Hi Everyone,
So...you're probably wondering why I am posting this when it is not Halloween or October.
Well, last October I posted a short story series called The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: The New School Master? (You can read them, Here, here, and here), which was a fan fiction of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The setting of the story was after Ichabod vanished, but not too long after. Anyway, I have found that the one movie about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that I hear everyone talking about, when I try to bring up the original story, is the horror movie Sleepy Hollow. It is R rated, which disturbs me, because well, I don't feel like the audience is getting the real story. So... I did a review of (family friendly) Legend of Sleepy Hollow movies:
Tall tales and Legends:
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
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| (Image from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Shelley-Duvalls-Tall-Tales-Legends/dp/B000A0D1LU/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 ) |
Rated: Not Rated (Amazon didn't have a rating for it, but I think it is rated G)
This is my favorite version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, because it is quite accurate and yet hilarious at the same time. They had some really good jokes in there, and I thought they got Ichabod's character right. In the movie, the character, Ichabod, is good at some things that in other versions that I have seen, he is not so...good at. They also showed his superstitions and fear of ghosts.
Katrina's personality was also done well. The movie portrays her as a character, who causes disagreements between Ichabod and Brom (since she is toying with Brom in some ways). Brom's personality was also in keeping with the original story (at least in my mind). He was pictured as a tough, and rather mischievous person (like in the book). And in this version we also have two added characters who aren't in the original book (which I like because I wrote a fan fiction). Katrina's uncle and Katrina's nephew (who is young and one of Ichabod's pupils (students) are fun additions.
I also have to say they do a good job of showing Ichabod's love of food (of course I won't tell you how they do it, it would spoil the movie). The chase scene at the end between Ichabod and the headless horseman lasted a few minutes, but they left out the symbolic tree. Despite this omission, I think they did a good job of turning the original story into a movie.
Note: This is a somewhat old movie (not too old, it is in color), so the visual quality might be a little poor.
I rate the movie:
The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow
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| (Image from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Legend-Sleepy-Hollow-anglais/dp/B000083EGD/ref=sr_1_9?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1511981534&sr=1-9&keywords=the+legend+of+sleepy+hollow ) |
Rated: PG
This was the first one that I watched, and it is also one of my favorites.
The movie opens with a good, mysterious entrance by the storytellers. There is thunder and lightning in an old inn, which I liked. Depending on the retelling of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod is either portrayed as tone deaf or a really good singer, and in this version he is tone deaf. In some versions (including Disney's) Ichabod may want Katrina just for her fortune, not because he likes her. In this movie that is shown as the reason Ichabod wants to marry Katrina.
Brom was interesting in this version. I think the film maker for some reason is on Brom's side, but I think they should have been on Ichabod's side. At the beginning the character didn't quite remind me of Brom Bones fully (but that's just me). He was slightly mischievous, but didn't really show the Brom I was hoping to see. Unlike the original story, Katrina Van Tassel actually played a big role in this version. She had a goal (besides wanting to marry either Ichabod or Brom...) she wanted to visit the world and go to places other than Sleepy Hollow.
I did not feel like the ending was accurate, because the film tells you what happened to Ichabod, instead of leaving it unanswered (Like in the book). But other than that, it was a good Legend of Sleepy Hollow adaptation.
I rate the movie:
Wishbone in The Legend of
Sleepy Hollow
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| (Image from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Wishbone-Legend-Sleepy-Hollow-VHS/dp/1571322272/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1511981119&sr=1-1&keywords=wishbone+in+the+legend+of+sleepy+hollow ) |
Rated: Not Rated (once again, Amazon didn't give a rating, but I think it's G)
This one isn't really a movie, it is an episode of the TV series Wishbone, but it was a really good episode (and also a favorite of mine). And the retelling is mostly accurate, although there things they left out, most notably the fact that Gunpowder the horse was not included. And at the beginning the episode did get the date wrong. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was published in 1820 not 1819. However, Wishbone did a really good job with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, especially with Ichabod's character.
There are necessary changes to the story, due to the fact that Ichabod (AKA Wishbone) is a dog actor. For instance Ichabod doesn't dance with Katrina Van Tassel (which Ichabod did do in the book). But otherwise they try to make the story as accurate as possible, including scenes like Brom messing up Ichabod's school house. They also portray Ichabod's love of food in the story (Wishbone did a hilarious job of showing that). Brom in this version doesn't believe in ghosts (or so he says...), but otherwise his character is in keeping with the book. Katrina was portrayed well, too. I like that in this version Katrina was as interested in ghost stories as Ichabod (Wishbone) was. The chase scene was also pretty accurate (of course minus Gunpowder the horse, who Ichabod Crane rode in the original story, as I mention above).
Overall. Wishbone did a good job bringing The Legend of Sleepy Hollow to the small screen.
I rate the movie:
The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr.Toad
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| (Image from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Ichabod-Toad-Bing-Crosby/dp/B00K7BCWEE/ref=pd_sim_74_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8KS0P38DBEQN50XFZBTJ ) |
Rated: G
I am only reviewing The Legend of Sleepy Hollow half of this movie...(I promise if I review The Wind in the Willows movies, I will review the first half).
The movie started out a little too bright and happy looking, not really the mysterious and slightly spooky Sleepy Hollow I picture as described in the story. And being typical of Disney, they made into a musical. The songs had a kind of a "Beauty and the Beast feel" or "Cinderella feel" to them, especially the one about Ichabod. That song reminded me of "Belle," the song at the very beginning of Beauty and the Beast.
Visually, the movie was very funny, a cartoony kind of funny, and more visually funny than the making jokes kind of funny. Aside from the musical and cartoon aspects the movie was mostly accurate. This was really the only Disney movie that I can think of, that tried to remain true to the original story (which I like, and appreciate from Disney, for once).
The writers didn't make any dramatic changes, and they did include details like the dog that howls whenever Ichabod sings. However, they left out Brom messing up Ichabod's school house. In this version Brom only finds out that Ichabod is superstitious near the end of the movie (when in every other version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, I have seen, Brom knows from the beginning).
In a Cartoony kind of way, they show how Ichabod and Brom interact and argue. Surprisingly, Katrina is a non-speaking character, who doesn't sing or talk (I do like that in some versions Katrina actually has a role in the story, instead of being just a speechless, everybody-loves-you, sort of character). Most of the movie was narration, so, there wasn't much talking for the characters, it was singing mostly.
The end scene was actually pretty accurate. The tree is mentioned, and the headless horseman chases Ichabod (in a little bit of a cartoony way...), and the movie captures the uncertainty of what happened to Ichabod in the original story.
But if you are looking for a serious Legend of Sleepy Hollow movie, then I would reccomend some of other movies listed above. Overall, Disney actually didn't ignore the original story, and got it right for once. I think this is a good Legend of Sleepy Hollow adaptation. I rated it three stars, because they missed a few important details that were important to the story in the Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
I rate this movie:
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Have you seen or heard of these The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Movies?
Or are you interested in them?
Also, do you know of any other family friendly Legend of Sleepy Hollow movies, besides the ones I mentioned?
Love
-Quinley
P.S. There is a lyric in a holiday song: "Scary ghost stories and tales of the glories" so this post might have been posted at the right time.
P.P.S. I will respond to the comments from my previous posts as soon as I can.
Note: This review is not sponsored whatsoever by the film companies who made these movies or by Disney. It is a personal review on my opinions of these Legend of Sleepy Hollow movies.
