Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (released as The Wind in the Willows in the United Kingdom) is a 1996 British adventure comedy film based on Kenneth Grahame’s 1908 novel “The Wind in the Willows,” adapted and directed by Terry Jones, produced by Jake Eberts and John Goldstone. The film stars Terry Jones, Steve Coogan, Eric Idle, Nicol Williamson and Antony Sher.
Plot[]
Mole is busy white-washing his home until it is caved in. This is caused by the meadow above being crushed by a steam shovel driven by Weasels. Mole’s best friend, Rat, takes him to see Mr. Toad, who encourages them to join them in his new horse-drawn caravan. After a motorcar frightens the horse and the caravan tips over, Toad becomes infatuated with motoring. He is a terrible driver and funds his cars with loans from the Weasels; their vindictive Chief blackmails him to sell his estate, Toad Hall.
After an encounter with the Weasels in the Wild Wood, Toad, Rat and Mole end up in Badger’s underground home. Badger attempts to quell Toad’s obsession with cars, but Toad refuses to listen and is ultimately taken home and locked in his room until his motoring obsession subsides. However, Toad manages to escape his room and ends up being arrested for stealing and crashing a motorcar outside a pub. During Toad’s trial, the Chief Weasel poses as a rabbit and manipulates the Jury into giving a guilty verdict. After Toad insults the court and tries to escape, the Judge gives him a hundred-year sentence in a castle dungeon.
Back at Toad Hall, Rat and Mole are evicted by the Weasels, who have taken Toad Hall for themselves. The next day, they tunnel under the castle to free Toad, who is assisted by the jailer’s daughter and her sardonic tea lady aunt. Rat, Mole and Toad, disguised as the tea lady, board a train thanks to the engine driver’s help of letting them ride on the footplate, under the impression that Toad is a mother and Rat and Mole are his children. The police, who have stowed away on the carriages behind the engine, demand that the train be stopped by waving furiously at Ratty, Moley and the driver, much to Toad’s fearing terror. As the driver goes to see what the police want and tries to stop the train, Toad confesses the truth and begs the driver to help him evade his captors about arresting him for stealing motorcars. Feeling sympathetic of what Toad says is true, the driver agrees to help as the police shoot the paint on his engine. Angered, he tosses coal from his engine’s tender at the police, but fails to dodge a mail catcher, which catches him and ends up separating him from his train. Toad takes control of the train by pulling the accelerator to speed the engine up, and as Mole accidentally uncouples the coaches, he and Rat are left far behind with the coaches as the police hit a tunnel and hold on for dear life, Toad eventually derails the engine, and having survived the accident from the wreckage, sets off again, but is abducted by the Weasels.
The full extent of the Weasels’ plans are now revealed: they have built a dog-food factory over the remains of Mole’s abode and are planning to blow up Toad Hall. Afterwards, they will build a slaughterhouse in its place, in which they will turn all of the peaceful Riverbankers into dog food. They have also damaged the area near Badger’s home, which provokes him into wanting revenge against them. Badger and Rat attempt to infiltrate Toad Hall disguised as weasels, but are discovered, and, along with Toad, are placed over the factory’s mincing machine. The Chief, Clarence and Geoffery return to Toad Hall to prepare the victory celebration, leaving St. John in charge of the machine. Mole, who has broken into the factory, disables the machine allowing Toad, Badger and Rat to escape.
In a premature sense of victory, Clarence and Geoffery attempt to murder the Chief using an explosive birthday cake. They begin to fight each other for leadership, with the other Weasels drunkenly taking sides. This distraction allows the protagonists to stage a raid on the house, leaving all of the Weasels incapacitated in the ensuing fight. It turns out that the Chief has survived the coup against his life. Toad spots him escaping and attempts to stop him from reaching the factory, which contains the detonator to blow up Toad Hall, to no avail. Unbeknownst to both of them, the explosives are actually in the factory (Rat had switched the labels on the explosive’s containers earlier, leading the Weasels to believe the explosives were actually bones for the factory), and as such, the Chief blows himself up along with the factory, leaving Toad Hall intact and Toad’s friends alive.
Afterwards, Toad makes a public speech swearing off motorcars and promising to be more mature and less selfish in the future. Mole’s home has been repaired. However, Toad is seen sneaking off during the ceremony and secretly talking to an airplane salesman, which shows that he has only moved on to a new craze. Toad flies over the crowd in his new plane, causing mass hysteria and a disappointed Badger to swear never to help Toad again. During the end credits, Toad flies across the country and eventually over the sea.
Songs[]
- “Messing About on the River”
- “Secret of Survival”
- “Clever Ol' Mr. Toad”
- “Friends is What We Is”
- “Miracle of Friends”
Cast[]
- Terry Jones as Mr. Toad
- Steve Coogan as Mole
- Eric Idle as Rat
- Nicol Williamson as Badger
- Antony Sher as The Chief Weasel
- Michael Palin as The Sun
- Keith-Lee Castle as Clarence Weasel
- Robert Bathrust as St. John Weasel
- Nigel Planer as The Car Salesman
- Benjamin Diskin as The Elderly Gentleman
- Stephen Fry as The Judge
- Roger Ashton-Griffiths as The Prosecution Counsel
- John Cleese as Mr. Toad’s Lawyer
- Julia Sawalha as The Jailer’s Daughter
- Victoria Wood as The Tea Lady
- Don Henderson as The Sentry
- Richard Ridings as The Guard
- Bernard Hill as The Engine Driver
- Richard James as Geoffery Weasel as Mole’s Clock
External links[]
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride on YouTube