.gif)
Sleepy Hollow (film)
Encyclopedia
Sleepy Hollow is a 1999 American period horror film directed by Tim Burton
. It is a film adaptation loosely inspired by the 1820 short story
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
" by Washington Irving
and stars Johnny Depp
, Christina Ricci
, Miranda Richardson
, Marc Pickering
, Michael Gambon
, Jeffrey Jones
, Casper Van Dien
, Ian McDiarmid
, Michael Gough
, and Christopher Walken
. The plot follows police constable Ichabod Crane
(Depp) sent from New York City to investigate a series of murders in the village Sleepy Hollow
by a mysterious Headless Horseman.
Development for Sleepy Hollow began in 1993 at Paramount Pictures
with Kevin Yagher
originally set to direct Andrew Kevin Walker
's script as a low-budget slasher film
. Disagreements with Paramount resulted in Yagher being demoted to prosthetic makeup
designer, and Burton was hired to direct in June 1998. Filming took place from November 1998 to May 1999, and Sleepy Hollow was released to generally favorable reviews from critics, and grossed approximately $207 million worldwide. Production designer Rick Heinrichs
and set decorator Peter Young won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction
.
police constable Ichabod Crane
is dispatched by his superiors to the Westchester County hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, New York
, to investigate a series of brutal slayings in which the victims have been found decapitated
. A frequent user of new, though so far unproven investigative techniques such as finger-printing and autopsies, Crane arrives in Sleepy Hollow armed with his bag of scientific tools only to be informed by the town's elders that the murderer is not of flesh and blood, rather a headless supernatural warrior from beyond the grave who rides at night on a massive black steed.
Crane begins his own investigation, still remaining highly skeptical about the supernatural elements in the case until he encounters the Headless Horseman
himself. Boarding a room at the home of the town's richest family, the Van Tassels, Crane develops an attraction to their daughter, the mysterious Katrina, even as he's plagued by nightmares of his mother's horrific torture when he was a child. Delving further into the mystery with the aid of the orphaned Young Masbeth, whose father was a victim of the Horseman, Crane discovers within the Western Woods the Horseman's grave, as well as his entry point into the natural world from the supernatural — the gnarled Tree of the Dead.
Crane finds the Horseman's skull is missing, though the murders continue until Crane uncovers a murky plot revolving around revenge and land rights with the Horseman controlled by Katrina's stepmother, Lady Van Tassel, who sends the killer after Katrina now to solidify her hold on what she considers her property, a piece of land unjustly claimed by Katrina's father. Following a fight in the local windmill and a stagecoach chase through the woods, Crane eventually thwarts Lady Van Tassel by returning the skull to the Horseman, who regains his head and heads back to Hell along with his enslaver. With his job in Sleepy Hollow over, Crane, with Katrina and Young Masbeth, returns to New York (where he describes as where "the Bronx is up and the Battery is down..." - Tim Burton's nod to the song New York, New York (On the Town) by Leonard Bernstein), in time for the new century.
Burton and Gough had previously worked together on Batman
and Batman Returns
, with Gough portraying Alfred Pennyworth
.
, a make-up effects designer who had turned to directing with Tales from the Crypt
, had the notion to adapt Washington Irving
's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
" into a feature film. Through his agent, Yagher was introduced to Andrew Kevin Walker
; they spent a few months working on a film treatment
that transformed Ichabod Crane
as a schoolmaster from Connecticut
to a banished New York City detective. Yagher and Walker subsequently pitched Sleepy Hollow to various studios and production companies, eventually securing a deal with producer Scott Rudin
, who had been impressed with Walker's unproduced spec script
for Seven
. Rudin optioned the project to Paramount Pictures
in a deal that had Yagher set to direct, with Walker scripting; the pair would share story credit. Following the completion of Hellraiser: Bloodline
, Yahger had planned Sleepy Hollow as a low-budget production - "a pretentious slasher film
with a spectacular murder every five minutes or so." Paramount disagreed on the concept and demoted Yagher's involvement to prosthetic makeup
designer. "They never really saw it as a commercial movie," producer Adam Schroeder
noted. "The studio thinks 'old literary classic' and they think The Crucible. We started developing it before horror movies came back."
Paramount CEO Sherry Lansing
revived studio interest in 1998. Schroeder, who shepherded Tim Burton
's Edward Scissorhands
as a studio executive at 20th Century Fox in 1990, suggested that Burton direct the film. Francis Ford Coppola
's minimal production duties came from American Zoetrope
; Burton only became aware of Coppola's involvement during the editing process when he was sent a copy of Sleepy Hollows trailer
and saw Coppola's name on it. Burton, coming off the troubled production of Superman Lives, was hired to direct in June 1998. "I had never really done something that was more of a horror film," he explained, "and it's funny, because those are the kind of movies that I like probably more than any other genre." His interest in directing a horror film influenced by his love for Hammer Film Productions
and Black Sunday - particularly the supernatural feel they evoked as a result of being filmed primarily on sound stage
s. As a result, Sleepy Hollow is a homage
to various Hammer Film Productions, including Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
, and other films such as Frankenstein
, Bride of Frankenstein
, various Roger Corman
horror films, Jason and the Argonauts, and Scream Blacula Scream
. The image of the Headless Horseman
had fascinated Burton during his apprenticeship as a Disney animator at Cal Arts in the early 1980s. "One of my teachers had worked on the Disney version
as one of the layout artists on the chase, and he brought in some layouts from it, so that was exciting. It was one of the things that maybe shaped what I like to do." Burton worked with Walker on rewrites, but Rudin suggested that Tom Stoppard
rewrite the script to add to the comical aspects of Ichabod's bumbling mannerisms, and emphasize the character's romance with Katrina. His work went uncredited through the WGA screenwriting credit system
.
While Johnny Depp
was Burton's first choice for the role of Ichabod Crane, Paramount required him to consider Brad Pitt
, Liam Neeson
, and Daniel Day-Lewis
. Depp was cast in July 1998 for his third collaboration with Burton. The actor wanted Ichabod to parallel Irving's description of the character in the short story. This included a long prosthetic snipe nose
, huge ears, and elongated fingers. Paramount turned down his suggestions, and after Depp read Tom Stoppard's rewrite of the script, he was inspired to take the character even further. "I always thought of Ichabod as a very delicate, fragile person who was maybe a little too in touch with his feminine side, like a frightened little girl," Depp explained. He did not wish to portray the character as a typical action star would have, and instead took inspiration by Angela Lansbury
's performance in Death on the Nile
. "It's good," Burton reasoned, "because I'm not the greatest action director in the world, and he's not the greatest action star." Depp modeled Ichabod's detective personality from Basil Rathbone
in the 1939 Sherlock Holmes film series. He also studied Roddy McDowall
's acting for additional influence. Burton added that "the idea was to try and find an elegance in action of the kind that Christopher Lee
or Peter Cushing
or Vincent Price
had." Christina Ricci
, who worked with producer Scott Rudin on The Addams Family
, was cast as Katrina Van Tassel. Sleepy Hollow also reunited Burton with Jeffrey Jones
(from Beetlejuice
and Ed Wood
) as Reverent Steenwyck, Christopher Walken
(Max Schreck in Batman Returns
) as the Hessian Horseman, Martin Landau (Ed Wood) in a cameo role, and Hammer veteran Michael Gough
(Alfred in Burton's Batman films), whom Burton tempted out of retirement. The Hammer influence was further confirmed by the casting of Christopher Lee in a small cameo.
along the Hudson Valley
, and the filmmakers decided on Tarrytown
for an October 1998 start date
. The Historic Hudson Valley
organization assisted in scouting locations, which included the Philipsburg Manor House and forests in the Rockefeller State Park Preserve
. "They had a wonderful quality to them," production designer Rick Heinrichs
reflected on the locations, "but it wasn't quite lending itself to the sort of expressionism
that we were going for, which wanted to express the feeling of foreboding." Disappointed, the filmmakers scouted locations in Sturbridge, Massachusetts
, and considered using Dutch colonial villages and period town recreations in the Northeastern United States
. When no suitable existing location could be found, coupled with a lack of readily available studio space in the New York area needed to house the production's large number of sets, producer Scott Rudin suggested England.
Rudin believed England offered the level of craftsmanship in period detail, painting, and costuming that was suitable for the film's design. Having directed Batman
entirely in England, Burton agreed, and designers from Batmans art department were employed by Paramount for Sleepy Hollow. As a result, principal photography
was pushed back to November 20, 1998 at Leavesden Film Studios
, which had been recently vacated by Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
. The majority of filming took place at Leavesden, with studio other work at Shepperton Studios
, where the massive Tree of the Dead set was built using Stage H. Production then moved to the Hambleden
Estate at Lime Tree Valley for a month-long shoot in March, where the town of Sleepy Hollow was constructed. "We came to England figuring we would find a perfect little town," producer Adam Schroeder recalled, "and then we had to build it anyway." Filming in England continued through April, and a few last minute scenes were shot using a sound stage
in Yonkers, New York
the following May.
, who Burton intended to use on Superman Lives. While the production crew was always going to build a substantial number of sets, the decision was taken early on that to fulfill Burton's vision best would necessitate shooting Sleepy Hollow in a totally controlled environment at Leavesden Film Studios. The production design was influenced by Burton's love for Hammer Film Productions
and Black Sunday - particularly the supernatural feel they evoked as a result of being filmed primarily on sound stages. Heinrichs was also influenced by American colonial architecture, German Expressionism
, Dr. Seuss
illustrations, and Hammer's Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
. One sound stage at Leavesden was dedicated to the "Forest to Field" set, for the scene in which the Headless Horseman races out of the woods and into a field. This stage was then transformed into, variously, a graveyard, a corn field, a field of harvested wheat, a churchyard, and a snowy battlefield. In addition, a small backlot
area was devoted to a New York City street and waterfront tank.
in Great Expectations
, and hired Emmanuel Lubezki
as Sleepy Hollows director of photography. Initially, Lubezki and Burton contemplated shooting the film in black and white and in old square Academy ratio
. When that proved unfeasible, they opted for an almost monochromatic
effect which would enhance the fantasy aspect. Burton and Lubezki intentionally planned the over-dependency of smoke and soft lighting to accompany the film's sole wide-angle lens
strategy. Lubezki also used Hammer horror and Mexican lucha film
s from the 1960s, such as Santo Contra los Zombis
and Santo vs. las Mujeres Vampiro. Lighting effects increased the dynamic energy of the Headless Horseman, while the contrast
of the film stock was increased in post-production to add to the monochromatic feel.
Leavesden Studios, a converted airplane factory, presented problems because of its relatively low ceilings. This was less of an issue for The Phantom Menace, in which set height was generally achieved by digital means. "Our visual choices get channeled," Heinrichs elaborated, "so you end up with liabilities that you tend to exploit as virtues. When you've got a certain ceiling height, and you're dealing with painted backings, you need to push atmosphere and diffusion." This was particularly the case in several exteriors that were built on sound stages. "We would mitigate the disadvantages by hiding lights with teasers and smoke."
supervised the human and creature effects. Framestore also assisted on digital effects, and The Mill
handled motion control photography
. In part a reaction to the computer-generated effects
in Mars Attacks!
, Burton adopted to use a limited amount of digital effects as possible. Ray Park
, who served as the Headless Horseman stunt double
, wore a blue ski mask for the chroma key
effect, digitally removed by ILM. Burton and Heinrichs applied to Sleepy Hollow many of the techniques they had used in stop motion
animation on Vincent
- such as forced perspective
sets.
The windmill was a 60-foot-tall forced-perspective exterior (visible to highway travelers miles away), a base and rooftop set and a quarter-scale miniature. The interior of the mill, which was about 30-feet high and 25-feet wide, featured wooden gears equipped with mechanisms for grinding flour. A wider view of the windmill was rendered on a Leavesden soundstage set with a quarter-scale windmill, complete with rotating vanes, painted sky backdrop and special-effects fire. "It was scary for the actors who were having burning wood explode at them," Heinrichs recalled. "There were controls in place and people standing by with hoses, of course, but there's always a chance of something going wrong." For the final shot of the burning mill exploding, the quarter-scale windmill and painted backdrop were erected against the outside wall of the "flight shed," a spacious hangar on the far side of Leavesden Studios. The hangar's interior walls were knocked down to create a 450-foot run, with a 40-foot width still allowing for coach and cameras. Heinrichs tailored the sets so cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki could shoot from above without seeing the end of the stage.
Actor Ian McDiarmid, who portrayed Dr. Lancaster, had just finished another Leavesden production with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
. He compared the aesthetics of the two films, stating that physical sets helped the actors get into a natural frame of mind. "Having come from the blue-screen
world of Star Wars it was wonderful to see gigantic, beautifully made perspective sets and wonderful clothes, and also people recreating a world. It's like the way movies used to be done."
was written and produced by Danny Elfman
. Steve Bartek
, who worked with Elfman as the lead guitarist for Oingo Boingo
, Conrad Pope
, and Mark McKenzie
arranged the compositions for the orchestra.
at San Diego Comic-Con International in August 1999. The following October, the studio launched a website, which Variety
described as being the "most ambitious online launch
of a motion picture to date." The site (sleepyhollowmovie.com) offered visitors live video chats with several of the filmmakers hosted by Yahoo! Movies
and enabled them to send postcards, view photos, trailers and a six-minute behind-the-scenes featurette edited from a broadcast that aired on Entertainment Tonight
. Extensive tours of 10 sets where offered, where visitors were able to roam around photographs, including the sets for the entire town of Sleepy Hollow, forest, church, graveyard and covered bridge. Arthur Cohen, president of worldwide marketing for Paramount, explained that the "Web-friendly" pre-release reports from websites such as Ain't It Cool News
and Dark Horizons
encouraged the studio to create the site. In the weeks pre-dating the release of Sleepy Hollow, a toy line was marketed by McFarlane Toys
. Simon & Schuster
also published The Art of Sleepy Hollow (ISBN 0671036572), which included the film's screenplay and an introduction by Tim Burton. A novelization
, also published by Simon & Schuster, was written by Peter Lerangis
.
Sleepy Hollow was released in the United States on November 19, 1999 in 3,069 theaters, grossing $30,060,467 in its opening weekend at the #2 spot behind The World Is Not Enough
. Sleepy Hollow eventually earned $101,071,502 in domestic gross, and $105 million in foreign sales, coming to a worldwide total of $206,071,502. David Walsh
of the National Institute on Media and the Family
criticized the film's financial success from the exaggeration of gore. "The real impact is not so much that violent images create violent behavior," Walsh explained, "but that they create an atmosphere of disrespect." Burton addressed the concerns as a matter of opinion. "Everyone has a different perception of things. When I was a kid," Burton continued, "I was probably more scared by seeing John Wayne
or Barbra Streisand
on the big screen than by seeing violence."
Paramount Home Video first released Sleepy Hollow on DVD in the United States on May 23, 2000. The HD DVD
release came in July 2006, The film was released on Blu-ray Disc
in June 2008.
, 68% of the critics enjoyed Sleepy Hollow with an average score of 6.3/10. By comparison, Metacritic
calculated an average score of 65/100, based on 35 reviews collected. Roger Ebert
praised Johnny Depp's performance and Tim Burton's methods of visual design. "Johnny Depp is an actor able to disappear into characters," Ebert continued, "never more readily than in one of Burton's films. In a positive review for Time magazine
, Richard Corliss
called Sleepy Hollow "Burton's richest, prettiest, weirdest [film] since Batman Returns
. The simple story bends to his twists, freeing him for an exercise in high style."
David Sterritt
of The Christian Science Monitor
praised Burton's filmmaking and the high-spirited acting of cast, but believed Andrew Kevin Walker's writing was too repetitious and formulaic for the third act. "You go into a Tim Burton film wanting to be transported, but Sleepy Hollow is little more than a lavish, art-directed slasher movie," Owen Gleiberman
from Entertainment Weekly
wrote, "a choppily plotted crowd-pleaser that lacks the seductive, freakazoid alchemy of Burton's best work." Gleiberman compared the film The Mummy
, "it feels like every high-powered action climax of the last 10 years. Personally, I'd rather see Burton so intoxicated by a movie that he lost his head."
Jonathan Rosenbaum
from the Chicago Reader called Sleepy Hollow "a ravishing visual experience, a pretty good vehicle for some talented American and English actors," but concluded that the film was a missed opportunity to depict an actual representation of the short story. "Burton’s fidelity is exclusively to the period feeling he gets from disreputable Hammer horror films and a few images culled from Ichabod and Mr. Toad
. When it comes to one of America’s great stories, Burton obviously couldn’t care less." Mick LaSalle
, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle
, criticized Burton's perceived image as a creative artist. "All Sleepy Hollow has going for it is art direction, and even in that it falls back on cliché
."
Sleepy Hollow was also a contender for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, but ultimately was not nominated.
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
. It is a film adaptation loosely inspired by the 1820 short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story by Washington Irving contained in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., written while he was living in Birmingham, England, and first published in 1820...
" by Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
and stars Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
, Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
, Marc Pickering
Marc Pickering
Marc Pickering is an English stage, film and television actor who appeared in Sleepy Hollow and Calendar Girls.-Biography:Pickering was first attracted to acting aged 8 when he saw an audition sign for The Sound of Music and said to his father "I wouldn't mind doing that". Although he did not get...
, Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as...
, Jeffrey Jones
Jeffrey Jones
Jeffrey Duncan Jones is an American actor. He has appeared in many films and television series, but may be best known for his roles as Emperor Joseph II in Miloš Forman’s Amadeus, Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice, and Dean of Students Edward R...
, Casper Van Dien
Casper Van Dien
-Early life:Van Dien was born and grew up in Milton, Florida, the son of Diane , a retired nursery school teacher, and Casper Robert Van Dien, Sr., a retired U.S. Navy Commander and fighter pilot. There is a long military tradition in Van Dien's family. Aside from his father, his grandfather was a...
, Ian McDiarmid
Ian McDiarmid
Ian McDiarmid is a Scottish theatre actor and director, who has also made sporadic appearances on film and television.McDiarmid has had a successful career in theatre; he has been cast in many plays, while occasionally directing others and although he has appeared mostly in theatrical productions,...
, Michael Gough
Michael Gough
Michael Gough was an English character actor who appeared in over 150 films. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for his roles in the Hammer Horror films from 1958, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four movies of the Burton/Schumacher Batman franchise,...
, and Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
. The plot follows police constable Ichabod Crane
Ichabod Crane
Ichabod Crane is a fictional character in Washington Irving's short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, first published in 1820.-Origin:...
(Depp) sent from New York City to investigate a series of murders in the village Sleepy Hollow
Sleepy Hollow, New York
Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by the Philipse Manor stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line.Originally...
by a mysterious Headless Horseman.
Development for Sleepy Hollow began in 1993 at Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
with Kevin Yagher
Kevin Yagher
Kevin Yagher is a special effects technician, known for Freddy Krueger's makeup and the Crypt Keeper creature.His company, Kevin Yagher Productions, has created effects for Face/Off, Enemy of the State, Volcano, Starship Troopers, Conspiracy Theory, Radio Flyer, Mission: Impossible II, and Honey,...
originally set to direct Andrew Kevin Walker
Andrew Kevin Walker
Andrew Kevin Walker is an American BAFTA-nominated screenwriter. He is known for having written the Academy Award-nominated film Seven , for which he earned a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, as well as several other films, including 8mm , Sleepy Hollow and many...
's script as a low-budget slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
. Disagreements with Paramount resulted in Yagher being demoted to prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects...
designer, and Burton was hired to direct in June 1998. Filming took place from November 1998 to May 1999, and Sleepy Hollow was released to generally favorable reviews from critics, and grossed approximately $207 million worldwide. Production designer Rick Heinrichs
Rick Heinrichs
Richard Heinrichs is an American production designer, effects artist, art director and film producer. He is well known to have worked on the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Ang Lee's Hulk and The Nightmare Before Christmas...
and set decorator Peter Young won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction
Academy Award for Best Art Direction
The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999...
.
Plot
In 1799, New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
police constable Ichabod Crane
Ichabod Crane
Ichabod Crane is a fictional character in Washington Irving's short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, first published in 1820.-Origin:...
is dispatched by his superiors to the Westchester County hamlet of Sleepy Hollow, New York
Sleepy Hollow, New York
Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by the Philipse Manor stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line.Originally...
, to investigate a series of brutal slayings in which the victims have been found decapitated
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
. A frequent user of new, though so far unproven investigative techniques such as finger-printing and autopsies, Crane arrives in Sleepy Hollow armed with his bag of scientific tools only to be informed by the town's elders that the murderer is not of flesh and blood, rather a headless supernatural warrior from beyond the grave who rides at night on a massive black steed.
Crane begins his own investigation, still remaining highly skeptical about the supernatural elements in the case until he encounters the Headless Horseman
Headless Horseman
The headless horseman has been a motif of European folklore since at least the Middle ages.The Headless Horseman is a fictional character who appears in a short story called “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” which is in a collection of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon written by Washington Irving...
himself. Boarding a room at the home of the town's richest family, the Van Tassels, Crane develops an attraction to their daughter, the mysterious Katrina, even as he's plagued by nightmares of his mother's horrific torture when he was a child. Delving further into the mystery with the aid of the orphaned Young Masbeth, whose father was a victim of the Horseman, Crane discovers within the Western Woods the Horseman's grave, as well as his entry point into the natural world from the supernatural — the gnarled Tree of the Dead.
Crane finds the Horseman's skull is missing, though the murders continue until Crane uncovers a murky plot revolving around revenge and land rights with the Horseman controlled by Katrina's stepmother, Lady Van Tassel, who sends the killer after Katrina now to solidify her hold on what she considers her property, a piece of land unjustly claimed by Katrina's father. Following a fight in the local windmill and a stagecoach chase through the woods, Crane eventually thwarts Lady Van Tassel by returning the skull to the Horseman, who regains his head and heads back to Hell along with his enslaver. With his job in Sleepy Hollow over, Crane, with Katrina and Young Masbeth, returns to New York (where he describes as where "the Bronx is up and the Battery is down..." - Tim Burton's nod to the song New York, New York (On the Town) by Leonard Bernstein), in time for the new century.
Cast
- Johnny DeppJohnny DeppJohn Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
as Ichabod CraneIchabod CraneIchabod Crane is a fictional character in Washington Irving's short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, first published in 1820.-Origin:...
: His belief in improved methods of justice, new investigative techniques and scientific procedures is resented by his superiors, who dispatch him north to the Hudson Valley and the small town of Sleepy Hollow. - Christina RicciChristina RicciChristina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
as Katrina Van Tassel: Ichabod's love interest and only heir to one of the neighborhood's richest farmers. - Miranda RichardsonMiranda RichardsonMiranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
as Lady Van Tassel / Crone Sister: Wife of Baltus and stepmother of Katrina. - Marc PickeringMarc PickeringMarc Pickering is an English stage, film and television actor who appeared in Sleepy Hollow and Calendar Girls.-Biography:Pickering was first attracted to acting aged 8 when he saw an audition sign for The Sound of Music and said to his father "I wouldn't mind doing that". Although he did not get...
as Young Masbath: An orphan who looks towards Ichabod as a father figure after his own father is murdered by the Horseman. - Sir Michael GambonMichael GambonSir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as...
as Sir Baltus Van Tassel: Katrina's father. After Peter Van Garret is murdered, he is placed as the leader of the city. - Jeffrey JonesJeffrey JonesJeffrey Duncan Jones is an American actor. He has appeared in many films and television series, but may be best known for his roles as Emperor Joseph II in Miloš Forman’s Amadeus, Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice, and Dean of Students Edward R...
as Reverend Steenwyck: The town priest. - Casper Van DienCasper Van Dien-Early life:Van Dien was born and grew up in Milton, Florida, the son of Diane , a retired nursery school teacher, and Casper Robert Van Dien, Sr., a retired U.S. Navy Commander and fighter pilot. There is a long military tradition in Van Dien's family. Aside from his father, his grandfather was a...
as Brom Van Brunt: A strong and arrogant aristocratic man who is somewhat romantically involved with Katrina. - Ian McDiarmidIan McDiarmidIan McDiarmid is a Scottish theatre actor and director, who has also made sporadic appearances on film and television.McDiarmid has had a successful career in theatre; he has been cast in many plays, while occasionally directing others and although he has appeared mostly in theatrical productions,...
as Doctor Lancaster: The town doctor and surgeon in the village. - Michael GoughMichael GoughMichael Gough was an English character actor who appeared in over 150 films. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for his roles in the Hammer Horror films from 1958, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four movies of the Burton/Schumacher Batman franchise,...
as Notary Hardenbrook: The town banker and possibly the oldest citizen in the town. - Christopher WalkenChristopher WalkenChristopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
as The Headless HorsemanHeadless HorsemanThe headless horseman has been a motif of European folklore since at least the Middle ages.The Headless Horseman is a fictional character who appears in a short story called “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” which is in a collection of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon written by Washington Irving...
: A brutal and sadistic Hessian mercenary sent to America during the American Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. - Claire SkinnerClaire SkinnerClaire L. Skinner is an English actress, who is well known in the United Kingdom for her television career.-Biography:Born and brought up in Hemel Hempstead, Skinner, the youngest daughter of a shopkeeper and an Irish-born secretary, was immensely shy as a child...
as the Midwife Beth Killian: The town's Midwife. - Steven WaddingtonSteven WaddingtonSteven Waddington is an English actor who is probably best known for his supporting role in Michael Mann's The Last of the Mohicans. He trained at East 15 Acting School in Loughton Essex. His first film role was as the eponymous king in Derek Jarman's Edward II...
as Killian. - Richard GriffithsRichard GriffithsRichard Griffiths, OBE is an English actor of stage, film and television. He has received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actor and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor...
as Magistrate Philipse: The town's magistrateMagistrateA magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
. - Sir Christopher LeeChristopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
as the BurgomasterBurgomasterBurgomaster is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or chairman of the executive council of a sub-national level of administration...
who sends Ichabod to investigate the murders at Sleepy Hollow. - Alun ArmstrongAlun Armstrong (actor)Alun Armstrong is a prolific British character actor. Armstrong grew up in County Durham in North East England. He first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career began in the early 1970s, he has played, in his words, "the full spectrum of...
as the High Constable - Martin LandauMartin LandauMartin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...
(previously won an Academy AwardAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
on Tim Burton's Ed WoodEd Wood (film)Ed Wood is a 1994 American comedy-drama biopic directed and produced by Tim Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as cult filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film concerns the period in Wood's life when he made his best-known films as well as his relationship with actor Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau...
) portrays Peter Van Garrett with no dialogue; and is murdered by the Headless Horseman in the opening scene. - Lisa Marie as Lady Crane, Ichabod's mother (in flashbacks) who was involved in witchcraftWitchcraftWitchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
and later painfully murdered by his strict religious father. - Peter Guiness as Lord Crane, Ichabod's father (in flashbacks) who was a devoutly religious man who tortured and killed his wife after he found her practising witchcraft.
Burton and Gough had previously worked together on Batman
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
and Batman Returns
Batman Returns
Batman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Burton's Batman , and features Michael Keaton reprising the title role, with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.Burton originally did not...
, with Gough portraying Alfred Pennyworth
Alfred Pennyworth
Alfred Pennyworth is a fictional character that appears throughout the DC Comics franchise. The character first appears in Batman #16 , and was created by writer Bob Kane and artist Jerry Robinson. Alfred serves as Batman’s tireless butler, assistant, confidant, and surrogate father figure...
.
Development
In 1993, Kevin YagherKevin Yagher
Kevin Yagher is a special effects technician, known for Freddy Krueger's makeup and the Crypt Keeper creature.His company, Kevin Yagher Productions, has created effects for Face/Off, Enemy of the State, Volcano, Starship Troopers, Conspiracy Theory, Radio Flyer, Mission: Impossible II, and Honey,...
, a make-up effects designer who had turned to directing with Tales from the Crypt
Tales from the Crypt (TV series)
Tales from the Crypt, sometimes titled HBO's Tales from the Crypt, is an American horror anthology television series that ran from 1989 to 1996 on the premium cable channel HBO...
, had the notion to adapt Washington Irving
Washington Irving
Washington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is a short story by Washington Irving contained in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., written while he was living in Birmingham, England, and first published in 1820...
" into a feature film. Through his agent, Yagher was introduced to Andrew Kevin Walker
Andrew Kevin Walker
Andrew Kevin Walker is an American BAFTA-nominated screenwriter. He is known for having written the Academy Award-nominated film Seven , for which he earned a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, as well as several other films, including 8mm , Sleepy Hollow and many...
; they spent a few months working on a film treatment
Film treatment
A film treatment is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play. It is generally longer and more detailed than an outline , and it may include details of directorial style that an outline omits...
that transformed Ichabod Crane
Ichabod Crane
Ichabod Crane is a fictional character in Washington Irving's short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, first published in 1820.-Origin:...
as a schoolmaster from Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
to a banished New York City detective. Yagher and Walker subsequently pitched Sleepy Hollow to various studios and production companies, eventually securing a deal with producer Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin is an American film producer and a theatrical producer.-Early life and work:Scott Rudin was born in New York City, NY, on July 14, 1958, and raised in the town of Baldwin on Long Island. At the age of sixteen, he started working as an assistant to theatre producer Kermit Bloomgarden...
, who had been impressed with Walker's unproduced spec script
Spec script
A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio....
for Seven
Seven (film)
Seven is a 1995 American thriller film, which also contains horror and neo-noir elements, directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It was distributed by New Line Cinema and stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R...
. Rudin optioned the project to Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
in a deal that had Yagher set to direct, with Walker scripting; the pair would share story credit. Following the completion of Hellraiser: Bloodline
Hellraiser: Bloodline
Hellraiser IV: Bloodline is a 1996 horror film and the fourth installment in the Hellraiser series, which serves as both a prequel and a sequel...
, Yahger had planned Sleepy Hollow as a low-budget production - "a pretentious slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
with a spectacular murder every five minutes or so." Paramount disagreed on the concept and demoted Yagher's involvement to prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects...
designer. "They never really saw it as a commercial movie," producer Adam Schroeder
Adam Schroeder
-Selected works:* Rules of Engagement* Sleepy Hollow* The Truman Show* A Simple Plan* The Tuxedo* Wonder Boys* Zoolander* The First Wives Club* Clueless* Ransom* Mother* Marvin's Room* In & Out...
noted. "The studio thinks 'old literary classic' and they think The Crucible. We started developing it before horror movies came back."
Paramount CEO Sherry Lansing
Sherry Lansing
Sherry Lansing is a former actress and American film studio executive. She is former CEO of Paramount Pictures, and when president of production at 20th Century Fox was the first woman to head a Hollywood studio In 1996, she became the first woman named Pioneer of the Year by the Foundation of...
revived studio interest in 1998. Schroeder, who shepherded Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
's Edward Scissorhands
Edward Scissorhands
Edward Scissorhands is a 1990 romantic fantasy film directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. The film shows the story of an artificial man named Edward, an unfinished creation, who has scissors for hands. Edward is taken in by a suburban family and falls in love with their teenage daughter...
as a studio executive at 20th Century Fox in 1990, suggested that Burton direct the film. Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's minimal production duties came from American Zoetrope
American Zoetrope
American Zoetrope is a studio founded by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. Founded on December 12, 1969, American Zoetrope was an early adopter of digital filmmaking, including some of the earliest uses of HDTV...
; Burton only became aware of Coppola's involvement during the editing process when he was sent a copy of Sleepy Hollows trailer
Trailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
and saw Coppola's name on it. Burton, coming off the troubled production of Superman Lives, was hired to direct in June 1998. "I had never really done something that was more of a horror film," he explained, "and it's funny, because those are the kind of movies that I like probably more than any other genre." His interest in directing a horror film influenced by his love for Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
and Black Sunday - particularly the supernatural feel they evoked as a result of being filmed primarily on sound stage
Sound stage
In common usage, a sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building, or room, used for the production of theatrical filmmaking and television production, usually located on a secure movie studio property.-Overview:...
s. As a result, Sleepy Hollow is a homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to various Hammer Film Productions, including Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde is a 1971 British film directed by Roy Ward Baker based on the short story Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The film was made by British studio Hammer Film Productions and was their second adaptation of the story after their 1960 film The...
, and other films such as Frankenstein
Frankenstein (1931 film)
Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features...
, Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein is a 1935 American horror film, the first sequel to Frankenstein...
, various Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
horror films, Jason and the Argonauts, and Scream Blacula Scream
Scream Blacula Scream
Scream Blacula Scream is a 1973 blaxploitation horror film, made under the working titles Blacula Is Beautiful and Blacula Lives Again!. This is the only sequel to the 1972 film Blacula...
. The image of the Headless Horseman
Headless Horseman
The headless horseman has been a motif of European folklore since at least the Middle ages.The Headless Horseman is a fictional character who appears in a short story called “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” which is in a collection of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon written by Washington Irving...
had fascinated Burton during his apprenticeship as a Disney animator at Cal Arts in the early 1980s. "One of my teachers had worked on the Disney version
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a 1949 animated feature produced by Walt Disney. The film was released to theaters on October 5, 1949 by RKO Radio Pictures and is the eleventh animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
as one of the layout artists on the chase, and he brought in some layouts from it, so that was exciting. It was one of the things that maybe shaped what I like to do." Burton worked with Walker on rewrites, but Rudin suggested that Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
rewrite the script to add to the comical aspects of Ichabod's bumbling mannerisms, and emphasize the character's romance with Katrina. His work went uncredited through the WGA screenwriting credit system
WGA screenwriting credit system
In the United States, screenwriting credit for motion pictures and television programs under its jurisdiction is determined by either the Writers Guild of America, East or the Writers Guild of America, West . Since 1941, the Guilds have been the final arbiter of who receives credit for writing a...
.
While Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
was Burton's first choice for the role of Ichabod Crane, Paramount required him to consider Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson
Liam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
, and Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
. Depp was cast in July 1998 for his third collaboration with Burton. The actor wanted Ichabod to parallel Irving's description of the character in the short story. This included a long prosthetic snipe nose
Prosthetic makeup
Prosthetic makeup is the process of using prosthetic sculpting, molding and casting techniques to create advanced cosmetic effects...
, huge ears, and elongated fingers. Paramount turned down his suggestions, and after Depp read Tom Stoppard's rewrite of the script, he was inspired to take the character even further. "I always thought of Ichabod as a very delicate, fragile person who was maybe a little too in touch with his feminine side, like a frightened little girl," Depp explained. He did not wish to portray the character as a typical action star would have, and instead took inspiration by Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
's performance in Death on the Nile
Death on the Nile (1978 film)
Death on the Nile is a 1978 film based on the Agatha Christie mystery novel Death on the Nile, directed by John Guillermin. The film features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot played by Peter Ustinov plus an all-star cast. It takes place in Egypt, mostly on the Nile River...
. "It's good," Burton reasoned, "because I'm not the greatest action director in the world, and he's not the greatest action star." Depp modeled Ichabod's detective personality from Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
in the 1939 Sherlock Holmes film series. He also studied Roddy McDowall
Roddy McDowall
Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall was an English actor and photographer. His film roles included Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes film series...
's acting for additional influence. Burton added that "the idea was to try and find an elegance in action of the kind that Christopher Lee
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
or Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
or Vincent Price
Vincent Price
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic attitude in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.-Early life and career:Price was born in St...
had." Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci
Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...
, who worked with producer Scott Rudin on The Addams Family
The Addams Family (film)
The Addams Family is a 1991 American black comedy film based on the characters from the cartoon of the same name created by cartoonist Charles Addams....
, was cast as Katrina Van Tassel. Sleepy Hollow also reunited Burton with Jeffrey Jones
Jeffrey Jones
Jeffrey Duncan Jones is an American actor. He has appeared in many films and television series, but may be best known for his roles as Emperor Joseph II in Miloš Forman’s Amadeus, Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice, and Dean of Students Edward R...
(from Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice is a 1988 American comedy horror film directed by Tim Burton, produced by The Geffen Film Company and distributed by Warner Bros...
and Ed Wood
Ed Wood (film)
Ed Wood is a 1994 American comedy-drama biopic directed and produced by Tim Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as cult filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film concerns the period in Wood's life when he made his best-known films as well as his relationship with actor Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau...
) as Reverent Steenwyck, Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken
Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
(Max Schreck in Batman Returns
Batman Returns
Batman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Burton's Batman , and features Michael Keaton reprising the title role, with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.Burton originally did not...
) as the Hessian Horseman, Martin Landau (Ed Wood) in a cameo role, and Hammer veteran Michael Gough
Michael Gough
Michael Gough was an English character actor who appeared in over 150 films. He is perhaps best known to international audiences for his roles in the Hammer Horror films from 1958, and for his recurring role as Alfred Pennyworth in all four movies of the Burton/Schumacher Batman franchise,...
(Alfred in Burton's Batman films), whom Burton tempted out of retirement. The Hammer influence was further confirmed by the casting of Christopher Lee in a small cameo.
Filming
The original intention had been to shoot Sleepy Hollow predominately on location with a $30 million budget. Towns were scouted throughout Upstate New YorkUpstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
along the Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
, and the filmmakers decided on Tarrytown
Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...
for an October 1998 start date
Start date
The start date of a film refers to the first day of principal photography.A film project which has been green-lit does not typically enter pre-production until it has been assigned a start date, and for this reason a film with a start date is generally regarded as more likely to proceed to...
. The Historic Hudson Valley
Historic Hudson Valley
Historic Hudson Valley is a not-for-profit educational and historic preservation organization headquartered in Tarrytown, New York, in Westchester County...
organization assisted in scouting locations, which included the Philipsburg Manor House and forests in the Rockefeller State Park Preserve
Rockefeller State Park Preserve
__notoc__Rockefeller State Park Preserve is a state park in Sleepy Hollow, New York, in the eastern foothills of the Hudson River in Westchester County. Common activities in the park include horse-riding, running, jogging, birdwatching, walking and sport fishing. The park has a rich history and was...
. "They had a wonderful quality to them," production designer Rick Heinrichs
Rick Heinrichs
Richard Heinrichs is an American production designer, effects artist, art director and film producer. He is well known to have worked on the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Ang Lee's Hulk and The Nightmare Before Christmas...
reflected on the locations, "but it wasn't quite lending itself to the sort of expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
that we were going for, which wanted to express the feeling of foreboding." Disappointed, the filmmakers scouted locations in Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Sturbridge is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is home to Old Sturbridge Village living history museum and other sites of historical interest such as Tantiusques.The population was 9,268 at the 2010 census...
, and considered using Dutch colonial villages and period town recreations in the Northeastern United States
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States is a region of the United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.-Composition:The region comprises nine states: the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont; and the Mid-Atlantic states of New...
. When no suitable existing location could be found, coupled with a lack of readily available studio space in the New York area needed to house the production's large number of sets, producer Scott Rudin suggested England.
Rudin believed England offered the level of craftsmanship in period detail, painting, and costuming that was suitable for the film's design. Having directed Batman
Batman (1989 film)
Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
entirely in England, Burton agreed, and designers from Batmans art department were employed by Paramount for Sleepy Hollow. As a result, principal photography
Principal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
was pushed back to November 20, 1998 at Leavesden Film Studios
Leavesden Film Studios
Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden , is a film and media complex owned by Warner Bros.. The studios and backlot sit on the site of the former Rolls-Royce factory at Leavesden Aerodrome, which was an important centre of aircraft production during World War II...
, which had been recently vacated by Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga, as the first of a three-part prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the first film in the saga in terms...
. The majority of filming took place at Leavesden, with studio other work at Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios
Shepperton Studios is a film studio in Shepperton, Surrey, England with a history dating back to 1931 since when many notable films have been made there...
, where the massive Tree of the Dead set was built using Stage H. Production then moved to the Hambleden
Hambleden
Hambleden is a small village and civil parish within Wycombe district in the south of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about four miles west of Marlow, and about three miles north east of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire....
Estate at Lime Tree Valley for a month-long shoot in March, where the town of Sleepy Hollow was constructed. "We came to England figuring we would find a perfect little town," producer Adam Schroeder recalled, "and then we had to build it anyway." Filming in England continued through April, and a few last minute scenes were shot using a sound stage
Sound stage
In common usage, a sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building, or room, used for the production of theatrical filmmaking and television production, usually located on a secure movie studio property.-Overview:...
in Yonkers, New York
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
the following May.
Design
Responsible for the film's production design was Rick HeinrichsRick Heinrichs
Richard Heinrichs is an American production designer, effects artist, art director and film producer. He is well known to have worked on the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Ang Lee's Hulk and The Nightmare Before Christmas...
, who Burton intended to use on Superman Lives. While the production crew was always going to build a substantial number of sets, the decision was taken early on that to fulfill Burton's vision best would necessitate shooting Sleepy Hollow in a totally controlled environment at Leavesden Film Studios. The production design was influenced by Burton's love for Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
and Black Sunday - particularly the supernatural feel they evoked as a result of being filmed primarily on sound stages. Heinrichs was also influenced by American colonial architecture, German Expressionism
German Expressionism
German Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s...
, Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
illustrations, and Hammer's Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave is a 1968 British horror film directed by Freddie Francis for Hammer Films. It stars Christopher Lee as Count Dracula, with support from Rupert Davies, Veronica Carlson, Barry Andrews, Barbara Ewing, Ewan Hooper and Michael Ripper.- Plot :The film opens in a...
. One sound stage at Leavesden was dedicated to the "Forest to Field" set, for the scene in which the Headless Horseman races out of the woods and into a field. This stage was then transformed into, variously, a graveyard, a corn field, a field of harvested wheat, a churchyard, and a snowy battlefield. In addition, a small backlot
Backlot
A backlot is an area behind or adjoining a movie studio, containing permanent exterior buildings for outdoor scenes in filmmaking or television productions, or space for temporary set construction....
area was devoted to a New York City street and waterfront tank.
Cinematography
Burton was impressed by the cinematographyCinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
in Great Expectations
Great Expectations (1998 film)
Great Expectations is a 1998 contemporary film adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel of the same name, directed by Alfonso Cuarón and starring Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert De Niro, Anne Bancroft and Chris Cooper. It is known for having moved the setting of the original novel from 1861...
, and hired Emmanuel Lubezki
Emmanuel Lubezki
Emmanuel Lubezki Morgenstern, ASC, AMC , better known as Emmanuel Lubezki, is a Mexican cinematographer, known for his groundbreaking techniques and characteristic style. His nickname is "Chivo".-Early life and career:...
as Sleepy Hollows director of photography. Initially, Lubezki and Burton contemplated shooting the film in black and white and in old square Academy ratio
Academy ratio
The Academy ratio of 1.375:1 is an aspect ratio of a frame of 35mm film when used with 4-perf pulldown. It was standardized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as the standard film aspect ratio in 1932, although similar-sized ratios were used as early as 1928.The Academy ratio is...
. When that proved unfeasible, they opted for an almost monochromatic
Monochrome
Monochrome describes paintings, drawings, design, or photographs in one color or shades of one color. A monochromatic object or image has colors in shades of limited colors or hues. Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale or black-and-white...
effect which would enhance the fantasy aspect. Burton and Lubezki intentionally planned the over-dependency of smoke and soft lighting to accompany the film's sole wide-angle lens
Wide-angle lens
From a design perspective, a wide angle lens is one that projects a substantially larger image circle than would be typical for a standard design lens of the same focal length; this enables either large tilt & shift movements with a view camera, or lenses with wide fields of view.More informally,...
strategy. Lubezki also used Hammer horror and Mexican lucha film
Lucha film
The sport of Lucha Libre became so popular in Mexico, that it spawned a genre of Luchador films starring some of the most popular masked luchadores in the sport. These masked superheroes engaged in battles against a range of characters from spies, to vampires and martians...
s from the 1960s, such as Santo Contra los Zombis
Santo Contra los Zombis
Santo contra los Zombis is a 1961 Mexican movie directed by Benito Alazraki. It depicts the popular character El Santo in a pulp style film.-Cast:*Santo ... Santo / the Saint...
and Santo vs. las Mujeres Vampiro. Lighting effects increased the dynamic energy of the Headless Horseman, while the contrast
Contrast
Contrast may refer to:* Contrast , the difference in color and light between parts of an image* Contrast , expressing distinctions between words...
of the film stock was increased in post-production to add to the monochromatic feel.
Leavesden Studios, a converted airplane factory, presented problems because of its relatively low ceilings. This was less of an issue for The Phantom Menace, in which set height was generally achieved by digital means. "Our visual choices get channeled," Heinrichs elaborated, "so you end up with liabilities that you tend to exploit as virtues. When you've got a certain ceiling height, and you're dealing with painted backings, you need to push atmosphere and diffusion." This was particularly the case in several exteriors that were built on sound stages. "We would mitigate the disadvantages by hiding lights with teasers and smoke."
Visual effects
The majority of Sleepy Hollows 150 visual effects shots were handled by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), while Kevin YagherKevin Yagher
Kevin Yagher is a special effects technician, known for Freddy Krueger's makeup and the Crypt Keeper creature.His company, Kevin Yagher Productions, has created effects for Face/Off, Enemy of the State, Volcano, Starship Troopers, Conspiracy Theory, Radio Flyer, Mission: Impossible II, and Honey,...
supervised the human and creature effects. Framestore also assisted on digital effects, and The Mill
The Mill (post-production)
The Mill is a post-production and visual effects company launched in 1990 with offices in London, New York and Los Angeles.The Mill's Film special effects subsidiary, Mill Film, won an Oscar for its work on the film Gladiator. The Mill was the first UK-based post-production company to set up...
handled motion control photography
Motion control photography
Motion control photography is a technique used in still and motion photography that enables precise control of, and optionally also allows repetition of, camera movements. It can be used to facilitate special effects photography. The process can involve filming several elements using the same...
. In part a reaction to the computer-generated effects
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
in Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks!
Mars Attacks! is a 1996 American science fiction film directed by Tim Burton and based on the cult trading card series of the same name. The film uses elements of black comedy, surreal humour, and political satire, and claims to be also a parody of multiple science fiction B movies...
, Burton adopted to use a limited amount of digital effects as possible. Ray Park
Ray Park
Raymond Park is a Scottish actor, stuntman and martial artist, best known for his playing the physical part of Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Toad in X-Men, Snake-Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and Edgar on Heroes.-Early life:Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland...
, who served as the Headless Horseman stunt double
Stunt double
A stunt double is a type of body double, specifically a skilled replacement used for dangerous film or video sequences, in movies and television , and for other sophisticated stunts...
, wore a blue ski mask for the chroma key
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
effect, digitally removed by ILM. Burton and Heinrichs applied to Sleepy Hollow many of the techniques they had used in stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animation on Vincent
Vincent (film)
Vincent is a 1982 stop-motion short film written, designed and directed by Tim Burton and Rick Heinrichs. At approximately six minutes in length, there is currently no individual release of the film...
- such as forced perspective
Forced perspective
Forced perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. It is used primarily in photography, filmmaking and architecture...
sets.
The windmill was a 60-foot-tall forced-perspective exterior (visible to highway travelers miles away), a base and rooftop set and a quarter-scale miniature. The interior of the mill, which was about 30-feet high and 25-feet wide, featured wooden gears equipped with mechanisms for grinding flour. A wider view of the windmill was rendered on a Leavesden soundstage set with a quarter-scale windmill, complete with rotating vanes, painted sky backdrop and special-effects fire. "It was scary for the actors who were having burning wood explode at them," Heinrichs recalled. "There were controls in place and people standing by with hoses, of course, but there's always a chance of something going wrong." For the final shot of the burning mill exploding, the quarter-scale windmill and painted backdrop were erected against the outside wall of the "flight shed," a spacious hangar on the far side of Leavesden Studios. The hangar's interior walls were knocked down to create a 450-foot run, with a 40-foot width still allowing for coach and cameras. Heinrichs tailored the sets so cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki could shoot from above without seeing the end of the stage.
Actor Ian McDiarmid, who portrayed Dr. Lancaster, had just finished another Leavesden production with Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga, as the first of a three-part prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the first film in the saga in terms...
. He compared the aesthetics of the two films, stating that physical sets helped the actors get into a natural frame of mind. "Having come from the blue-screen
Chroma key
Chroma key compositing is a technique for compositing two images together. A color range in the top layer is made transparent, revealing another image behind. The chroma keying technique is commonly used in video production and post-production...
world of Star Wars it was wonderful to see gigantic, beautifully made perspective sets and wonderful clothes, and also people recreating a world. It's like the way movies used to be done."
Musical score
The film scoreFilm score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
was written and produced by Danny Elfman
Danny Elfman
Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976...
. Steve Bartek
Steve Bartek
Steve Bartek, born in Garfield Heights, Ohio on January 30, 1952, is an American guitarist, film composer, conductor and orchestrator.-Early career:...
, who worked with Elfman as the lead guitarist for Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo was an American new wave band. They are best known for their influence on other musicians, their soundtrack contributions and their high energy Halloween concerts. The band was founded in 1972 as The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art group...
, Conrad Pope
Conrad Pope
Conrad Pope is an American film composer and orchestrator. He has collaborated with acclaimed composers such as John Williams, James Newton Howard, Danny Elfman and Alexandre Desplat.-Background:...
, and Mark McKenzie
Mark McKenzie
Mark McKenzie is a film composer who studied with, among others, Pierre Boulez, Morten Lauridsen and Witold Lutoslawski. He also has been a highly respected Hollywood orchestrator on many blockbuster films...
arranged the compositions for the orchestra.
Release
To promote Sleepy Hollow, Paramount Pictures featured the film's trailerTrailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
at San Diego Comic-Con International in August 1999. The following October, the studio launched a website, which Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
described as being the "most ambitious online launch
Internet marketing
Internet marketing, also known as digital marketing, web marketing, online marketing, search marketing or e-marketing, is referred to as the marketing of products or services over the Internet...
of a motion picture to date." The site (sleepyhollowmovie.com) offered visitors live video chats with several of the filmmakers hosted by Yahoo! Movies
Yahoo! Movies
Yahoo! Movies , provided by the Yahoo! network, is home to a large collection of information on movies, past and new releases, trailers and clips, box office information, and showtimes and movie theater information. Yahoo! Movies also includes red carpet photos, actor galleries, and production...
and enabled them to send postcards, view photos, trailers and a six-minute behind-the-scenes featurette edited from a broadcast that aired on Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight
Entertainment Tonight is a daily tabloid television entertainment television news show that is syndicated by CBS Television Distribution throughout the United States, Canada and in many countries around the world. Linda Bell Blue is currently the program's executive producer...
. Extensive tours of 10 sets where offered, where visitors were able to roam around photographs, including the sets for the entire town of Sleepy Hollow, forest, church, graveyard and covered bridge. Arthur Cohen, president of worldwide marketing for Paramount, explained that the "Web-friendly" pre-release reports from websites such as Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News
Ain't It Cool News is a website founded and run by Harry Knowles, dedicated to news, rumors and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects, with an emphasis on science fiction, fantasy, horror, comic-book and action genres...
and Dark Horizons
Dark Horizons
Dark Horizons is a movie centric website owned and written by Garth Franklin of Sydney, Australia. Dark Horizons is dedicated to news, interviews, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films and television projects. The focus initially was almost exclusively related to science...
encouraged the studio to create the site. In the weeks pre-dating the release of Sleepy Hollow, a toy line was marketed by McFarlane Toys
McFarlane Toys
McFarlane Toys, a subsidiary of Todd McFarlane Productions, Inc., is a company started by Todd McFarlane that makes highly detailed models of characters from movies, comics, musicians, video games, and sport figures...
. Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
also published The Art of Sleepy Hollow (ISBN 0671036572), which included the film's screenplay and an introduction by Tim Burton. A novelization
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
, also published by Simon & Schuster, was written by Peter Lerangis
Peter Lerangis
Peter Lerangis is an author of children's and young-adult fiction.-Career:Lerangis's work includes The Viper's Nest and The Sword Thief, two titles in the New York Times–bestselling children's-book series The 39 Clues, the historical novel Smiler's Bones, the YA dark comedy-adventure novel wtf,...
.
Sleepy Hollow was released in the United States on November 19, 1999 in 3,069 theaters, grossing $30,060,467 in its opening weekend at the #2 spot behind The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It...
. Sleepy Hollow eventually earned $101,071,502 in domestic gross, and $105 million in foreign sales, coming to a worldwide total of $206,071,502. David Walsh
David Walsh (psychologist)
Psychologist, educator, author and parent of three, Dr. Walsh is a self-proclaimed authority on parenting, family life and the impact of media on children and teens. David Walsh was the president and founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family based in Minneapolis, MN until it closed...
of the National Institute on Media and the Family
National Institute on Media and the Family
The National Institute on Media and the Family , founded by psychologist Dr. David Walsh in 1996 and closed in 2009 was a non-profit organization based in Minneapolis, MN. It was a nonsectarian advocacy group which sought to monitor mass media for content that it deemed is harmful to children and...
criticized the film's financial success from the exaggeration of gore. "The real impact is not so much that violent images create violent behavior," Walsh explained, "but that they create an atmosphere of disrespect." Burton addressed the concerns as a matter of opinion. "Everyone has a different perception of things. When I was a kid," Burton continued, "I was probably more scared by seeing John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
or Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
on the big screen than by seeing violence."
Paramount Home Video first released Sleepy Hollow on DVD in the United States on May 23, 2000. The HD DVD
HD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
release came in July 2006, The film was released on Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
in June 2008.
Reception
Based on 124 reviews collected by Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, 68% of the critics enjoyed Sleepy Hollow with an average score of 6.3/10. By comparison, Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
calculated an average score of 65/100, based on 35 reviews collected. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
praised Johnny Depp's performance and Tim Burton's methods of visual design. "Johnny Depp is an actor able to disappear into characters," Ebert continued, "never more readily than in one of Burton's films. In a positive review for Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
, Richard Corliss
Richard Corliss
Richard Nelson Corliss is a writer for Time magazine who focuses on movies, with the occasional article on music or sports. Corliss is the former editor-in-chief of Film Comment...
called Sleepy Hollow "Burton's richest, prettiest, weirdest [film] since Batman Returns
Batman Returns
Batman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Burton's Batman , and features Michael Keaton reprising the title role, with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.Burton originally did not...
. The simple story bends to his twists, freeing him for an exercise in high style."
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
David Sterritt is a film critic, author and scholar. He is most notable for his work on Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard, and his many years as the Film Critic for The Christian Science Monitor, where, from 1968 until his retirement in 2005, he championed avant garde cinema, theater and music...
of The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
praised Burton's filmmaking and the high-spirited acting of cast, but believed Andrew Kevin Walker's writing was too repetitious and formulaic for the third act. "You go into a Tim Burton film wanting to be transported, but Sleepy Hollow is little more than a lavish, art-directed slasher movie," Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman is an American film critic for Entertainment Weekly, a position he has held since the magazine's launch in 1990. From 1981–89, he worked at the Boston Phoenix....
from Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
wrote, "a choppily plotted crowd-pleaser that lacks the seductive, freakazoid alchemy of Burton's best work." Gleiberman compared the film The Mummy
The Mummy (1999 film)
The Mummy is a 1999 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Kevin J. O'Connor, with Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. The film features substantial dialogue in ancient Egyptian language, spoken...
, "it feels like every high-powered action climax of the last 10 years. Personally, I'd rather see Burton so intoxicated by a movie that he lost his head."
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum is an American film critic. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for the Chicago Reader from 1987 until 2008, when he retired at the age of 65...
from the Chicago Reader called Sleepy Hollow "a ravishing visual experience, a pretty good vehicle for some talented American and English actors," but concluded that the film was a missed opportunity to depict an actual representation of the short story. "Burton’s fidelity is exclusively to the period feeling he gets from disreputable Hammer horror films and a few images culled from Ichabod and Mr. Toad
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a 1949 animated feature produced by Walt Disney. The film was released to theaters on October 5, 1949 by RKO Radio Pictures and is the eleventh animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
. When it comes to one of America’s great stories, Burton obviously couldn’t care less." Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...
, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, criticized Burton's perceived image as a creative artist. "All Sleepy Hollow has going for it is art direction, and even in that it falls back on cliché
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...
."
Accolades
| Awarding Body | Award | Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Art Direction Academy Award for Best Art Direction The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. The Academy Award for Best Art Direction recognizes achievement in art direction on a film. The films below are listed with their production year, so the Oscar 2000 for best art direction went to a film from 1999... |
Rick Heinrichs Rick Heinrichs Richard Heinrichs is an American production designer, effects artist, art director and film producer. He is well known to have worked on the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Ang Lee's Hulk and The Nightmare Before Christmas... , Peter Young |
won |
| Best Cinematography Academy Award for Best Cinematography The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:... |
Emmanuel Lubezki Emmanuel Lubezki Emmanuel Lubezki Morgenstern, ASC, AMC , better known as Emmanuel Lubezki, is a Mexican cinematographer, known for his groundbreaking techniques and characteristic style. His nickname is "Chivo".-Early life and career:... |
nomination | |
| Best Costume Design | Colleen Atwood Colleen Atwood Colleen Atwood is an American costume designer.Atwood has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design nine times and won Academy Awards for the movies Chicago in 2002, Memoirs of a Geisha in 2006, and Alice in Wonderland in 2011. Atwood has collaborated several times with... |
nomination | |
| British Academy Film Awards British Academy Film Awards The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square... (BAFTAs) |
Best Costume Design BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design The British Academy Film Award for Best Costume Design is one of the annual film awards given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.-1960s:* 1969 - Oh! What a Lovely War - Anthony Mendleson** Funny Girl – Irene Sharaff... |
Colleen Atwood | won |
| Best Production Design BAFTA Award for Best Production Design List of winners of the BAFTA Awards from 1964 to the present in the category "Best Production Design".-1960s:Best British Production Design - Black and White1964: Dr... |
Rick Heinrichs | won | |
| Best Visual Effects BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects *2010 - Inception - Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb**Alice in Wonderland - Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Sean Phillips and Carey Villegas**Black Swan - Dan Schrecker... |
Jim Mitchell, Kevin Yagher, Joss Williams, Paddy Eason | nomination | |
| Saturn Award Saturn Award The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within... s |
Best Actress | Christina Ricci Christina Ricci Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper... |
won |
| Best Music Saturn Award for Best Music The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Music.-Multiple Winners:*John Williams - 7 awards*Danny Elfman - 5 awards*James Horner - 3 awards*Alan Silvestri - 3 awards*Alan Menken - 2 awards*John Ottman - 2 awards*Miklós Rózsa - 2 awards... |
Danny Elfman Danny Elfman Daniel Robert "Danny" Elfman is an American composer, best known for scoring music for television and film. Up until 1995, he was the lead singer and songwriter in the rock band Oingo Boingo, a group he formed in 1976... |
won | |
| Best Horror Film Saturn Award for Best Horror Film The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Horror Film:-References:... |
nomination | ||
| Best Direction Saturn Award for Best Direction The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Direction:-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 5 awards*Steven Spielberg - 4 awards*Peter Jackson - 3 awards*Bryan Singer - 2 awards... |
Tim Burton Tim Burton Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet... |
nomination | |
| Best Writing Saturn Award for Best Writing The following is a list of people who have won the Saturn Award for Best Writing.-Multiple Winners:*James Cameron - 3 awards*Christopher Nolan - 3 awards*William Peter Blatty - 3 awards-External links:* http://www.saturnawards.org/past.html#writing... |
Andrew Kevin Walker Andrew Kevin Walker Andrew Kevin Walker is an American BAFTA-nominated screenwriter. He is known for having written the Academy Award-nominated film Seven , for which he earned a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, as well as several other films, including 8mm , Sleepy Hollow and many... |
nomination | |
| Best Actor Saturn Award for Best Actor The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed, who felt that films within those genres... |
Johnny Depp Johnny Depp John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol... |
nomination | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Christopher Walken Christopher Walken Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New... |
nomination | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Miranda Richardson Miranda Richardson Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career.... |
nomination | |
| Best Costume Design | Collen Atwood | nomination | |
| Make-up Saturn Award for Best Make-up The following is a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Make-up:... |
Kevin Yagher, Peter Owen | nomination | |
| Best Special Effects Saturn Award for Best Special Effects The following are a list of Saturn Award winners for Best Special Effects:... |
Jim Mitchell, Joss Williams, Kevin Yagher, Mark S. Miller | nomination | |
| MTV Movie Awards MTV Movie Awards The MTV Movie Awards is a film awards show presented annually on MTV . It also contains movie parodies that used official movie footage with hosts and other celebrities and music performances. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV. Winners are decided online by the general... |
Best Villain MTV Movie Award for Best Villain This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Villain.-References:... |
Christopher Walken Christopher Walken Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New... |
nomination |
Sleepy Hollow was also a contender for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, but ultimately was not nominated.
External links
- Tim Burton interview by Charlie RoseCharlie RoseCharles Peete "Charlie" Rose, Jr. is an American television talk show host and journalist. Since 1991 he has hosted Charlie Rose, an interview show distributed nationally by PBS since 1993...
- The sword from “Sleepy Hollow”