Back in the 40's, Disney has made a bunch of movies with different shorts due to the war. Some of them worked, others just should have been made into separate short films. The one that truly works is this film because they both had great stories that revolve around two different types of literature; likable characters; and had comedy and darkness to each story. Now I know the only Halloween film in this movie is "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow" but I'm going to review the whole film anyway.
The Prologue and Epilogue to both stories take place in a library where we see books move and open and close by themselves and see the pictures in the books magically come to life as we hear the narrator’s voice with fitting background music. The idea is cool and really does its job with setting up the story and closing the story. On top of it, these scenes are also very atmospheric because every time I watch this movie, I always feel like I'm in this magical library as I'm being sucked into the stories that are about to be told. Honestly, out of all the transitions to the shorts in the Disney compilation films made in the 40s, this one tops them for its creativity and atmosphere.
"THE WIND AND THE WILLOWS"
Our first story is "The Wind And The Willows" narrated by British actor (Best known as playing Sherlock Holmes) Basil Rathbone. The story is about the wild Adventures of Mr.Toad who's crazy about getting a Motorcar. However, everywhere he goes on his adventure leads to nothing but trouble, chaos, and destruction.
Mr.Toad is a really fun and lovable character, everything he does in a crazy situation is something you can't help but laugh and enjoy. His best and funniest scenes are whenever he goes crazy; and when he spreads destruction and chaos as he travels. I honestly can’t enough of those scenes since they’re so fun and hilarious to watch. Aside from his reckless behavior, Toad is also a very clever and smart character who can make a wild deal; sneak out of places; and fool others. He’s just really one of Disney's best characters with his reckless behavior, intelligence, up-beat sense of humor and personality, and memorable laugh.
His friends are just as fun and lovable as he is. First you got Rat who’s very firm but means well and does care for his friends. Then you have Mole who's so sweet and innocent that its very hard for firm to be with Toad, that you can’t help but just love his innocent kind hearted nature. You also have Angus MacBadger who’s a bitter old animal, but has a good heart, is at times very humble, and is just as smart as our main character. In my opinion the best supporting character out of all of them is Toads horse Cyril. He's just as crazy, humorous, and smart as Toad is and every time you see him, you can’t help but get a laugh, especially when you see him and Toad together. Finally, we have the villains who are Mr.Winkie and his gang of weasels. They're not as great as the previous Disney villains at the time, but they still are a lot of fun, especially the Weasels who have to be one of the toughest set of henchmen that Disney has ever created.
The comedy and the action in this short never stops; it's just all nothing but good fun. The best scenes that show all of that is when Toad drives an old Gypsy cart with Cyril as they sing a catchy song; Toad's escape from Prison; and the battle with the Weasels. There's even a bit of darkness in this lighthearted story such as the nasty prosecutor at the courtroom scene; the sinister looking weasels; and the darkness for when the cops are after Toad. All it needs is a hell sequence full of devils. While the second half of this compilation film is Halloween related, the first half is Christmas related, and the animation and tone for the Christmas scenes that take place in the short such as the choir in the middle of the town singing by a bright light; and the shadows of Rat and Mole praying for Toad, don't just bring that warm feeling you get around Christmas, but the images themselves look like beautiful Christmas cards. Out of all the choices that this short does with its style of animation and designs, my favorite choice has to be that the animators make the animals the real size that they are in real life, instead of being as tall as humans, which really makes the characters look more sweet and helpless especially when seeing them around the humans.
The short film has indeed left a legacy in Disney history such as Toad being a popular Disney character who's appeared in many Disney crossover films, and the Weasels themselves being the inspiration for the Weasels in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", but the best thing to have came outside of this short film has to be the ride "Mr.Toad's Wild Ride" that starts out as light hearted and funny as the film is, to suddenly having a dark and edgy but humorous ending where the guests gets hit by a train and go to hell. "The Happiest Place On Earth" everyone!
This short film is indeed one of the best adaptation of the classic story that brings a lot of fun and laughs as we experience it with these cute and fun characters.
RATING 5/5
"THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW"
Our last story is a retelling of the classic Halloween story, "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow" that’s narrated and sung by the talented swing singer Bing Crosby. The story is about "Sleepy Hollow's" odd looking new school master Ichabod Crane, who falls in love with the rich and beautiful Katrina Van Tassel. However, the only thing that stands in Ichabod's way of marrying her is the town hero Brom Bones who constantly bullies Ichabod to keep him away from Katrina, but sadly fails at doing so. The story then ends on Halloween after a party held at Katrina’s house in the dark Hollow where Ichabod encounters the "Sleepy Hollow" ghost the Headless Horseman, which leads to a wild and thrilling chase.
In this version our main character Ichabod is a greedy glutton. He steals food; he's more in love with Katrina's money than he's in love with her; and he even hopes Katrina's father would die soon once he marries her so he can take over the farm. That's actually pretty shocking and rare that Disney would make a character like that their lead, despite being pretty much faithful to the source material. However, despite his nasty faults, he still comes across as a funny and interesting character. He also has a great design that's very similar to how the character looks in the original story and his introduction as he walks the town reading a book is a perfect introduction that has a catchy song sung by Bing Crosby called "Ichabod Crane". By the way, is it just me or does the intro scene kind of look similar to the musical number "Belle" in Disney's future animated film "Beauty And The Beast"? In fact, there's even a guy in that sequence who looks similar to Ichabod. Could it possibly paying tribute to this film?
The supporting characters are as fun, and interesting as Ichabod is, while also carrying some nasty faults. Ichabod's love interest has a beautiful design and a lovely theme song, but every time you see her and Ichabod together, you begin to realize that she's just using Ichabod to make Brom jealous. Finally, we have Ichabod’s bully Brom Bones. Most of his scenes when he bullies or pranks Ichabod to keep him away from Katrina are all laugh out loud scenes that never get old and still have me just laughing just as hard as when I watched it when I was a kid. The whole love triangle in this story is really hilarious. Despite all the bad things Brom does to Ichabod, he not only comes across as a likable character, but you can also make the argument that he's the perfect guy for Katrina, since he does show a dedication to her, despite scarring people away from her.
What really tops the whole story is the 3rd act. Once we get to Brom's story about the Headless Horseman, all the bright and colorful happiness and up-beat comedy that we previously got gets suddenly sucked out, where we now see some really dark and Gothic images. The comedy is still there, but it's for the most part toned down to blend in with the short's dark tone. During the Headless Horseman tale that Brom tells we then begin to see scary shadows; Brom Bone's acting creepy; and hear the best song in the whole movie with catchy lyrics and creepy music. Every time I hear the song and see the scary imagery, I always get chills, while also being sucked into the short's change of tone. This sequence is undoubtedly the perfect transition to the dark and foreboding environment that we will be seeing throughout the rest of the short.
After Brom's story, we then head to the climax of the story as Ichabod rides through the dark Hollow full of scary imagery as he whistles Katrina's theme song. We get tons of great imagery in this scene such as the clouds in the shape of hand covering the moon; the Forrest closing in behind Ichabod; the scary looking trees; and hear really creepy sounds as Ichabod's riding through the woods. And after all that intense and creepy build up, we finally see the Headless Horseman holding a flaming Pumpkin in one hand, carrying a sharp sword that he keeps violently swinging at Ichabod in the other, while riding a demon looking horse as he laughs menacingly. Every time you see the Horseman he gives you nothing but fright, which is what makes him one of the scariest Disney villains to be put on screen. The chase itself is not only scary and intense but it also has a perfect mix of laugh-out-loud dark comedy that's so funny and clever that I do not want to give it away.
This short has interesting characters that are fun and complex; great comedy; unforgettable songs; and has one of the scariest climaxes to ever be shown in a kid’s film, which is in my opinion the perfect Halloween short to watch on Halloween!
RATING 5/5
Overall, these two shorts really go great together. They're funny, they're dark, the characters are memorable, the narration is fantastic, the animation is amazing; the stories are unforgettable classics; and the transitions to them are perfect. It's really one of the best compilation films that Disney has ever created, that I highly recommend you check out.
RATING 5/5
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
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