Jedi's Paradise - Childrens TV - Wind in the Willows

Wind in the Willows DVDs | Episode Guide

History

Cosgrove Hall had the job in the 80's of bringing Kenneth Grahams 'Wind in the Willows' to life and what a way they did it. Using stop motion and latex covered puppets, they gave them and extra bit of magic.

Not only that, some of the best voice actors were chosen to play the parts, such as David Jason (Only Fools and Horses), Peter Sallis (Wallace and Gromit), Sir Michael Horden (Paddington). Also the theme tune was sung by Ralph McTell.

Initially a Movie was made of the show and Ian Carmichael played Ratty. The Movie was a resounding success, so 4 more series of the show was commissioned. This time Ian Carmichael took the role of Narrator, while Peter Sallis took over the role of Ratty.

Once the 4th Series had ended, the show changed direction and centred more on Toad and his adventures. The show was renamed 'Oh Mr Toad!' and only lasted for 1 series.

Story

Four friends live in the countryside. Ratty, Mole, Toad and Badger. Mole is surprised when he finds out there is more to life than living in his burrow and bumps into Ratty.

Ratty shows him that messing about on the river is so relaxing and Mole agrees, but everything in the countryside is not peaceful.

Toad lives nearby in Toad Hall and he is always buying something to keep himself occupied. Normally these fads don't last long, but the others keep telling him not to waste his money.

Badger lives in the wild wood and keeps a stern fatherly eye over them all.

Mr Toad (voiced by David Jason)

He is a Toad that likes to live life to the full. He is very exuberant and very much likes his gadgets and boys toys. The trouble is that Toad gets himself into trouble, by driving his Motor Cars too quickly and has no qualms about stealing things. This landed him in court and so he was sentenced to prison for 20 years!!

But luckily he had help escaping from the Prison by the Jailer's Daughter and was chased by the local Police through the country.

Toad is a vain person and loves to recount the story of his escape and how he returned to Toad Hall and defeated the weasels who had taken over his home.

But as you can guess Toad likes to exaggerate when recounting his stories and is always the hero (even though this isn't always the case). When he went to talk to the weasels about toads, they kidnapped him, but was offended when they only asked for a �10 ransom, so persuaded them to up it to �100!

Don't expect Toad to listen to anything you say, as he keeps talking too much to hear you. But he did listen when Mole said that he thought Mole End was haunted. When Toad heard a noise, he was off, scared stiff!

Badger (voiced by Sir Michael Hordon)

He is a stern person, but is fair. He doesn't stand any nonsense from Toad and puts him back in his place if he stands out of line. He makes sure that Toad pays everyone back for the things he has stolen and cuts through the rubbish that Toad speaks.

Badger is a strong animal and has no problem taking on the Weasels (he is one of the few animals who they are afraid of). He lives in the Wild Woods in the base of an old oak tree and tries to keep himself to himself, in his burrow.

But this seems to be changing, as he seems to be spending more time with Mole, Ratty and Toad.

When Toad was kidnapped, he though of offering a shilling for him, but quickly changed his mind and instead offered nothing.

The other river bankers go to Badger for advice, as they believe he is wise and fair.

Once he was left speechless, when the Chief Weasel told him that he had bought the land that Badgers house was on. He showed him the legal document and gave him notice to leave his home.

Poor Badger was stunned, his family had lived there for hundreds of generations, just after the Romans had left.

Ratty (voiced by Peter Sallis)

He loves nothing more than spending time on the river in his rowing boat. It was Ratty that showed mole that there was more to life than living underground and that he needed friends.

He likes to create songs, which most of them seem to be about the river. Ratty longs to explore the world, but Toad and Mole stopped him.

Ratty doesn't like it when steamers go past, as they cause lots of damage and flood places as they go by.

Mole (voiced by Richard Pearson)

He used to live underground on his own. But one day he adventured outside his home and discovered that there was a world out there. Then he bumped into Ratty who took him under his wing and became his best friend.

He is very timid and doesn't like confrontation. Once he thought that Mole End was haunted, as he kept hearing tapping noises. He was very frightened, but eventually found out that it was a hedgehog that had got trapped underground.

Poor Mole was upset when Badger was going to be evicted from his home by the Weasels. Luckily, at the last minute, Mole had a look around some of the tunnels underneath Badgers home. Here he found an ornate box that contained a document that said Julius Caesar had given the land to the Badgers, before the Romans left Britain. What a lovely mole.

Mole's cousin is the distinguished poet Oberon Mole.

Weasels (voiced by Various)

They are a bunch of thugs who have no conscience and will try to steal anything. The weasel's thought it was a good idea to kidnap Toad, but when they found out that they couldn't stand his constant talking, so let him go.

The weasels even tried to take over Toad hall, but were out thought by Badger, Ratty, Mole and Toad, who caused confusion.

The weasels thought that there were more river bankers than there were, so some ran off and the others were dispatched the four friends. So as you can see, the weasels aren't very brave.

The fiercest Weasel is the Chief Weasel who has fought his way to the top. The only reason he stays there is because the others are too scared of him.

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