Rating: ***
Review Date: 10/13/00
Cast: Bing Crosby, Basil Rathbone
This one stirs up a bunch of childhood memories, and the chilling climax of "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow" is forever burned into my psyche. This animated feature contains two complete short stories: "The Wind In The Willows" and "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow." "The Wind In The Willows" follows the wild and crazy life of Mr. Toad and all of the trouble he causes, but his friends are always there to help him out. And to think that after thirty years, only now do I fully comprehend the "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" at Disneyland! Disney's now classic rendition of "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow" introduces the lean and lanky Ichabod Crane as Sleepy Hollow's new schoolmarm, who ends up competing with the town jock for the affections of Katrina Van Tassle. This ends in a terrifying pursuit through the woods of Sleepy Hollow as Ichabod is ruthlessly hunted by the Headless Horseman. As you would expect from Disney, the animation is slick and the quality of the feature is excellent, if not a little dated.
Additional bonus material on the DVD includes a sad a depressing short called "Suzie The Little Blue Coupe" and the utterly delightful classic, "Lonesome Ghosts," featuring Mickey, Donald, and Goofy as professional ghost exterminators. My sister and I had this on a Fisher Price film reel as kids and it's just as enjoyable now as it was back then. Great stuff!