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Toad (Also known as Mr Toad or Toady) is one of the main characters in The Wind In The Willows.

The Film

TWITW Toad Hall

Toad outside Toad Hall

Toad lives at his ancestral home Toad Hall and first appeared taking up a craze of travelling the world with a horse and cart with Ratty and Mole around to join him.

However a large motorcar drives by, destroying the cart and frightening the horse. Ratty and Mole try to sort out the mess but Toad now has a new craze for motorcars.

He buys several different coloured motorcars and after driving them has several crashes. Toad starts becoming a nuisance with his arguments to the police, his dangerous driving and his crashes until Ratty and Mole along with another of his friends Badger decide to make him give up motorcars once and for all.

They arrive and stop him before he drives his newest one before he causes another accident. Badger takes Toad into the smoking room and tells him that his reckless antics are giving them and all animals around the district a bad name and he must stop before he goes too far. Afterwards even though Badger assures the others that Toad has decided to give up motorcars forever, the deceiving animal tells them that he doesn't and will go off in the very next one he sees.

They lock him in his bedroom until he changes his mind, but Toad deceives Ratty into thinking he is ill and escapes by tying his blankets to the window and disappears into the snowy road.

Along the way he sees two passengers in a motorcar and after tricking the people drives away in it.

Later he is in court and sentenced to prison for twenty years for stealing, dangerous driving and being rude to the police. Toad is miserable, refusing all food and sobbing.

The daughter of the jailer who is charge of the prison feels sorry for Toad and decides to help him escape by dressing him up as a washerwoman. At first Toad refuses but is grateful for her help.

He goes out of the prison ignoring the rude remarks giving by some of the prison guards and makes his way to the train station.

He finds the two people who he stole the motorcar from and sneaks past making his way to the engine where he tells the driver that he's a washerwoman who has lost her money and needs to get home to her children.

The driver lets him on, however the two people spot him and tell the police to stop him. Toad thinks he's won and starts singing praise to himself.

The driver sees the train with the police inside following them and asks Toad to tell him the truth, he does and the driver pushes him off. He lands on a soft patch of grass and sees Toad Hall in the distance.

He goes to visit Ratty who at first doesn't recognize him until Toad reveals who he is and goes to the living room where he meets Mole.

Together they tell him that the Weasels from the Wild Wood have driven Badger out of Toad Hall while he was protecting it and had taken over so they had been looking after him.

Badger suddenly appears and tells Toad that he has a plan. They go through a secret tunnel that goes up to the banqueting hall. Furious at the Chief Weasel for making fun of him, he goes straight in and the others eventually follow.

Most of the Weasels are defeated by Ratty, Mole and Badger, while Toad swinging from a chandelier lands hard on the Chief Weasel. They all celebrate.

Later Toad takes to another new craze with an aeroplane only for it to break down and crash into the river. After the end credits, Toad is being seen rescued from the river by his three friends.

TV series

Toad's home

Most of the episodes are about Toad. He continues to use a shiny red Rolls-Royce limousine and then later on in the series he acquired a new form of transportation which was a red motorcycle with a side car. In the end he uses them both with his motorcycle only making a few appearances.

He is obsessed with trying out new things including painting, exploring and sledging. He often says "It's the only thing." Most of time they go wrong and Toad makes a fool of himself or has to ask his friends for help.

Personality

00toad

Toad is very proud of his family and ancestral home. He is kind, good natured, compassionate and always willing to help his friends, though he can sometimes be sarcastic, selfish and irritating and when things don't go his way he blames everything but himself. He is also gullible which makes him easily vulnerable to the Weasels' schemes and the others have to put things right. Whenever it seems like Toad hasn't learned his lesson or causing more mischief they groan: "Oh Toad!"

Despite his faults, they all look upon Toad as a good and decent person.


Crazes

Toad has gone through many crazes and interests with all kinds of things over the years, whether they are objects or professions and careers, usually believing that they will make him famous. He can be quite ignorant when it comes to learning of how its done or how it works, believing that he is already an expert, even though he just first found out about it, which usually leads to trouble (usually for him) in the end, to which he proceeds to blame the craze he got into, even though it was his own fault due to his ignorance and impatience.

Many of the crazes he has gone through include:

  • Caravans (The Wind in the Willows and The Open Road Again)
  • Motorcars (The Wind in the Willows)
  • Aeroplanes (The Wind in the Willows)
  • Chemistry (The Grand Annual Show)
  • Bicycle (The Open Road Again)
  • Opening Toad Hall to the public (Burglary at Toad Hall)
  • Winter sports (Winter Sports)
  • Photography (Toad, Photographer)
  • Painting (end of Toad, Photographer)
  • Snowsuit and supplies for Antarctic exploration (The Rescue)
  • Stocks and shares (Bankruptcy)
  • Private detective (The Labyrinth)
  • Playwright (Auberon's Return)
  • Golf (The Great Golfing Gamble)
  • New fangled electrical gadgets (Gadget Mad)
  • Athleticism (Paperchase)
  • Motorcycles (Mercury of the Motorcycle)
  • Telephones (Mr. Toad's Telephone)
  • Astrology (Toad, Astronomer)
  • Mazes (Caught in the Maze)
  • School teacher (School Days)
  • Culinary arts (Masterchef)
  • Camping (indoors) (Fire at Toad Hall)
  • Billiards (Champion of the Green Baize)
  • Architecture (Bricks and Mortar)
  • Steam engine driving (end of The Lost River)
  • Medieval jousting (The Tournament)
  • Archaeology (Lord Toad)
  • Hot air balloons (Hot Air, first revealed in the end of The Tournament)
  • Exercising (Fighting Fit)
  • Canning (tinning) machine (Toad's Harvest)
  • Fireworks (Remember, Remember)
  • Magician (Tunnels and Tremors)
  • Steam powered boat pump (A Tale of Two Toads)
  • Acting (A Tale of Two Toads)
  • Regatta (Oarsman Toad)
  • Shakespearean producer (Midsummer Night's Disaster)
  • Fishing (The Complete Bungler)
  • Newspaper industry (Mr. Toad of 'The Times')
  • Inventions and machinery (Toad in Motion)
  • Pianola (player piano) (Piano-Role Toad)
  • Gypsy (Gypsy Toad)
  • Astrology (again) (Happy Birthday!)
  • Time travel (A Toad in Time)
  • Lottie D'Urbeville (Toad in Love)
  • Film-making (Toad: Film Maker)

Trivia

In the episode Happy Birthday!, Toad's birthday is revealed to be on November 28.

The Wind In The Willows
The Wind In The Willows Title

Media:
FilmTV SeriesA Tale of Two ToadsVHS and DVD

Characters:
ToadMoleRatBadgerChief WeaselWeasel HenchmanThe Weasels • Bert • Otter • Portly • Billy Rabbit • Auberon MoleThomas • Alfred • Reggie & Rosemary • Mrs Carrington-Moss • The SeafarerIsambard Bilbone Toad • The Jailer's Daughter • The Policeman

TV Series Episodes:
Series 1
The Further Adventures of ToadThe Kidnapping of ToadThe Ghost at Mole EndThe Great SteamerBuried TreasureMole's CousinThe Grand Annual ShowThe Open Road AgainWayfarers AllThe Weasel's TrapBurglary at Toad HallThe Piper at the Gates of DawnThe Yuletide Entertainment
Series 2
Winter SportsToad, PhotographerThe RescueBankruptcyThe StormPatient ToadThe LabyrinthHarvestAuberon's ReturnThe Great Golf GambleGadget MadMay DayFancy Dress
Series 3
PaperchaseMercury of the MotorbicycleMr. Toad's TelephoneToad, AstronomerCaught in a MazeSchool DaysBadger's RemedyMasterchefFire at Toad HallUnlikely AlliesA Producer's LotChampion of the Green BaizeWinter Haunts
Series 4
Auld Lang SyneBricks and MortarThe Lost RiverThe TournamentLord ToadHot AirFighting FitHall for SaleToad's HarvestMonster of the Wild WoodRemember RememberTunnels and TremorsHappy New Year
Series 5/Oh Mr. Toad!
The Chief's ReturnOarsman ToadMidsummer Night's DisasterThe Complete BunglerMr. Toad of "The Times"Toad in MotionPiano-Roll ToadGypsy ToadHip-Hip Soiree!Happy Birthday!A Toad in TimeToad in LoveToad: Film Maker

Locations:
Toad HallThe River BankMole EndThe Wild WoodThe Weasels' Den

Vehicles:
Toad's MotorcarToad's MotorcycleRat's Boat

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