The Night of the Headless Horseman (1999) (TV)

Director:

Shane Williams

Writers:

Washington Irving (story) and
John Shirley (writer)

Release Date:

28 October 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Horror

Plot Keywords:

Headless | Computer Animation | Halloween | Beautiful Woman | Dark And Stormy Night

Cast

Clancy Brown	...	Hessian Trooper (voice)
Tia Carrere	...	Katrina Van Tassel (voice)
Mark Hamill	...	Van Ripper (voice)
William H. Macy	...	Ichabod Crane (voice)
Luke Perry	...	Brom Bones (voice)

Runtime:

63 min

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

CAT Studios

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#23.8)" (2000)

Decent TV special animation.

The dialog and "acting" was pretty normal, and what one would expect out of a close adaptation from Washington Irving's book. I liked it, specially Ichabod's voice, it's supposed to be that way I think, somewhat pretentious and assuming because his character is that way, he's a schoolmaster! I admit, the animation could have been better, but as an animator myself (since 1998), I can tell you firsthand that this is not a cheap production, and it seems to me that this was done under a year, which would mean to me that they really did a great job at rendering all that in less than 365 days. All the digital characters were from actual performers done with motion capture, so... trust me, this was not your typical kid with a new computer. This was a heavy project, and I watch it very often, I taped it on it's first airing and I was not disappointed, you'd think that if I we're a sleepy hollow fanatic I'd get my hopes up and be disappointed, but... I am a Sleepy Hollow fanatic, and this TV special did meet my requirements for entertaining storytelling. I just forget about the occasional jerkiness (it was 1999 for god's sake), and enjoy the ambiance it creates.

P.S. You gotta give them credit for the scenery, the sound and the hair... the HAIR!!! And most of all, for the story adaptation itself.