The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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The Wind in the Willows
Fantasy · Animation · Family · 1983
One spring, Mole decides that he can ignore the spring cleaning for a little longer, and begins a series of adventures with his new friend Rat. They go for a picnic on the riverbank, on a caravan expedition with Toad, until Toad switches allegiance to his new car and his reckless driving makes Mole and Rat search out Badger for help in curbing Toad's profligate habits. But Toad gets away from them and gets a 20-year sentence from the magistrate for theft, reckless driving, and Gross Impertinence. While Toad works his wiles on the jailer's daughter and escapes jail dressed as a washer woman, Badger tries to guard Toad Hall from the machinations of the Weasels and is badly beaten. And it requires a plan of attack and all four comrades to regain Toad Hall.
Movie details
The Wind in the Willows
1983 Fantasy · Animation · Family 1h 18m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
7.5 / 10
2.1K votes
TMDB
7.0 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
One spring, Mole decides that he can ignore the spring cleaning for a little longer, and begins a series of adventures with his new friend Rat. They go for a picnic on the riverbank, on a caravan expedition with Toad, until Toad switches allegiance to his new car and his reckless driving makes Mole and Rat search out Badger for help in curbing Toad's profligate habits. But Toad gets away from them and gets a 20-year sentence from the magistrate for theft, reckless driving, and Gross Impertinence. While Toad works his wiles on the jailer's daughter and escapes jail dressed as a washer woman, Badger tries to guard Toad Hall from the machinations of the Weasels and is badly beaten. And it requires a plan of attack and all four comrades to regain Toad Hall.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Wind in the Willows?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Where it lives
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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Chris Taylor · Mark Hall
Written by
Rosemary Anne Sisson
Richard Pearson
Mole
Michael Hordern
Badger
Ian Carmichael
Rat
David Jason
Toad
Beryl Reid
The Magistrate
Una Stubbs
Jailer's Daughter / Various
Jonathan Cecil
Reggie (voice)
Court is in session
Put The Wind in the Willows on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.