Ichabod Crane. Katrina Van Tassel. Baltus Van Tassel. Brom Bones. Gunpowder.
These are the common characters. And of course, the star of the story, the Headless Horseman.
Washington Irving's story. Tim Burton's movie.
One common town. In Irving's mind, it was called Tarry Town, later on known as the Sleepy Hollow.
The mystery lies with the murders that happened in the town. The suspects are the same. The Headless Horseman. But the origins are totally different; both full of creativity and imagination. Irving's will knock on your imagination, and will reside in it for a while. Burton's might have opened a door on its origin, but still, a window would be left open: is this what Irving has on his mind originally?
In the movie, Ichabod was assigned to solve the murders with his weird scientific tools. Crane in the book was a teacher, instructing young folks about psalmody.
Burton's Ichabod got a theory of a conspiracy between the doctor, the magistrate, the reverend and the notary…. What is their secret? Or if they ever had one at all.
However, Washington's Crane has a passion for food, of wanting to inherit the wealth of Baltus Van Tassel so he can own the vast lands of the family, not to mention the big house. Was this what led him to try and win the heart of Katrina? Or was this his sole reason for trying to win her heart against his rival, Brom Jones?
Whichever you choose to discover, both stories are unique. Irving's will leave you with questions, while Burton tried to provide you with THE possible answer and what is it that Irving is LIKELY to want us to imagine.
A perfect combination. It's good to explore one and then the other, and later on, one with the other. And the circle is complete. And the beauty of both of the stories are manifested.
*First and Second photos taken from Wikepedia
Last photo taken from Yahoo! Movies
Click to download: The Legend of the Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
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