Good movie even if it doesn't follow Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

Rating: 9/10 (29 October 2006)

Spoiler note: they are slight, might not even been significant, but they are here, both spoilers for the movie and the short story.
For me a Tim Burton directing plus Danny Elfman for music equals an excellent film, add on three of my favorite actors, Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, and Christiohor Walken and that just makes a mind blowing film. So naturally I do enjoy this film very much. The sets are fantastic and true to Burton form the music wonderfully eerie. There's only one problem...it doesn't follow Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" at all.
These are all the BIG differences: First things first, Ichabod is a schoolteacher in the book, he is also full of himself, pompous and well lets face it, ugly. He wants to marry Katrina so that he can inherit her dad's estate and then sell it for profit.
Second, Brom Bones is the headless horseman, he is jealous of Ichabod spending time with Katrina and wants to chase him out of town. He does a very nice job of it two. Ichabod never returns to the area.
Third, okay this is a bit nit picky, but that big gnarly tree has to do with another legend mentioned in the story. The horseman comes out of the church graveyard.
The movie is great for what it is, but unfortunately Disney did a better job of putting the real tale on film. I won't discourage anyone from watching the movie, just don't watch it to get out of reading the story. In fact I encourage everyone to read "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving!