An elderly woman named Dr. Thelma Brown has returned to Oakdale for the first time in decades. In fact, it turns out that the Talbot residence was her childhood home. Wishbone is reminded of Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving.
This is the first of two episodes to adapt a story by Washington Irving. It's followed by "Halloween Hound: The Legend of Creepy Collars," which adapts The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
One tie-in book was released — The Adventures of Wishbone #6: Digging Up the Past, a straight adaptation of the episode.
Tropes
- Adaptational Nice Guy: While there is a brief mention of him avoiding Dame Vin Winkle's chores, the episode doesn't really make it clear that Rip is a Lazy Bum who neglects his own family. Moreover, the original story featured Rip being happy to learn that his nagging wife had died during his twenty-year slumber, but there's no such indication here, and Wishbone's Rip sounds genuinely concerned when he asks about what happened to his wife.
- Adapted Out:
- This version lacks Rip Van Winkle's dog Wolf, presumably because it would be awkward for the dog to own a dog.
- Rip's same-named son is also eliminated, although his daughter Judith Gardenier and her infant son Rip are still included.
- Bookends: At the beginning of the episode, Joe and Ellen briefly discuss a newspaper article about the closing of the old Hobrock Plant. When the time capsule is opened at the end of the episode, it contains the newspaper from the day it was buried, and its leading article just happens to be about the opening of the Hobrock Plant.
- Composite Character: In the original story, an unnamed old woman is the one who identifies Rip and then Peter Vanderdonk comes along to tell the story of Hendrick Hudson. The Wishbone version combines these two characters, with Peter Vanderdonk identifying Rip and then telling the story about Hendrick Hudson.
- Demoted to Extra: Dame Van Winkle is mentioned but never seen, and Rip's status as a Henpecked Husband is given much less emphasis than in the original story.
- Dogs Love Fire Hydrants: "Great, I've had more satisfying conversations with a fire hydrant," says Wishbone as Rip while trying to strike up a conversation with one of the ghosts. Of course, fire hydrants are an anachronism in the story's eighteenth-century setting, but Wishbone was breaking character there anyway.
- Furry Confusion: Although the Rip Van Winkle adaptation doesn't include Wolf, it still features non-anthropomorphic dogs alongside Wishbone as Rip.
- Knew It All Along: Wishbone claims that he always knew about Dr. Brown's hiding place and just wanted Joe to find it for himself.
- Rip Van Winkle: Obviously, this episode is adapting the Trope Namer. And while the real-life story obviously doesn't feature this trope, it deals with similar themes via Dr. Brown's return to Oakdale.
- Truer to the Text: This is one of the more faithful Wishbone adaptations, following the original Rip Van Winkle story pretty much beat for beat. It helps that it's based on a short story, eliminating the need for any significant compression. Indeed, most screen adaptations of Rip Van Winkle have the opposite problem of having to include some Adaptation Expansion to pad out their length, but that's not an issue here.
- Time Capsule: At the end of the episode, Wishbone and the others help Dr. Brown find the time capsule that she buried as a child.
