The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

Directors:

James Algar
Clyde Geronimi
(more)

Writers:

Washington Irving (story)
Kenneth Grahame (story)
(more)

Release Date:

5 October 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

HEAR BING SING: "THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN" "KATRINA" "ICHABOD CRANE" (original print media ad - all caps)

Plot:

Two animated adaptions of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "The Wind in the Willows."

Plot Keywords:

Headless Horseman | Car | Grand Theft Auto | Teacher | Based On Short Story

Awards:

Won Golden Globe.

Cast

Bing Crosby	...	Narrator (segment "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow")
Basil Rathbone	...	Narrator (segment "The Wind in the Willows")
Eric Blore	...	Mr. Toad (voice)
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Cyril Proudbottom (voice) (as Pat O'Malley)
John McLeish	...	Prosecutor (voice) (as John Ployardt)
Colin Campbell	...	Mole (voice)
Campbell Grant	...	Angus MacBadger (voice)
Claud Allister	...	Rat (voice) (as Claude Allister)
The Rhythmaires	...	Additional voices (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Oliver Wallace	...	Mr. Winky (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
James Algar
Clyde Geronimi
Jack Kinney

Writing credits
Washington Irving		(story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow")
Kenneth Grahame		(story "The Wind in the Willows")
Erdman Penner		(written by) &
Winston Hibler		(written by) &
Joe Rinaldi		(written by) &
Ted Sears		(written by) &
Homer Brightman		(written by) &
Harry Reeves		(written by)

Film Editing by
John O. Young

Production Management
Ben Sharpsteen	....	production supervisor

Sound Department
Robert O. Cook	....	sound recordist
C.O. Slyfield	....	sound director

Visual Effects by
Jack Boyd	....	effects animator
Ub Iwerks	....	special processes
George Rowley	....	effects animator

Animation Department
Hal Ambro	....	character animator
Dick Anthony	....	background artist
Mary Blair	....	color and styling
Claude Coats	....	color and styling
Tom Codrick	....	layout artist
Merle Cox	....	background artist
Don DaGradi	....	color and styling (as Don da Gradi)
Marc Davis	....	character animator
Hugh Fraser	....	character animator
John Hench	....	color and styling
Hugh Hennesy	....	layout artist
Ray Huffine	....	background artist
Ollie Johnston	....	directing animator
Milt Kahl	....	directing animator
Ward Kimball	....	directing animator
Hal King	....	character animator
John Lounsbery	....	directing animator
Don Lusk	....	character animator
Brice Mack	....	background artist
Fred Moore	....	character animator
Lance Nolley	....	layout artist
Charles Philippi	....	layout artist
Thor Putnam	....	layout artist
Wolfgang Reitherman	....	directing animator
Art Riley	....	background artist
John Sibley	....	character animator
Frank Thomas	....	directing animator
Harvey Toombs	....	character animator
Al Zinnen	....	layout artist
Eric Larson	....	animator (uncredited)
Retta Scott	....	animator (uncredited)

Music Department
Ken Darby	....	vocal arranger
Joseph Dubin	....	orchestrator
Al Teeter	....	music editor
Oliver Wallace	....	musical director

Other crew
Walt Disney	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Walt Disney Pictures

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (BVHE) (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Walt Disney Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Ichabod and Mr. Toad (USA) (promotional title)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (USA) (TV title)
Two Fabulous Characters (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

68 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-3 (2006) | USA:Approved (certificate #12133) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1971)

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

Disney's original title for the movie was, "Two Fabulous Characters." Apparently, the only reason these two stories are linked together is the fact that their main characters are "prone to disaster".

Goofs:

Continuity: When Mr. Toad first sees a motorcar, his trousers change from grey to orange between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: If you were asked to choose the most fabulous character in English literature, who would it be? Robin Hood? King Arthur? Becky Sharp? Sherlock Holmes? Oliver Twist, perhaps? Well, any one of them would be an excellent choice. Still, for the most fabulous character of all, I would nominate...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Soundtrack:

Merrily on Our Way

One of the most underrated animated films ever

Finally Walt Disney Home Video has got their act together and released "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" in its entirety (the two stories have been available in separate forms for quite some time). I'll admit that the clunky title doesn't inspire much more enthusiasm than it did back in 1949 (the film tanked, from what I've heard), but I hope some people will give this a chance just based on the Disney name. "The Wind in the Willows", narrated by Basil Rathbone, is a delightfully comic adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic novel, keeping the proper British tone (children may not get some of the UK slang used) while still remaining a lot of fun. The highlight is the courtroom scene, featuring a bullying prosecutor (voiced by Disney animator/voice artist John McLeish, who also narrated the Goofy "How to" shorts) going toe-to-toe with a wonderfully insolent Toad (a great performance by Eric Blore). "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", based on a story (not a novel, as the film suggests) by Washington Irving, is even better, making the most of its American colonial setting with some especially interesting layouts and backgrounds. The humor found in the rivalry between schoolteacher Ichabod Crane and local roughneck Brom Bones for the hand of the manipulative tease ("coquette", in the film) Katrina von Tassel is some of Disney's best. The Halloween sequence leading up to the Headless Horseman's appearance is the most skillfully directed piece of animation I have ever seen outside of "Fantasia", conveying a magnificent sense of dread through both sound (the chilling echo of whistling and laughter, crickets chanting Ichabod's name, frogs croaking "headless horseman" over and over) and image (fireflies inside a tree trunk forming the eyes of a shrouded ghost, Ichabod's sweaty, nervous terror, the subtle cloud effect of hands closing over the moon). This is far more frightening than any horror film I have seen. All in all, a smart (listen to the narration and learn some new vocabulary words) film in every way. One final note: I have not seen this film in years (I saw it plenty of times on The Disney Channel during the 1980s), and I noticed the many scenes involving both alcohol and weapons, particularly in "The Wind and the Willows" segment. I accepted the scenes back then as a child and had no problem with them now, thanks to the general tone of the picture. Although the concept of Toad being restrained from blasting a bayonet-wielding weasel with a shotgun and seeing Toad and his friends running from various flying knives, swords, and axes sounds like something to stay away from, it is all harmless fun. Give it a chance.