Line #18 Film/TheWindInTheWillows1996


1	[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_wind_in_the_willows_1996.jpg]]
2	''The Wind in the Willows'' is a 1996 comedy film based on [[Literature/TheWindInTheWillows the novel of the same name]]. The film was adapted and directed by Creator/TerryJones, who also starred as Toad, with Creator/SteveCoogan as Mole and Creator/EricIdle as Rat. (Fellow Creator/MontyPython alumni Creator/JohnCleese and Creator/MichaelPalin have cameos, while Creator/TerryGilliam had to decline one due to other commitments.)
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4	In this live action adaptation, the TalkingAnimal characters are depicted as mostly human but with a few indicative animal features: for instance, Toad has green skin, while Rat has a long nose and prominent whiskers.
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6	The novel's episodic structure is streamlined into a more linear plot driven by a CommunityThreateningConstruction masterminded by the Weasels.
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8	!!This film contains examples of:
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10	* ChekhovsGun: Toad's tongue. At first it's just an amusing FurryReminder (he uses it to eat a dragonfly); later he uses it to help him escape over a high prison wall.
11	* CommunityThreateningConstruction: The weasels tear up the field where Mole lives in order to build a dog-food factory, and their grand plan is to dynamite the ancestral stately home Toad Hall and replace it with an abattoir. Their plan is foiled by Rat switching the dynamite with a shipment of bones destined for the factory, resulting in the weasels accidentally blowing up the factory.
12	* CrisisMakesPerfect: Mole's catchphrase is "But I can't throw for toffee!" But near the end he manages to literally throw a spanner into the works of the Weasels' dogfood machine.
13	* TheFaceOfTheSun: The Sun has a face, and occasionally offers Toad advice which he proceeds to ignore.
14	* FreakyElectronicMusic: The music accompanying the Weasels' VillainSong.
15	* ImpoverishedPatrician: Toad finances his enthusiasms by getting loans from the Weasels.
16	* KnightOfCerebus: The film is cheesy for the most part, until the weasels start [[VillainSong singing]].
17	* MasterOfIllusion: The Weasels, at least in their villain song.
18	-->'''Weasels:''' Are we real? Perhaps we ''aren't?!''
19	* MrExposition: St John Weasel.
20	* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The Weasels are increasingly imbued with Nazi characteristics towards the end of the movie. Their Chief's facial hair is clearly styled to resemble Hitler, they are vaguely dressed as orange versions of Nazi stormtroopers, they have a banner and armbands that resemble the real-life Nazi flag and swastika armbands respectively, and their ultimate plan is to blow up Toad Hall and replace it with a slaughterhouse that would clearly serve as a death camp for Riverbank creatures.
21	* PhraseCatcher: "I say! Badger!"
22	* SelfDisposingVillain:
23	** The Weasels begin double-crossing each other just as the heroes arrive and enter the fray. The villains do such a good job beating each other up, the heroes decide to spend the fight singing instead.
24	** The Chief Weasel also blows himself up, but only because Rat switched the labels on their explosives earlier in the film.
25	* VillainSong: The Weasels' Secret of Survival is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_TbgMUx9OA an awesome one]].

Context Film / TheWindInTheWillows1996