Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow is set in the year 1799.
The story follows New York constable Ichabod Crane, sent to investigate a series of murders in the rural village of Sleepy Hollow. The film places Washington Irving’s supernatural legend near the end of the eighteenth century, shortly before the United States entered the nineteenth century.
This setting differs from the 1820 publication date of Irving’s original story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Burton’s film expands the short tale into a Gothic mystery involving local families, witchcraft, and the Headless Horseman.
The period setting supports the movie’s visual style, including horse-drawn travel, colonial architecture, period clothing, and early scientific investigation. Johnny Depp played Crane, while Christina Ricci played Katrina Van Tassel and Christopher Walken portrayed the Horseman before his transformation.