The Polar Express

When I was down in university, I celebrated American Thanksgiving with extended family in Utah and that is when I saw this movie for the first time. I try very hard to celebrate Christmas only in December but some things to my dislike squeeze into November. Having said that, “The Polar Express” is very important for me at Christmastime. The look of the film is stunning and the acting is noteworthy also. Tom Hanks’ charm is felt very much and Alan Silvestri’s score is so Christmassy that you feel happy for long after the movie is over. The songs are well written also. The movie is extremely faithful to the book and that may be why some people had a problem with the look of the animated characters. I am glad that two-time winner of the Caldecott Medal, author Chris Van Allsburg, was an executive producer.

The characters in the movie, mostly thanks to Tom Hanks, are very appealing. The film is the first motion capture film from director Robert Zemeckis and thanks to this technology, Hanks is able to play 5 roles without it being too obvious. When I first saw the film, I knew he was the conductor, the hobo and the father but later I discovered that he also plays Santa and Hero Boy (a child actor is the voice for the latter role). Each character represents the many roles of Hanks in his career. I think the best role that Hanks can perform is that of the everyman such as in “Splash”, “Saving Private Ryan” and “The Green Mile”. Hero Boy (a character title that I kind of dislike by the way) is an easy role for him as is the role of the father. Even though we never get a good look at the father, it seems like he is the character that most physically resembles Hanks in the film. Another talent that Hanks has is playing harsh characters that are still likeable such as in “A League of their Own” and “Catch Me If You Can”. The conductor is secretly kind but he takes his job very seriously, even though it is a fanciful job. My view on him is that he has had this job for a long time and so he has to liven it up somehow. I like the running gag of the conductor wanting to be on time in a train that defies the laws of space and time. To make his job more exciting, the conductor pretends that he is always late. Another reason he has to liven up his job is that he is omniscient. I think he knows for example why the train has stopped but he is just trying to help Hero Boy with his ability to believe by overreacting. The Hobo is representative of Hanks’ ability to take odd characters and give them a common nature such as on “Forrest Gump” and “The Terminal”. Hanks as Santa symbolizes his cameo roles such as on “Radio Flyer” and “The Simpsons Movie”. Because of all these roles in “The Polar Express”, Hanks’ talents are used to the fullest extent. The children passengers represent all children so as to be relatable. I find it interesting though that Billy seems to resemble Erik Per Sullivan from “Malcolm in the Middle”. A fun fact is that the actors playing the mother and father are the same ones playing Hero Boy and his sister, Sarah: Tom Hanks and Zemeckis’ wife, Leslie. Other cast members that I took note of in this show include Eddie Deezen, Peter Scolari and Michael Jeter. Jeter was in "The Green Mile" with Hanks and "The Polar Express" was Jeter's last film before he died. He played the two engineers. Charles Fleischer has a brief role and he was a lead actor in Zemeckis' "Who Framed Roger Rabbit". Motion capture films tend to be included in the animation genre and I disagree with that. This film is not animated in the traditional sense by moving a character one frame at a time. Rather, the characters are moved in real time through a kind of digital puppetry. To me, motion capture is a new medium.

The story was adapted and extended to feature length well enough, although others felt it didn't work. I feel that they did a better job than the filmmakers of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” did for that film. New story conflicts and motifs are used that were not found in the book. Hero Boy in the film is a doubter and this can speak to many kids who watch the movie. A very interesting thing is that there is still doubt in the Hero Boy’s heart until he hears Santa’s bell. Despite all that he has seen with his eyes, he still has disbelief in his adventure up to that point. This is a Biblical theme and I love its inclusion. The boy’s desire to hear the bells on Santa’s sleigh comes to represent his belief. The film relates a lot to “The Wizard of Oz”. The characters that Hero Boy meets throughout the film tend to resemble his father just like the Scarecrow resembles Hunk for example. In “The Wizard of Oz” despite Dorothy’s insistence, her adventure turns out to be only a dream. Even though the bell shows up at the end of “The Polar Express”, the adventure that Hero Boy had still feels like a dream and there is evidence of that possibility as well. Zemeckis loves time travel and so time is slowed down so that the adventure to the North Pole takes up 5 minutes for the rest of the world. Hero Boy’s alarm clock at the start of the movie stops at 11:55pm and at the end of the film as he climbs the stairs back to his room, the clock in the living room reads 12am and it begins to tick. The fireplace also begins to smoke. I like the two references to Zemeckis’ own “Back to the Future: Part III”. A film aspect that he is known for is cinematography and this medium allows Zemeckis to do anything he wants with the camera. There are many artistic camera shots in "The Polar Express". Zemeckis used long shots in his movies previous to this and the most fascinating one in this show is when the ticket goes on a journey outside the train. His love of special effects is obvious in this movie as well, due to the use of motion capture and other CGI elements. The most realistic motion capture performance is when the hobo impersonates Santa. It feels like the real Tom Hanks is visible. The book gave Chris Van Allsburg his second Caldecott Medal and the film does not jettison the award-winning look of the original story. This is probably why the film was made in motion capture. Certain illustations from the book are recreated very well in the CGI world. The last shot of the film comes to perfectly match the final illustration in the book. The characters are also designed to fit in this world so their realistic movements may have thrown some viewers off. The author’s idea of the North Pole is fully captured and I am grateful that the opening & closing narration are as written in the book. Alan Silvestri’s score is one of my favorite film scores due to his use of themes. They feel so much like Christmas and the use of carols in the score added to this mood. The opening theme music is very good and establishes this Christmas mood immediately. I like the songs and their execution such as “Hot Chocolate” and “When Christmas Comes to Town”. I am grateful for the Oscar nomination that “Believe” got. There was a lot of competition that year however and so I understand its loss.

I think "The Polar Express" was ahead of its time and that is one reason why it is becoming a classic, despite criticisms. This movie was meant to be exhibited in 3D but in 2004, the improved form of that technology was just getting off the ground. This show was the first full-length, animated 3D film to be shown in IMAX and its success in this format paved the way for future films to follow suit. Ten years after its theatrical release, I saw this movie in a theater in 3D. While the conversion mistakes were more than I would have liked, the film was still amazing in that format. It is getting to the point where I can’t imagine the Christmas season without “The Polar Express”. It is one of my favorite fantasy films. The mood is so perfectly Christmas and the visuals are amazing. Tom Hanks’ talent is a huge part of the film’s success as is Zemeckis’ direction. The adaption was very well handled. Sometimes the use of technology overshaddows the story but that would become typical of Zemeckis' future motion capture films. I hope that my future kids will like this show too.

4.5 stars