Tonight, I revisited my childhood. I sat down with my son and we watched the Disney movie "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". It was great to sit down and watch a movie that I watched as a child with my 5 year old son. He was enthralled! His eyes never left the screen. I had seen this movie a few times as a child but it is interesting the way that things are interpreted differently as an adult. As a child, I thought this movie was merely a scary Halloween movie. Now that I have read the actual story, I find it amazing the way that Disney was able to turn the story into a Halloween movie for children. It was really pretty cool. Most of the movie was an accurate portrayal of the story by Washington Irving. However, I do not believe that when he wrote it he intended for it to be a Halloween movie. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Halloween wasn't even celebrated when the story was written.
Another interesting tidbit was the way the made Ichabod and Brom Bones look. When I read the story, I could not recall what the characters in the movie that I had seen as a child looked like. After viewing the movie again, I chuckled at the appearances of the main characters. To me, Ichabod looked like a frail old man and Brom looked like a dumb jock that was in his 30's. And Katrina..... Well let's just say I expected her to be much more beautiful than that. She looked like a little Danish girl who was ready to go out and milk the cows. Ichabod was certainly not someone you would expect a girl to be swooned by.
All in all, It was a cute movie and I was glad that I had the opportunity to watch it again. It was also pretty neat to be able to share the experience with my son. I tried explaining to him that the movie was a book before it was a movie, kind of like "The Cat in the Hat" was a book before they made the movie. He wanted to hear the story so I began reading it to him. After about the sixth paragraph and no pictures, he said, "it's ok Mommy, you can stop now. I get what you are saying." I guess it just proves that books aren't really just books anymore.
I can relate to your post in that I've noticed the same thing. I remember watching this movie when I was in elementary school. Looking back on it and comparing it to the original story, I was amused at how such a serious story could be turned into a light hearted Disney feature. After the movie was over, my four year old daughter asked about the original story, which prompted my wife and I to sit down and explain it to her. After about ten minutes of trying to explain it in a more kid friendly manner, She looked at us both and said " I like the Disney story better." I think it's just a matter of how we interpret what we read or see at a certain age. Children enjoy a more visual presentation, but learn to appreciate the literary aspect more as they grow older.
ReplyDeleteI love hearing these moments of literary parenting. I feel it is just as important to teach our children every aspect of our lives; whether, it be filling our gas tank, starting the mower, operating the washing machine/dryer, as it is appreciating a classic story! Mom receives bonus parenting points this week!
ReplyDeleteYou all realize that reading the books are always better than watching the movies, don't you? I have not seen too many movies based on books that actually capture the flavor of the book, that keep the plot intact, or create the characters as I have pictured them in my imagination. I remember my husband and I seeing one of John Grisham's novels on the big screen. My husband really enjoyed the movie, but I left the theatre shaking my head and how the director had really "missed it" on his interpretation of, well, just about everything! I tend to shy away from watching anything that is an adaptation of the novel. No Hunger Games, no new version of The Great Gatsby, none of the Nicholas Sparks books either (except one I did watch over Spring Break). Just can't get better than the written word!
ReplyDelete