A Possible Early Idea
In the film, there is one visual link between Ichabod's father and the Headless Horseman. It is when Ichabod dreams his third and final dream before the truth surrounding his mother's death is revealed to him.
We see an unscripted scene of Ichabod's father exiting the room of secrets, the room which contains Lady Crane's corpse. As Lord Crane passes his unseen son, who is hidden behind church pews, he is before Ichabod's eyes transformed into the Headless Horseman. The sounds of his spurs sound throughout the church. This transformation is unexplained in the film. Grasped mainly as a connection of one evil with another.
There is also in the book and script a scene in which the images of the Headless Horseman and Ichabod's father intermix. It is from a dream sequence where young Ichabod is perhaps under the influence of magic, having secretly eaten a piece of mushroom dropped by his mother before she began to dance with him.
We see an unscripted scene of Ichabod's father exiting the room of secrets, the room which contains Lady Crane's corpse. As Lord Crane passes his unseen son, who is hidden behind church pews, he is before Ichabod's eyes transformed into the Headless Horseman. The sounds of his spurs sound throughout the church. This transformation is unexplained in the film. Grasped mainly as a connection of one evil with another.
There is also in the book and script a scene in which the images of the Headless Horseman and Ichabod's father intermix. It is from a dream sequence where young Ichabod is perhaps under the influence of magic, having secretly eaten a piece of mushroom dropped by his mother before she began to dance with him.
From the novel,
"As Ichabod whizzes around laughing, his POV becomes the Encircling Trees whizzing around, and suddenly he seems to be surrounded by Menacing Headless Figures all dressed in black.
Ichabod falls over dizzy and when he looks up he sees that the Headless Figures have become his Father, watching his Mother headlessly dancing, his face like thunder."
Why is there in Ichabod's dreams a connection to the two? Why, when other scenes were dropped, did Tim Burton decide to maintain a connection between Lord Crane and the Horseman? With facts presented as they are in the film, I can think of no reason other than that, as mentioned before, they are both figures of great evil in Ichabod's life. However, taking into account scenes that were deleted, and the scant production images we are allowed, I have a theory for a possible early story idea involving Lady Crane as well.
In The Art of Sleepy Hollow, the novelization and the Inkworks trading cards, Lady Crane is said to have been sent away after Lord Crane witnessed her practicing magic.
From the novelization:
At the sound of thunder, Ichabod dives into bed. The driving rain blows open his window. He runs to close it, but he stops, drawn by what he sees outside.
A coach waits in front of the house. A man is dragging Mother toward it. Two other men stand watching, their faces hidden by hat brims. As he struggles, she throws a glance toward Ichabod's room. She is pleading. Her face is terrified, beseeching.
The two men follow her glance, and Ichabod can see their faces. One of them has the cruelest face he has ever seen.
The other is father.
Ichabod reaches out, through the window, but the other man forces Mother into the coach. Then at Father's command, the coach moves away.
As it is in The Art of Sleepy Hollow:
63. ICHABOD'S DREAM - EXT. YOUNG ICHABOD'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Below, in front of the home, a MAN drags Mother toward a COACH. TWO MEN stand watching, faces hidden under hat brims. Mother looks back, eyes pleading, struggling.
Mother looks up to Young Ichabod.
The TWO MEN look up to Young Ichabod: one is Father, and the THIRD MAN is a Cotton Mather-ish man with a villainous face.
Young Ichabod reaches helplessly toward Mother.
Mother is forced into the coach.
The Third Man speaks to Father, then walks to the coach. He gets onto the coach as the coach starts away.
The Third Man's cruel and villainous features are described in both versions. He is given a face when others are not. Interesting as well is that in the script something seems to have been cut as it reads: The TWO MEN look up to Young Ichabod: one is Father, and the THIRD MAN is a Cotton Mather-ish man with a villainous face.
How is there a 'Third Man' when only two are mentioned?
The description in the script of the Third Man being Cotton-Mather-ish does not fit with the one sketch we see of him in The Art of Sleepy Hollow. It seems to have been included as a reference to the Washington Irving novel as Ichabod Crane in it owned a copy of Cotton Mathers' On Witchcraft.
If anyone in the film resembles Cotton Mathers it is Reverend Steenwyck. However, in my opinion, the man in the drawing does slightly resemble is the Hessian Horseman.
Ichabod dreams again of the Third Man.
Excerpts from The Art of Sleepy Hollow:
Ahead, across the church, a RED DOOR opens . . . Father and the villainous Third Man come out, shutting the door, speaking quietly. The Third Man holds a piece of parchment paper. Father is ever emotionless.
Ichabod watches them, ducking down to keep hidden . . .
Father and the Third Man walk to leave down the aisle, passing close to Ichabod without seeing him. They exit, leaving Young Ichabod alone in the silent church.
Novelization:
Across the church, a red door swings open. It is Father. He's with another man, the ugly one who took Mother away. They are talking softly, and he can't hear the words. The man is holding a piece of parchment. They head into the church.
Ichabod crouches low. He can smell the mud on the man's boots as they pass and the faint aroma of incense on Father's clothes. Then they are gone through the front door.
It is odd that in the film Burton should place the merging of Lord Crane and the Headless Horseman in a scene that was once meant to contain the Third Man. If the Third Man was in the scene originally, he may have instead morphed into the Headless Horseman in Ichabod's mind. The finalized result given to us in the film, with Lord Crane being the Horseman, may be a product of skillful editing.
This leads to my next line of thought. If at one time - in an earlier draft - Lady Crane was taken away by the Hessian Horseman, he could have brought her to Sleepy Hollow, her place of birth, where she lived the rest of her life in exile as The Witch of the Western Woods. This would also explain her special connection, her ability to 'seek the warrior bathed in blood'.
She in a sketch has cuffs around her wrists which are secured to a chain, much like The Crone. And what appears to be a hooded cape and dress which, though unspoiled, faintly bring to mind the guise of The Crone.
There is a sketch of Lady Crane wearing a hooded cape in The Art of Sleepy Hollow. Note the deer along the hemlines of the dresses in all three images. The detailing is visible in the film as well.
In The Art of Sleepy Hollow there are designs on the wall of the cave which seem to be alike in their make when compared to Lady Crane's designs. Also, the cuffs on the wall could have been how she was left by the Third Man, bound to the cave.
The film contains many witches. Most, like Lady Crane, are witches without reason, without links to the plot. Though I do not agree with him, even Rodger Ebert said in his review - and I am paraphrasing - that the flashbacks of Ichabod's past were completely unnecessary. However, if Lady Crane's witchcraft could once have tied-in with the Headless Horseman plot it may not have seemed so unnecessary. Lady Crane could have easily have been Mary Archer's sister, the small girl who ran at the sight of the Hessian Horseman. The woman who grew to womanhood, a white witch who was unjustly condemned while her sister walked free.
Ichabod would not have been able to recognize his mother, visiting her cave, as the Crone remained hidden under a long veil. She may have not known him from madness or simply due to his considerable change in appearance since growing to adulthood.
Considering this theory, a tragedy from the film Sweeney Todd, another Tim Burton venture, came to mind. SPOILER ALERT: In it the demon barber Sweeney Todd seeks revenge for the death of his wife and child, only to discover in the end that he, in his madness, his senseless killing sprees, has unknowingly murdered his wife. She was almost unrecognizable, as a beggar woman.
Ichabod could have known the same sorrow of having spoken to one so heavily sought, someone thought dead, only to learn their identity only after they have passed away. Their lives spent close together, kept apart only by the barrier of not recognizing the other.
Sleepy Hollow as a film is in itself an unfortunate victim, one of much editing and rewrites. There are several elements that do not make sense in the grand scheme of things. I believe anything is possible in terms of what may once have been.
If anyone reading this has an earlier draft of the film script, and is willing to share it, please do not hesitate to contact me.
"As Ichabod whizzes around laughing, his POV becomes the Encircling Trees whizzing around, and suddenly he seems to be surrounded by Menacing Headless Figures all dressed in black.
Ichabod falls over dizzy and when he looks up he sees that the Headless Figures have become his Father, watching his Mother headlessly dancing, his face like thunder."
Why is there in Ichabod's dreams a connection to the two? Why, when other scenes were dropped, did Tim Burton decide to maintain a connection between Lord Crane and the Horseman? With facts presented as they are in the film, I can think of no reason other than that, as mentioned before, they are both figures of great evil in Ichabod's life. However, taking into account scenes that were deleted, and the scant production images we are allowed, I have a theory for a possible early story idea involving Lady Crane as well.
In The Art of Sleepy Hollow, the novelization and the Inkworks trading cards, Lady Crane is said to have been sent away after Lord Crane witnessed her practicing magic.
From the novelization:
At the sound of thunder, Ichabod dives into bed. The driving rain blows open his window. He runs to close it, but he stops, drawn by what he sees outside.
A coach waits in front of the house. A man is dragging Mother toward it. Two other men stand watching, their faces hidden by hat brims. As he struggles, she throws a glance toward Ichabod's room. She is pleading. Her face is terrified, beseeching.
The two men follow her glance, and Ichabod can see their faces. One of them has the cruelest face he has ever seen.
The other is father.
Ichabod reaches out, through the window, but the other man forces Mother into the coach. Then at Father's command, the coach moves away.
As it is in The Art of Sleepy Hollow:
63. ICHABOD'S DREAM - EXT. YOUNG ICHABOD'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Below, in front of the home, a MAN drags Mother toward a COACH. TWO MEN stand watching, faces hidden under hat brims. Mother looks back, eyes pleading, struggling.
Mother looks up to Young Ichabod.
The TWO MEN look up to Young Ichabod: one is Father, and the THIRD MAN is a Cotton Mather-ish man with a villainous face.
Young Ichabod reaches helplessly toward Mother.
Mother is forced into the coach.
The Third Man speaks to Father, then walks to the coach. He gets onto the coach as the coach starts away.
The Third Man's cruel and villainous features are described in both versions. He is given a face when others are not. Interesting as well is that in the script something seems to have been cut as it reads: The TWO MEN look up to Young Ichabod: one is Father, and the THIRD MAN is a Cotton Mather-ish man with a villainous face.
How is there a 'Third Man' when only two are mentioned?
The description in the script of the Third Man being Cotton-Mather-ish does not fit with the one sketch we see of him in The Art of Sleepy Hollow. It seems to have been included as a reference to the Washington Irving novel as Ichabod Crane in it owned a copy of Cotton Mathers' On Witchcraft.
If anyone in the film resembles Cotton Mathers it is Reverend Steenwyck. However, in my opinion, the man in the drawing does slightly resemble is the Hessian Horseman.
Ichabod dreams again of the Third Man.
Excerpts from The Art of Sleepy Hollow:
Ahead, across the church, a RED DOOR opens . . . Father and the villainous Third Man come out, shutting the door, speaking quietly. The Third Man holds a piece of parchment paper. Father is ever emotionless.
Ichabod watches them, ducking down to keep hidden . . .
Father and the Third Man walk to leave down the aisle, passing close to Ichabod without seeing him. They exit, leaving Young Ichabod alone in the silent church.
Novelization:
Across the church, a red door swings open. It is Father. He's with another man, the ugly one who took Mother away. They are talking softly, and he can't hear the words. The man is holding a piece of parchment. They head into the church.
Ichabod crouches low. He can smell the mud on the man's boots as they pass and the faint aroma of incense on Father's clothes. Then they are gone through the front door.
It is odd that in the film Burton should place the merging of Lord Crane and the Headless Horseman in a scene that was once meant to contain the Third Man. If the Third Man was in the scene originally, he may have instead morphed into the Headless Horseman in Ichabod's mind. The finalized result given to us in the film, with Lord Crane being the Horseman, may be a product of skillful editing.
This leads to my next line of thought. If at one time - in an earlier draft - Lady Crane was taken away by the Hessian Horseman, he could have brought her to Sleepy Hollow, her place of birth, where she lived the rest of her life in exile as The Witch of the Western Woods. This would also explain her special connection, her ability to 'seek the warrior bathed in blood'.
She in a sketch has cuffs around her wrists which are secured to a chain, much like The Crone. And what appears to be a hooded cape and dress which, though unspoiled, faintly bring to mind the guise of The Crone.
There is a sketch of Lady Crane wearing a hooded cape in The Art of Sleepy Hollow. Note the deer along the hemlines of the dresses in all three images. The detailing is visible in the film as well.
In The Art of Sleepy Hollow there are designs on the wall of the cave which seem to be alike in their make when compared to Lady Crane's designs. Also, the cuffs on the wall could have been how she was left by the Third Man, bound to the cave.
The Crone's cave art.
Lady Crane's magic.
Tim Burton's art for The Crone does to me look faintly like his then paramour, Lisa Marie (Lady Crane). It seems as though publicly the only other characters Burton drew for Sleepy Hollow were Ichabod, the Headless Horseman, Lady Crane and The Crone. I am not intimately aware of Burton's art, but there are differences easily seen in how he draws Helena Bonham Carter verses how he depicted Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman. To my eyes the art favors Lisa Marie more than it does Miranda Richardson. In the few Burton sketches I've seen of Lisa Marie, he tends to draw her with her eyes closed, her lips an almost heart-shaped smile. This is visible in the smallest sketch of The Crone. Again, it's difficult to say for certain.
Ichabod would not have been able to recognize his mother, visiting her cave, as the Crone remained hidden under a long veil. She may have not known him from madness or simply due to his considerable change in appearance since growing to adulthood.
Considering this theory, a tragedy from the film Sweeney Todd, another Tim Burton venture, came to mind. SPOILER ALERT: In it the demon barber Sweeney Todd seeks revenge for the death of his wife and child, only to discover in the end that he, in his madness, his senseless killing sprees, has unknowingly murdered his wife. She was almost unrecognizable, as a beggar woman.
Ichabod could have known the same sorrow of having spoken to one so heavily sought, someone thought dead, only to learn their identity only after they have passed away. Their lives spent close together, kept apart only by the barrier of not recognizing the other.
Sleepy Hollow as a film is in itself an unfortunate victim, one of much editing and rewrites. There are several elements that do not make sense in the grand scheme of things. I believe anything is possible in terms of what may once have been.
If anyone reading this has an earlier draft of the film script, and is willing to share it, please do not hesitate to contact me.
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