Line #28 WesternAnimation/TheWindInTheWillows1995


1	[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_wind_in_the_willows_the_willows_in_winter_post1.jpg]]
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3	''The Wind in the Willows'' is a 1995 British AnimatedAdaptation of [[Literature/TheWindInTheWillows the classic 1908 novel of the same name]] by Kenneth Grahame. The film was directed by Dave Unwin and written by Ted Walker, and was produced by the now defunct [[Creator/VargaStudio TVC]] (Television Cartoons) in London.
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5	The film incorporates live action BookEnds with Creator/VanessaRedgrave as a grandmother (who also acts as the narrator), reading the original novel to her grandchildren as they go out for a boat trip together. The film [[MediumBlending changes into an animated setting]] as soon as the grandmother opens the book and stays that for most of the runtime until she closes it again.
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7	It was well received by audiences and critics and a sequel, ''WesternAnimation/TheWillowsInWinter1996'', was made.
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9	----
10	!!The fim provides examples of the following tropes:
11	* AdaptedOut:
12	** Rat decides to start wandering on his own, without the Sea-rat's encouragement, in this version.
13	** The mice who come to Mole's door singing Christmas carols are cut.
14	** In the book, after Toad steals the bargewoman's horse, he sells it to a Romani man he encounters on the road. This man is not included in the film, leaving it [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse unclear what he did with the horse]].
15	* AscendedExtra: The judge. In this adaptation he happens to be the owner of the car that gives Toad a lift in his washerwoman disguise.
16	* AnimatedAdaptation: Of ''Literature/TheWindInTheWillows'' by Kenneth Grahame.
17	* ArcadianInterlude: "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" segment was not cut out in this version.
18	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: After Toad escapes from prison, he steals and crashes the Judge's car. After escaping the wreck, he sees a group of angry police officers come charging angrily up the hill to arrest him. Treating it like a game, he tauntingly tells them to "Catch me if you can!" They very nearly do, and although he does get away, he's not laughing anymore.
19	* BedsheetLadder: How Toad escapes after being locked in his bedroom.
20	* TheBigBad: Although the weasels, stoats and ferrets are usually grouped together as a whole, The Chief Weasel is treated as the main villain at the climax of the story.
21	* BookEnds: The film begins and ends with live-action segments where a grandmother (played Vanessa Redgrave) reads the novel to her grandchildren as they go for a boat trip on the river.
22	* BreakTheHaughty: Toad's humiliating arrest and imprisonment, during which he attempts to starve himself to death, but decides to live after all thanks to a kind jailer's daughter and some hot toast. [[HumiliationConga Not to mention being chased by the police after escaping, and all the indignity he receives for his washerwoman disguise.]]
23	* CharacterDevelopment: Just like the novel, Mole comes out of his shell, and Toad settles down to become serious and respectable by the end.
24	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Mr. Toad, at times. "A motorcar! Poop-poop! Poop-poop!"
25	* CoolBoat: It's just a punt, but Ratty's boat is beautifully painted and decorated, and there's always a picnic basket on board.
26	* DiscOneFinalBoss: The humans are the main antagonists for Toad for most of the movie, but after he escapes them, the weasels who took Toad Hall become the main villains the four must engage.
27	* ADogNamedDog: All the principal characters are either this or SpeciesSurname. Since they mostly only appear to have one name apiece, it's hard to tell which. Portly is the only character with a first name. The human characters don't have names at all, and are referred to [[EveryoneCallsThemBarkeep entirely by their occupation]].
28	* DontGoInTheWoods: In an early scene, Rat advises Mole to steer clear of the Wild Wood. Foolishly, Mole does eventually go into the Wood, hoping to visit Mr. Badger, and gets lost. Rat goes in to find him, but gets caught in the FirstSnow, and, disoriented, gets lost too.
29	* TheDreaded: In the closing narration, Vanessa Redgrave informs us that Mr. Badger became this trope in the following days, and his name would often be invoked as a [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight way to frighten disobedient children]]. Badger himself is apparently somewhat indignant over this, since [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold despite his grouchy exterior]], he is [[FriendToAllChildren "rather fond of children.]]
30	* DreamSequence: Rat's beautifully-animated daydreams about sailing the Mediterranean.
31	** While in prison, Toad has a dream about being free and driving a motorcar again - but it quickly turns into a NightmareSequence, and then he [[CatapultNightmare wakes up in a panic]].
32	* DrivesLikeCrazy: Toad's second defining characteristic; he wrecks five cars a week, on average, and has to be locked into his room to try and dissuade him.
33	* EerilyOutOfPlaceObject: A benevolent example when Rat and Mole are lost in the Wild Wood after the FirstSnow of the year. Right in the middle of the forest, they happen upon a doorscraper, and then a doormat. Rat deduces that there is probably a door nearby as well... there are in fact, right on the doorstep of Badger, who is happy to give them shelter.
34	* FatBastard: The rotund HangingJudge who takes sadistic pleasure in sentencing Toad for a ridiculously long time.
35	** Toad sees the stout bargewoman as this, although it's clear to the viewer that ''he'' is actually the bastard in their interactions. She looks quite justifiably upset when he makes insulting reference to her weight. At the end, it's mentioned that he sent her a letter of apology.
36	* FaunsAndSatyrs: The ArcadianInterlude subplot is resolved by Rat, who has visions of a satyr-like entity guiding him to Mr. Otter's MissingChild.
37	* FelonyMisdemeanor: Toad's prison sentence. Stealing the motor car is twelve months, while his reckless driving warrants three years and cheeking the police warrants fifteen years which adds up all together to nineteen years, which the judge then makes an even twenty.
38	* {{Fiction500}}: Averted with Toad, he may be rich but as Rat points out "he's not a millionaire", and is actually living beyond his (considerable) means.
39	* FleetingPassionateHobbies: A defining aspect of Toad. When we first see him, it's rowboats, but by the next time he appears he's moved onto a horse-drawn cart. Then, of course, he discovers motorcars.
40	* FoodPorn: The buttered toast that the jailor's daughter brings to Toad is very lovingly animated, emphasizing how good it looks to him.
41	* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Mole is Phlegmatic, Badger is Choleric, Toad is Sanguine and Rat is Melancholic. That said, Badger is a pretty Melancholic character as well.
42	* FunnyAnimal: The whole cast, except for the humans that Toad interacts with.
43	* FurryConfusion: Not particularly strong, but the main cast are either about the same size or bigger than the stoats and weasels. There are also a few realistically-portrayed animals, including horses and ducks.
44	* HairRaisingHare: Heavily downplayed. Early in the film, Mole encounters a group of bullying hares, although he is unintimidated and blusters right by them.
45	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Mole and Rat. It's implied Toad's late father and Badger were also this.
46	* IdleRich: Toad. Like in the novel, he's a deconstruction of this trope as he has way too much time to devote to whatever hobby takes his interest.
47	* KarmaHoudini: Toad, ultimately. He escapes from jail and returns home, and there is never any indication that he will be in continued danger from the police. In ''WesternAnimation/TheWillowsInWinter1996'', this comes back to bite him, but he once again escapes any lasting consequences.
48	* LargeHam: Mr. Toad is usually played as this in any adaptation, but this one takes it up to eleven thanks to Rik Mayall, who clearly had fun recording his lines.
49	* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy: Zig-zagged. Most of the animals live in burrows (albeit in very human-like comfort) and have little or no interaction with humans. Toad, on the other hand, lives in an actual house, drives cars, is put on trial in a human court, held in a human prison, and escapes by disguising himself as a human washerwoman. During his escape no one suspects that he's Mr. Toad until he actually announces it when he rides off with a barge woman's horse. And he also interacts on a more-or-less equal basis with all the other animals.
50	* LoveableRogue: Toad is considered an epitome of this. Although conceited, reckless and even [[KleptomaniacHero kleptomaniacal]] at one point, he genuinely cares for his friends and shows great humility and distress upon learning of the hardships they suffer on his account.
51	* MediumBlending: Most of it is animated but there are two live action segments as BookEnds.
52	* MissingChild: There's a brief subplot of Mr. Otter's son Portly getting lost.
53	* MoralGuardians: As with many ''Wind in the Willows'' adaptations, Badger, who was a friend of Toad's late father appears to be something of this for Toad. Whilst he could have easily sat back and done nothing, he intervenes on Toad's behalf and acts in the latter's best interests. Ratty and Mole also count for the same reasons.
54	* MundaneFantastic: While Toad is the only animal to have extensive interaction with humans no one seems surprised at the sight of a bipedal talking toad who wears clothes. The jailer's daughter even specifically cites her fondness for animals as one of the reasons she helps him escape.
55	* ParentalSubstitute: As with Moral Guardians, Badger to Toad.
56	* PoliceAreUseless: Thoroughly averted. Although we don't see the arrest itself, the police do rightfully arrest Toad after he stole the car. When he escapes, they quickly realise that he escaped on the train and follow him in an engine of their own. If not for the kindly driver, Toad may very well have been caught then and there.
57	** Later still, when Toad crashes the Judge's car, the police (who are still searching for him) are near enough to hear the crash and come rushing to the scene. Whilst some of them undoubtedly stayed to help the Judge and his driver, at least five members of the force went after Toad, chasing him for miles and miles until sunset. Toad only escaped them by jumping into the river, where the current carried him to safety. On the other hand, after this scene, they disappear from the narrative; see KarmaHoudini, above.
58	* PoorlyLitPareidolia: A classic use of this when Mole gets lost in the woods, and various dead trees and branches start to look like monsters.
59	* PrideBeforeAFall: Toad's pride is eventually his undoing; see above under BreakTheHaughty.
60	* PaperThinDisguise: Toad's washerwoman outfit.
61	* ScienceIsBad: Not science, exactly, but the rush of new fads for the rich, such as automobiles (and aeroplanes, in ''The Willows in Winter'').
62	* SeasonalBaggage: The story is set over the course of about a year, and the animators pay a lot of attention to the changing seasons.
63	* SnapBack: Averted, in that Ratty mentions that if Toad keeps buying all these new cars, he's eventually going to use up his whole fortune.
64	* StormingTheCastle: "When the Toad came home..."
65	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: A tiny, green-skinned washerwoman with webbed hands? Nothing odd about that!
66	* UpperClassTwit: Toad is quite rich and also rather fat-headed.
67	* TheWatson: Mole, apparently a newcomer to the community, needs to have a lot of things explained to him. The first part of the story is basically Rat introducing him to everyone.
68	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: As mentioned above under AdaptedOut, it's unclear what happened to the horse Toad stole from the bargewoman, since he no longer has it when he returns to the Riverbank. We can assume he probably simply released it, however.
69	* WhatMeasureIsANonCute / WickedWeasel: The weasels, and the related ferrets and stoats, are all nasty little crooks, sneaking into Toad Hall to take it over while Toad is in prison. They're eventually let go with a warning, though, as they promise to be good after being thrashed by Badger.

Context WesternAnimation / TheWindInTheWillows1995