The Adventures of Mr. Toad (narrated by Basil Rathbone) sees the rich but irresponsible Mr. Toad (Eric Blore) lose his ancestral home after trading it away for a stolen car, which lands him in jail. Over Christmas, he escapes and runs to the riverbank where his friends Mole (Colin Campbell), Ratty (Claud Allister), and MacBadger (Campbell Grant) help him steal back the deed from the weasels currently in residence.
Disney nerds will immediately recognize the weasels from Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (narrated by Bing Crosby) tells the story of a schoolteacher in a rural New York community who challenges the town hotshot for the hand of the town flirt. At a Halloween party, after losing to the schoolteacher on every front, the hotshot decides to scare him out of town by recounting the local legend of the Headless Horseman, a ghost that roams the road on Halloween looking for a head to replace his pumpkin one.
This story is kind of the definition of Everybody Sucks Here. Ichabod is a fortune-hunting lothario, Brom Bones is kind of a dick, and Katrina von Tassel is a vain bitch looking to stir trouble to feed her ego. The Headless Horseman song still slaps, though.
Animation fans will note Ub Iwerks' name in the credits, a mark of quality. Katrina was obviously an early model for 1950 Cinderella, having the same face and hair, complete with the blue bows on the ends of her braids. Fortunately, someone calmed down a little with regards to the rest of her proportions by the next year.
It's annoying that the Mr. Toad story is first, both because in the title Ichabod is listed first and chronologically Halloween is before Christmas. I meant to pay attention to the minute mark where the second story starts so you could just skip right to it, but then I didn't. The combination is currently streaming on Disney+.
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