The Wind in the Willows (2006 film)
2006 British-Canadian television film by Rachel Talalay / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 (Mr. Toad), 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.[1]
The Wind in the Willows | |
---|---|
Written by | Kenneth Grahame Lee Hall (adaptation) |
Directed by | Rachel Talalay |
Starring | Matt Lucas Mark Gatiss Lee Ingleby Bob Hoskins Michael Murphy |
Theme music composer | Benoît Jutras |
Country of origin | United Kingdom Canada |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Justin Thomson-Glover Patrick Irwin |
Cinematography | David Franco |
Editor | Annie Kocur |
Running time | 99 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | BBC CBC |
Release | 18 December 2006 (2006-12-18) |
Though the novel is considered children's literature, critics noted that this adaptation might not be appropriate for young children; Ginia Bellafante wrote in The New York Times that it "is ultimately too jaunty to be considered 100 percent safe for someone over 10",[2] and David Knox thought it "may well alienate children".[3] However, Variety's Brian Lowry said that its appeal "should run the demographic gamut for PBS, from Sesame Street to Bleak House."[1]