I could wish that the Adventures of Mr. Toad were feature-length, but then I think it's perfect the way it is, definately my favorite mini-classic.
As a kid I thought the Ichabod cartoon was spooky and thrilling enough for the old beanpole to have survived for certain at the end, guess they were following Washington Irving's original novel (must have been an ancestor of Steven King! Never was really into the horror genre). The real impression I had as a kid was that Brom had dressed up as the Headless Horseman and murdered Ichabod, mainly becuase of the way Brom looked at him with a knife at the Halloween Party. Ichabod's an irritating character, to be sure (in a humorous way), but that obviously didn't make the conclusion seem any less disturbing!
Brom Bones appears to be a foreshadow of Gaston from "Beauty and the Beast", especially how both start out merely as a prankster and become more sadistic from their jealousy-provoked madness. Katrina Van Tassle looks to have inspired the appearance of Disney's next female heroine, Cinderella (1950). However, these films were so close apart (49/50) I wonder if it was the other way around and concepts for Cinderella influenced Katrina Van Tassle? (or it could be a coincidence). Does anyone know if these films were in co-production?
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad also seems to illustrate the transition from more naturalist cartoon styles (Mr. Toad) to incorporating alot more abstract in the backgrounds (Ichabod) which would become more common in the 50's. It's interesting they chose this style for the American literature selection since during these kind of abstract styles were just starting to becoming widely associated with American trendiness (In the 60's it would change again into a folkart, or naturalist modernism).