When I finally got around to reading the original story by Washington Irving, I was actually pretty surprised by the introduction of Katrina Van Tassel. There's a paragraph in the story where Irving clearly states that women should be allowed to do whatever they want, which was a huge surprise to me considering the time period Irving lived during. It was also interesting to learn that Ichabod Crane, while wanting the Van Tassel farm and money more than Katrina herself, actually was a huge pillar in the community after he arrived. He baby-sat other people's kids, he taught singing to everyone at church, he did chores and favors for people. He wasn't physically attractive, but he became very popular with everyone because of how he chose to engage with the townspeople. I didn't approve of how he treated his donkey, but considering the time period, I didn't hold it against him much. When the Horseman targets Ichabod, it's actually after Ichabod learns that Brom Bones was selected by Katrina to be her new husband. The Headless Horseman kind of just targets Ichabod near randomly, and I kinda love that. People think Brom did it because of how he always laughed at the story, but it doesn't make sense in context. I know adaptations change this up some, so that sometimes Brom is clearly the Horseman or Katrina was purposely leading Ichabod on, etc. , etc., but the original is kinda fascinating.
When I finally got around to reading the original story by Washington Irving, I was actually pretty surprised by the introduction of Katrina Van Tassel. There's a paragraph in the story where Irving clearly states that women should be allowed to do whatever they want, which was a huge surprise to me considering the time period Irving lived during. It was also interesting to learn that Ichabod Crane, while wanting the Van Tassel farm and money more than Katrina herself, actually was a huge pillar in the community after he arrived. He baby-sat other people's kids, he taught singing to everyone at church, he did chores and favors for people. He wasn't physically attractive, but he became very popular with everyone because of how he chose to engage with the townspeople. I didn't approve of how he treated his donkey, but considering the time period, I didn't hold it against him much. When the Horseman targets Ichabod, it's actually after Ichabod learns that Brom Bones was selected by Katrina to be her new husband. The Headless Horseman kind of just targets Ichabod near randomly, and I kinda love that. People think Brom did it because of how he always laughed at the story, but it doesn't make sense in context. I know adaptations change this up some, so that sometimes Brom is clearly the Horseman or Katrina was purposely leading Ichabod on, etc. , etc., but the original is kinda fascinating.
Absolutely one of my favorite Disney productions of all time. That titular song is a proud regular feature on my Halloween playlists each year.