InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

SlyGuy21 The last package film released by Disney delivers, even all these years later. As a kid, the only part I remembered was the Headless Horseman, because it was pure nightmare fuel. I remembered Mr. Toad a little bit, but what I didn't remember was how dark both stories were capable of being. Mr. Toad and Crane aren't your typical Disney protagonists, in fact I don't even think Crane's the hero of his own story. But I'll get to that later, for now, let's focus on Toad.Toad's story revolves around how unpredictable he is. He seems like a nice guy, but once he gets an idea in his head, he goes full force with it, completely disregarding his and his friend's safety. The only real problem I had with his story was when he got trapped underwater with the ball and chain around his ankle. It shows him practically drowning, but he somehow gets out. The problem is that this is done off-screen, so how the heck did he get out of there? Normally I'd shrug that little detail off, but I really am curious how the hell Toad got out of the water. I seriously thought the story would just end with him drowning, which would be a pretty ballsy move, and a serious message. It ends on a happy note though, and it's a fun story.Crane on the other hand, I thought was a gold digger. He only wants to get the girl because she's rich, but I wouldn't say that means he deserves to be decapitated. His story's pretty straight-forward, but the last 15 minutes or so go off the rails and into horror movie territory. The song "Headless Horseman" and the climax with Crane in the woods is still chilling to me, and I'm 21 years old. In the end, both stories are good enough to stand on their own, but they also work as examples of the darker side of Disney.

Michael_Elliott The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)*** (out of 4)This here is a pretty good Disney film that takes two famous stories and adds that magical touch to them. The first story is based on The Wind and the Willows with the second being based around The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD isn't the greatest film to come from Disney but it certainly has enough great animation to make it worth sitting through. It's really strange that the studio would put these two stories together since they're so different and apparently in the years that followed it was the second film that got released on its own. I'd agree that the adaptation of Sleepy Hollow was the better of the two films but at the same time there's some better animation to be found in the first.Again, this is Disney so the animation skills are extremely high and I especially thought that the background work in the first film simply jumped off the screen. This is especially true in the scenes where there's a lot of action moving around in the front. Just take a look at the background and see how much sharp detail is there. The second film also looks beautiful and contains some terrific images and especially the scene where the pumpkin head is thrown towards the camera.Neither short has that much character development and I'd say that the direction of both is rather laid back at times. Still, there's no question that there's some very good vocal work and the animation is top level.

Wizard-8 I feel I should confess that I have never read the original book "The Wind in the Willows", nor have I read the "Sleepy Hollow" story. So I can't say how accurate to their source material these two animated adaptations are. But at least I can judge the movie on its own merits.First, I'll get to the negative side of the movie. Each story runs a little more than half an hour, and that seems to be the wrong choice for both stories. With "Willows", it's not enough time. The story seems very rushed, and there's little chance for character development. With "Hollow", the running time seems to be a little much. There are several instances when the thin story comes to a screeching halt for an extended period.However, despite the flawed storytelling, the movie is fairly enjoyable. "Willows" has a lot of comedy and action that will please both kids and adults. "Hollow" takes a little time to get going, but it does finally deliver some effective spooky moments, especially if you watch it on Halloween as I did. Both stories are well animated, and each have some interesting touches by the three credited directors. While the movie is no classic, it does provide enough entertainment and interest for those in an easygoing mood, especially if you also have an interest in animation.

John T. Ryan ONE MAY SEARCH for hours, days or even longer and they will no find such a story anywhere in the annals of the English language. And this would be for good reason; for you see, the title is an invention of convenience and necessity for this Walt Disney Production, NOW, AS WE know, just about all of the great Disney animated features are adaptations from some literary, folk tale or actual historical occurrence. So why this bizarre and otherwise meaningless handle?SIMPLY STATED, THIS title is an incorporation of two names, or at least a portion thereof, of two separate, disparate literary works adapted within the framework of this single "movie". The first segment is of Englishman, Kenneth Grahame's THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS; with the second half's being devoted to Yankee author, Washington Irving's, THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW.THE FIRST SEGMENT gives us a look inside the world of "eccentric/mad" Mr. Toad and his anthropomorphic friends, Mac Badger, Rat and Mole; as they do their best in standing by their obviously slightly insane, upper class friend. Toad's insatiable desire for high times and adventure lead him to carving out a destructive path across the English countryside aided by a cart-pulling horse named Cyril. Eventually Toad is framed for "Grand Theft Auto" and looses the Deed and clear Title to ancestral home, Toad Hall to a gang of (both literally and figuratively) Weasels.THE SECOND HALF of the picture moves to early 19th Century New York State for our encounter with the gangly schoolmaster with the voracious appetite, one Ichabod Crane. The story relates about how this scarecrow-like appearance caused a great disturbance to the locals in the village of Sleepy Hollow. The kindly man of letters eventually finds himself at odds with roughneck leader, the broad-shouldered Brom Bones, over the affections of the lovely Trina van Tassel.OF COURSE, AS we all know, the highlight of the story is Ichabod's encounter with the legendary Headless Horseman, the local ghost of some hapless British soldier killed in the American Revolutionary War. We can personally testify of just how well done and truly frightening is the sequence where the two meet In the woods at night. (It really and truly scary it was to this writer, then about 7 years old in circa 1954,not original release) ALTHOUGH THIS TWO completely different stories in one film may seem like a new way for presenting us with a Disney Animated feature, the company had done some multi-segmented films previously. One only need to look at MELODY TIME, MAKE MINE MUSIC and even the much praised, even cult status "concert feature", FANTASIA, in order to see that the principle had been applied previously.* THE PRODUCTION(S) SPORTED a great cast of actors such as Eric Blore, Claude Allister, J. Par O'Malley and even Pinto Colvig (long time voice of Goofy and Pluto).DOING THE NARRATION for the stories are Basil Rathbone (WIND IN THE WILLOWS) and Bing Crosby, who also sang (for THE LRHEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW).FUNCTIONING AS SORT of an in betweener bridge and opening to the film is a beautifully done sequence in a library. In this way we are introduced to the stories via copies of the books being conveniently on display on the book shelves.NOTE: * THE STORIES TOLD by being combined in this manner were most likely combined as more of a pragmatic and cost saving measure. Our guess is that the two stories were sort of middle ground films. That is, they were too short to make as a feature, but too long to be produced as short subject cartoons.