The Wind in the Willows (2006)

A lot of fun.

A Disappointing Continuation

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

The movie begins with a brilliant idea that previous versions of Kenneth Grahame's book missed: animated animals are cartoons, not people. Grahame wrote his book with his main characters called by names of animals, living like animals (in the ground) sometimes, and living apart from humans (like animals). But they're humans . . . up to and including having their own god ("Piper at the Gates of Dawn.") This version fixed the ridiculousness of animation by having human beings in the roles, who had slight make-up like animals and some behavioral quirks like animals, but otherwise interacted like HUMANS. Thus, the script began with a brilliant improvement. It was so well done that one could forgive editorial decisions for time constraints ("Dulce Domum" is truncated, as is the seminal "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" (no search for otter's pup, no poem explaining why they don't remember, no Pink Floyd.) The THEME of the book is friendship: Mole leaves his burrow and instantly strikes up and maintains a friendship with Rat. Rat is both generous and gracious with Mole, who supports Rat (in most things.) They give to each other because that's what friends do. Toad is merely the biggest friend who is also the most needy. Mole, Rat, and Badger work to rein in Toad for his own good and ultimately succeed by making painfully clear to Toad that their friendship requires his good behavior. AND TOAD AGREES. The book ends with the 4 animals being the closest companions and Toad is humble, self-effacing, and moves attention to others BECAUSE THEY'RE HIS FRIENDS. This movie waits until (literally) the last minute to undo and re-write all of that. Toad was going to be a fair and humble Toad . . . until he sees an airplane. Then he goes right back to being a selfish, destructive jerk. Rat and Badger and Mole leave in disgust. All that brilliance betrayed in 60 seconds. I want my time back.

Wind in the willows in one of my all time favorite stories. I loved this story when I was a child, and this movie reminded me of how much I loved this story. This movie appeared on Australian television just before Christmas Eve. This movie has a great cast including Matt Lucas as Toad, Mark Gatiss as Ratty, Lee Ingleby as Mole, and Bob Hoskins as Badger. But this isn't the first live-action of Wind in the Willows. You may recall that there was a previous live-action film version of The Wind In The Willows that was released in cinemas. This film was released back in 1997 and it starred Steve Coogan as Mole, Eric Idle as Ratty, Terry Jones as Toad, Nicol Williamson as Badger, and Anthony Sher as the Chief Weasel. But this previous live-action film was a parody of Wind in the Willows. While this TV movie is very loyal to Kenneth Graham's original story. It has many of the same scenes and the same quotes that were in the book and it even has Toad's conceited songs. So I certainly enjoyed this movie and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves the book.

The Wind In The Willows' latest BBC adaptation is definitely an enjoyable watch - even if it is just for Matt Lucas's depiction of Toad of Toad Hall. Some nice settings and good historical settings (this is meant to be set in the 1920s) ensure that this isn't just stupid fun for thick kids. But unfortunately, the show's main sense of humour lies in Matt Lucas' ability to make stupid noises and just generally be an idiot - a shortage of sharp wit or cruel sarcasm is a shame and ensure that this will only be fully enjoyed by lovers of Little Britain. But to be honest, this wasn't meant to be the Beeb's latest comedy breakthrough. This was made purely to entertain the family for 100 minutes. And revisiting old classic tales has always done that. There's also a bit of human emotion in the film - from Mole (or was it Badger? I don't know), who wishes he had a real home and a real family again, as testified to a number of times in the film. But as I said earlier, most people would only watch this for Matt Lucas anyway, and he's great as the massively over-the-top, scheming and barmy Toad of Toad Hall. He brings the technology-obsessed Toad to the screen with his own unique humorous signature and manages to help make these 100 minutes very enjoyable indeed. Some of it is well made (take the dream sequence with the floating boat which bordered on Lord of the Rings quality), and some of it is a bit duff (take the CG plane at the end, although this manages to help the film reach the conclusion it wanted), but it is all very fun, and the BBC have thrown a few million out of their money pot in the right direction. Some photography is neat and on the whole, this film is nice to look at. It would have been more original if the story had taken a more mature and adult twist instead of being aimed solely at the whole family - after all, Matt Lucas does specialise in adult comedy. Unfortunately, it's practically all family friendly and there ain't much to satisfy a mature audience, although some guns and fighting at the end help to keep it slightly away from PC-mush-land. But who cares? The Wind In The Willows is a family story, and with Narnia-esquire photography in parts, this will be two hours that you won't regret sitting through. And I must admit, I did chuckle when Toad pranged his car. 7/10

A highly enjoyable made-for-TV version of the story. The subtle costumes and understated acting are perfectly suited to the subject. Toad's frivolous and irresponsible behavior are well-captured, though I found him more childish than anything else. There are undertones of class separation and hints of the poverty of some of the characters that I found touching, and will go over the heads of many children, which to me is a plus.Bob Hoskins' Badger is a delight, and I have a soft spot for Mary Walsh, no matter how large or small the part she's in. The British and Canadian actors all bring their considerable talent to the table, despite the fact that most of them are relatively unknown (at least to the best of my knowledge).All-in-all, well worth renting or downloading, if you want a simple family movie for the holidays, or just a family movie night.