Brom Van Brunt

probably i'm probably reading too far into it but he's not he's not a he's not fond of this fellow

it doesn't seem that he is uh brom bones was also potentially like a composite of two people that irving knew uh village blacksmith abraham martling and his son also named abraham who was the village cobbler Brom is derived from Abraham and Bones was believed to be the nickname of like the nickname that the blacksmith used for his son because his son was really skinny.

So Brom Bones just like he was just hearing a kid be called Bones and it was Abraham and his son Brom or whatever.

Yeah, that was a nickname for Brom Van Brunt.

All these Van names, all Dutch.

And that's when he runs into a mysterious cloaked rider in the woods who turns out to be missing a head.

there's a chase scene obviously there's always a chase scene at the bridge um which is supposedly this horseman's boundary there's always a midnight ride there's always a boundary you know these ideas of the ghost can't get there the ghost can't get here this point which they can't cross um the rider hurls his own head maybe has found it at ichabod like a And all that's left the next morning in this legend is his hat and a shattered pumpkin nearby.

And if you're picking up what Irving's putting down, this is suggesting that the ghost was Brom Bones in a costume with a jack-o'-lantern, having a laugh at Ichabod's expense to run him out of town and clear the field for Katrina.

I'm your host, Ramona Van Veller, and I'm filling in for Grover, who is feeling under the weather.

So this week, I'm going to be talking to Brooks Cunningham and Lila Mae Mostek, who play Brom Bones and Katrina Van Tassel in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Stick around.

Lila, Mae, and Brooks, welcome to the podcast.

What you knew is that The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was amazing.

You knew Ichabod Crane, you knew Brom Bones, you knew Katrina Van Tassel, and most importantly, you knew that sooner or later, Ichabod was going to find himself alone on that dark road through the woods.

And the Headless Horseman was waiting.

So today we're going to dive back into one of Disney's earliest and still, I would argue, most wonderfully atmospheric contributions to Halloween viewing.

Because Ichabod isn't merely imagining Katrina, he's imagining Katrina, the family farm, the livestock, the food, the inheritance.

Basically, he's planning their future together and catering the wedding reception before Katrina has had much say in the matter.

But unfortunately for Ichabod, Katrina already has another admirer, Brom Bones, who's big and broad and confident.

Brom is essentially everything that Ichabod is not and will never be.

I'd just like to thank James for talking to me again today.

Next week, I'll be talking to Brooks Cunningham and Lila Mae, who play Brom Bones and Katrina Van Tassel.

Thank you for listening and have a spooky day.

Uh, it's not turning off.

We follow Ichabod Crane, who's the newest schoolmaster, and how he falls for the town beauty, Katrina Van Tassel.

And the town bully, Brom Bones, decides that he needs some convincing that Katrina is not for him.

And we all know this story.

We all know the story of the Headless Horseman.

And that parasitic nature is exactly why he is at odds with the other prominent figure in town.

Abraham Van Brunt, better known as Brom Bones.

Right.

Historically, in every movie and cartoon, Brom Bones is played as the classic meathead, villainous bully.

He's the guy we are supposed to hate.

But when you actually read the original text, isn't Brom essentially the town hero?

The town provides the atmospheric dread.

Ichabod provides the psychological vulnerability.