Mr. Toad's Wild Ride ★★ The Wind in the Willows 1996 (PG) Kenneth Grahame's 1908 children's book gets the Monty Python treatment. Set in Edwardian England, but with a definitely modern slant, Jones' adaptation removes much of the gentle whimsy and replaces it with Pythonesque skits. Mole (Coogan) wakes up one day to find his home being bulldozed by the industrialist weasels who have purchased the property from the motorcar-infatuated Mr. Toad (Jones). Toad keeps selling more land to buy more cars as the weasels take over the area and Toad is sent to jail for reckless driving. Mole, along with friends Rat (Idle) and Badger (Williamson) must help him escape and reclaim his land. Grahame's early 20th century fable railing against modern industralism's encroachment on the countryside becomes a satire on '90s consumerism and corporate greed. Mighty heady stuff for a kid's movie. 88m/C VHS. GB Terry Jones, Steve Coogan, Eric Idle, Anthony Sher, Nicol Williamson, John Cleese, Stephen Fry, Bernard Hill, Michael Palin, Nigel Planer, Julia Sawalha, Victoria Wood, Richard James;
Director:
Terry Jones;
Writer:
Terry Jones;
Writer:
David Tattersall;
Cameo:
John Du Prez, Terry Jones.
