The Wind in the Willows [Mr Toad’s Wild Ride] *** (1996, Eric Idle, Steve Coogan, Nicol Williamson, Terry Jones, Antony Sher, John Cleese, Stephen Fry) – Classic Movie Review 4221

Eric Idle (Rat), Steve Coogan (Mole), Nicol Williamson (Badger) and Terry Jones (Toad) head the star-studded cast for writer-director Terry Jones’s sweet, entertaining 1996 live-action version of the beloved Kenneth Grahame children’s story The Wind in the Willows.

In a modernised plot, Mole turns to Toad for help when the weasels’ schemes threaten his home. Richly enjoyable and happy throughout, it does full justice to the novel. There are lovely performances from some of the UK’s best loved performers, but Antony Sher steals the show as the Chief Weasel.

Also in the cast are John Cleese, Stephen Fry, Bernard Hill, Michael Palin, Nigel Palin, Victoria Wood, Julia Sawalha, Robert Bathurst, Don Henderson, Richard James, Keith-Lee Castle, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Hugo Blick and David Hatton.

It follows three animated film versions, in 1983, 1987 and 1995.

With cinemas only showing it in the afternoons, the film failed at the UK box office. Sony then abandoned it after its 1997 US release, but it was rescued in 1998 when Walt Disney Home Video bought the American rights, added in a few sound effects and changed the title to the name of the Disneyland ride Mr Toad’s Wild Ride and released it on VHS in 1999 and DVD in 2004.

RIP Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020).

RIP Sir Antony Sher KBE (14 June 1949 – 2 December 2021). He also acted in Yanks (1979), Superman II (1980), Shadey (1985), Erik the Viking (1989) and Mrs Brown (1997). Among his many roles on stage, he starred in the 1985 Torch Song Trilogy at the Albery Theatre, London West End.

Sher and his partner and collaborator Gregory Doran became one of the first same-sex couples to enter into a civil partnership in the UK. They married on 30 December 2015. Doran took compassionate leave from the Royal Shakespeare Company to care for Sher when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in September 2021.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4221

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