Suspended animation in fiction which is indistinguishable from death. In American fiction, the first story to deal with suspended animation is the tale of Rip Van Winkle, a short story by American author Washington Irving published in 1819 as well as the name of the story's fictional protagonist. In the story, a British subject in the American colonies wanders into the Catskill Mountains in the years before the American Revolutionary War, and finds a group of fairies, whose moonshine he drinks. He then falls asleep for 20 years, and returns to his village in what is now the United States, finding his home town
Rip Van Winkle (1921 film) Rip Van Winkle (1921 film) Rip Van Winkle is a 1921 American silent fantasy film directed by Edward Ludwig and starring Thomas Jefferson and Milla Davenport in oft-filmed story made famous in the 19th century by Thomas Jefferson's father, Joseph Jefferson. T. Jefferson had starred in a 1914 feature-length version of the story which was re-released in 1921 just as this film was premiering. However, they should not be confused as the same film, they are two different films starring the same actor. Rip Van Winkle is an adventurer who comes across a group of strange individuals while roaming the