All five series of the 1980's British animated Wind in the Willows TV Show in one Box Set collection – plus two feature length specials!
Based on the novels by Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows is the classic story of the adventures of Mole, Badger, Rat and Toad of Toad Hall, set in Edwardian England of 1908. Mole sets out from his underground home to discover the world and is befriended by the river loving Water Rat who introduces him to the madcap aristocrat Mr Toad. Together with Grandfatherly Badger they encounter the rascally Weasels, face the terrors of the Wild Wood, and see Mr Toad through a series of headlong escapades until they return once again to the peace of the English countryside.
- High production values from Cosgrove Hall (the production home of some of Britain’s most iconic children’s shows including Danger Mouse, The BFG, Count Duckula)
- A stop-motion animation style that still remains charming and unique today
Boxset includes 65 episodes (approx 20 mins each) and 2 feature length specials.
The Wind in the Willows TV Series Review
"The minor adventures of Toad, Badger, Mole, and Rat are so simple and straightforward that they are downright refreshing in the loud, flashy world of contemporary children's programming. Simplicity exists in each part of The Wind in the Willows' production. The animation is rough and basic, crafted well but never flashy or spectacular. Each of the characters is unique and carefully modeled, but their movements are often a tad sluggish. The script is slowly paced and laid back, keeping with the overall feel of the series. There are musical numbers, but they fit into the plot (generally) and have little instrumentation. The cast is small, with most of the running time spent on the four leads, with some moments devoted to the field mice, weasels and other minor characters.
The series hearkens back to a quieter time, somewhere in rural England early in the Twentieth Century when cars and electricity are just starting to arrive. The struggles they face are rarely large, but each one holds valuable moral lessons for children, masked just enough that they won't be noticed. One example is the episode when Mole thinks there is a ghost in his house. He is frightened of it, and turns to his friends for help, but rather than simply having them show him that there aren't ghosts or have it turn out that there are ghosts, the solution comes when he gets up the courage to search for himself. The lesson isn't that there's no such thing as ghosts, it's that we need to stand up to our fears, especially when we realize they're irrational. Some of the lessons associated with Toad are a lot simpler, but they are also clever because there's such a difference between what Toad says and the reality of the situations that he gets himself into. Most children's works don't do that kind of exploration in narrative.
The voice work is wonderful. David Jason stands out with his remarkable work as Toad, breathing an astounding amount of personality into the small clay form. Only a few of the minor characters are ever shrill or annoying. The episodes run just under 20 minutes each. It's the perfect amount of time, enough to tell the stories at a gentle pace without dragging things on too long. Musical numbers are an exception, particularly in a couple episodes where characters sing the same bloody song multiple times in a single episode…I have little negative to say about The Wind in the Willows. My only concern is that the target generation of children may be too used to newer, more dazzling shows to appreciate what this series has to offer. Still, given half a chance, I think that children could easily be enchanted by its delightful stories…It has held up a lot better than many shows from 20 years ago, both in animation and storytelling. DVD Verdict