Rip Van Winkle (1903 film) Rip Van Winkle (1903 film) Rip Van Winkle is a 1903 American short black-and-white silent compilation film written and directed by William K.L. Dickson. It is adapted from the play by his friend and investor Joseph Jefferson with Dion Boucicault based on the story of the same name by Washington Irving. The film features Joseph Jefferson as a ne'er-do-well, who wanders off one day into the Kaatskill mountains where he drinks some of a group odd men's mysterious brew and passes out only to find when waking up that 20 years have passed. The film is compiled from a series
Rip Van Winkle out of sight for 70 years. When he awakens, he finds a fully mature tree and learns he has a grandson. When nobody believes that he is Honi, he prays to God, and God takes him from this world. The story also bears some similarities to stories from east Asia, including the third century AD Chinese tale of "Ranka", as retold by Lionel Giles in "A Gallery of Chinese Immortals", and the eighth-century Japanese tale "Urashima Tarō". The Hindu story of Muchukunda from the "Bhagavatam" also displays many similarities to the story of "Rip Van Winkle". The story has been