The Wind in the Willows (2006 film)

The Wind in the Willows
Written byKenneth Grahame
Lee Hall (adaptation)
Directed byRachel Talalay
StarringMatt Lucas
Mark Gatiss
Lee Ingleby
Bob Hoskins
Michael Murphy
Theme music composerBenoît Jutras
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Canada
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersJustin Thomson-Glover
Patrick Irwin
CinematographyDavid Franco
EditorAnnie Kocur
Running time99 minutes
Original release
NetworkBBC
CBC
Release18 December 2006 (2006-12-18)

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.

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", and David Knox thought it "may well alienate children". However, Variety's Brian Lowry said that its appeal "should run the demographic gamut for PBS, from Sesame Street to Bleak House."