Reviewed by Jon Turner on 6/12/99 Posted 6/12/99
DOUBLE DISNEY!
The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad Rating: ***1/2 out of *****
The Brave Little Toaster To The Rescue Rating: ***1/2 out of *****
Both videos reviewed by Jon Turner
Disney has recently released two new videos on May 26, it's 11th masterpiece, The Adventures Of Ichabod & Mr. Toad and another direct-to-home sequel, The Brave Little Toaster To The Rescue. The question is, which one is good and which one isn't? You'll find out here.
THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD & MR. TOAD
Before I go into detail about this movie, there are a few things you should know about it. This film was created at a time when the studio was troubled. Walt was still around, but World War II had caused his studio to lose its momentum that always gave its films, such as Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi. Because of money shortages (and the Latin market cut off), Walt Disney and his staff had no choice; they couldn't make another full-length feature, so they decided to do a multi-feature film. In other words, a compilation of various cartoons that had been in production before, during, or after the war. Two of these compilations were multi-feature films, Make Mine Music and Melody Time. The other two were double-feature films, Fun And Fancy Free and the very film that I just mentioned earlier, The Adventures Of Ichabod & Mr. Toad.
Don't be fooled by the title. This was originally supposed to have been called Two Fabulous Characters, but Walt probably thought the name would be a disgrace. The Adventures Of Ichabod & Mr. Toad is two famous stories given the typical Disney treatment, Kenneth Grahame's The Wind In The Willows and Washington Irving's The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. Both featurettes were well received by the public and critics. Leonard Maltin, in his The Disney Films book, particularly praised The Wind In The Willows for featuring "some of the finest work the studio ever did". This may be stretching things too far, but The Wind In The Willows is nevertheless an entertaining, well-executed cartoon, and it holds well to this day.
For those of you who don't know, here is how the story goes: It's about a toad, J. Thaddeus Toad, squire of the famous Toad Hall. Now he has three friends, Ratty, Moley, and Angus MacBadger. Now Toad is not your average every-day man; he has a tendency to get into manias–manias that cause him to be in greater debts than ever (near bankruptcy, in fact). One particular mania riding is a gypsy's carriage with a happy-go-lucky horse, Cyril. As they ride along the countryside singing, "We're merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily on our way to nowhere in particular" they cause damage everywhere. This is SO shocking, in fact, that Ratty and Mole literally have to lock him up to prevent something much worse happening. Of course, this is exactly what happens. Toad gets obsessed with getting a motor car (even if it is stolen by a gang of crafty weasels, which in this case, it is), and trades Toad Hall for it–an act that results with him arrested and put on trial. All seems hopeless until Winky, a pompous bar tender is called on to testify. Only he can tell the truth, but he tells a different side of the story: "You tried to sell me a stolen motor car." Toad lands in jail, but Cyril bails him out, and there is a long, extended escape scene which includes a train chase. The chase ends when Toad jumps off the train into the river below (as they are passing over a bridge, leaving the cops behind). After getting himself out of the water (this is never shown, so I have no idea how he gets out of there with his ball 'n chain), he heads to his friends, who have discovered, courtesy of MacBadger, that Winky is actually the leader of the weasels whom Toad traded Toad Hall for the motor car. They plan to get the deed back from Winky so they can prove Toad's innocence. It isn't easy. They have to sneak in the back way of Toad Hall and battle the weasels to retrieve the deed (by the way, this scene is awesome, and strikingly staged; running around on the floor, swinging from the chandeliers–don't try this at home!–, and literally dropping in on a snoring Winky to retrieve the paper). Eventually, they succeed, and Toad is proven innocent. You might think that Toad may be, as the narrator (Basil Rathbone) tells us, a "new toad", but that is not the case. He has found a new mania–airplanes.
To call The Wind In The Willows, as Maltin did, the finest piece of work ever to be done by Disney may be stretching things too far, but there is much to enjoy in this film. There is a great cast of characters, and a couple of amusing scenes. One such amusing scene in particular is when Ratty starts yakking away at Toad on his foolishness. And how does Toad respond? By holding his hands over his ears, that's how! (As he does this, the soundtrack becomes muted; a very nice touch). It is moments like this (and the unforgettable characters) that make The Wind In The Willows worth a look. I give it a ****1/2 out of *****.
The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow, on the other hand, is another story. While it is equally well staged, it is a trifle lackluster. The problem might be in the choice of Bing Crosby as the narrator. He was, at the time of the film, a popular choice during the Depression area. However, to this day, he comes off as lame and annoying. He goes a little bit too far in narrating the story (he's too over dramatic), and his singing (or what you would call it), along with his humorous occasional "bom-bom-bom-bom-bom-boo-boo-boo-boo" don't help much. However, at the scene of the Halloween party at Van Tassel where tough bully Brom Bones tells schoolmaster Ichabod Crane (who, by the way, has a habit for snitching a few foods here and there) the story of the dreaded Headless(!) Horseman, things do start to get more interesting. Why is Brom telling Ichabod such a terrible story? Both of them are in love with the beautiful (and over exaggerated) Katrina Van Tassell. Ichabod has succeeded in sweeping Katrina off her feet (not literally), and Bones is none too happy about that. So to buzz Ichabod off, he scares him to death with this tale, through song (one of the more bouncy ones in this featurette). Things REALLY get creepy when Ichabod starts to ride home across his trusty steed, Gunpowder, where the sky is dark, the forest menacing (the crickets chirp "Ichabod", and the frogs croak "Headless Horseman". Really scary, all right)… and Mr. Headless himself, with a horrifyingly evil laughter, and a scary, black costume, red cape, and black steed. This is where things REALLY get more exciting; there is a spectacular, long, extended chase scene in which Ichabod tries to outrun the Headless Horseman. How can he escape this monster? He must cross the bridge of Sleepy Hollow, for, as Brom Bones has told him, "Once you cross that bridge, my friends, the ghost is through–his power ends!" When he FINALLY makes it across the bridge, the Headless Horseman does not become powerless, his head (a pumpkin) is whirled across the bridge, which explodes into a raging fire. The next morning, we see Ichabod's hat and a shattered pumpkin, but we don't see Ichabod anywhere! What happened to him? Was he really spirited by the Headless Horseman? Or is he still alive, and married to a wealthy widow in a distant county? Whatever the answers, Bones succeeds in winning Katrina's heart, and takes her to the altar.
Who are we rooting for in this story? That is the most puzzling question one could ask of The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod Crane barely says anything, he just hums, trips across limbs, and try to win over the ladies. Brom Bones is too mean-spirited to be a sympathetic character; he plays tricks on Ichabod everywhere he goes. None of the characters in this sequence are well defined, so it becomes difficult for us to feel happy or sad when this darkly entertaining tale comes to a close. Also, as mentioned before, Crosby spends too much time showing off rather than seriously telling the story. All that said, The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow benefits greatly from its long, extended, hair-raising, heart-thumping climax, and for that, if not anything else, I enjoyed it. I give it *** out of *****.
My average rating for The Adventures Of Ichabod & Mr. Toad is ***1/2. It's not the best feature Disney has every done, but if you're a diehard Disney-Masterpiece collector fan (I certainly am–I own almost every single film Disney released on video, if you pardon me for bragging) it's yet another must buy for your Disney collection.
THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER TO THE RESCUE
Disney is really going nuts on its Brave Little Toaster franchise. The original The Brave Little Toaster, based on a children's novella by Thomas M. Disch, was a delightful animated piece of entertainment with hilarious characters, such as the brave little toaster himself, a bright lamp, a wisecracking radio, a sweet electric blanket, and a grumpy vacuum cleaner (They have personalities of their own). It was so enjoyable, in fact, that it won the 1988 Parents' Choice Television Award.
It was followed, ten years later, by a direct to home video sequel, The Brave Little Toaster Goes To Mars. While it did have its moments, such as the as-always funny characters, and gag lines "Houston, we have a problem!", the whole film wasn't as much as enjoyable or delightful as it was silly and formulaic (a toaster and appliances going to Mars?! How ridiculous!). It was almost like a "cheap deal", and not anywhere near half as good as the original.
Now, Disney has released another sequel, The Brave Little Toaster To The Rescue. My guess is, is that they are trying to make another trilogy, like they did with Aladdin. What made the Aladdin trilogies enjoyable where the fact that it took a lot of effort and heart to bring them to life. The Toaster direct-to-home-sequel, however, was a "cheap deal". This one had me suspicious since I was ticked off by the previous sequel, but this was a turnabout of expectations: this one is surprisingly decent. It's not really a "sequel", but a prequel to the Mars movie. It's more exciting, it has more heart, and while it falls far short of being as good as the original movie, this is still a great improvement over the first sequel.
It starts out with Rob and his girlfriend, Chris, driving towards college (with a catchy song playing), explaining that he can't wait for their graduation and anniversary (Anniversary? Anniversary about what? Even Rob doesn't know that). He drops Chris off and heads towards an informatory hospital, where his beloved appliances, Toaster, Blanky, Kirby, Lampy, and Radio, who come to life when no one else is around, via the toys in Toy Story, are awaiting his return (He is their master, after all). After some by play, Lampy jumps out of the window (with the help of Radio, who is pretty funny in his own way, considering that this isn't Jon Lovitz). He then "freezes" in his lamp position when he arrives at the Master's dormitory, where Rob works on some sort of assignment.
Meanwhile, the appliances back home hear complaints about "abandonment" from the cranky rat, Ratso (from the unbelievably stupid Mars sequel). It is hear we meet some new characters. One is a mother cat named Maisie, who worries that the first thing her kittens will see is Ratso (there is some by play about this). Another is a tiny Chihuahua, Alberto, whose leg is busted. There is also a snake, Murgetroid, who spittles every time he hisses ("I'd recommend steering clear of such words with too much s-s-s-sibiliance, pal," comments Ratso, when he gets spitted on by the snake.) Finally, there's a wise man in the group, in the form of a monkey, Sebastian (not the crab). Anyhow, the room is a mess from a party last night (they invited party friendly Dobermans over to have some fun), and they have to, as Radio states, "mambo out of this mess". This they do, while breaking into song, where the animals reminisce when they first met Rob, with the exception of Sebastian (while Ratso covers his ears, as the most anti-song fans probably will; I enjoyed the song, though). Ratso runs away, after reminding the appliances that they are "too old" for the Master, and that he only takes Lampy with him because he can "do something useful". Blanky makes a fuss about it, although Toaster tries to reassure everyone that they are high closest friends.
Meanwhile, Robby is working away on his computer, when he is interrupted by the abrupt appearance of his assistant, Mack, who is pretty jealous about Rob (he even wants to have Chris). When Chris comes about, something terrible happens: electricity goes off for some reason, and Rob's newly completed animal-thesis work is completely erased on the computer! He blames the computer for this, and he and Chris go off to fetch Charlie, who can probably help out (after some by play the computer says that he SHOULD have saved it, which he didn't). This is to no avail; there is a virus affecting the computer systems, now Rob won't be able to graduate! Even a little reassurance from Chris won't help.
At the same time, the appliances learn from Sebastian that there is a testing laboratory where the humans there were cruel to him (so THAT explains his broken arm!). The appliances reassure everybody that the master will take care of him (even though Ratso doesn't trust him). Then, everybody goes to bed, after a little bit of "late-night humor" from Radio.
Rob is still depressed about his lost file, but Chris states that his file is just "hiding". Rob is not any happier when she tries to use Kirby to clean up the kitty litter (Kirby gets a sick stomach afterwards), and Chris responds by walking out on Rob. This is a bad day for Rob: He's lost both his thesis AND his girlfriend–and his RAT! (Ratso is heading towards the basement, avoiding stampeding rats "Hey, I'm walking here!" he shouts at them.) Rob decides to write a better, newer report, even if it takes him a whole day. Mack comes by and Rob leaves him in charge of the house. This is a bad mistake, because Mack plots to send the animals to the testing laboratory in exchange for money. "I'm so bad!" he says.
Lampy returns, who tells them how sad the Master is. The appliances vow to help out, but they don't know how to use any computers. Sebastian helps out ("Monkey see, monkey do"), after they get him up onto the chair. (Listen to Radio's wisecracks during this scene, they are really funny) The computer comes to life, and of course, there's another enjoyable (or annoying to those of you who hate songs) song about computer technology and the internet. It echoes the gospel songs in Hercules, but it's more tolerable. After that, the computer gets a virus (beginning to crash), and starts to show secret passwords, one which is ANIMAL TRANSPORTATION! They all pull out the plug just as it crashes. Sebastian then tells them that the animals are going to be sent to Tartarus Laboratory, which he was talking about earlier.
We cut back to Rob and Chris (who has forgiven him, by the way), and we learn that he has to retype all 612 pages (including the title page), and that he remembers the anniversary of when he first met Chris. Still, it's a bad day for him.
It's a bad day for the animals, too, for they don't want to leave (although I'm sure Ratso wouldn't mind). Leave it to Toaster to think of a plan. Ratso mentions that he saw a malfunctioning (er, sneezing) computer in the basement. Mack comes by, and locks the animals in their cages (he also mentions that at midnight tonight, they're history). The appliances free Ratso and head to the basement, save Kirby (he's too big to fit, and he'll be the perfect guard for the animals). He fails to save the animals, from Mack, however.
Meanwhile, the appliances head to the basement where they discover the computer, who is ancient and doing loud sneezes. His name is Wittgenstein, and he thinks he's useless, or outmoded (he's been down there 4,999,450,852,312 nanoseconds, ever since transistors were invented). He explains this through a song, which is the weakest in the film (although funny to this reviewer). His light bulbs break as he sings, thanks to a couple of sparks. He also explains that he knows of Mack's evil plan to transport the animals to the factory, and that he had been trying to warn Rob (so THAT explains his computer crash!). Unfortunately, as he mentions, he is not PC compatible. He also explains that he's made of tubes, and that one of his tubes is busted, which is his only life source. Ratso and Radio set off, or rather gallop off, to find a replacement in the camp storage supplies. After much difficulty, they manage to find one last tube, but they break it buy getting into a fight. However, Wittgenstein still manages to mention that the animals are being transmitted. And he dies, and Radio takes the blame; he takes out his last circuit to help Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein is saved, thanks to Radio's self-sacrifice, and is able to print out a plan for the appliances (boo-boo proof), and alert the master about Mack's plan.
The animals have been loaded into the truck, and Rob is after them with Chris, while Toaster and the others chase after the truck on a table top piloted by Kirby powered by Wittgenstein's modem. There is a long, extended chase scene, which of course, works out okay. Maisie appears to be dead, but of course, she's all right. Ratso cries out of happiness in this scene.
Afterwards, the master finds Radio and tries to find a new circuit for him, while Wittgenstein recovers Rob's thesis report and gets it printed. The kittens open their eyes, and Ratso is the first thing that they see! They even play with him. This scene is so sweet.
Rob and Chris leave, secure with the fact that the animals will be taken to well taken to new homes where they will be looked after. Ratso comes along with the master and mistress. But what about Radio? Well, his circuit is restored to him, thanks to Chris. By the way, Rob has also asked Chris to be his wife. How happier can this ending be?
If you think The Brave Little Toaster To The Rescue will be just as bad as The Brave Little Toaster Goes To Mars, think again! The exciting, emotional story and the hilarious characters, including the show stealing ones, along with a little more drama and action to top it all off, make this sequel good entertainment. Still, while not as good as The Brave Little Toaster, this 3rd movie is pleasant enough for what it is. And for that, I give it ***1/2 out of *****. Whether you want it for your collection is another question, but its definitely one to rent, especially if you're a Toaster fan.
CONCLUSION
Both videos are splendid entertainment to come from the folks at Disney. Let's hope they continue to release good entertainment titles…
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