This is about the 1996 film. For other adaptations see The Wind in the Willows (disambiguation).
The Wind in the Willows.
The Wind in the Willows is a 1996 film based on the Kenneth Grahame novel of the same name.
Cast[]
Singing cast[]
- Steve Coogan - Mole
- Eric Idle - Rat
- Terry Jones - Mr. Toad
- Nicol Williamson - Mr. Badger
- Antony Sher - Chief Weasel
- Richard James - Geoffrey Weasel/Mole's Clock
- Keith-Lee Castle - Clarence Weasel
- Robert Bathurst - St. John Weasel
- Graham McTavish - Drunken Weasel
Non-singing cast[]
- Stephen Fry - The Judge
- John Cleese - Mr. Toad's Lawyer
- Julia Sawalha - The Jailer's Daughter
Plot[]
Mole's underground home is destroyed when the meadow above is bulldozed by the Weasels. Mr Toad, had sold the land to finance his latest fad: caravanning. Mole meets the Water Rat. Seeing Mole's distress, Rat takes Mole to see Toad. Toad encourages them to join them in his newly bought horse-drawn caravan. A speeding motor car frightens the horse, tipping the caravan over. Toad instantly discards the cart and becomes obsessed with motoring. He is a reckless driver and funds his cars with loans from the Weasels. Their volatile Chief tries to persuade him to sell Toad Hall.
After a crazy drive into the Wild Wood and destroying a seventh motor car, all Toad, Rat, and Mole are lost in the inhospitable lair of the Weasels. The Weasels attempt to coerce Mole into stopping his friends from interfering with their plans. Toad also runs into the Weasels. The three end up in Mr Badger's underground abode. Badger, a close friend of Toad's late father feels responsible for Toad's inheritance, decides to end Toad's obsession with motor cars. However, Toad refuses to listen to Badger and is ultimately arrested for stealing and crashing a motor-car outside a pub. During his trial, Toad's defence lawyer is no help at all. Furthermore, the Weasels are dominating the public box. The Chief Weasel poses as one of the rabbits in the Jury and coerces the terrified creatures to give a guilty verdict. After Toad insults the Court and makes a botched escape attempt, the enraged Judge gives him a hundred-year sentence in a castle dungeon.
Back in Toad Hall, Rat and Mole are evicted by the Weasels, who have annexed Toad Hall for themselves. Rat and Mole tunnel under the castle to free Toad, but he is helped by the sympathetic Jailer's daughter and her reluctant Tea Lady Aunt. Toad escapes, disguised as the latter. Having forgotten Toad's wallet in his cell, Toad, Rat, and Mole board a train. The police however, have stowed away on the carriages, demand the train be stopped. Toad confesses the truth and begs the driver to help him evade his captors. If only to protect his train, the driver agrees to help. He tosses coal at the police, but gets caught in a mail catcher. Toad takes control of the train and is separated. He eventually crashes the engine, though he miraculously survives. Toad sets off again but is caught again by the Weasels.
The full extent of their twisted plans are revealed: they have built a dog-food factory over the remains of Mole's house and are planning to blow up Toad Hall and build a slaughterhouse in its place, with which they will turn all of the peaceful Riverbankers into dog food. They have also damaged the area near to Badger's home, which provokes him into taking decisive action against them. Badger and Rat attempt to infiltrate Toad Hall disguised as weasels, but are captured. Along with Toad, they are placed over the factory's mincing machine. The Chief, Clarence and Geoffrey 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, the Clarence and Geoffrey attempt to blow up their Chief using a birthday cake. Clarence and Geoffrey begin 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. However, the Chief has survived. Toad 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 bone supplies for the factory), and as such the Chief blows up himself along with the factory, leaving Toad Hall intact and Toad's friends safe and well.
Afterwards, Toad makes a public speech swearing off motor cars and promising to be wiser and less prideful in the future. Mole's home has been repaired and he can go back to it. However, Toad is seen secretly talking to an airplane salesman, which shows that he has only moved on to a new craze. Toad flies over the crowd in the plane, causing mass hysteria and Badger swears never to help Toad again. During the end credits, Toad flies across the country and eventually over the sea.
Musical numbers[]
- "Messing About on the River" - Rat
- "Secret of Survival" - The Weasels
- "Mr. Toad" - Mr. Toad
- "Friends Is What We Is" - Mr. Toad, Mr. Badger, Mole and Rat