The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
Illustrated by Robert Van Nutt“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is another fantastic story from Rabbit Ears’ “Storybook Classic” series. Everyone knows the famous story of Icabod Crane and his encounter with the Headless Horseman. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is one of the greatest stories ever created by Washington Irving and with Glenn Close’s haunting narration along with Tim Story’s eerie music and Robert Van Nutt’s beautiful yet haunting illustrations makes this one classic that no one will ever miss! Glenn Close’s narration is haunting and tender at the same time throughout this video. Glenn Close is extremely tender in her tone of voice when she narrates the peaceful life of Icabod Crane and when the Headless Horseman is mentioned, Glenn Close’ s voice suddenly gets dark and frightening, especially during the scene where the Headless Horseman starts chasing Icabod. Tim Story’s music is tranquil yet haunting at the same time especially during the scenes of the Headless Horseman where his music gets a spooky tone and intensifies when the Headless Horseman starts chasing Icabod. Robert Van Nutt’s illustrations are beautiful, especially of the illustration of Katrina Van Tassel herself with her golden and curly hair and beautiful blue eyes. Robert Van Nutt’s illustrations are also haunting especially of the image of the Headless Horseman being shown as a silhouette and spouting a scary looking pumpkin head which he carries in his arms. Parents should know that there are some genuinely scary scenes in this video that makes The Fisherman and His Wife look like a friendly family video. The scenes with the Headless Horseman are extremely intense especially towards the end of the video where it chases Icabod around the town. Also, parents might be concern about the use of “hell” in this video as this video is aimed towards children. Parents might want to see this video first before they show it to their children just to see of their children can handle the scary scenes in this story and also teach their children about how the word “hell” is used in this video as it is use in context to the underworld. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is probably Rabbit Ears’ scariest tale ever created and is also a very moving video for children who love romance and horror combined into one story. Children will certainly fall in love with this video for its tranquil beginning about Icabod’s life and the horror that the Headless Horseman brings into the story. I would recommend this video to children ages seven and up due to many scenes that can be frightening to smaller children and because of the use of the word “hell” mentioned two times in the video. Other Rabbit Ears titles to check out:The Fool and the Flying ShipKing Midas and the Golden TouchPuss in BootsPecos BillReview is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog
I thought this story and I were Meant To Be.A few days ago I read and reviewed Washington Irving's other famous story, Rip Van Winkle. And then I read The Fold, which has this exchange between a high school student and his teacher in the first few pages:“Ichabod Crane isn’t really the hero of ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’.” “Explain.” “He’s, like, the British. You told us that when you said we couldn’t just watch the TV show to learn the story. You said that sometimes the bad guy is right there in front of us.”And I really love symbolism, so I was all set to love this story. It just didn't quite work out the way I'd envisioned.Ichabod Crane, a schoolteacher, is an outsider in the beautiful New York valley of Sleepy Hollow, but he's a native of Connecticut, not England. When you Google "Ichabod Crane" nowadays, you get mostly this:. . . which, nice as he is to look at, is not the real Ichabod. Washington Irving writes:He was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snip nose, so that it looked like a weathercock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind blew.Disney got this one right.What Disney also got right was distilling Irving's story down to the the good stuff. Irving just spends too long describing the countryside, Ichabod and his avarice and questionable habits, the coquettish Katrina and her family farm (Ichabod wants Katrina, but mostly for her wealth and land), and Brom Bones and his jealousy. All of these descriptions were nicely done, but didn't hold my interest like I had hoped. And if there was any symbolism of post-Revolutionary War Great Britain in Ichabod, other than just his greed, I couldn't find it. He's not at all admirable--as well as being greedy, he's pompous, self-absorbed and superstitious--but I also found him kind of pitiful.When the Headless Horseman (aka "Galloping Hessian of the Hollow") finally appears, the excitement ramps up. And there's the enduring mystery: What really happened that night? And what became of Ichabod Crane? (Actually, I think the story itself makes it pretty clear what happened(view spoiler)[: Brom pretended to be the Headless Horseman, threw a pumpkin at Ichabod and knocked him off his horse, and Ichabod, between his superstitions and cowardice and his disappointment and humiliation that Katrina had just dumped him, slipped away during the night) (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow (2004)?
Yes, I've seen the cartoon versions of this story....I have not seen the Johnny Depp movie, which this friend keeps telling me I need to see......I read a simplified version, picture book to my students for 31 years of teaching,and they loved it.Then I realized I'd not actually read the original Irving story.....so using www.gutenberg.org I downloaded it onto my Nook,and read the whole thing this past evening.....the story was very familiar, of course, but the language Irving used...the way he told the story was fantastic. I wish I'd read it a long long time ago....Since I have it on my Nook, I plan to make it a tradition to read it every Halloween from now on......don't wait till you are much much older to actually read this one....do it now....even on the gutenberg site you can read it for free on your computer without downloading...... read it this Halloween while you have the chance...."In the bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of St. Nicholas when they crossed, there lies a small market town or rural port, which by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally and properly known by the name of Tarry Town. This name was given, we are told, in former days, by the good housewives of the adjacent country, from the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern on market days. Be that as it may, I do not vouch for the fact, but merely advert to it, for the sake of being precise and authentic. Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles, there is a little valley or rather lap of land among high hills, which is one of the quietest places in the whole world. A small brook glides through it, with just murmur enough to lull one to repose; and the occasional whistle of a quail or tapping of a woodpecker is almost the only sound that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquillity." This is the first few lines of the classic story, perfect for the Halloween season,and it's a top rated television show........ Read it now..... or you may lose your head.......or go out of your mind wondering why you didn't read the original a long time ago.....
—Gary
I really wanted to like this story but it definitely wasn't my cup of tea. Honestly, I found the story boring. The author spent too much time on description, so the story was quite slow and it dragged. I was also really disappointed with the end. I expected that the ending will scare me at least a little but, but it didn't. The story ended pretty abruptly, and now that I've finished it, I'm glad it did. Even though this was a pretty short story, it sure felt like a long one. Now I'm off to see the movie. Hopefully I'll enjoyed it more than I enjoyed this short story.
—Mario
I really enjoyed this book. After having just watched the Johny Depp movie version, I was surprised to find the book had almost nothing in common. I read it mostly at night and I enjoyed the spooky moments (though I admit my idea of spooky is pretty low on the scale for some). Ichabod is mildly detestable as a character; he seems like he has all the foundational qualities to make a wonderful villain, were this another story. I laughed at his envisioning the Van Tassel's animals as sumptuously cooked dishes which he hoped to enjoy throughout the winter.This is a tale clearly written for the sensibilities of another time, and as such, I enjoyed the historical value. As other reviewers have noted, his descriptions of the people and the period were marvelous.I loved the descriptions of the countryside, which is unusual for me. Since it was such a short read, I didn't mind slowing down to imagine the scenery. This is one of my favorite bits:"To see him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield."I don't often want to read a book more than once, but I plan on revisiting this on Halloween to relish all the descriptive phrases and the fun story.
—Melissa Jeanette
