It looks like the next Disney theme park attraction set to get the movie treatment may be “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.” Featured at Disneyland in California, the attraction was based on The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, the 1949 animated feature based on Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. So just to keep things straight here, this movie, which Disney is said to be developing, is a film based on an attraction (about a ride), based on a film, which was adapted from a book.
Deadline reports that Disney has enlisted Pete Candeland to develop the film, which will be a live-action/CGI mix, with Tron: Legacy producer Justin Springer producing.As Deadline notes, Candeland’s known for directing music videos for The Gorillaz, including this one (which he co-directed):
I’m trying to create a mental picture of something from the above video mashed together with the clip from The Wind in the Willows below. It creates a bizarre mental picture, but an intriguing one, depending on how they adapt the story, of course. (Disney is reportedly looking for a writer to work out the plot for the movie)
Tally-ho!
“Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” is one of the few remaining attractions at Disneyland that was functioning when the park first opened in 1955. The attraction was also once featured at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World in Florida, however it was shut down in the ’90’s and replaced with “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.” Mr. Toad still remains at the park in spirit though... or in statue, anyway. Those who observe the cemetery outside the Haunted Mansion might spot Mr. Toad’s statue there.
