Masterpiece Theatre: The Wind in the Willows

The Wind in the WIllows is a complex and beautiful tale. When producers are forced to boil it down into about 90 minutes a great deal of the substance of the story is lost. In this version "The Piper At The Gates of Dawn" and "Dulce Domum" are completely deleted, and some characters like Otter are also missing or barely covered.Nevertheless this is a fine TV production which is faithful to much of the spirit and all of the beauty of the book. It is set in an Elysian Field of a countryside along a beautiful stream where it always seems to be fair weather. The primary cast is limited to Mole, Rat, Toad, and Badger, with a number of smaller parts including an appropriately deviant looking group of Weasels and Stoats. No one wears an animal costume, but the characteristics of each animal is well portrayed: Rat the country middle class gentleman, Toad the nouveau riche upstart, Badger the aristocrat, and Mole the somewhat proletarian but rising fast arriviste. The story primarily focusses on Toad and his adventures, which are appropriately hilarious.While this production will never replace the book, it will entertain and amuse on its own, and more importantly, help to introduce Grahsme's story to new readers.

Regrettably, this is not the full version of the film. Probably to fit in with the timing for Masterpiece Theatre, they have taken out some lovely scenes, and scenes which I think are essential to the full development of the characters and their relationship - particularly that of Ratty and Mole. The complete film follows the book pretty closely. Had I known this was not the full version, I would not have bought it. Having said that, it's still a lovely movie, but the full film as intended by the Director and Producer is far superior. Further, there are no extras with this version, and there are with the full BBC version.

This movie is a treat--an imaginative combination of theatrical costumes and movie techniques. I would recommend it to adults and to any child old enough to have enjoyed the actual Kenneth Grahame book. I would watch it with the kid. It does have a shadow side--it's not a cartoon. Mr. Toad is not psychotic, but he's certainly bipolar. His friends care about him even though they get inconvenienced and annoyed. The stoats and weasels lurk and lurch--but like good storybook villains, they get scared off . Moley is timid and it's hard to get him out of his comfort zone (underground in the meadow) but when his friends urge him on, his world expands and he has adventures. Mr. Badger has courage and he's gruff at times, but he brings order out of chaos and knows when to fight and when to fall back. The situations and lesser characters are just plain funny--the jailer's daughter, so pretty despite bad teeth, the aunt who's---a---washerwoman, the flirty flinty train engineer, the tough barge woman who matches wits with Toad, and the adorable upper class couple who lose their roadster to Toad not once but twice. Toad's highs are higher than anybody's, and his lows are very low, but who has more fun than Toad?

My grandchildren and I love this video. They want to watch it several time when they come for a week-long visit. It's very well done, very British - not Hollywood! Excellent product.

I found this film entrancing. I agree with those who gave the film 5 stars but was gravely disappointed that PBS edited out the Christmas sequence altogether - ripping out the most emotionally compelling and charming part of the film. Mole watching the human family in the village through the window, Mole longing for his own hole, Rat's compassion when he makes Mole's hole into a warm home, the appearance of the caroling field mice children and the feast that follows. Time restraints or no, by consigning these scenes to the cutting room floor PBS wrenched the heart right out of the film. I am hoping I can find a dvd of the complete film (which I saw recently on cable TV) at a UK sight.

A very entertaining PBS movie and also a very good quality DVD.

The very best production of this tale. Sometimes titled "Toad's Wild Ride" this version is truer to the original book than most. Played by real actors, not animated "cartoon" characters, you'll probably enjoy it more than a few times. But then, almost anything PBS produces in their "Masterpiece Theater" line is good.

The disc is in perfect shape, and this is a pretty faithful adaptation to the book. It is absolutely hilarious. That guy whom plays Mr. Toad knocks it right out of the park. Great film.

I love this movie, however this is NOT THE ORIGINAL VERSION of the film. This was a PBS re release and they decided to cut an entire scene out from the original version. The scene which was cut out was the Christmas at Mole's house scene which I believe is quite inportant to the plot and character development. Other than that, I don't believe anything else was changed or removed. I hope this was helpful to you all.

We watched this story on televison and had waited for it to be shown again but never caught it. I was really pleased to find it listed in the collection offered by Amazon and purchsed it as a Christmas gift for our family. It was read to me as a child. The whole idea of these charming little animals going about their everyday lives in cozy dwellings in the wild along a riverbank, underground or in a tree stump complete with all amenities including pantry and fireplace, is captivating. This Masterpiece Theatre rendition puts a twist on the story with humans portraying the characters of the animals. The actors do a fabulous job complete with little quirks like whisker grooming, nose tweeking, the myopic squinting of Mole, etc. Toad is fat, frumpy and totally out of control with his obsessive interest in machines in motion. I have watched it several times and it is sure to be family classic.

A very enjoyable representation of age old classic. Done with the sincerity one would usually expect from fine British thespians engaged in some classic theatre. Raises the calibre of children's nonsense to a fine art form.