Winnie the Pooh and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

Winnie the Pooh and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is an upcoming Winnie the Pooh/Disney-Crossover film to be made by Daniel Esposito. It will appear on Google Drive in the near future.

Plot[]

As the film's animated segments are based on literary works, they are both introduced in live-action scenes set in a library as a framing device. The first segment is introduced and narrated by Basil Rathbone, and the second segment is introduced and narrated by Bing Crosby. Decca Records issued an album called Ichabod – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow featuring Crosby in 1949 to tie in with the release of the film.

The Wind in the Willows[]

This segment is based on The Wind in the Willows (1908) by Kenneth Grahame. The story is set in and around London, England, United Kingdom between June 10, 1907 and January 1, 1908. The protagonist J. Thaddeus Toad, Esq. is introduced as an "incurable adventurer" who "never counted the cost". As the story's "one disturbing element", although he is the wealthy proprietor of the Toad Hall estate, Toad's adventures and "positive mania for fads" have brought him to the brink of bankruptcy. As a last resort, Toad's friend Angus MacBadger volunteers as Toad's bookkeeper to help Toad keep his estate which is a source of pride in the community.

One summer day, MacBadger asks Toad's friends Ratty (a water rat) and Moley (a mole) to persuade Toad to give up his latest mania of recklessly driving about the countryside in a horse and gypsy cart, which could accumulate a great deal of financial liability in damaged property. Ratty and Moley confront Toad, but are unable to change his mind. Toad then sees a motor car for the first time and becomes entranced by the new machine, having been taken over by "motor-mania".

To cure Toad's new mania, Ratty and Moley put Toad under house arrest. However, Toad escapes and is later arrested and charged with car theft. At his trial, Toad represents himself and calls his horse Cyril Proudbottom as his first witness. Cyril testifies that the car which Toad was accused of stealing had already been stolen by a gang of weasels. Toad had entered a tavern where the car was parked and offered to buy the car from the weasels. However, since Toad had no money, he instead offered to trade Toad Hall for the car. The prosecutor and judge show disbelief toward the statement, so Toad then calls the bartender Mr. Winky as a witness to the agreement; however, when told by Toad to explain what actually happened, Winky falsely testifies that Toad had tried to sell him the stolen car. Toad is found guilty on the spot and sentenced to 20 years in the Tower of London. As the months passed by, Toad's friends make every effort to appeal his case, but to no avail.

On Christmas Eve, Cyril visits Toad in disguise as his grandmother and helps him escape by giving him a disguise of his own. Toad quickly runs to a railway station and hijacks a train engine named Basil and drives out of the station heading toward the river bank without getting caught by the police on another train engine named Kidaroo without the engine's engineer trying to stop him. Meanwhile, MacBadger discovers that Winky is the leader of the weasel gang, and that they have indeed taken over Toad Hall; Winky himself is in possession of the deed. Knowing that the deed bearing Toad and Winky's signature would prove Toad's innocence, the four friends sneak into Toad Hall and take the document after a grueling chase around the estate.

The film then ends on New Year's Day with Toad exonerated and regaining his house while it is implied that Winky and his minions have been arrested and imprisoned. As MacBadger, Ratty, and Moley celebrate the New Year with a toast to Toad, who they believe has completely reformed, Toad and Cyril recklessly fly past on a 1903 Wright Flyer; Toad has not truly reformed and has developed a mania for airplanes.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow[]

The second segment is based on "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving. Although the film introduces the story as Ichabod Crane, later individual releases retained the story's original title. (As a short story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was originally published in The Sketch Book with other stories, not as a single volume as pictured in the film.)

In October 1790, Ichabod Crane, a lanky, superstitious yet charming dandy arrives in Sleepy Hollow, a small village north of Clark summit that is renowned for its ghostly hauntings, to be the town's new schoolmaster. Despite his odd behavior, appearance, and effeminate mannerisms, Ichabod soon wins the hearts of the village's women and forms good friendships with his students. Brom Bones, the roguish town hero, does his best to bully Ichabod. However, he is very good at ignoring these taunts and continues to interact with the townspeople. Ichabod then falls in love with Katrina van Tassel, the beautiful daughter and only child of Baltus van Tassel, who is the richest man in the village (unlike in most films, Katrina does not have spoken dialogue in this segment). Despite the fact that he is falling in love with her, Ichabod mainly desires to take her family's money for himself. Brom, who is also in love with her, proceeds to compete with the schoolmaster. Ichabod wins Katrina over at every opportunity, although, unbeknownst to him, Katrina, who thinks Brom is too sure of himself, is only using Ichabod to make Brom jealous and force him to try harder for her affections.

The two love rivals are invited to the van Tassel Halloween party where Brom tries to swap a plump woman for Katrina who is dancing with Ichabod, as well as trying to make Ichabod fall through a trapdoor but both attempts backfire since Ichabod has borrowed a gaunt, shaggy, possessed with one good eye, and broken down plowhorse named tired old Gunpowder, who is borrowed from his owner, Hans Van Ripper. While both men dine, Brom catches Ichabod accidentally knocking the salt shaker over and nervously tossing salt over his shoulder. Discovering Ichabod's weakness, he decides to sing the tale of the legendary Headless Horseman who was apparently killed by a cannonball in a recent conflict and travels one night each year while searching for a head to replace the one he had lost and that the only way to escape the ghost is to cross an old covered bridge over a brook. Everyone else, including Katrina, finds this amusing while Ichabod, on the other hand, starts to fear for his life.

On his way home from the party, Ichabod, on his horse, old Gunpowder, becomes paranoid by every animal noise he hears while riding through the dark woods, increasing his fear of the possibility of encountering the Horseman. While traveling through the old cemetery, Ichabod believes he hears the sound of a horse galloping toward him, but discovers the sound is being made by nearby cattails bumping on a log, so he tries to get the terrified Gunpowder moving, and is not strong enough, due to his horse being tired and sleepy. Relieved, Ichabod begins to laugh with his horse, Gunpowder. However, their laughter is cut short by the appearance of the figure of a man on a horse. He appears to be the Headless Horseman of large dimensions, wielding a sword and riding a giant black horse of powerful frame (that is, suspiciously, identical to Brom's horse). When the chase begins, Ichabod almost loses Van Ripper's new saddle, and ends up being chased through the dark forest, Ichabod, remembering Brom's advice, rides across the covered bridge to stop the ghost's pursuit by giving another kick in the ribs and causing poor old Gunpowder to spring upon the bridge, thunder over the resounding planks, gain the opposite side, make it safely across, and reach the safety of it. However, when he turns around, Ichabod looks back to see if he is safe, but sees the beast rise in his stirrups and throw his flaming head, revealed to be a jack-o'-lantern, right at the poor schoolmaster's face. Ichabod tries to dodge the terrible head, but it is too late for him to duck, and the hideous thing hits him with a tremendous crash, and presumably ends up knocking him out while the terrified schoolmaster tumbles helplessly into the dust as his horse passes him on by like a whirlwind while the monster is gone.

The next morning, Ichabod's hat is found at the bridge next to the shattered jack-o-lantern, but Ichabod himself is nowhere to be found. Sometime later, Brom takes Katrina as his bride, and at the altar, they marry each other, due to the strange disappearance of the superstitious schoolmaster. Rumors begin to spread that Ichabod is still alive, married to a wealthy widow in a distant county with children, who all look like him. However, of course, the people of Sleepy Hollow refuse to believe such nonsense, and are the best judges of these matters, and insist that he has been "spirited away" by the Headless Horseman.

Trivia[]

Kanga, Roo, Lumpy, Tennessee Tuxedo, Chumley, Garfield, Odie, Poky Little Puppy, Shy Little Kitten, Tip, Dash, Lucky, Rolly, Cadpig, Spot the Chicken, Baloo, Bagheera, King Louie, Scooby-Doo, Shaggy Rogers, Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Fred Flintstone, Wilma Flintstone, Pebbles Flintstone, Dino, Barney Rubble, Betty Rubble, Bamm-Bamm Rubble, George Jetson, Jane Jetson, Judy Jetson, Elroy Jetson, Astro, Rosie, Oliver, Dodger, Rita, Einstein, Francis, Tito, Georgette, and Ttark guest star in this film.
Joe Yaroch (aka ToonJoey34) originally planned to make this film, but has recently retired from making anymore Pooh's Adventures films, so Daniel Esposito will take over the production of this film.
The film takes place before Pooh's Adventures of The Scorpion King.
The adventure continues in Pooh and Ash's Adventures of Scooby-Doo and the Headless Horseman of Halloween.
The Winnie the Pooh series, The Jungle Book, Pinocchio, The Lion King, 101 Dalmatians: The Series, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, Oliver & Company, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad were all made by Disney.