The Truth Spun by the Thaumatrope : Physical Symbolism in Tim Burtons Sleepy Hollow

Synopsis Tim Burtonﾕs Sleepy Hollow is based on the Washington Irving story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and centers on police Constable Ichabod Crane. Ichabod investigates a series of murders by mysterious Headless Horseman. Tim Burton is drawn to the idea that Ichabod is the guy who lives inside his own head while his nemesis has no head at all. Burton uses the juxtaposition so that it works on a symbolic level. As well as 'heads', Burton puts a stress on the importance of 'hands' in the film. At the very beginning of the film, there appear the hands of a man and a woman. As the film progresses, it gets clearer that not only these hands but almost every hand of the major characters have some importance. Closely related to these 'hands' is the symbolism of magical images produced by the Thaumatrope invented at the beginning of 19th century in England. Burton introduces the episode on the invention to symbolize the parts of the body and represents the magical power of the moving picture