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The Haunted Pumpkin of Sleepy Hollow is a 2002 direct-to-video special, inspired by Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", from PorchLight Entertainment's PorchLight Pictures division

Synopsis[]

The special starts off in 1790 in the secluded village of Sleepy Hollow, New York, where Ichabod Crane (the local schoolmaster) and his horse, Gunpowder, are being chased around by the Headless Horseman -- Ichabod does manage to survive his encounter with the evil entity, but he's ultimately never seen again by anyone in Sleepy Hollow.

We then cut to present-day Sleepy Hollow, where we see a group of schoolchildren with their teacher at the newly opened Sleepy Hollow Museum on the day before Halloween -- the museum has all sorts of information about the Sleepy Hollow-area and even has the original manuscript of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving. The manuscript's kept in a special case to keep it from getting damaged. Nick Crane and his best friend, Kate, seemed especially impressed by the museum and the manuscript -- Kate, who knows a lot about the history of the Sleepy Hollow-area, claims that certain aspects of Irving's story were inspired by real people and events. She even suggests that Nick could be distantly to Ichabod Crane, which he (very nervously) denies.

Mrs. Wentworth (the field trip chaperone and a teacher at Nick and Kate's school) takes the kids back to school -- Nick and Kate are organizing a haunted house for tomorrow at the school, and there's also to be a "Scary Pumpkin" contest. Nick and Kate make up all sorts of stuff for the school's haunted house -- they take a break for a little while to go out and look for a pumpkin of their own to make a Jack-o-lantern for the Scary Pumpkin-contest.

Meanwhile, Irving's manuscript is stolen by a pair of bumbling crooks (who were posing as window-washers) named Leo and Grunk -- they're chased into the woods by a guard from the museum and ultimately hide the manuscript inside of a pumpkin from an old pumpkin patch that's deep in the woods surrounding town of Sleepy Hollow. Nick and Kate soon arrive at this very pumpkin patch (as Kate wasn't satisfied with any of the pumpkins they saw at the stands in town) -- they eventually choose the pumpkin that Leo and Grunk had hidden the manuscript in (which the kids don't realize). The kids are eventually confronted by the guard from the museum, who explains what happened -- Kate (speaking for herself and Nick) offers to help the guard find the manuscript (which none of them realize is hidden in the pumpkin that Nick and Kate chose for their jack-o-lantern). The guard, though certainly appreciative of the offer, insists that he can take care of the matter on his own.

The kids head back to school with their pumpkin (Leo and Grunk follow them to retrieve the manuscript). Upon arriving in the lab where they were working on their haunted house, Mrs. Wentworth compliments them on what they've made before leaving to go home. Nick and Kate gather up all the gear they need to start carving up their pumpkin, but then they notice that it already has a rather scary-looking face -- Nick and Kate confirm to each other that neither of them had carved the face into it, and they both sense that there's something very weird about the pumpkin they chose. Leo and Grunk are soon outside the school and spy the pumpkin in the window of the lab that Nick and Kate are in (which is on the second floor of the school) -- after failing to get in through the front doors of the school (as they're locked), Leo and Grunk get the idea to pretend to be headless specters to scare the kids and retrieve the manuscript.

Nick and Kate are studying the pumpkin (which is now glowing) and, soon enough, a ghost emerges from the pumpkin -- specifically, the ghost of Nathaniel Wiley, a war hero from the American Revolution who died at the Battle of White Plains (which was mentioned in Irving's story). Nathaniel explains to the kids that the pumpkin they chose is a haunted pumpkin -- in fact, it's actually the head of the Headless Horseman. Nathaniel goes onto explain the real origin story of Headless Horseman: a Hessian-mercenary who made a deal with dark forces to make himself unstoppable but was ultimately defeated by some American-soldiers who knew some magic of their own -- after he was defeated and beheaded, his head magically turned into a pumpkin and has remained that way for centuries. Nathaniel also claims that today's the anniversary of the Headless Horseman's death, and that if he manages to get the pumpkin by midnight, he'll live again and become truly unstoppable. Nick's obviously freaked out by the story he and Kate just heard, but she's confident that they and Nathaniel can keep the pumpkin away from the Headless Horseman until after midnight. During the ensuing conversation, Nathaniel notices that Nick bears a striking resemblance to Ichabod Crane and questions if he's related to the old schoolmaster -- just like at the museum, Nick denies being related to Ichabod. Nick initially figures that they'll be able to keep the pumpkin safe at school, but Leo and Grunk open the window the lab and almost manage to grab the pumpkin before it's saved by Nick and Kate.

Ultimately, Nathaniel and the kids run into the woods, with Leo and Grunk hot on their tails -- it also turns out that the Headless Horseman has risen from his grave and is now after his head. While running through the woods, the magic of the pumpkin brings some trees to life to try and grab the kids and get the pumpkin from them. Kate then suggests that she, Nick and Nathaniel hide out in old Castle Van Tassel, the abandoned estate of Katrina van Tassel's family. Upon arriving there, Nathaniel's clearly unimpressed with its current state and remembers how it was back when Katrina's father, Baltus, was alive -- Kate explains to the ghost that, by the late-1920s/early-1930s, Baltus's descendants ended up losing much of their fortune in the stock market crash of 1929. Nathaniel's obviously confused by what Kate just said, so Nick explains to the ghost that his friend knows a lot about the history of the Sleepy Hollow-area. The trio's ultimately able to get inside the old mansion, which is obviously deserted -- it's also infested with bats and spiders. While walking past a portrait of Katrina van Tassel's parents, Nathaniel reminisces about all the parties that happened at the estate when the original van Tassels were still alive. It soon turns out that the place isn't as deserted as the trio initially thought, because it turns out that (besides Nathaniel) the place is haunted by the ghosts of Mr. and Mrs. van Tassels -- led by the van Tassels, the trio (including Nathaniel) are scared silly by the various apparitions haunting Castle van Tassel, during which they get menaced by a pair of skeletons playing a card game (and who accuse Nick of cheating, even though he wasn't even playing).

Back in the town of Sleepy Hollow, the Headless Horseman's running through town on the way to get his head -- and eventually, Leo and Grunk make it to Castle van Tassel and clearly still intend to get the manuscript from the pumpkin. Back inside the old mansion, Nathaniel and the kids are doing their best to keep the pumpkin safe from all the ghosts and apparitions that they're encountering -- cutting back to the woods, the Headless Horseman falls off his horse and ends up running into the guard from the Sleepy Hollow Museum. Thinking that the Headless Horseman is just someone in a costume, the guard (who's also on his way to stop Leo and Grunk and retrieve the manuscript) gives him some candy he happens to have in his pockets.

During the chase, the kids briefly lose the pumpkin (which can move on its own), so they and Nathaniel chase after it so it can't get outside -- the pumpkin ends up in the ends of Mrs. van Tassel. Upon seeing this, Nathaniel explains that its actually the head of the Headless Horseman -- upon hearing this, Mrs. van Tassel remembers how the hessian had chased Ichabod Crane out of Sleepy Hollow, ultimately leaving her and Baltus's daughter, Katrina, to marry Abraham van Brunt (better known as "Brom Bones"). This makes Mrs. van Tassel angry enough to toss the pumpkin in the direction of the mansions' front doors -- Leo (with the hood of his uniform pulled up enough to make it seem like he's headless) manages to get a hold of the pumpkin (by way of it landing on his head). Kate immediately starts chasing after Leo to get the pumpkin from him and she and Nick manage to knock the pumpkin off of him. Grunk (who's waiting outside from Leo), eventually runs into the Headless Horseman (who he mistakes for Leo) -- the pumpkin soon bounces outside and into Grunk's hands. Nick, Kate and Nathaniel soon come outside and see Grunk fighting with the Headless Horseman fighting over the pumpkin -- when Grunk realizes that the Headless Horseman next to him is in fact the real deal, he and Leo soon run away without retrieving the manuscript from inside the pumpkin.

The Headless Horseman is about to put pumpkin onto his shoulders, but Nick's able to knock it out of his hands and Kate soon grabs it. She, Nick and Nathaniel play keep away with it from the Headless Horseman -- the specter soon gets ahold of Nick but Kate's able to distract him. But then the specter grabs ahold of Kate -- the specter gestures that, if Nick gives him the pumpkin, he'll let go of Kate (who, of course, tries convincing her friend not give up the pumpkin). Nick seemingly gives in to save Kate, but it turns out that the Headless Horseman put his head on at just after midnight (according to the high-tech wristwatch that Nick was wearing). Kate, Nathaniel and Mr. and Mrs. van Tassel congratulate Nick on his quick thinking and everyone's happy that the Headless Horseman has finally been defeated for good. Nick and Kate's pumpkin now has a traditional smiley face on it, and the kids soon discover the missing manuscript inside of it -- the museum guard soon arrives with Leo and Grunk, and he thanks the kids for their help in retrieving it (he also gives some candy to Nathaniel, thinking he's a kid in a costume).

Kate thanks Nathaniel for his help in stopping the Headless Horseman, but Nathaniel feels that most of the credit should go to her and especially Nick, complimenting the boy on his bravery and notes how courageous he was in comparison to Ichabod. Nick then reveals something to Kate and Nathaniel: he is in fact distantly related to Ichabod Crane (claiming that the old schoolmaster is a relative through his dad's side of the family). Kate's happy that her theory about Nick being related to Ichabod was right but questions her friend on why he didn't admit to it sooner -- Nick admits that, before, he felt too embarrassed to do so but now feels very proud of the fact that he's related to Ichabod Crane.

After their ordeal the Headless Horseman, Nick and Kate are back at their school running their haunted house, which is a huge success -- Tucker (a bully that's been mocking Nick and Kate throughout the special, especially by calling the former "Nichabod Crane") refuses to go into the haunted house and criticizes Nick and Kate's jack-o-lantern for the Scary Pumpkin-contest, claiming there's no way it's going to win with the smile it has. But then Nathaniel pops out of the pumpkin and scares Tucker out his wits -- Mrs. Wentworth (who thinks that Nathaniel's just another kind of special effects made by Nick and Kate) compliments the kids on it, and the special ends with Nathaniel chasing after Tucker.

Trivia[]

  • In the continuity for this special, it's revealed that the events of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving are true.
  • Before ultimately admitting that he's related to the old schoolmaster, there are some subtle hints throughout the special that Nick's related to Ichabod Crane.
    • 1.) There's the fact that they both have the same last name, especially since "Crane" isn't exactly a common last name.
    • 2.) Nick looks almost identical to Ichabod, with some minor differences (Nick has blonde hair and freckles while Ichabod's a brunette with no freckles).
    • 3.) Whenever Nick initially denied being related to Ichabod, he always seemed rather nervous when doing so (indicating that he was lying).
  • While Nick claims to Kate and Nathaniel's that Ichabod's a distant relative through his dad's side of the family, it's never fully specified just how Nick's related to Ichabod.
    • In the original story by Washington Irving, after Ichabod left Sleepy Hollow and never returned, there was at least one rumor circulating that he married a woman in some far-off area and had children with her -- if that's true, that would mean that Nick's a direct descendant of Ichabod Crane. Since the events of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" did in fact happen in the continuity for this special, it seems more likely than not that Nick is in fact a direct descendant of Ichabond.
    • If Nick's not a direct descendant of Ichabod, he could still be a descendant of some other relative of Ichabod (like a sibling or a cousin).

Cast[]

Voice actor/actress Character(s)
Joanna Ruiz Nick
Jules de Jongh Kate
Mrs. Wentworth
Eric Meyers Nathaniel
Tucker
Mr. Van Tassel
Tom Clarke-Hill Leo
Grunk
Regine Candler Mrs. Van Tassel
Benjamin Small Ichabod Crane

External links[]

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