Dupuis: Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow

The film Sleepy Hollow by Tim Burton takes the original short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” by Washington Irving and puts a new spin to it, well, a few spins to it. I like both versions of the story of Ichabod and the headless horseman. I think Burton takes the elements of the story individually and creates a whole new story with those elements. He takes the character of Ichabod Crane and gives him a back story that we do not get in the story, which I like. By changing that Ichabod’s mother was a witch and that she died before his eyes, it created a whole new story for that character. In the story we assume that Ichabod had a normal childhood considering there is no special attention given to it in the story. He creates a Batman-like character by adding the element of Ichabod’s mother dying before his eyes in his vivid dreams of his mother. After that he clings to science and technology. There has to be a logical explanation for everything, and there is a reason behind everything. Those are two philosophies of the two characters: Batman and Ichabod. They are both absent of greed, which is unlike the character of Ichabod from the short story, because they know what greed does to the soul.

In the short story, it is not stated directly if Ichabod was in fact chased by the headless horseman, and whether or not the horseman even exists, which I like. But I like Burton’s version of this legend better. He made the horseman real, but he is controlled by someone else, a soul greedy for vengeance. I like how Burton incorporated Irving’s original idea of the greedy soul in the villain, giving the horseman a greedy soul also. The themes of the short story are still there, just in different ways. Both stories have a happy ending, in which the unclean soul is expelled and the people of Sleepy Hollow live on in peace. I do not think Burton just uses the character names to enhance a horror story because the themes of story are still there, just in a different way that, I think, is more accessible to film. If Burton would have kept the original plot the movie would not be as enjoyable I think because I feel the main character is flat. He does not seem to change in the story whereas in the film he leaves Sleepy Hollow with a new outlook on the supernatural and love seeing as he falls in love with the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, and not for her money.

Dupuis: Ed Wood

Johnny Depp as Ed Wood

I think Burton and Wood have many similarities as directors. They both share a passion for the movies they make; they have close relationships with their mentors; and they stay true to their vision even if no one likes it. The major difference between Burton and Wood is that Wood wants to be a part of the main stream Hollywood which Burton despises. This is ironic because Burton is a success and Wood was not. These two men just represent the difference between having talent and not having talent. They both had the drive; Burton just had the talent to go with that drive.

Burton does have an appreciation for Wood’s movies and as a person despite Wood’s failed movies and despite Burton’s movie Ed Wood was a flop. Wood always stayed true to his vision of the movie he wanted to make, even if they were not popular in his time; he did not let his constant failures to change his movies. Burton admires this aspect of Wood’s films which I think he does because Burton feels that sometimes he has to stray from his original vision for the movie for the sake of his audience or because of the people paying for the movie to be made.

Burton relates to Wood in sense that they both have a vision that they are criticized for, but they both have a deep passion for it. Burton was criticized for his strange vision, but when he brings it to life in his movies, the audience falls in love because they are so relatable and unlike anything else they have seen. I think Wood just was not appreciated in his time because he dealt with issues that were new to the world and not ready to be shown on screen, like cross-dressing and sex changes.

I think Burton used original scenes from Wood’s films to show how much Wood loved his films. By using the original scenes Burton shows that Wood’s films were his life, they were not just a job, which is another thing Burton and Wood have in common. Their films are not just films; the films are their lives.