Toad of Toad Hall is a play written by A. A. Milne – the first of several dramatisations of Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows – with incidental music by Harold Fraser-Simson. It was originally produced by William Armstrong at the Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool, on 21 December 1929. It was given in the West End the following year, and has been revived frequently by many theatrical companies.
For his stage version of Grahame's book, the humorist and playwright A. A. Milne concentrated on the adventures of Mr Toad, which make up about half of the original book, because they lent themselves most easily to being staged. He loved Grahame's book, which is one of the reasons why he decided to adapt it. He wrote in the introduction to the published play:
The first production was at the Playhouse Theatre, Liverpool, on 21 December 1929, under the direction of William Armstrong. The first London productions were at the Lyric Theatre on 17 December 1930 and the Savoy Theatre on 22 December 1931, directed by Frank Cellier. [2]
| Liverpool, 1929 | Lyric, 1930 | Savoy, 1931 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse | Mamie Hunt | Mona Jenkins | Mona Jenkins |
| Marigold | Katrina Kaufmann | Wendy Toye | Nova Pilbeam |
| The Mole | Alan Webb | Richard Goolden | Richard Goolden |
| The Water Rat | Lloyd Pearson | Ivor Barnard | A. Cameron Hall |
| Mr Badger | Wyndham Goldie | Eric Stanley | Eric Stanley |
| Toad | Leslie Kyle | Frederick Burtwell | Frederick Burtwell |
| Alfred | Peter Mather | R. Halliday Mason | R. Halliday Mason |
| Back Legs of Alfred | Martin Hyde | Frank Snell | Frank Snell |
| Chief Weasel | Nelson Welch | Ronald Alpe | Robert Hughes |
| Chief Stoat | John Guinness | William McGuigan | Leslie Stroud |
| Chief Ferret | John Robinson | Alfred Fairhurst | Neal Alston |
| First Field-Mouse | Sally Lockhart | Gordon Tucker | Jim Neal |
| Second Field-Mouse | Audrey Wilson | Robert Sinclair | Jim Soloman |
| Policeman | Herbert Bickerstaff | Alban Blakelock | Alban Blakelock |
| Gaoler | Basil Nairn | Alfred Fairhurst | Robert Hughes |
| Judge | James Harcourt | Alfred Clark | Tom Reynolds |
| Usher | Alfred Sangster | Humphrey Morton | Beeson King |
| Turkey | Lorraine Cromarty | Gordon Tucker | Jim Soloman |
| Duck | Trevor Reid | Robert Sinclair | Jim Neal |
| Phoebe | Joan Harker | Joan Harker | Wendy Toye |
| Washerwoman | Marjorie Fielding | Dorothy Fane | Dorothy Fane |
| Mama Rabbit | Elizabeth Ripley | Phyllis Coulthard | Phyllis Coulthard |
| Harold Rabbit | Doris Forrest | Marcus Haig | Jim Ned |
| Lucy Rabbit | Kathleen Boutcher | Daphne Allen | Daphne Allen |
| Barge-Woman | Pauline Lacey | Frances Waring | Muriel Johnston |
The play comprises a prologue, four acts and an epilogue:
Although not a musical, the play contains ten musical numbers composed by Harold Fraser-Simson:
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Reviewing the Liverpool premiere, The Stage commented that Milne had succeeded brilliantly in putting Grahame's characters on the stage, but thought the play might be over the heads of a children's audience, having "so much in it to appeal to the adult mind". [14] The other principal theatrical paper, The Era , thought that there might be "a certain amount of doubt whether Mr Milne has succeeded in bringing the peculiar and indefinable atmosphere of Kenneth Grahame's little classic in the realms of fantasy, The Wind in the Willows, on to the stage. But perhaps he never attempted to do so. What he has actually done has been to provide an entertainment brimful of delight, for childish hearts". [15]
The play was revived in the West End each year from 1932 to 1935, and was next seen there in 1954, in a production first seen at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, with Leo McKern as Toad, William Squire as Rat, Edward Atienza as Mole and Brewster Mason as Badger. [16]
In the 1960s and 1970s there were annual West End revivals during the Christmas season, with Goolden returning to the part of Mole in every year except one. [17] Among the actors appearing in the play in London and elsewhere were, in the title role Michael Bates, [18] Hywel Bennett, [19] Derek Godfrey, [20] Nicky Henson, [21] Michael Hordern, [22] Paul Scofield, [23] Ian Wallace, [24] Michael Williams, [25] Peter Woodthorpe [26] and Patrick Wymark. [27] Alan Badel and Clive Revill were among those seen as Rat; [28] Badgers included Michael Blakemore, Mark Dignam, John Justin and John Woodvine. [29] Performers seen in other roles in the play included Beverley Cross, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Rita Tushingham and Brett Usher. [30] In the 1980s and subsequently the play has been frequently revived in London, the British provinces and in North America. [31]
The BBC has broadcast several adaptations of the play. A 1942 radio version featured Goolden and Burtwell reprising their roles from the first London production, Fred Yule was Badger and Vernon Harris was Rat. [32] Michael Barry's television version of the play was broadcast live on eight occasions between 1946 and 1950 with varying casts, the only principal common to all eight being Kenneth More as Badger. [33] A 1953 television version featured Gerald Campion as Toad and Patrick Troughton as Badger. [33]
A serialised radio adaptation of the play was broadcast on Children's Hour in 1948; Norman Shelley played Toad, Goolden was Mole and Leslie French Rat. [34] A 1973 radio version featured Goolden with Derek Smith as Toad, Bernard Cribbins as Rat, Cyril Luckham as Badger and Hugh Paddick as the Judge. This version was broadcast again in 1973, 1976, 1979, 1981 and 1990. [33]
The Wind in the Willows is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with a motorcar and gets into trouble. It also details short stories about them that are disconnected from the main narrative. The novel was based on bedtime stories Grahame told his son Alastair. It has been adapted numerous times for both stage and screen.
Kenneth Grahame was a British writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is most famous for The Wind in the Willows (1908), a classic of children's literature, as well as The Reluctant Dragon. Both books were later adapted for stage and film, of which A. A. Milne's Toad of Toad Hall, based on part of The Wind in the Willows, was the first. Other adaptations include Cosgrove Hall Films' The Wind in the Willows, and the Walt Disney films.
Norman Shelley was a British actor, best known for his work in radio, in particular for the BBC's Children's Hour. He also had a recurring role as Colonel Danby in the long-running radio soap opera The Archers.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a 1949 American animated package film produced by Walt Disney Productions, released by RKO Radio Pictures and directed by Clyde Geronimi, Jack Kinney and James Algar with Ben Sharpsteen as production supervisor. The 11th animated film in the Disney Animation canon, it consists of two segments: the first based on the 1908 children's novel The Wind in the Willows by British author Kenneth Grahame, and the second based on the 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by American author Washington Irving.
Harold Fraser-Simson was an English composer of light music, including songs and the scores to musical comedies. His most famous musical was the World War I hit The Maid of the Mountains, and he later set numerous children's poems to music, especially those of A. A. Milne.
The Wind in the Willows is a 1996 British adventure comedy film based on Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows written and directed by Terry Jones, and produced by Jake Eberts and John Goldstone. The film stars Terry Jones, Steve Coogan, Eric Idle and Nicol Williamson. The film was released in the United Kingdom on October 18, 1996.
Mr. Toad, of Toad Hall, is one of the main characters in the 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, and also the title character of the 1929 A. A. Milne play Toad of Toad Hall based on the book.
The Wind in the Willows is a 1983 British stop motion animated film produced by Cosgrove Hall Films for Thames Television and aired on the ITV network. The film is based on Kenneth Grahame's classic 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows. It won a BAFTA award and an international Emmy award.
The Wind in the Willows is a British stop motion animated television series that was originally broadcast between 1984 and 1987, based on characters from Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows and following the 1983 feature-length pilot film.
Alan Norton Fletcher Webb was an English actor. He was principally known as a stage performer, but made several film and television appearances. He seldom played leading roles, but was frequently cast in important character parts. He created roles in plays by A. A. Milne, Noël Coward, T. S. Eliot and other contemporary playwrights.
Wind in the Willows is a 1988 Australian made-for-television animated film created by Burbank Films Australia. The film is based on Kenneth Grahame's 1908 English children's novel of the same name.
The Wind in the Willows is a 2006 live-action television adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows. It was a joint production of the BBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and starred Matt Lucas, Bob Hoskins (Badger), Mark Gatiss (Ratty), and Lee Ingleby (Mole), with a cameo appearance from Michael Murphy as the Judge. Rachel Talalay directed. It debuted in Canada on CBC Television on 18 December 2006 in the United Kingdom on BBC1 on 1 January 2007, in the U.S. on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre on 8 April 2007 and in Australia on ABC TV on 23 December 2007. It was filmed on location in Bucharest, Romania.
Richard Percy Herbert Goolden, OBE was a British actor, most famous for his portrayal of Mole from Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows in A A Milne's stage adaptation, Toad of Toad Hall.
The Wind in the Willows is a 1987 American animated musical television film directed by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass, co-founders of Rankin/Bass Productions in New York, New York. It is an adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows. Set in a pastoral version of England, the film focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters and contains themes of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie. The film features the voices of Charles Nelson Reilly, Roddy McDowall, José Ferrer, and Eddie Bracken. The screenplay was written by Romeo Muller, a long-time Rankin/Bass writer whose work included Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), Frosty the Snowman (1969), The Hobbit (1977), and The Flight of Dragons (1982), among others. The film's animation was outsourced to James C.Y. Wang's Cuckoo's Nest Studios in Taipei, Taiwan.
The Willows at Christmas is a children's novel by English writer William Horwood, first published in 1999. It is the fourth book of the Tales of the Willows series, a collection of four sequels to Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows.
A Tale of Two Toads is a 1989 hour-long feature from the 1980s stop motion animation series The Wind in the Willows, which itself was based on the 1908 novel by Kenneth Grahame. The film was animated by Cosgrove Hall and broadcast on Children's ITV. A further season of 13 episodes was shown under the title, Oh, Mr. Toad in some countries, whilst retaining the title The Wind in the Willows in others.
The Wind in the Willows is a 1995 British animated television film directed by Dave Unwin and written by Ted Walker, and based on the 1908 novel of the same name, a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame. It was produced by the now defunct TVC in London.
The Wind in the Willows is a musical written by Julian Fellowes, with music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, based on the 1908 novel of the same name, written by Kenneth Grahame. The musical received its world premiere at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth in October 2016, before transferring to The Lowry in Salford and the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. The following year the production transferred to the West End's London Palladium, where it was filmed for cinema broadcast.
Toad Hall is the fictional home of Mr. Toad, a character in the 1908 novel ‘The Wind in the Willows’ by Kenneth Grahame.
The Reluctant Dragon & Mr. Toad Show is a 1970 American animated television series that aired on ABC's Saturday morning schedule. The show features two characters created by British children's writer Kenneth Grahame: the Reluctant Dragon from the 1898 short story of the same name, and Mr. Toad from the 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows. The show was created by Rankin/Bass Productions in New York City, who produced 17 episodes. The show was a flop and canceled midway through its first season, airing from September 12 until December 26, 1970. A year later, ABC aired reruns of the show on Sunday mornings on September 12, 1971.