La leyenda de Sleepy Hollow

A Walt Disney Cartoon Short Subject.

THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW - about the Headless Hessian who rides at night seeking his lost head - is about to terrify another victim on Halloween Night.

Washington Irving's classic story comes alive in this wonderful little film, originally the second half of THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD (1949). Bing Crosby's singing narration and the excellent animation tell a tale of humor and genuine fright. Ichabod Crane, the pedantic pedagogue, is a triumph of the animators' art, while the film's climax - the ride through the Hollow & the appearance of the hideous Hessian - is a celebration of pacing and stylistic understatement.

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was always intrigued by pictures & drawings. As a lad in Marceline, Missouri, he sketched farm animals on scraps of paper; later, as an ambulance driver in France during the First World War, he drew comic figures on the sides of his vehicle. Back in Kansas City, along with artist Ub Iwerks, Walt developed a primitive animation studio that provided animated commercials and tiny cartoons for the local movie theaters. Always the innovator, his ALICE IN CARTOONLAND series broke ground in placing a live figure in a cartoon universe. Business reversals sent Disney & Iwerks to Hollywood in 1923, where Walt's older brother Roy became his lifelong business manager & counselor. When a mildly successful series with Oswald The Lucky Rabbit was snatched away by the distributor, the character of Mickey Mouse sprung into Walt's imagination, ensuring Disney's immortality. The happy arrival of sound technology made Mickey's screen debut, STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928), a tremendous audience success with its use of synchronized music. The SILLY SYMPHONIES soon appeared, and Walt's growing crew of marvelously talented animators were quickly conquering new territory with full color, illusions of depth and radical advancements in personality development, an arena in which Walt's genius was unbeatable. Mickey's feisty, naughty behavior had captured millions of fans, but he was soon to be joined by other animated companions: temperamental Donald Duck, intellectually-challenged Goofy and energetic Pluto. All this was in preparation for Walt's grandest dream - feature length animated films. Against a storm of naysayers, Walt persevered and over the next decades delighted children of all ages with the adventures of Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi & Peter Pan. Walt never forgot that his fortunes were all started by a mouse, or that childlike simplicity of message and lots of hard work always pay off.

I absolutely love this film. The animation is great and has a real Walt Disney family feel to it. The movie has surprisingly no speaking except for a few words here and there. The only person speaking is the narrator. That makes the movie even cooler as it is largely similar to the book and just like the book, the only dialogue comes from the narrator.

And for the little kids, there are the usual songs to keep them occupied and there is plenty here for the adults to enjoy too.

Brilliant film, gives you a Halloween feeling, I sure enjoyed it and I hope I speak for everyone else.

As a halloween treat for young viewers this is a classic. The animation is the usual Disney standard - excellent. The story has its scarier moments, but there is plenty of comedy laced throughout the movie to soften the scare. This version of the Washington Irving tale gives parents a great opportunity to laugh with the kids and also introduces them literature. Bing Crosby's narration and singing crosses a lot of generation barriers as well. I've found that most of my generation X friends refer to this version of the story as THE Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Disney made a wondefull masterpiece that is pitch-perfect to complete your Halloween season. The story stays faithful to the Washington Irving short story and also adds a beautiful touch by having Bing Crosby's soothing voice-over to serenade this classic animated film which show lush touches of autumn colors in the cool, quiet mountain areas of Sleepy Hollow county, New York, in the 1700's. The film uses some voices in it, but is used rarely. It proves even without many voices of characters how colorful they still can be.

Over the years, there have been several movie versions made of Washington Irving's classic tale "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". While many of these were quite good, the best of them all may be Disney's 1949 animated classic. Originally shown on TV, it presents what is probably the most faithful rendition of Irving's story using classic animation, catchy songs, and narration by the voice of the late, great, Bing Crosby. The old school animation is simply breathtaking, with its many vibrant color schemes and ever amazing ability to captivate us. Sure, Pixar type animation may be cool, but there's something about the old school cartoons that still makes them magical. Perhaps it's because of the fact that it took a lot more effort to create an animation sequence using who knows how many drawings as opposed to just drawing on a computer. Either way, it still holds up after all this time. As for the execution of the story, it's equally wonderful, managing to be both spooky and comedic at the same time for the kids. And then there is the brilliant, soothing sound of Bing Crosby, who narrates the tale beautifully as well as providing the small amount of dialogue with his baritone voice and wit that made him famous. All in all, if you're looking for a perfect Halloween family film, you can't go wrong with this version. Since it doesn't seem to be shown on TV anymore, you could either find it on DVD I believe or catch it on you tube.

P.S. If you find yourself walking in Sleepy Hollow one night, cross that bridge as fast as you can and Happy Halloween!