I love this movie so much

Overrated and overhyped

One of my all time favorites.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

I have mixed feelings about this movie. I really loved the story with the frog, and loathed the Ichabod one. So you'd think I'd give this a balanced 5, but instead I gave it a 7, because a) the animation's pretty good, and b) I really liked the frog story. I'm gonna review those two stories separately. The Adventures of Mr Toad: I don't know why I loved this one so much, I just know I did. Maybe because it combines a character who's flawed but still lovable and a whodunit - a whodunit I hope was explored more, but still a sweet, heartwarming story that I fell in love with. And it doesn't last too long. Some short stories just feel stretched, particularly when they have an extremely boring content, even for a short story, but this one was just fine. The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow: Oh god. Oh my God, where do I begin? This story tells the classic story of the Headless Dude. And though I love spooky stories (and I wold have loved this one if for what I'm about to say next) "The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow" was ruined in the worst possible way; by having a love triangle. Or rather no, not the triangle itself, but rather the protagonist. Ichabod Crane, or some sort, I honestly don't remember. Here's the thing; Crane goes to the Sleepy Hollow to teach the children there. He meets Katrina, a lovely unmarried young girl with many admirers, and falls immediately for her. So far so good. Unfortunately for poor Ich, Katrina has an admirer who's more ardent than the others, Brom Bones, aka the Gaston of the "Walt Disney is Around" era. We have some rivalry between the two for the woman's hand (apparently said woman has no opinion on that!) but what truly bugged me was Crane's feelings. In the scene where he basically day- dreams while he's class is a chaos (bonus sin; he's a terrible teacher) he practically states that the reason why he's after Katrina is her good looks and family wealth. That's it. Crane sees Katrina as a pretty face that can make him rich and nothing more. And though it's not unheard of a man making profit though women, what really annoys me it's that the whole thing is portrayed as positive. We're meant to side with Crane. We're meant to want Katrina pick him at the end, though it's clear he doesn't care about her. Do we ever seem him speak to her and get to know the real her? No. One could say that that's right about Brom Bones and all the other men, but at least they get the benefit of the doubt. They've lived in Sleepy Hollow their whole lives, so they actually do know the real Katrina. We're meant to see Bron Bones as the antagonist, but does he ever do anything bad? No, not once. There's nothing villainous about his and Crane's fights over Katrina. And there's the assumption that he dressed up as the Headless Horseman and killed Ich (drove him away?), but when Ich took a look inside the Horseman's collar, he was absolutely terrified, as if there was indeed no head in there. If he had seen Brom's face, he'd be angry and outraged, not horrified. So, no, Brom Bones' not the bad guy here, no matter how desperately the movie wants us to believe. Crane is not the good guy, even though he's framed as such. Actually, he acts as a gold-digger whose gold- digging nature is presented as good, maybe because he's a man. Imagine if the genders were switched. Would any viewer have any sympathy for female!Crane whatsoever? I don't think so.

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad comes from a time in Disney's history where it was cheaper to make shorts than feature length films. So that's exactly what they did, and would combine various shorts together, disguised as feature length films for the audience. Here, the stories of The Wind in the Willows and Sleepy Hollow form to make a feature that focuses on fabulous characters from classic literature.The Mr. Toad segment of the film is manic, completely wacky and whimsical. It brings some great character animation and some true squash and stretch that bring a real energy to the story. The characters and their designs are all memorable, even if they seem simple and small compared to the usual grandeur that comes from Disney. The story balances on silly and serious, tackling issues of trust and control while still bringing laughs and moments of cuteness. But as kinetic as Mr. Toad's wild ride is, the true fun begins with the second segment, focusing on the tale of Ichabod Crane.Disney doesn't often delve into the horror genre, and when it does it usually looks like heffalumps and woozles or pink elephants on parade. Here, we are introduced to characters through silly gags and songs that feel very much Disney and very much like the previous segment. But this retelling climaxes in one of Disney's great scares as Ichabod encounters the Headless Horseman.Movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Frankenweenie and The Hunchback of Notre Dame may be better examples of Disney's take on horror, but this take on Sleepy Hollow is both hair-raising and iconic. As the mood becomes clearer, the story becomes quiet, aside from the narration, and there is a real sense of isolation, allowing the imagination to begin to play its games. Drastic colors and lighting are on full display here, as well as other elements that would prove frightening to some adults, let alone any child. Again, the animation becomes kinetic and manic and expressive, but this is quite beautiful in a way that Mr. Toad's story was not and leaves a lasting impression on anyone who has the pleasure to view it. This segment has even directly inspired scenes in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow.Despite not being part of Disney's usual, popular fare, both Ichabod and Mr. Toad's stories are entertaining and bring a sense of excitement in their own right. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is not a film to treat lightly, with its spectacular character animation, bold sequences and dynamic energy. And all this wrapped up within a narration by Bing Crosby and Basil Rathbone.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is the 65-year-old Disney approach to the famous tale, which was obviously done long before Tim Burton got his hands on the material. And it is a success, I believe, because several components were competently done and this resulted in a pretty good overall outcome. First of all, the animation is nice and it is a half-hour cartoon which is truly atmospheric. Secondly, Bing Crosby's narration worked from start to finish adding the right mixture of drama and comedy to the scenes we see. And most of all: The school teacher. Now, he is a pretty memorable character and it almost makes me sad to see that the other guy got the girl in the end because I felt that the one who wins was so colorless and forgettable really. Some time later this half hour was picked, mixed together with another relative long short film and so they had a feature film out of this. It even won a Golden Globe and that makes up for the short film from 1949 running empty on the awards front. Anyway, that's how it goes I guess. I had a good time watching this and I recommend it. Of course this should not come as a surprise as this half hour was directed by the makers of "Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty", "Alice in Wonderland", "Dumbo", "Pinocchio" etc. So from that perspective, it's more of a surprise that this did not turn out even better. But let's not be greedy here. Give it a watch."The Wind in the Willows" is a Disney animated short film, which runs for slightly over half an hour and was made over 65 years ago. I have to say from that duology I found the Ichabod part more interesting. This one here is basically about the adventures of a toad and it's again made in a way that it's not only for children, but also includes some more serious references here and there although not as many as Ichabod and also no horror references. I personally felt that this film here dragged on several occasions and did not really have too many memorable characters. For Ichabod they got Bing Crosby as the narrator and for this one here they got Basil Rathbone, a two-time Academy Award nominated actor who is today mostly known for his participation in the Robin Hood film and for his Sherlock Holmes performances of course. The rest of the cast here I am not familiar with. All in all, I must say the animation was okay, but the story just did not feel memorable at all to me this time. Not recommended.

Washington Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a notable piece of literature outside of this movie, but most people today probably recognize Kenneth Grahame's "Wind in the Willows" from this adaptation (has anyone even heard of Kenneth Grahame apart from that story?). "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" is the sort of movie that I usually watch so that I can heckle it like Mike and the 'bots do to crummy flicks on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". I ended up not heckling this one as much, but I analyzed it as much as possible. Mr. Toad comes across as the typical rich boy who has no impulse control. As for Ichabod, he just proves that slimeballs lurk everywhere. It should go without saying that the Headless Horseman is one freaky character.And then there's the narrators. Basil Rathbone I like, Bing Crosby I consider a perfidious individual due to his nearly cruel strictness with his family. In the end, it's an enjoyable movie. Of course, as someone who wrote a paper analyzing common themes in Stanley Kubrick's movies, I would hardly recommend "The Adventures..." above all others.Cyril's a neat name for a horse. Anyone whose native language uses the Cyrillic alphabet would have to appreciate it, since it was St. Cyril who invented that alphabet.