The Polar Express (film)

The Polar Express
Directed by	Robert Zemeckis
Written by	Chris Van Allsburg Robert Zemeckis William Broyles, Jr.
Produced by	Robert Zemeckis Gary Goetzman Steve Starkey William Teitler
Starring	Tom Hanks Leslie Harter Zemeckis Eddie Deezen Chantel Valdivieso Daryl Sabara Nona Gaye Jimmy Bennett Steven Tyler
Cinematography	Don Burgess
Music by	Alan Silvestri Glen Ballard (songs) The Andrews Sisters Kate Smith Bing Crosby Mario Lanza Perry Como Red Foley Walter Kent Buck Ram Frank Sinatra Steven Tyler Josh Groban
Distributed by	Warner Brothers Family Entertainment ImageMovers
Release date	November 10 2004 (USA)
Running time	99 min
Language	English
Budget	$165 million
Box office	Domestic: $178,519,973 Worldwide: $302,619,973

The Polar Express is a 2004 feature film based on the children's book of the same title by Chris Van Allsburg.

The film, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is entirely live action using performance capture technology, which incorporates the movements of live actors into animated characters. It stars actor Tom Hanks in five distinct roles, including the role of Santa Claus.

The Story

Story to film

The film expands a story that can be read in under three minutes into a ninety-nine-minute movie, while remaining true to the visual style of the original. The "Hot Chocolate" production number was derived from a single sentence and a single illustration. The "Hobo," "Lonely Boy," and "Know-it-All" characters, the scenes on rooftops and on the locomotive, and the runaway observation car sequence were all new to the film.

Plot

The Polar Express is a story of a young boy on Christmas Eve who is hoping for belief in the true spirit of Christmas. After he had fallen asleep, a magical train called the Polar Express pulls up in front of his house and he is invited by the train's mysterious conductor to journey to the North Pole. The train is filled with many other children, all dressed in their pyjamas, who drink hot chocolate as rich as melted bars and the train rumbles on.

As the train reaches the North Pole, the boy and the other children see thousands of elves gathered at the center of town to send Santa on his way. The boy is handpicked by Santa Claus to receive the first gift of Christmas. Realizing that he could choose anything in the world, the boy asks for one beautiful-sounding silver bell from Santa's sleigh. The boy places the bell in the pocket of his robe and all the children watch as Santa takes off for his yearly delivery.

Later, on the train, the boy discovers that the bell has fallen through a hole in his pocket. On Christmas morning, his sister finds a small present wrapped under the tree, behind all of the other gifts. The boy opens the box and discovers that it is the bell, delivered by Santa who found it on the seat of his sleigh. When the boy rings the bell, both he and his sister marvel at the beautiful sound. His parents, however, are unable to hear the bell and remark that it must be broken.

The movie ends with, "At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe."

Main characters

Other than Santa Claus, Sarah and Billy, the names of the characters are not revealed. The names below are taken from the credits.

Hero Boy is the protagonist, a boy who is searching for the true meaning of Christmas. He gets a trip on the Polar Express, avoiding danger and all the while having his faith tested, whether by the Hobo or one of the other children. He quickly makes friends with Hero Girl and Billy. Eventually his faith is restored when he meets Santa Claus, who selects him to receive the first gift of Christmas -- he picks the silver bell. His ticket has the word "BELIEVE" punched on it, and since that trip, his faith in Santa and the true spirit of Christmas never fails. Acted (through motion capture) by Tom Hanks, but voiced by Daryl Sabara.

Hero Girl is a girl who quickly becomes friends with Hero Boy. After her ticket is misplaced, she gets to drive the train. She has exceptional leadership abilities and bravery, acknowledged by both the Conductor and Santa Claus. She also helps and comforts her friends in lifting up their spirits, such as Hero Boy and Billy. Her ticket was marked "LEAD", which she first mis-interprets as "lead the metal". Played by child actor Chantel Valdivieso. Voiced by Nona Gaye. Her singing voice is done by Meagan Moore.

Billy is a small shy boy who lives in the poor section of Steven's town. Because of his shyness and his lack of trust, he stays in the rear car of the train by himself. However, Hero Boy and Hero Girl make friends with him and they travel to the North Pole together. Santa Claus tells him how lucky he is, and that friendship is the greatest gift someone could ask for. His ticket said "DEPEND ON", and as he flips it over, "RELY ON", and as he flips it over again, "COUNT ON". As he returns home, he runs inside his house and he receives his gift which was the thing he always wanted (The gift remains unknown). Acted by Peter Scolari and voiced by Jimmy Bennett. His singing voice is done by Matthew Hall.

Know-it-all is a small, nerdy boy with glasses. Although he is smart, he lets his intelligence get the better of him and is very impatient. He stows away on Santa's big red bag in hope of finding out if he was getting all the presents he wanted. He rudely asks Santa if he can get the first present, to which Santa replies 'Patience, and a bit of humility might do you some good'. When his ticket receives the final markings, he snatches it out of the conductor's hand to read it. He accidentally holds the ticket in a way that blocks a letter, taking the word to be "LEAN". The conductor corrects him, saying he punched five letters, but the Know-it-all, still thinking that he is right, takes the ticket back, replying, "Hey, do you think I don't know how to read. ..oh, it says LEARN, my mistake." He is finally dealt "a smidgen of humility" and apologizes, promising to behave better. If there is one thing his knowledge has gotten him, it is that he noticed something important while in the north pole: 'It was five minutes to midnight four minutes ago' to which the Conductor replies 'Exactly!'. Later he says "Don't worry, It's been five minutes to midnight for the last hour!". Voiced by Eddie Deezen.

The Conductor is the conductor of the Polar Express, the magical train that takes all the not-so-faithful children to the North Pole. He takes his job very seriously and, like the Hobo, subtly tests the children's faith. He marks all their tickets (which they magically find they're already carrying), with a few letters, and at the end of the trip, marks the remaining letters, giving them a message regarding what they should do. He is also strict and does not take it kindly when there is a delay, especially when someone applies the emergency brake. His greatest fear is arriving late at the North Pole on Christmas Eve. Voiced by Tom Hanks. This is the only one of Hanks' characters that can be clearly seen to physically resemble the actor. Towards the end of the movie, Hero Boy's father is seen slightly out of focus from an elevated camera angle, trying to hear the bell that was gifted by Santa Claus. His profile resembles Tom Hanks to quite a degree.

Santa Claus himself appears to all at the North Pole. When Hero Boy can finally see him face to face, Santa picks him to have the first present of Christmas. Santa gives him the silver bell and rides off. Later, Santa returns the silver bell to Hero Boy when he notices he dropped it. He appears to prefer being called Mr. C. Voiced by Tom Hanks.

The Hobo is a strange man who calls himself the "King of the North Pole" and appears to live on the top of the train. He said "seeing is believing". He apparently doesn't believe in Santa or Christmas, but all his negativity is secretly testing Hero Boy's faith. He actually isn't human, as he manages to appear and disappear into snow. He also helps Hero Boy many times, one time grabbing him from falling off the train, another time tapping the manual brake wheel on the speeding runaway observation car with his cup before disappearing. (Eventually Hero Boy realizes the wheel slows down the car). Voiced by Tom Hanks. At one point, Hobo asks Hero Boy if he "believes in ghosts." When Hero Boy's replies "no," all Hobo says is "interesting." As a result (and from the way he mysteriously vanishes and suddenly appears), it is reasonable to assume that Hobo may be a ghost. The Conductor also mentions that on his first ride on the Polar Express, he was saved from falling off the train by someone. In the DVD "extra song," the engineers tell the kids about Hobo, that he was sitting on the top of the train for free, and the train headed for Flatop. He then collided with the top of Flatop Tunnel, and was killed. Also, he uses a Scrooge marionette to scare Hero Boy in one scene.

The Engineers are the drivers of the Polar Express. Steamer is a short, bald fat man, and Smokey is a tall, thin man with ridiculously long red hair and a beard, which the Conductor pulls to make Smokey scream and send away the caribou blocking the track. The special features section of the DVD not only reveals their names, but also has them introduce themselves as (presumably fraternal) twins (the movie storybook names them Steamer the Engineer and Smokey the Fireman). They were both acted by Michael Jeter, who died soon after production; a musical number featuring the Engineers was cut from the film before release but is included as a special feature on the DVD. Voiced by André Sogliuzzo, who also provides the voice of Tony Montana in Vivendi's Scarface: The World is Yours game.

The Train

The steam locomotive that pulls the Polar Express is modeled after an actual locomotive that is on display at the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, Michigan. The Pere Marquette 1225 Berkshire-type (2-8-4), built in 1941 at the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, OH, was part of the Pere Marquette Railway system before being decommissioned in 1951. Slated for scrapping, it was acquired by Michigan State University (MSU) in 1957 and exhibited on campus.

In 1971, MSU steam enthusiasts commenced the formidable task of restoring the mighty locomotive to operating condition. Restoration was substantially completed in 1985, and in 1988, number 1225 started pulling excursion trains in the Owosso area and around Michigan. The locomotive has been listed on the United States National Register of Historical Places.

In the film, artistic liberty is taken with the appearance of the locomotive and its tender, both being made to seem even more massive than the 794,500 pound (361,136 kilogram) original. Many of the train's sound effects, such as the whistle blowing and steam exhausting, were created from live sampling of number 1225 while in operation.

The IMAX 3D version

In addition to standard theatrical 35mm format, a 3D version for IMAX was also released, generated from the same 3D digital models used for the standard version. It was the first animated feature not specially made for IMAX to be presented in this format, and the first to open in IMAX 3D at the same time as main flat release. The financial results were stunning. The 3D version out-performed the 2D version by about 14 to 1. The 3D IMAX version was released again for the 2005 Holiday season in 66 IMAX theaters and amazingly made another $7.5 million prior to Christmas. Due to its financial success, the IMAX version was re-released in 2006 as well as 2007, and has become an annual Christmas movie.

Polar Express Experience

In November 2007, SeaWorld Orlando debuted the Polar Express Experience, a motion simulator based around the movie. The attraction is a temporary replacement for the Wild Arctic attraction. The building housing the attraction was also temporarily re-themed to a railroad station and ride vehicles painted to resemble Polar Express passenger cars. The plot for the ride revolves around a trip to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. Guests feel the motion of the locomotive as well as the swinging of the train on ice and feeling of ice crumbling beneath them. The attraction will be available until 2008-12-01.

Reaction

The film was met with mixed reviews. The decision to model the characters so realistically was met with criticism from some reviewers, who felt that the appearances of the characters were "creepy" or "eerie". This is related to the concept of the Uncanny Valley, which holds that the closer something appears to human, the more its dissimilarities may stand out and create a negative reaction in viewers. Unfortunately, "Express" suffered from a serious problem that's known as "dead eye syndrome," where the eyes do not move, making the characters have a deadened, 'soulless' look as a result of inanimate eyes. Though it was not the first film to use motion capture technology, The Polar Express is generally regarded as the first film where the dead-eye syndrome was most noticeable and most distracting. In January 2008, the film had a 57% critic rating, a 56% Cream Of The Crop critic rating, and a 69% user rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

It opened at #2 and brought in $23,323,463 in 3,650 theaters for a per theater average of $6,389 in its opening weekend. Initially, the movie seemed headed towards a box office failure after its opening week, but it was one of the few films to actually improve its gross in the weeks after its premiere. In fact, by New Year's Day, 2005, the Polar Express ended up grossing over $150 million in the United States alone, shocking disbelieving critics. Fully 25% of the world gross came from just 82 IMAX 3D theaters. It has been widely noted, however, that much of this latent revenue was due to its status as the only major motion picture available in the IMAX 3D format. As of December 27, 2007, with the original release and IMAX re-releases, the film has made $179.1 domestically, and $124.1 million overseas for a total worldwide gross of $303.2.

See also

• The Polar Express (soundtrack)
• Uncanny valley
• SeaWorld Orlando

External links

• Official US site
• Official UK site
• The Polar Express at IMDb
• The Polar Express at Rotten Tomatoes