The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

“Everyone want’s Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.” The last of Disney’s package films, _The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad_ delivers two fantastical tales of adventure. Based on _The Wind and the Willows_, the first story follow an eccentric toad who’s wrongfully convicted of stealing a motor car, and must break out of prison in order to prove his innocent. And the second story, inspired by _The Legend of Sleepy Hollow_, follows a bookish school teacher named Ichabod Crane whose pursuit of a fair young lady leads to a showdown with a demonic Headless Horseman. Most of the effort seems to have been put into the Toad section, as its characters are more fleshed out, has better animation, and exciting action scenes. The Ichabod part however, is mostly narrated with voice-over, has very crude animation, and its story is paper-thin. Not one of Disney’s best efforts, _The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad_ is a very uneven, trying to merge two tonally and structurally different features.

Well this is a trick one to watch..... A person can criticize this film lightly. After all, the film is divided into two parts, both of which represent a period of change for Disney in its context. The stories are based on classic works of literature and develop a particular historiography. I particularly see this film as a curious way of studying cinema and animation. Its characteristics are very unique and represent an identity of that period. The lines and music show this in a very discreet way. However, I recommend thinking about how this film particularly influenced Steven Spielberg (the first part was clearly where he removed the Indiana Jones scene) and Tim Burton (mainly in the final scene of the second part). Therefore, it is clear that the film has aged poorly, but it has many good ideas taken here and its influence is gigantic, so it is up to everyone to see this film and express their opinions without being anachronistic about it.