The Wind in the Willows

This version of "Wind in the Willows" is superior, by leaps and bounds, to the 1949 Disney version. Not only is it much more faithful to the novel as an adaptation, the animation actually looks better, and closer to many of the illustrations I've seen in different versions of "Wind in the Willows." Roddy McDowall, who you might remember from "Return of the King," is back as the water rat. Jose Ferrer is great as the gruff Badger. Best of all is the looney Charles Nelson Reilly as Toad. This guy has a great voice for cartoons, and his voice fits perfectly for the energetic and crazed personality of Toad, certainly more than the British actor used in the Disney version. I watched this as a little kid and enjoyed it. Watch it with your children, for it is one of Rankin-Bass's greatest TV specials, and a classic of made-for-TV children's animation.

"Wind in the Willows" is one of the all-time classic children's books, no doubt about it. And this is quite a good production, made (I believe) for Saturday morning television. I was about 4 or 5 when this was first aired, we've taped it and had it for the ensuing 15 or 16 years. Even aside from the hilarious 80's commercials (remember how popular claymation was back then?), it's still a treat to pull out the old tape and run it through the VCR again. One of the keys to the cartoon's success was the excellent musical score, with some truly memorable songs (particularly the wistful title tune which perfectly captures the yearning spirit of Rattie). And there's a great sequence with the Seafaring Rat seducing Rattie with tales of the far-off wonders of the world...it gets right to the soul of every adventurous Englishman, divided between the serene comforts of home and the wide world beyond (it's almost a David Lean moment here). The animation is admittedly not up to Disney's caliber, but then neither was Disney at the time this was made (it would be a few years before "Little Mermaid" signified their renewal). Sometimes the drawings are a bit flat, but other times they're wonderfully evocative. All in all, I recommend this if you can find it--I really don't know if it's on video or not although it probably says so on this site. Oh, and one last thing: the voices are dead-on perfect, especially Roddy McDowell as the Rat (just found out it was him recently, but it makes perfect sense in retrospect. There have been many versions of "Wind in the Willows"--a stop-motion production done for PBS in the 90's, a lushly drawn cartoon introduced by Vanessa Redgrave, even a live action version starring the Monty Python crew, which is worth watching...and of course the Disney cartoon which is a big departure from the spirit and story of the book in many ways, but contains that irrestible Disney charm and enthusiasm. Still, in some ways, this remains my favorite production, both for personal reasons (it evokes as much nostalgia for me as Teddy Ruxpin and Mr. Potato Head) and because it is the movie which most lives up to the spiritual undertones in Graham's story.

...Well maybe I am a bit biased because I have such a ton of nostalgia for this movie. But I remember being six years old and constantly borrowing this film off my aunt, until she just let me keep it one day. I'm 25 now and all the songs and dialogue have stuck with me vividly ever since. The title song is beautiful, and the rest of the soundtrack is witty and catchy. The animation is perfectly acceptable and has a charm to it, but the main strength of this film is the great voice cast. Whenever I think of Toad, this is the one that comes to mind, wonderfully voiced by Charles Reilly. I thought he was hilarious and lively in his arrogance. Everyone else is just as wonderfully cast in their roles; special mention to Roddy Mcdowall, who is so heartwarming as Ratty. Badger is also a standout, though he is helped by his own song; "I hate company" which is a riot! I honestly can't say enough good things about this film! IMO it captures the spirit of the book best of all the adaptations I've seen. It has a real whimsy to it, and as I said before the theme song by Judy Collins is just beautiful and probably contributes a great deal of it's nostalgic charm for me. You could do far worse than watch this...I highly recommend it if you can get your hands on it. Definitely needs a DVD release pronto. And a soundtrack while they're at it!!

Some of the writers in this thread disparaging the animation quality of this 1987 made-for-TV television version of 'The Wind in the Willows' thought it was made by Disney Productions, but of course it was produced by Rankin-Bass, who brought us 'Frosty the Snowman' in the '60s, and so much more. I'd have to say their animation quality in '87 has come a long way since 'Frosty'! Especially in the lush background illustrations and depth of texture and color mixtures.

This is clearly the truest-to-the-book, the intent-of-the-themes, and the animals' characterizations production of this title to date. I can't believe I was 27 years old when this came out and I presumably first watched it that year or possibly a little later, but I might as well have been 10 years old, for this version has really stuck with me (I'm now 45)! A large part of it was the great songs which have stayed in my head over the years, and, yes, especially the (someone said) 'wistful' theme song. Very soothing in sound and lyrics! Roddy McDowall was perfect as the voice of Ratty and Charles Nelson Reilly as Toad was a masterstroke of casting. For me, it really doesn't get any better than this version because I found that the animation and background settings so often matched a lot of the imagery I already had in my head from reading the book when I was about 13.

I believe I saw it twice more in ensuing years, but unfortunately did not make a tape off of TV, so I am now hoping to find it again by chance in some flea market 'bargain bin'. But I would like nothing better than to be able to see it again!

"Wind in the Willows," a 1987 tv movie was brilliantly made, brilliantly casted, and was a departure from more commercialistic cartoons of its day.

This film starred Roddy McDowell and Jose Ferrer in the roles of Ratty and Badger, respectively in this children's classic. Whereas other cartoons of the '80's promoted products like action games (Q-bert) or toys (GI Joe) this cartoon movie does none of the above and is as well done as a Disney film.

The great performances from the actors are given an assist from a memorable score with a classic "Wind in the Willows" theme song: "Soon, soon you will forget," it goes, "The wind in the willow turns frolic to fret." There's also a song on Mr.Toad that's pretty catchy.

But what's best about this film is that it stay pretty true to the book "Wind in the Willows." Often times, a movie made from a book, especially a cartoon eschews the book to a degree that renders the translation unrecognizable from its original form.

But this version, enjoyable for kids or adults does not. It shows off the characters of Badger, Mole, Ratty, and Toad as representative of certain virtues or failings, much to the author's original intent. Toad is rich but wasteful as well as boastful; Ratty is full of wanderlust; Badger is unsociable but brave and smart; Mole is industrious and friendly. And the Wildwood is forever scary, forboding, mysterious-- everything a forest of fiction is supposed to be.

But together, the characters find they are inseparable-- in some way or another each character needs the others-- and this cartoon movie brings that out. There is a sense of community there among them, to the point that we non-animated humans could learn a little something from these characters!

True, the quality of animation isn't exactly Disney's finest, and some of the human cartoon characters are annoying to watch--especially when up against the animals, but viewers will ignore that in a heartbeat.

I saw this first when I was ten years old, I watched it again when I was 14, and if I still had it on video I would watch it again today. One of the best-- including Disney-- cartoons I have ever seen.