Celebrate Halloween and Christmas With Ichabod and Mr. Toad

The Wind in the Willows and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are two classic pieces of literature, but I wouldn’t have thought to put them together. Disney did, though, and the result was the 1949 package film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. It’s unusual in that it tells just two stories; the package films typically include several different segments, each of which is shorter than either tale told here. What it amounts to is about half an hour per story, so there’s room for some decent development even though neither one is individually of feature length.

The main thematic tie between the stories seems to be that they are literary classics, one from England, one from America. Other similarities can be found; for instance, both integrally involve a holiday and a horse-drawn cart. Mostly, though, the tie between the two is that these are books that could be sitting on the shelf next to each other. Basil Rathbone is the sophisticated narrator of the first part of the film, which focuses on the reckless Mr. Toad, and his warm voice is perfectly suited to the task. Bing Crosby feels like less of a natural narrator for the second half, which deals with Ichabod Crane, but the role allows him to do some singing, which is the task at which he really shines.

I prefer the first tale, which is much livelier, in part because each of the characters is played by a different actor and there is quite a bit of dialogue. Toads seem to be inherently troublesome creatures, more so than frogs, which have a bit of a reputation in fiction for steady dependability. After all, look at Kermit the Frog (at least, when he’s not blowing a gasket). The contrast is strongest in Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad series, and silly, sulky Toad with his peculiar whims would certainly have a kindred spirit in Mr. Toad. They’re not bad fellows, but trouble seems to follow them, and sometimes they bring it upon themselves.

The story of Mr. Toad is set in the idyllic English countryside, where the eccentric millionaire is constantly wreaking havoc with his dangerous obsessions. It’s up to his faithful, long-suffering friends to keep him out of trouble and to try to prove his innocence after he runs afoul of the law. Toad is rather obnoxious but lovable nonetheless. Severe Angus MacBadger (Campbell Scott), who oversees his affairs, is a fun character, particularly because of his pronounced Scottishness, but he is less prominent than the even-keeled Rat (Claud Allister) or my favorite character, mild-mannered Mole (Colin Campbell). Other characters, including Mr. Toad’s horse and a freakish-looking villain named Mr. Winky, come into the picture, but this is the core quartet. It’s a raucous romp and a touching story of friendship set partially against the beauty of a pristine English Christmas, and it’s quite satisfying.

I’m not quite as fond of Ichabod’s story, partly because it’s just plain creepy. It makes me chuckle that in a film that includes a Christmas story, Crosby, who is so associated with the upcoming holiday, narrates the tale set at Halloween. It also strikes me as funny that the Christmas story comes first. The animation of a fiery New England autumn is quite appealing, but the human characters aren’t quite as enjoyable to look at as the animals in the first story. Ichabod in particular is a bit goofy-looking, though this would not necessarily be a drawback if he were a more likable character. Unfortunately, this gangly schoolteacher is a lazy womanizing glutton who can’t wait to hitch his wagon to the richest girl in town so he can live like a king for the rest of his days. Hence, although he’s the protagonist, he doesn’t exactly inspire a great deal of affection from me. It doesn’t help that there’s so little actual dialogue in this story, and what’s there is mostly voiced by Crosby. This makes the characters in this segment feel much more distant, leading to a definite sense of detachment.

The meat of the story is the rivalry between Ichabod and burly Brom Bones, who both want the pretty heiress Katrina Van Tassel for a wife, though love doesn’t seem to be a factor for either of them. They both appear to see her as more of a prize than a person. Brom reminds me a lot of Gaston from Disney’s much later Beauty and the Beast except that he is not quite so immensely popular. Still, he makes a potent adversary, and his dramatic ghost story is enough to give Ichabod a major case of the heebie-jeebies. Me too. The headless horseman scene that follows is truly terrifying, no matter what your interpretation of the incident is.

I’m not sure that this is the most natural pair of stories to put together, but it works well enough, and each is memorable in its own way. While I personally don’t want anything to do with Sleepy Hollow except around Halloween, I’m happy to pay a visit to Mr. Toad any time of year.

Michael Buble Creates a Classic Christmas Album

I’ve been vaguely aware of Canadian crooner Michael Bublé for several years, but it wasn’t until I discovered his exuberant Haven’t Met You Yet last year that I really became a fan. When I heard he was releasing a solo album, I was quite excited to hear what he would come up with, and the David Foster-produced Christmas is just as fun as I hoped it would be.

The album includes plenty of classic standards, starting off with It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, which isn’t recognizable as such until half a minute in because of the lush instrumental introduction. From there on, it’s a smooth, straightforward rendition that sounds like it could have been recorded in the 1950s. The most interesting variation here is the slight uplift on the second syllable in “Christmas” toward the end of the song. Holly Jolly Christmas is similarly traditional and upbeat with a fun guitar solo in the middle making me feel like getting up and dancing like the kids in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

The Puppini Sisters join Michael for a rather annoying version of Jingle Bells. It’s similar to the Bing Crosby / Andrews Sisters rendition that always makes me cringe a little when it comes on the radio. I’m not sure why it bugs me so much; I just find some of the women’s harmonic contributions grating, and that’s the same here. Lots of scatting that just starts to sound cacophonous. It’s a very energetic track, and some will probably find it very entertaining, but I’m not a big fan. Michael has another guest on Mis Deseos/Feliz Navidad, with Thalía joining him for a mostly-Spanish song. This guitar-heavy track is a lot of fun, even when I have no idea what they are saying. The chorus of joyful voices that joining toward the end adds to an already harmonious merger.

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town is nice and jazzy with a brassy, big band-style instrumental break partway through. The steady percussion and bass gives the remainder of the song a lounge quality that is enjoyable and distinct. His spoken line toward the end about “the big fat man with the long white beard” is especially fun. Speaking of the big guy with the beard, he’s the addressee in Santa Baby, one of my least favorite songs this time of year because of the unbridled avarice that is Christmas materialism at its most galling. That said, Michael’s version is a lot less irritating than, say, Madonna’s, which always makes me roll my eyes. This one is so slow and quiet, with few of the obnoxious inflections typical to this song. I also like some of the lyrical changes, such as calling Santa “buddy” and “dude” and requesting Canucks tickets.

Michael’s rendition of White Christmas seems to have been modeled after the Drifters version, which was featured in Home Alone. Shania Twain joins him for this peppy, doo-woppy track. This is a song that usually comes across as sentimental and rather woebegone, but there’s none of that sense here until perhaps the very end. The brass and pounding drums make it sound like this is a parade coming through town to announce that snow is on the way just because the majority demands it. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, on the other hand, sounds just as wistful as when Judy Garland sang it. Violins are particularly prominent here, while guitar is just as effective at conveying heartache in I'll Be Home for Christmas, which starts off drenched in despairing homesickness but sounds much more optimistic on the second repetition.

It’s no surprise that Michael would tap into the subgenre of romantic Christmas songs here, and I really like his mostly low-key take on All I Want for Christmas Is You. Backed by piano, he sounds quiet and sincere, and the outburst late in the song feels genuinely emotional. In most versions of this song, I’m a bit worn out by the exuberance by this point, especially since the lyrics are so plaintive. He really does sound mildly melancholy – lonely without the one he loves but optimistic that she will appear soon. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) has the typical mix of anguish and pep. The jingle bells, electric guitar and backing vocals add to the energy of the track, which he sings the heck out of. I also find it fun that the backers echo the Beatles’ “love, love, love” chorus that Michael used in Haven’t Met You Yet. Blue Christmas sounds a bit odd with the clanging tambourine and the ostentatious brass section, and with him whooping and hollering in the background during the instrumental portions, he sure doesn’t sound blue to me. Maybe he’s trying to sound sarcastic? An interesting track, but it doesn’t quite do it for me.

My favorite Christmas albums tend to be those with a hearty mix of sacred and secular songs. This album features only two spiritual songs, and as the first one doesn’t show up until the tenth track, by the time I got to it the first time around, I figured that Michael must have decided to stick with the Santa side of Christmas, along with the cozy domestic end of it. Perhaps the album would feel a bit more balanced if Silent Night had been a few tracks earlier. It’s a lovely, reverent version, mostly because of the children’s choir, but it seems very strange to encounter it after nine tracks that don’t mention Jesus at all. The other track is Ave Maria, which is mostly about Mary and is in Latin. This song seems to be best tackled by those with operatic voices, but Michael does a nice job with it, and the austere chorus in the background is especially nice. While the fact that there are only two makes them seem a tad perfunctory, he does pull out all the stops with the production here.

Cold December Night is the only original track on the album, and it’s along the lines of All I Want for Christmas and all those other songs about romantic Yuletide proposals. It’s an upbeat song, so the implication I get is that he thinks he has a pretty decent shot of being accepted, though “fall in love with me” suggests that at this point, he is probably more invested in the possibility of romance than she is. In any case, it’s a chipper way to put his personal stamp on the album, which he also does at the very end with a five-second-long spoken “Merry Christmas” message.

While there are a couple tracks that haven’t entirely won me over yet, this is a nice album and precisely the sort of thing I would expect to hear from Michael Bublé. In the acknowledgments, he talks about how Christmas is his favorite time of year and how he wanted this album to be a throwback to the days of the crooners, particularly Bing Crosby, whose Christmas music so inspired him as a kid. Although this album includes a few fairly contemporary songs, it has a very old-school feel, so it should be warmly welcomed by those who fill their Christmas turntables with the likes of Bing, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis. With Michael Bublé’s Christmas, it feels like we’ve stepped back in time, and it’s a very pleasant trip.

Peace on Earth / Little Drumme Boy - David Bowie / Bing Crosby

David Bowie and Bing Crosby made a surprisingly compelling team when they performed the tender duet Peace on Earth / Little Drummer Boy, made especially poignant in light of Crosby's death shortly thereafter.