How Close is Disney to the Original Legend of Sleepy Hollow ?

My mother’s side of the family hails from Massachusetts way, and I guess growing up in the atmosphere of my Northern family drove a lot of my earlier forays into horror writing. Indeed, one of my earliest memories was driving from Maryland up through New York at 3 AM listening to the AM stations playing Groucho Marx’s You Bet your Life or reruns of The Shadow. Along in the darkness creeping in on the side of the road, invariably I would bide my time reading the exit signs on the route , one of the most memorable of which occurred in New York - Tarry Town…the neighbor to Sleepy Hollow.

Before the time of cable, we would all gather around the TV in anticipation for the Halloween cartoons before trick or treating. Early on, it was mostly Charlie Brown’s Great Pumpkin, but later Garfield joined the event. Disney even chimed in with The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad , created in 1950 and narrated by Basil Rathbone (of Sherlock Holmes fame - who narrates Mr. Toad) and Bing Crosby. For the longest time, my cynical nature drove the thought the story the Legend of Sleepy Hollow had been modified to fit the stylistic whims of Disney and leverage Crosby’s singing ability.

Boy was I wrong.

Washington Irving’s short story is actually captured very well in the Disney rendition. Of specific note was the use of the sobriquet “The Sleepy Hollow Boys” for those following Brom Bones, which I had thought was a modernized statement - Irving includes in his description back in 1819. How Crane is described and his acts of punishing the school children, his appetite, and his relationship with the women in the town (i.e. having them feed him) is captured. Moreover, Crane took up the job of singing master of the neighborhood (Disney wisely brought in Crosby for this)- ostensibly, to make money as schoolmasters at the time did not make salary and relied on assistance from the town for food.

The engagement between Brom and Crane is pretty well detailed in the story and picture as well - in particular, Brom playing practical jokes on Crane in order to derail his efforts to woo Katrina (which Irving refers to as a “coquette” - just like in Crosby’s song in the picture). One thing the picture demonstrates is having a dog howl outside a singing lesson - something the book calls out when Crane is tutoring Katrina (a ploy Crane uses to spend time with her).

Some things that never set well with me in the movie are also called out in the story. For example, I didn’t care for the idea that Crane was of scheming nature - but Irving calls out how Crane not only was interested in the monies of the Van Tassel farm - but also had planned to move with Katrina and his progeny and wealth to far off states away from Tarry Town. Also of concern was how I observed Katrina “playing” Crane to incite Brom to jealousy with the goal of marrying. Irving’s narration of the story calls this out as rumor - and I think the movie provides a good interpretation. Indeedd, by the end of the party , Irving mentions that Crane is interviewed by Katrina and leaves crestfallen.

What is more telling is what is left out. Crane is depicted, long before the fateful night at the party, having an extensive knowledge of legends and witchcraft - many stories shared with the older women of the village. He is depicted as reading these stories in his off time, listening to tales of goblins, monsters - and the Headless Horseman (something Disney credits with Brom telling him). Long before the bridge scene, Crane is already jumping at fireflies in the night, the whistling wind, reeds, and bullfrogs - all depicted in the movie during the chase scene.

Brom an his (four) friends spend time terrorizing/bullying Crane to put him down in public or make him feel unwanted - or being spooked by witches. Brom threatens to beat Crane - so Crane makes himself scarce. The men stop up his chimney at the schoolhouse to smoke him out and break into it and turn everything upsidde down. Things that Crane attributes to witchcraft, despite his education.

The story is not without some controversy in depiction of African-Americans as slaves or workers at the farm. Something Disney cut out.

Unlike the movie - the story of the Headless Horseman is told to the narrator by a group of “sager folks” who shared stories about the war. In particular, how one of the townsfolk (old Brouwer) who didn’t believe in ghosts ran into the Horseman and dunked into the brook. Bones then derides the Horseman - having told a tale of him racing the ghost to the church bridge when the apparition vanished.

The resulting chase is seemingly accurately depicted in the movie - Crane had borrowed an old plowhorse who makes several comical mistakes which placed Crane in harm’s way during the Horseman’s pursuit. Unlike the ending, however, Crane percieves the Horseman throw his head at him - which “encountered his cranium with a tremendous crash”. When Ichabod turned up missing the next day - it was only then discovered that a shattered pumpkin lay on the road among his hat, hoof tracks, and his saddle. The brook was searched to no avail. It is alleged Crane survived the attack - and Brom knew more about it than he let on.

Overall, I think Disney did the story justice and did not justify the more non-kid-friendly aspects of the story.

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Five Miles Downrange

Both Blue Summer and Gruff Ending will be free on Kindle from 31 October to 4 November in celebration of Halloween !

We have been on a hiatus from our next book, and are seeking another publisher - more on this soon, I hope !

-S