The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

1949 "Bing and Walt ride herd on The Headless Horseman!"
7.7| 0h37m| G| en
Details

Washington Irving's tale of Ichabod Crane and the headless horseman is brought to life, narrated by Bing Crosby.

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Producted By

Walt Disney Productions

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Reviews

Lovesusti The Worst Film Ever
Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
Bergorks If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
utgard14 Originally part of the movie The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, this adaptation of Washington's Irving's famous story contains some of the scariest imagery from any Disney cartoon. The story, for those who somehow have never read or heard of it, takes place in 1790 New York. In the village of Sleepy Hollow, a lanky new schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane arrives and becomes smitten with a beautiful young woman named Katrina. His rival for her affections is a brawny hunk named Brom Bones. Brom tells superstitious Ichabod the legend of the Headless Horseman, a ghost that haunts the village each year on Halloween, searching for a head to replace the one he lost. As Ichabod travels home alone at night, he discovers the legend is true.The first half is heavy on comedy, much to the frustration of many viewers who only watch for the scary parts they've heard about or remember from their childhood. I enjoy the lighter parts but admit what makes this a true classic is the scene where the Horseman chases Ichabod. It's an amazing sequence. The animation is gorgeous with rich Technicolor that'll make you drool and beautifully-drawn characters and backgrounds. Katrina is one of the most underrated animated beauties from the classic Disney era. As Crosby's narration states, "She was a blooming lass, plump as a partridge, ripe, melting and rosy-cheeked..." The Headless Horseman is also brilliantly realized. Sublime voice work from Bing Crosby, who also lends his voice to some songs. It's one of the classic Disney cartoons that I remember most from my childhood. Watching it today it's even better than I remembered.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is the 65-year-old Disney approach to the famous tale, which was obviously done long before Tim Burton got his hands on the material. And it is a success, I believe, because several components were competently done and this resulted in a pretty good overall outcome. First of all, the animation is nice and it is a half-hour cartoon which is truly atmospheric. Secondly, Bing Crosby's narration worked from start to finish adding the right mixture of drama and comedy to the scenes we see. And most of all: The school teacher. Now, he is a pretty memorable character and it almost makes me sad to see that the other guy got the girl in the end because I felt that the one who wins was so colorless and forgettable really. Some time later this half hour was picked, mixed together with another relative long short film and so they had a feature film out of this. It even won a Golden Globe and that makes up for the short film from 1949 running empty on the awards front. Anyway, that's how it goes I guess. I had a good time watching this and I recommend it. Of course this should not come as a surprise as this half hour was directed by the makers of "Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty", "Alice in Wonderland", "Dumbo", "Pinocchio" etc. So from that perspective, it's more of a surprise that this did not turn out even better. But let's not be greedy here. Give it a watch.
TheLittleSongbird The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a truly wonderful gem, that I personally think is underrated. Bing Crosby, a great actor and singer, narrates and sings, and I thought he was sublime, so effective and expressive. He never overdid the narration, and the narration while written simply, was well written and kids will understand it. Of course it is quite short, but it goes by so quickly, that it passes the time perfectly. The animation is lovely, very dark at times, but for telling a very dark story, that style of animation was necessary. The music is memorable and fits very well with each scene. The famous story tells of a schoolmaster called Inchabod Crane, a character who doesn't say much, but is immediately likable when you see him, who is in love with the beautiful Katrina. However, in a plot we have kind of seen before, he is rivalled by Brom Bones, a handsome tower of strength, who wastes no time in telling anybody a story that disturbs Crane greatly. Soon after, Crane meets the landmark character of the short, the Headless Horseman, a character so scary that very young kids will be terrified. Yet, because he was scary, as the legend says that he is and much worse, the Headless Horseman was very effective, and a villain that has been imitated in things like Scooby Doo, but never as well, as the very look of him had my hairs standing up on my neck. The short concludes with a suspenseful ending, that leaves us wondering what did happen to Inchabod Crane? Overall, an underrated gem, with a 9.5/10. Bethany Cox.
Atreyu_II I know that this animated short was initially one of the shorts from "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" (the 11th animated Disney classic). However, I don't remember much about Mr. Toad, perhaps because I only saw it when I was a kid. So I decided to write this review only for "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" because I'm familiar with this one.It is a simple but okay cartoon. It is one of those simple, underrated and forgotten Disney shorts from the 40's (in this case, 1949). Despite not being something extraordinary, this cartoon remains entertaining and watchable.The designs are simple but good. The picture quality is okay. The characters are interesting.Ichabod Crane is probably the most original character ever created by Disney. He speaks and sings very little, but that's not what makes the difference. His bizarre figure, the fact of being extremely thin and also his simplicity, charm and pacific personality are what really makes the difference.Brom Bones is a good example of pure strength. But even his though guy posture doesn't stop him from getting into trouble with Ichabod Crane. I mean, Ichabod has some "battles" with Brom Bones, but he doesn't even notice that! Just hilarious!Brom Bones is the loser. But he's not a man to give up easily. Even when Ichabod is dancing with Katrina, Brom Bones still has plans in his mind. That's when another hilarious sequence comes: a very short and fat woman dances with Brom Bones in a very energetic way, something which embarrasses him a lot. But he doesn't get rid of her easily.After all these comic gags, the dark side of this short begins. On that Halloween night, after the party, Brom Bones tells terrifying stories about ghosts and the Headless Horseman. He knows that Ichabod believes in those stories. Needless to say that those stories scare Ichabod very much. He even has sweat running all over his face!But the darkest part is yet to come. When Ichabod and his horse leave, tension and suspense are present. In the meantime, we have some very funny moments. But when the Headless Horseman appears... well, all I have to say is that it becomes quite scary! For children it can be terrifying.The ending is somehow confusing. It makes me wonder what really happened to Ichabod Crane. Did he run away? Did he survive? Did we go to another city, village or country?Just to finish, let me say that Bing Crosby does a nice job as the voice of the narrator, Brom Bones and Ichabod Crane.