Wonderful thoughts and screenshots, MCDemuth ! I've been to Sleepy Hollow and love the area, and even to this day those dark and foreboding woods near the Old Dutch Church hold on to their mysteries...
By the by, some of the Disney animators did their research: compare this modern picture of the church to the animated version above:
I think you're absolutely right about Disney's connection with the scary and the macabre, dating back to the very beginning...
...continuing on to animated and live-action films...
...probably culminating in the theme parks...
...and staying with us to this day, albeit (sadly) to a lesser extent.
Sorry about all the pictures, this is just a subject that interests me...
The season come again for winter’s tales, I tell you one which my nurse told to me As watched I warily the swirling snows. “I’ll raise one up,” she swore, “of ghosts by night…”