Bing Crosby Isn’t Just for Christmas

 


A long time ago, before streaming services, people were at the mercy of what TV stations and cable television providers happened to be showing at a specific time. My parents didn’t see the point in paying for TV, so we didn’t have cable. Our Halloween watching options were limited, but one that we watched with some regularity was Disney’s version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. I’m not sure if it ran every year or if my mom just recorded it on VHS so we could watch it, but it was a staple Halloween movie for us as kids. It was so much so that I know many of the songs by heart, even now that I only watch it around once a year.

It wouldn’t be until a few years ago that I found out that it was narrated by none other than the Christmas crooner himself, Bing Crosby. I also had no clue until several years ago that it was made as a double feature, the second feature (Mr. Toad) of which I still haven’t watched. Even more surprising to me, I discovered just this year that the movie was made back in 1949, a full 34 years before I was born; yet the classic charm of the story, the silly characterization of Ichabod Crane, the humor, and the ultimate mystery of the ending still stands up to more contemporary cartoons and movies.

Maybe it’s the magic of Bing Crosby’s iconic voice or the cheerful retelling of Irving’s spooky tale, but I’ll never get tired of this Adventure of Ichabod Crane.

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