The Legend of The Itenerant Pedagogue
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
Looking at this, seriously, the only thing I can think is: Oh Shit!
Having already reviewed one adaptation of Washington Irving’s wonderfully moody old book The Legend of Sleepy Hollow earlier this month, let me now review the version I consider superior to all of them, and that’s Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Created as a double bill with Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and marketed together in the form of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, let me make certain to you that I’m only reviewing the Legend of Sleepy Hollow part, okay? Good, let’s get started, cause, really, I can’t wait!
You might ask what does this version have over other versions? Well, for one, it’s completely charming. Told through song and narration by Bing Crosby, and him alone, by the way…there’s some backup singers, but this is Bing’s show. Disney manages in this atmospheric short film to put forth some of their very best animation coupled with some of their best character design. Oh, they were working the hell out of that multiplane camera they were so proud of. And, think of the look of the characters. Ichabod Crane looks the way you think he ought to look, or at least the way he’s described in the book. Exceedingly lank of frame and long of bone. He’s like Goofy with extreme grace! Brom Bones and the Sleepy Hollow boys look and act they way you think someone nicknamed Brom Bones should. Eternal cocktease Katrina Van Tassel looks like she should too! Just thinking about it, I think it’s still one of the most awesome animated pieces of art ever created!
That’s not to say that we’re just talking kid’s stuff here. My own children are still frightened by the last ten minutes of the thing. From Brom’s song “You Can’t Reason With A Headless Man” to the genuinely shocking ending we’re treated to amazing animation, a brilliant, harrowing chase, and a glimpse of one of Disney’s most frightening villains. And, to a point, they don’t let you know very much about the Headless Horseman. To me, that the best detail. Why does he do what he does? Is it not ten times more frightening when you don’t know?
Ichabod Crane, who obviously is a superstitious, suggestible man, is frightened out of his wits by the bully Brom (Whom, so far, he had managed to best in every way for the heart of the fair Katrina…even in a fistfight!) and must ride home on his old (and somehow, smarter than he) horse in the dark. With its changing color palette and creepy sound effects, you feel for Ichabod as you await his bumping into the Headless Horseman. It’s the highlight of my Halloween every year when Ichabod runs into the screaming, headless freak with the horse from hell! (Is it no wonder that Disney mined the hell out of this movie when they made one of their best films ever, Beauty and the Beast?)
I can’t recommend this one enough, and if you look around, it shouldn’t be hard to find, but it looks great on DVD, and you’re probably chreating yourself watching it any other way but the best way possible. From its opening song to the Headless Man reprise at the end, I enjoy every frame of this film.
“With a hip-hip and a clippity-clop…he’s out lookin’ for a head to swap…”
Damn! I love Halloween so much!!!
Tags: Review
Posted on November 1st, 2009 at 8:24 am
Adore this, and for headless horseman the poetry book by Jack Prelutsky, I loved that as a kid. I do agree, the mr toad part is totally skippable. Why couldn’t they pair it with some other move… things like mickey and the beanstalk, which has donald go nuts on a cow with an ax would be a perfect “horror” companion.