The Wind In The Willows Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Toadally disappointing

Venturing out from his subterranean dwelling, Mole joins Ratty in his boat, for a voyage up the river. They soon encounter the wealthy Mr Toad, who has adopted caravanning as a new pastime. Nonetheless this leisure pursuit is traded with a different one when he is forced off the road by a motorcar – igniting a new craze in his life. Whilst Badger, Mole and Ratty struggle to alleviate Toad of his car fixation, the weasels use it against him in order to acquire the deeds to Toad Hall.

Taking into account who the members of the cast were, I was expecting something much, much funnier. It is apparent that a good effort has been made by all, but the result is simply not the sum of the parts. There’s no real plot and the kids post interest very quickly. If I’m honest I would rather do housework!!!

Matt Lucas Brilliance

While i am not as down on this as the previous viewer, there are certainly better adaptations of Wind In The Willows. However, There are some good points to this one I am reviewing. First and foremost, Matt Lucas as Toad is exceptional - it is almost as if he was born to play the part. The laughs that were to be had out of this were nearly all from his performance. The other performances are ok at worst but not as outstanding.

Some parts of the story seem very rushed and the show would definitely had been improved by adding some more time or even turning it into two parts. The scenic views and production of the piece though are very good for what is essentially a kids show. This DVD is worth getting to watch once but dont expect as much as what might be from a BBC production.