Isambard Beerbohm Toad is a con artist and the main antagonist of "A Tale of Two Toads."
History[]
Isambard spent much of his life acting in theater, but also made a living deceiving people out of their money by various means. Through his acting he learned how to impersonate the voices and mannerisms of characters.
One day, while watching the races, Ismabard had a chance to con the Chief Weasel, tricking him out a five-pound note to bet on a winning horse in exchange for what he claimed was a priceless, solid gold watch. In truth, it was a worthless, empty brass watch, but the Chief, impressed, offered Isambard a partnership. They plotted to use his acting skills and his uncanny resemblance to Toad to take over Toad Hall together, as well as all of Toad's inherited wealth. In preparation for doing so, together they observed Toad while he was boating (and nearly drowning) to study him.
That night, Isambard stopped Toad in his car and helped kidnap him. The next morning, he set about sabotaging Toad's friendship with Mole, Water Rat, and Badger by spreading vicious rumors as well as evicting Billy Rabbit and the field mice from the old caravan, aiming to distance Toad's friends and prevent interference. This ended up failing when the rumors fell apart, and all three came to confront Toad at the Hall. Isambard turned them away, openly admitting to his new friendship with the weasels and not desiring the company of Rat, Mole, or Badger, who left.
However, he had mistakingly referred to the local Magistrate as a man. Isambard, who was not from the area, was unaware that the Magistrate was, in fact, a woman; something that Toad would have known all too well given his past with the law. This combined with not knowing where Mole's teapot was kept despite Toad's familiarity with Mole End, confirmed Badger's suspicion: this was not their friend. The three hid their suspicions to avoid alerting Isambard, hoping to figure out his plans.
While discussing plans to blow up Badger's home with the Chief, he almost let Toad escape disguised as a downstairs maid. He proceeded to torment Toad, who was forced to wait on the weasels in the same uniform. Later he visited Toad in the cellar where he was tied up to see if he had any 1975 claret wine, but was surprised and knocked out by Badger, Rat, and Mole who had snuck in via a tunnel. They switched places with him and Toad, with Toad, in a twist of irony, playing the role of Isambard to learn of the villain's plans. His attempts to convince Chief that Toad had taken his place failed when Toad returned and convinced the Chief otherwise much to the imposter's fury.
Later, Isambard manages to finally wriggle out of the ropes tying him to chair and escapes the cellar using a prybar. He then quickly dresses himself up identically to Toad, causing confusion in the growing crowd of newly arrived riverbankers there to rescue the owner of the Hall. Isambard quickly chases the cowardly and squeamish Toad around the dining room, up a set of stairs, onto the chandeliers, and pursues Toad around the table on a bicycle. The chase ends when the two collide, hurling Isambard into a wall and knocking him out.
Isambard was ultimately collected by the local police and taken to prison along with the Chief Weasel.
Personality[]
Isambard is shown to be very refined with a smooth voice and wide vocabulary, giving the impression of a distinguished gentleman. However, beneath his many acting facades, he is a very cold, calculating, and cruel creature whose first and last thought is how to benefit himself at the cost of others. He also has a noticeable bad temper and contempt for other people.
He does possess an amount of intelligence and skills of observation, able to pick up on characteristics in order to impersonate his target, but he does overlook small details which can lead to holes in his disguise. He also does not recognize Toad in his maid's outfit, potentially letting Toad escape had not the Chief Weasel spotted him.
Trivia[]
- Isambard is not a character that appears in any books, and is an original character created for the film. He uses an exact copy of Toad's model.
- His middle name may reference Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm, an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist in the late 18th century.