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.
Cosgrove Hall were very much at the forefront of stop-motion animation in Britain at the start of the 1980s with their award-winning “Danger Mouse” and with this, probably their finest long-form adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s charming story. It’s “Mole” who gets fed up repainting his burrow and so sets off for a stroll to see his friend “Rat” and thence deep into the wintry woods to find “Badger”. These three are agitated by the erratic behaviour of “Toad” who has discovered the joys of the motor car, but not really of sensible driving. Indeed, he’s wrecked so many of the things that he is becoming a menace to himself and just about everyone else. “Badger” decides that a form of house-arrest is the only solution and so they lock “Toad” in his bedroom. Unfortunately he escapes, pinches a passing car and ends up on the wrong end of a twenty year jail sentence. Luckily, some of his fellow inmates befriend him and facilitate his escape - but when he gets home, he finds things not what he had expected and he has to rely on his old - and rather fed up - friends to reclaim his home from the marauding rats now in residence. The audio mixing here is effectively complementary to the high quality of the animation which is gorgeous, detailed and characterful: the snowy scenes with their snug little homes amidst dark forests; the fun with the old jalopies turned into dangerous weapons by the selfish “Toad” and, of course, the whole story is underpinned by loyalty, friendship and a bit of mischief too. Time and effort has gone into this and those skills have held their value well over time. Well worth a watch.
