Product Description

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS has captured the hearts and imaginations of children and adults for nearly a century. Brought vividly and faithfully to life in this 1983 film adaptation, Kenneth Grahame's classic tales of Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad are now avail

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37870 in DVD
• Brand: A&E
• Released on: 2004-10-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 79 minutes

Amazon.com
This 1983 film adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic novel remains faithful to the spirit and prose of the original tale as it brings to life the timeless adventures of Rat, Mole, Badger, and Toad. Viewers familiar with the book, set in early 20th-century Britain, will at once be charmed by stop-motion animation's exquisite renderings of this quartet of friends. Bespectacled Mole, a shy yet inquisitive chap who detests spring cleaning, joins kind-hearted Ratty and the two set off for a day on the river. Their journey leads them to the home of venerable Badger, their stern yet sagacious comrade. Of course, the star of the show is irrepressible Toad, who steers himself into all sorts of mischief because of a motor car obsession. From Wild Wood to Toad Hall, the story pulsates with exuberance, punctuated with lively songs and dialogue taken directly from the pages of the beloved children's story. The British voiceovers are delectable, especially David Jason's Toad. (Ages 6 and older) --Lynn Gibson

Customer Reviews

Oh for the golden days of old!
This movie has been a staple with our family since first released on video, in fact we have worn 3 tapes out of the original and I have just purchased the dvd, which is outstanding!! The colour and quality are excellent and the story and voice overs are a trip back to glory days of English gentility. My children still watch this continually and whilst it may not appeal to the "action comix" kid (or adult)it is a masterpiece and is simply redolent with atmosphere. Buy it for your kids, watch it time and time again for yourself and give your spirit a lift.

Hurry in to the Wonderful World of Cosgrove & Hall
When I first learned of this show I instantly fell in love with it. When I learned they did many episodes I enjoyed even that much more. Many years later I finally learned just how many episodes they did, and realized I must have missed out on many of them, and was in utter shock and awe at all the wonderful work that Cosgrove and Hall did. This first single disc DVD is on the feature length episode that Cosgrove and Hall produced. Take one of my favorite styles of animation, add some talented (and a few favorite) British voice actors, and add the creative talent of Cosgrove and Hall, and give them an inspiring loveable book, and you get an immense amount of Family Fun Time. After you view this one feature length episode hold on to your hats. To be released around March of 2005 is the first of about 5 volumes A&E plans to produce, so that they may be the very first in the market to completely release to the public every single one of the 65 (YES, you heard that right "65!") 20 minute episodes that the talented Cosgrove and Hall company produced. Never before has the public been allowed to purchase and view in their homes every single episode of this fantastic series. The only things in the past that were release on tape were the feature length episode, and about 3 or 4 tapes with 3 episodes each (with 1 or 2 episodes changed out when they were reproduced a couple of times). It's shocking that it took this long to let the public in all this fun (Who's been hoarding and hiding all these recordings anyway?). Thanks finally to A&E for being the first company to get the rights (after several others had the rights over the years) to devote all the time and effort they are going to do to get all the episodes out to the public. YEAH for A&E! So many of us have been longing for such a lengthy amount of time to finally own every episode. I especially enjoy this show just tad bit more than others, as this show helped bring me out of a dark depressing time I went through early one year, when I happened to stumble upon this show again on a PBS channel, and low and behold by some freak of nature they were airing some of the episodes in the early to mid 90's.

On to a side comment, I don't know how someone can give this show a bad rating, and then also go on a rant about it having bad language. What show were you watching anyway? Unless you're a super uptight paranoid parent who gets offended by everyone else in world, this show is certainly for everyone. So don't let any kind of review like that deter you from having any kind of fun. RUN, don't walk, and get your copies of every single one of these episodes, and start having a great fun time.

Bad language- my a**!
A note to previous reviewers:

When Toad says
"Mole, you silly ASS!" He is NOT swearing, but calling Mole a jackass- a silly ninny, a nincompoop, a DONKEY (as per Biblical vocabulary). I'm tempted to use the phrase myself.

"Ass" is not a swear word in this context, and there is no reason to shield children from this masterful film adaptation of a classic book. Might as well shield children from the Bible itself. But thanks for your review, all the same.

Another thought- what two-year-old is able to pay attention to a movie long enough to get as far as the point at which that word is used, anyway??

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Now a note to prospective buyers:

Never has there been a more masterfully-created rendition of K. Grahame's work. The lyrics to the songs come straight from Grahame's pen, and the music itself it nothing short of delightful. The skilled (and famous) actors who perform the voices of our riverside friends must also be commended. Altogether stunning.

This movie is one of TWO book adaptations in the history of cinema that have surpassed their original literary form (the other being "The Snowman"). The "Wind in the Willows" television spinoff (also available on Amazon) doesn't slack off a bit; it's just as high-quality as this movie.

Excellent viewing for the ENTIRE family. I certainly look forward to subsequent DVD releases of the tv series.