You'd think a fanciful, critically acclaimed adaptation of a beloved children's book—directed by a member of Monty Python and featuring every surviving member of that comedy troupe but one—could get a decent release in America. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case last year when Terry Jones' The Wind In The Willows was all but buried by Disney, perhaps fearing that its release would detract attention from such masterpieces as RocketMan and Mr. Magoo. Fortunately, Disney has subsequently issued the film on video, albeit quietly and not before changing the title to that of one of its amusement-park attractions. Indignity on top of indignity, Disney didn't even package it in one of its trademark kid-friendly puffy video boxes. If Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, only part of which concerns the wild rides of Mr. Toad, doesn't find an audience on video, it will be a shame. Jones has turned Kenneth Grahame's classic story of the conflict between several river-dwelling animals and a group of heartlessly capitalistic weasels hell-bent on industrialization into a whimsical, fast-paced, clever children's film. With minimal make-up, actors assume the roles of animals, a fact that might throw off kids raised on animation, but shouldn't for long. This is especially true thanks to some highly enjoyable, far-from-cartoonish performances, from Steve Coogan as the meek, displaced Mole to Nicol Williamson as the noble Badger to Eric Idle as the kindly Rat. Only Jones' own shrill take on the aristocratic half-wit Toad annoys, and then only occasionally. Python fans will also be pleased with appearances by John Cleese and Michael Palin (as a lawyer and the sun, respectively), but Mr. Toad's Wild Ride deserves a better fate than its current status as a mere footnote in the group's career.