Two classic works of children's' literature are presented in this animated double-header from the Disney folks. First up is a splendid adaptation of The Wind In The Willows (by Kenneth Grahame); the second half features a slightly tedious but climactically quite creepy rendition of The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow (by Washington Irving). From the point-of-view of animation, the film is absolutely gorgeous, with richly designed characters and places and seamless movement. From the point-of-view of entertainment, the film is generally charming despite losing its way during the mid-section of the Sleepy Hollow segment.

Toad of Toad Hall is an extravagant creature whose obsessive interest in adventurous pursuits threatens to cost him his stately home. His friends Ratty, Mole and Badger try to help him put his affairs in order, but to little avail. When Toad is falsely imprisoned for car theft, Toad Hall falls into the hands of a bunch of unscrupulous weasels and the devious Mr Winky. Reinstating Toad Hall to its rightful owner rests on the heroes snatching a deed that proves Toad's innocence....

Ichabod Crane, an odd-looking school master, arrives in the peaceful community of Sleepy Hollow to begin work in the local school. He catches the eye of the village beauty Katrina, but this proves mighty irritating for the local hunk Brom Bones. After trying various schemes to get rid of Ichabod, Brom finally hits upon the idea of scaring him out of town by telling the story of the Headless Horseman that roams the nearby woods. Then one night, poor Ichabod personally comes face to face with the ghostly horseman....

Each section is narrated by a big star - the Mr Toad half is brilliantly told by Basil Rathbone, while Bing Crosby uses his soothing, absorbing tone to narrate the Ichabod Crane section. Overall The Wind In The Willows part is the better of the two sections. It has many fabulously funny touches (Cyril, the Yorkshire accented horse, in particular has some great moments) and is vibrantly exciting. The climax, in which the heroes attempt to seize a deed that proves Toad as the rightful owner of Toad Hall, contains moments that are ingeniously funny in the best Disney tradition. The Sleepy Hollow section starts promisingly, but the mid-section becomes repetitive and tedious. Having said that, the finale in which Ichabod flees from the Headless Horseman is absolutely great. The crescendo of dramatic music and the foreboding colours and forest silhouettes make the sequence genuinely hair-raising. On the whole, The Adventures Of Ichabod And Mr Toad is an entertaining and pleasing-to-the-eye film with a sufficient variety of pleasures to keep kids and adults alike engrossed.

I guess you describe this Walt Disney classic as a cartoon/cartoon. Two separate stories done to fill out one barely over an hour film. After 63 years it still has enough magic to entertain.

Why Disney reversed the order of The Adventures Of Ichabod and Mr. Toad I've not figured out since the Mr. Toad story comes first. Basil Rathbone narrates this part and Eric Blore is delightful as that rascally scamp J. Thaddeus Toad who has the finest estate on riverbank. But he's a spendthrift and really needs a keeper. Which his friends the badger, the rabbit and the mole supply.

Blore reached back to his own career in interpreting Toad and I think Disney and his staff of animators must have seen him in The Road To Zanzibar and his character of Bates the valet to The Lone Wolf in that series. In Zanzibar Blore has a brief but memorable part as an eccentric millionaire who sells Crosby and Hope and diamond mine, but he's also the family idiot and he has no mines to sell or rights to sell them. And seeing how his Toad character escapes from the law reminds me so much of Bates making fools of the law in helping Warren William outwit them.

Washington Irving's Legend Of Sleepy Hollow is the basis for Ichabod and Bing Crosby narrates and sings with Jud Conlon's Rhythmaires backing him up and occasionally providing a voice. Ichabod Crane the new schoolmaster is cutting in on Brom Bones and his wooing of the richest girl in town Katrina Von Tassel. We all know how Brom Bones got Ichabod out of town on a stormy Halloween night, but you have to see the fine animation that Disney did for this film to really appreciate it.

Bing gets three songs to sing in this film, Ichabod Crane, Katrina, and The Headless Horseman. The last is really memorable and a great song for kids of all ages on a Halloween night.

Remember folks, you can't reason with a headless man.