The Wind in the Willows (2006 film)

{{short description|2006 British-Canadian television film by Rachel Talalay}}

{{Infobox television

| image = TheWindintheWillows2006.jpg

| image_size =

| image_alt =

| caption =

| genre =

| creator =

| based_on =

| writer = Kenneth Grahame
Lee Hall (adaptation)

| screenplay =

| story =

| director = Rachel Talalay

| starring = Matt Lucas
Mark Gatiss
Lee Ingleby
Bob Hoskins
Michael Murphy

| narrated =

| theme_music_composer = Benoît Jutras

| country = United Kingdom
Canada

| language = English

| num_episodes =

| producer = Justin Thomson-Glover
Patrick Irwin

| editor = Annie Kocur

| cinematography = David Franco

| runtime = 99 minutes

| company =

| budget =

| network = BBC
CBC

| released = {{Start date|2006|12|18|df=y}}

}}

The Wind in the Willows is a 2006 live-action television adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows, directed by Rachel Talalay. 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. 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.{{cite news |url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117933269.html |title=Recently Reviewed: The Wind in the Willows |publisher=Variety |author=Brian Lowry |accessdate=2009-02-16 | date=April 3, 2007}}

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",{{cite news |title=Creatures More Slothful Than You and Me |author=Ginia Bellafante |work=The New York Times |date=2007-04-06 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/arts/television/06wind.html |accessdate=2009-02-16}} and David Knox thought it "may well alienate children".{{cite web |url=http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2007/12/first-review-wind-in-the-willows.html |title=First Review: Wind in the Willows |publisher=TV Tonight |author=David Knox |accessdate=2009-02-16}} However, Variety's Brian Lowry said that its appeal "should run the demographic gamut for PBS, from Sesame Street to Bleak House."