridicule of the rambunctious and robust town bully Brom Bones. Despite his unattractive appearance, he quickly proves to be a ladies' man who charms the local town beauty, Katrina Van Tassel, a beautiful young daughter of a wealthy farmer, much to Brom Bones's displeasure. Ichabod has his eye on the Van Tassel wealth. After a number of comically unsuccessful efforts by Brom to dispose of Ichabod, the situation changes when Brom decides to take advantage of Ichabod's strong belief in superstitions, to which end Brom musically tells the tale of the Headless Horseman to frighten the teacher. That Halloween night, Crane's lonely ride home becomes exceedingly frightening because of his exposure to the possibility of encountering the ghost. The atmosphere of fear increases intensity until it breaks the tension at a false alarm, whereupon Ichabod and his horse laugh hysterically in relief. Immediately, the true Headless Horseman appears, laughing maniacally. Then follows a spectacular chase scene wherein the visually impressive Horseman pursues Ichabod with wild abandon, only to be deterred when Ichabod crosses a bridge near the local Dutch graveyard. The Horseman then uses his own severed head (represented as a fiery Jack-o-lantern, as if to suggest that the Horseman is Brom in disguise) to kill Ichabod. Later, this portion of the film was separated from the companion Mr. Toad film, screened, aired, marketed, and sold separately as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow beginning in 1958.
[edit] Production
During the 1940s, much of Disney's feature output was made up of so-called "package films". Beginning with Saludos Amigos in 1943, Disney ceased making feature films with a single narrative, due to the higher costs for such films, as well as the drain on the studios resources caused by World War II, even though almost all of these package films were fairly successful. Instead, Disney features would have two or more stories linked together through a variety of means. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad was the last of these "package" films, and Disney returned to single narrative features with 1950's Cinderella.
[edit] Worldwide release dates
- U.K.: February 16, 1950
- Mexico: October 10, 1951
- Japan: August 16, 1952
- Portugal: October 14, 1955
- Syria: December 13, 1975
[edit] Subsequent usage and home video release
For many years following its original release, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad was not available for viewing in its original form. The two segments had been split up by Disney in the 1950s and were usually seen as individual items. When first released on home video, the Ichabod segment was released as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the Toad segment as The Wind in the Willows, taking their names from the original stories.
Some of the scenes were cut when the stories were split up. For example:
- The Wind in the Willows
- Part of the introduction was cut because of the new music added.
- The part where McBadger confronts the angry townspeople who are suing Toad.
- The part where McBadger, Rat and Mole are reopening Toad's case.
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- The only thing that was cut was the introduction of Ichabod Crane.
In 1978, The Wind in the Willows segment was re-released to theaters under the new title The Madcap Adventures of Mr. Toad to accompany Disney's feature film Hot Lead and Cold Feet.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad received its first complete home video release in 1992, when it was released by Walt Disney Home Video on laserdisc. A subsequent complete release on VHS followed in 1999 (and was the last video release in the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection line), with a DVD appearing in 2000.
Mr. Toad, the Weasels, Ichabod, Katrina, the Headless Horseman and Tilda were featured as guests in House of Mouse, as audience members/attendees and in various spots.
[edit] Merchandising
In 2000 the Walt Disney Gold Classics Collection, which is a collection of officially released Disney statue and pin merchandise (not to be confused with the Walt Disney Classics Collection, which was a video series of Disney animated features in the 80s and early 90s), released 3,500 limited edition statue sets of the two main Sleepy Hollow characters Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. The figures were originally sold for $695 together as a set. The pair have since been retired from the collection and its value has risen dramatically each year.
[edit] Voice cast
- Bing Crosby - Narrator ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow") and Brom Bones
- Eric Blore - J. Thaddeus Toad
- Basil Rathbone - Narrator ("The Wind In the Willows")
- J. Pat O'Malley - Cyril Proudbottom *Colin Campbell - Mole
- John McLeish - Prosecutor
- Campbell Grant - Angus MacBadger
- Claud Allister - Water Rat
- Leslie Denison - Judge; Weasel #1
- Edmond Stevens - Weasel #2
- Oliver Wallace - Winkie
- The Rhythmaires
[edit] Directing animators
- Frank Thomas (Ichabod Crane)
- Ollie Johnston (The District Attorney, Ichabod Crane)
- John Lounsbery
- Wolfgang Reitherman (Headless Horseman chase scene)
- Milt Kahl
- Ward Kimball
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad at the Big Cartoon DataBase
- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad at the Internet Movie Database
