Michael's Movie Grade: A+
Year Released: 1949
History
With The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, we are going to take our last look at Disney's Package films. The Package films were a series of Disney Features that were really just a collection of shorts put together instead of having a singular feature length story. These films made up the majority of Disney's feature film output after Bambi and before Cinderella. The reason this trend started was for multiple reasons. One of these reasons was because Disney was having financial problems due to the poor box office performances of Pinocchio, Fantasia, The Reluctant Dragon, and Bambi. The package films were cheaper to make than those films were, so they often turned up a bigger profit. Another reason was when WW2 started many Disney animators had been drafted, and the studio was making films for the U.S. government. So this film in a way marks the end of an era of Disney history.
Both the stories used in this film had been previously planned to be feature length animated stories. In fact Walt had bought the rights to make a film based off Wind and the Willows in 1938, after the success of the studios first feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. However even though a script had been written by 1941, the previous two reasons for the package films, made the film be put on hold. Around 1945 the studio had begun to experiment with the idea of making a feature film based off of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, however the story just did not lend itself to a whole feature film. So with the success of the package films, it was decided that these should be put together to make one feature film.
It was originally planned for Jiminy Cricket to return again, as he did in Fun and Fancy Free. He would have introduced The Wind in the Willows segment. However this idea would be dropped so that the segment would be narrated by actor Basil Rathbone, who at this time was most known for playing the famous detective Sherlock Holmes in very popular series of films. To contrast with Rathbone's very British voice, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, would be narrated by popular corner Bing Crosby, who had already had himself, a really good film career, with "the road movies", along side Bob Hope, and quite a few other big hits, such as The Bells of Saint Mary.
Like the other package films, there would be multiple directors for this film, that were assigned different segments. All of these directors would be Disney regulars. James Algar would be a director for The Wind and the Willows segment, Clyde Geronimi, would be a director on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Segment, and Jack Kinney would be a director on both.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad was a box office success, and was very well liked by critics (especially compared to other package films). Many critics said that this was a return to form for Disney. However both audinces and critics were anxious to see another feature length animated story from Disney. Well in fact their next feature would be just that.
Review
Again since this film is really a collection of two shorts I will review each short separately.
The Wind and The Willows: Excellent cartoon. Here you will see some of the best character animation Disney had done since Bambi. The real treat of this cartoon is how the characters truly come to life. This is done by great animation, voice acting and writing all working together. This short is not constantly hilarious, but when it is, it is top notch cartoon humor. Also the scene of Toad's escape (hugely animated by the great Ward Kimball), and the heist scene towards the end of the short are definitely the highlights of this cartoon. They are staged fantastically and are great film making by any standard. Not to give too much away but, the ending of this cartoon differs from that of the book, and honestly I like the cartoon's ending more. Grade: A+
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Another excellent cartoon. This short features in it some of the greatest slapstick humor the studio ever did. Again while this cartoon is not always hilarious, when in it is as good as it gets. The scene at the Halloween dance (well the dancing part anyway), and the late night ride are both hilarious. However the late night ride isn't only funny it can be quite scary too, thanks to Wolfgang Reitherman's excellent animation of the headless horseman. However while it can get scary, it never gets too scary to where it loses any of it's great humor. Bing Crosby's almost tongue and cheek narration only adds to the great spirit of this cartoon. Grade: A+
Overall this is probally the best of Disney's Package films, and a real treat.
Film Credits
Directors: Jack Kinney, Clyde Geronimi, James Algar
Based off the books The Wind and the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.
Writers: Erdman Penner, Ted Sears, Joe Rinaldi, Homer Brightman, Winston Hibler, Harry Reeves
Voices: Eric Blore (Toad), Colin Campbell (Mole), Campbell Grant (Angus), J. Pat O'Malley (Cyril), Claude Allister (Rat), Ollie Wallace (Winky), John McLeish (as John Ployardt) (Prosecutor), Leslie Denison (Judge, First Weasel), Edmond Stevens (Second Weasel), The Rhythmaires (Singers), Basil Rathbone (Narrator), Bing Crosby (Narrator)
Producer: Walt Disney
Music: Oliver Wallace, Joseph Dubin, Ken Darby, Al Teeter
Songwriters: Don Raye, Gene de Paul, Frank Churchill, Charles Wolcott, Larry Morey, Ray Gilbert
Production Supervisor: Ben Sharpsteen
Assistant Director: Jack Bruner, Ted Sebern
Sound Department: Robert O. Cook, C.O. Slyfield, James MacDonald
Color and Styling: Mary Blair, Don Da Gradi, Claude Coats, John Hench
Effects Animators: George Rowley, Jack Boyd
Special Effects: Ub Iwerks
Background Artists: Art Riley, Ray Huffine, Brice Mack, Merle Cox, Dick Anthony
Layout Artists: Thor Putnam, Tom Codrick, Al Zinnen, Charles Philippi, Lance Nolley, Hugh Hennesy
Supervising Animators: Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball
Assistant Animator: Iwao Takamoto
Animators: Marc Davis, Hugh Fraser, Don Lusk, Fred Moore, Harvey Toombs, John Sibley, Hal King, Hal Ambro, Edwin Aardal, Al Bertino, Les Clark, Volus Jones, Bill Justice, Rudy Larriva, Eric Larson, Murray McClellan, Ken O'Brien, Retta Scott, Henry Tanous, Judge Whitaker, Marvin Woodward, Robert W. Youngquist
Resources Used
http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon-characters/27-Adventures-Of-Ichabod-And-Mister-To
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041094/?ref_=ttsnd_snd_tt
http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2013/03/16/disney-53-week-11-the-adventures-of-ichabod-and-mr-toad
-Michael J. Ruhland
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