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In Sleepy Hollow, Burton takes Washington Irving's fantasy story
and turns it into a haunting murder mystery. There are three major
character changes Burton makes to Irving's original story. The first
major change Burton makes is making Ichabod Crane a constable rather
than a schoolteacher. The second change Burton makes is to Katrina Van
Tassel's character. In Irving's story she is a simple farm owner's
daughter, and in Burton's version she dabbles in witchcraft in order to
save those around her. The third change occurs when Burton brings the
Headless Horseman to life. All three of these elements add different
layers to Irving's original story. Burton makes use of Irving's story line, however he puts his own Burton
twist on it. Irving's tale is built upon the folk tale of a headless
horseman capturing people in the night, whereas Burton chooses to bring
the Horseman to life- quite literally taking the lives of the citizens
of Sleepy Hollow. Through bringing the Horseman to life, Burton creates
the perfect atmosphere for a murder investigation, which is exactly the
role for Burton's Ichabod. Katrina's witchcraft links her to Ichabod's
past, as his own mother was murdered for witchcraft. Both witches served
to protect their loved ones, whereas Katrina's stepmother uses
witchcraft against the members of Sleepy Hollow. Washington Irving's
tale ends in the mysterious disappearance of Ichabod Crane, leaving no
hope for a positive future for either Ichabod or the townspeople. A
final interesting plot twist Burton incorporates is that of the happy
ending. Typically we do not see Burton films ending happily, however,
Burton takes Irving's dreary ending and leaves viewers with a light
hopeful feeling for Ichabod's future. These changes do not subtract from Irving's story, rather they all build
upon it and allow the story to be seen in a new and possibly "scarier"
light. Burton takes all of these changes and uses them to create a film
that is both pleasing to the eyes as well as the viewer's sense of
fairytale. He strikes the perfect balance between folk and nonfiction to
bring Irving's story to a new level, while still maintaining respect
for the story's original qualities.
I completely agree with everything you said about the differences of Irving's original story and Burton's added twist. I more or less made the same points. The change from schoolteacher to detective dramatically changes the feel of the film. Schoolteachers are very cliché and not really exciting. Detectives on the other hand are just the opposite. One never knows what will happen next. The change poses the question of murder and suspense. Which has much potential to change the mood of the film. With murder comes bones, blood, and betrayal. Like you said, I agree that Katrina Van Tassel is also a major change from the story to film. In the story she acts as though she is a little innocent daddy’s girl, when in the movie she is much more of a dark character performing witchcraft. She also does not seem as young and helpless in the film, she is much more womanly not really in her looks, but in her actions since she falls in love. Burton does ultimately exceeds Irving’s story by making it into a totally new entity.
ReplyDelete-Asenath Babineaux
I like what you are saying, Akeem, and I feel like Burton is giving more of the “final touches” that Irving never did. Sure, maybe Irving wanted to leave the ending a mystery, but, with Burton, the audience gets a fleshed out Ichabod Crane and a gruesome headless horseman that raises no questions as to his existence. Also, I like what you said about the ending. A lot of Burton’s movies have a sort of melancholy ending where no one really gets what they want (I am looking at you, Edward Scissorhands). When Burton changes the original story (which had kind of a sad ending for Crane) to be one that is happier for Crane, I feel like Burton is saying, “You know what, here. You can have what you could never have before.”I do not know if Ichabod Crane would find being with a witch all that comforting, but I think Burton made this exception for this character because hey, why not?
ReplyDeleteCharles Elkins
Just as you are saying, it seems that the focal point of Irving’s version of Sleepy Hollow is absolutely different from than that of Tim Burton’s. One is a fantasy; other is a haunting horror story. The characters really are quite different too, and Irving and Burton’s Ichabod Crane doesn’t seem to have a whole lot in common. They came to Sleepy Hollow with different intentions and responsibilities, have different personalities, and just are different people in general. Other characters are just as different too, which makes me think that Burton just borrowed the overall skeletal structure of Irving’s story to create a story of his own. Burton extracted the key elements of Irving’ story just enough to keep the integrity of the story, while telling a whole new story of his own. He really achieved a good balance between the original story and his own ‘spice’ which makes a good story even better.
ReplyDeleteJae Yun Choi
I think those are the most important changes made to Irving's tale. Ichabod's character is practically changed completely. Burton's Ichabod is a new and maybe even a batter man than Irving's Ichabod. Irving's Ichabod is just a disgusting man, and Burton turns him into a sort of clumsy hero. Katrina is an all new person as well. Burton added the element of magic and that gave Sleep Hallow a deeper back story. The magic shapes Ichabod, Katrina, and the rest of Sleepy Hallow. The story has more twists and turns and is more exciting. The addition of the horseman adds more excitement as we ask ourselves how the horseman came to life, and why he is killing the leaders of the village. I agree that Burton took Irving's story to another level. He makes it more fun and exciting while leaving the creepiness and cockiness of Brom Bones.
ReplyDelete~Chrishell Lennox