The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad


This is the last of the package films of the 1940s which were produced because of the financial troubles that the Disney Studio was enduring because of the second World War, a cartoonist strike, and a pile of debt. The film is an animated version of two classic stores for children - the first is Wind in the Willows, in the second is the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I have never seen the first because this film was split up after its release, and both parts were re-released, but I have seen and was traumatized by the second. The first is I have to say a very charming version of a story from Wind in the Willows, how Mr Toad goes to prison and loses his home and eventually gets it back. Which basically he steals his home back, just not really a lesson that children should be learning - but the animation and the acting is charming. The second Story - the end of Sleepy Hollow,  I clearly remember the last 2 minutes of the story and how terrifying it is. It's not as terrifying now that I'm an adult, but I could see why it could leave an impression on a young child. I think it was played as a film reel during one Halloween party when I was maybe six or seven. The only other notable part about it is how strange the animated Ichabod Crane is, he looks very odd, and I always thought that even when I was six or seven. Both parts are delightfully narrated by a Basil Rathborne and Bing Crosby. A lot of Disney movies from this time period are really boring, like "So Dear to my Heart," but both parts of this film hold your attention and the last part can terrify children. But I think children should sometimes watch things that scare them, but perhaps that's an unpopular opinion. The only other thing that is of note is that while the animation is charming, you can tell that costs were cut to make the film. The backgrounds look dull in comparison to the baroqueness that is the backgrounds of Pinocchio. And even though the sequence as I have said a few times already is terrifying - the Horseman scene doesn't have the same level of creativity in its animation as other, Disney films had - for example the pink elephant seen in Dumbo or the devil on the Mountain scene in Fantasia. It seems, this is the moment where the studio lost a bit of its creativity to focus on commercial success. But if you like Disney - you'll like this.

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