Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1983


The Wind in the Willows (1983 film)

Buy The Wind in the Willows (1983 film) now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'The Wind in the Willows' is a 1983 British stop motion animated film produced by Cosgrove Hall Films (the same team behind Truckers) for Thames Television and aired on the ITV network. The film is based on Kenneth Grahame's classic 1908 novel 'The Wind in the Willows'. It won a BAFTA award and an international Emmy award.

Between 1984 and 1990, Cosgrove-Hall subsequently made a 52-episode television series, with the film serving as a pilot. The film's music and songs are composed by Keith Hopwood, late of Herman's Hermits, and Malcolm Rowe. The Stone Roses guitarist John Squire worked on the series as a set artist. Voice actors include David Jason, Ian Carmichael, and Michael Hordern.

Plot



Bored of spring cleaning, Mole leaves his underground home and goes goes for a walk in the countryside. He soon comes to the river where he meets and befriends Ratty, who lives on the riverbank. Ratty is eager for Mole to have new experiences and takes him on a journey down the river in his boat. While having a picnic, they notice Badger in the undergrowth. Rat invites him to join them, but he coldly declines and leaves the scene. Ratty reflects that Badger is affable but reclusive, not caring for society and social events. Mole asks where he lives, and Ratty explains that Badger's domain, the Wild Wood, is not a safe place for animals such as themselves. Mole asks what kind of creatures live there that make it so dangerous, but is interrupted by the arrival of the Chief Weasel and his henchman. While the Chief distracts them with pleasantries, his henchman steals a jar of potted meat. Ratty then warns Mole that, though the weasels might seem "all right in a way", they are not to be trusted. He then takes Mole to visit Toad at his grand residence, Toad Hall. Toad invites them to join him on a road trip in his latest source of amusement, a garishly-decorated gypsy caravan, with his horse Alfred pulling the vehicle. On the group's first camp out for the night, Ratty quietly reminisces about his home on the river, but declines Mole's suggestion that they return. The following day, disaster strikes as a passing motorcar spooks Alfred and sends the caravan careering into a ditch. Toad impulsively decides that motor cars are his calling in life, and he derides the "nasty, common, canary-coloured cart" as antiquated, proclaiming that motorcars are the only way to travel. Ratty and Mole can do nothing but look on as Toad buys and quickly crashes his cars one after another. Summer and autumn go by, and by winter, Ratty and Mole have had enough and decide to call on Badger to see if he can curb Toad's enthusiasm for reckless driving. Ratty says it's too late in the day to go to the Wild Wood, so Mole sets out alone to find Badger after Rat falls asleep in front of the fire.

Mole reaches the border of the Wild Wood and encounters a weasel on the road. Forgetting Rattys advice never to trust the weasels, he asks for directions to Badger's house and is sent the wrong way. As night falls, he becomes lost and confused by the strange sights and sounds of the woods. The weasels begin stalking him, and the terrified Mole stumbles over tree roots in his desperation to get away. Lying exhausted in the snow, he calls out for Ratty, who is awakened by the crackling fire back at the riverbank. He reads a note left by Mole, explaining where he has gone. Fearing the worst, Ratty takes a brace of pistols and a cudgel and bravely enters into the Wild Wood. After some time searching, he finds a weakened Mole, who has literally stumbled across Badger's house, having tripped on Badger's door scraper buried in the snow. Initially angry at being disturbed, Badger is pleasantly surprised to see that it's Ratty and Mole. He invites them inside and they warm themselves by the fire, discussing Toad's incorrigible passion for frivolous driving. The next morning they visit Toad Hall and Badger interrogates Toad, but Toad still refuses to take their advice to stay away from motorcars. Confessing that Toad's obsession is worse than he feared, Badger has Toad locked in his bedroom, under close observation by Ratty and Mole. The next day, Toad feigns illness and asks Ratty to fetch a lawyer. Toad then escapes and flags down a passing motorist named Reggie, who continually mistakes him for a frog, and his wife Rosemary. Posing as a fellow motorist, Toad asks them to inspect his "flat crank shaft" and steals their car as soon as they step out of it. Speeding away down the road, he almost collides with a responding constable, who he calls "fat face" as he passes by. Meanwhile, Mole breaks down in tears after he catches the scent of his home on the breeze. Rat feels terrible for not having noticed the signs that Mole was homesick, and he insists that they return to Mole End for Christmas. Some young field mice come carol singing, and Rat and Mole invite them inside for Christmas dinner. When the field mice inform them that Toad has been arrested, the pair become consumed with guilt for their friend.

In the courtroom, the jury box is packed with weasels. The magistrate, Mrs. Carrington-Moss, sentences Toad to "twelve months for the theft, three years for furious driving, and fifteen years for the cheek," with another year added "for being green", a total of twenty years' incarceration. The jailer's daughter feels pity for Toad's unfair punishment and decides to help him escape by disguising him as a washerwoman. Toad uses the disguise to walk out of the prison gates and makes his way to a railway station, where he tricks the train driver into giving him a free ride home on the Train. However, it isn't long until another Train with the police, Reggie and Rosemary, Mrs. Carrington-Moss and the clerk are pursuing him. Toad's identity is discovered by the driver. Toad confesses the truth to the driver, who quickly slows his Train down a little. Toad immediately jumps off and he tumbles down the side of a hill and into a field. Toad then calls in at Ratty's house, where he is told by Mole that the weasels have attacked Badger, thrown him out of Toad Hall, and secured themselves inside. Toad is despondent, but Badger has a plan to take back Toad Hall via a secret tunnel, the existence of which was confided in Badger by Toad's late father. Mole, using Toad's washerwoman disguise and under the instruction of Badger, pays a visit to the weasels and tells them that they will be attacked by an army of bloodthirsty badgers, rats, and toads. The story is false, concocted by badger, but succeeds in destroying the morale of the enemy, as the Chief Weasel places most of his men at the gates and on the walls, which will make retaking Toad Hall from the inside easier. The following night, the friends sneak through the tunnel and surprise the weasels in the banqueting hall. Toad spends most of the battle swinging from the chandeliers, but eventually falls on the Chief Weasel, knocking him unconscious. After victory, Badger, Mole and Ratty settle down and look forward to a peaceful future, until Toad flies overhead in his new "Flying Machine" contraption. Toad's engine suddenly stalls and he crashes into the river. During the end credits, the river bankers are pulling Toad and his machine out of the river.

Behind the scenes



The weasels have a greater role and are considerably more villainous and menacing in this adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's beloved story. The main banqueting hall and grand staircase of Toad Hall were inspired by the ones in Leap Castle in Ireland.

Cast



* Sir David Jason as Toad and the Chief Weasel

* Richard Pearson as Mole

* Ian Carmichael as Ratty

* Sir Michael Hordern as Badger

* Beryl Reid as Mrs Carrington-Moss, the magistrate

* Una Stubbs as the Jailor's daughter and Rosemary, Reggie's wife

* Jonathan Cecil as Reggie, the motorist

* Brian Trueman as Henchman Weasel and various voices

* Allan Bardsley as Alfred the Horse, the Policeman and the Jailer

* Edward Kelsey as the Engine Driver and the Clerk

See also



* 'The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad'

* 'The Wind in the Willows' (1995 film)

* 'The Wind in the Willows' (1996 film)

* 'The Wind in the Willows' (2006 film)

References




Buy The Wind in the Willows (1983 film) now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 1983



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1108542312.