Respond to these rapid questions in our The Polar Express quiz and we will tell you which The Polar Express character you are. Play it now.
When it comes to long-lasting children’s entertainment, “The Polar Express” has one characteristic in common with the best of them: it’s a little creepy. This is not creepy in a bad way, but rather in that sneaky, teasing way that makes you wonder if something strange is about to happen. Instead of the mindless jolliness of the typical Christmas movie, there is a deeper, shivery tone to this one. “The Wizard of Oz” or “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” for example, are examples of stories that create a world of their own in which the wise child does not become complacent.
“On Christmas Eve, many years ago, I lay quietly in my bed,” begins the story, and those who are familiar with the Chris Van Allsburg book will feel right at home from the very beginning. Sleigh bells ringing are heard in the distance and the young hero, who is never identified, is on the lookout for them. He is of the age when the existence of Santa Claus is being debated, which is precisely when he is born.
The visual style of the film is remarkable, a hybrid of live action and Van Allsburg’s artwork. Robert Zemeckis, the same director whose film “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (1988) juxtaposed live action and animation, this time merges the two mediums through the use of a process known as “performance capture,” in which human actors perform the movements that are then translated into lifelike animation by computer. It’s not that the characters in “The Polar Express” don’t appear to be real, but that they don’t appear to be unreal either; they have a kind of simplified and underlined reality that makes them visually appealing. Many of the body and voice performances are provided by Tom Hanks, who serves as executive producer and previously collaborated with director Robert Zemeckis on the film “Forrest Gump” (1994), which combined levels of reality with special effects.
The plot: As Hero Boy lies awake in his bed, there is a rumble in the street, and a passenger train lumbers into view from the opposite direction. The boy runs outside in his bathrobe and slippers, and the conductor tells him that he should get on the train immediately. Hero Boy is becoming alarmingly agnostic about Santa after refusing to visit a department store Santa and allowing his little sister to put out Santa’s milk and cookies. Fortunately, the Polar Express apparently transports such children to the North Pole, where seeing is believing.
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Hero Girl, a solemn, gentle African American woman who becomes the boy’s friend and also befriends Lonely Boy, who lives on the wrong side of the tracks and appears to be depressed all of the time, has already boarded the ship. Another character, Know-It-All, is one of those annoying kids who can’t seem to come up with an answer without coming across as obnoxious himself. Apart from the conductor and a Hobo (who lives on top of the train), Santa and a large number of elves, these four characters serve as the main characters.
There’s an interesting disconnect between the action of the film and the story that it tells. With the Polar Express careening down a “179-degree grade” and racing through tunnels with only a half-inch of clearance, the action is classic thrill ride fare, with Hero Boy and the Hobo skimming to safety on top of the train prior to a particularly tight squeeze through a tunnel. Another dizzying ride awaits the children at the North Pole, this time as they spin down a corkscrewing toy chute.
The Polar Express Quiz
Those scenes are well-executed, but they are to be expected. In some other scenes, a dazzling level of imagination is displayed that was not anticipated. In the same way that the famous floating feather at the beginning of “Forrest Gump” flutters through the air, Hero Girl’s lost ticket flutters through the air with equal freedom. When hot chocolate is served on the train, waiters appear from nowhere and perform an acrobatic song and dance for the passengers. And the North Pole appears to be a German factory town from the turn of the twentieth century, populated by elves who not only appear to be mass-produced but may actually have been, given that they all have the same features (this is not a cost-cutting device, but an artistic decision).
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A good and decent man in this version of Santa Claus, who is also straightforward and serious: a professional man who is simply going about his business. The elves are analogous to the audience at a political rally. Santa’s operation is dramatized, rather than romanticized, in a sequence involving a bag full of toys, which is shot from a high angle. This is not the jolly old elf, but the corporation Claus Inc. There is something a little frightening about all of those elves, what with their intense, angular faces and their mob mentality.
As a result, we’re not let off the hook with the usual reassuring Santa and Christmas clichés, which is part of the appeal of “The Polar Express.” Whenever a helicopter lifts a bag of toys above the town square, it knocks a star off the top of the Christmas tree, and unsurprisingly, an elf is close to being skewered from above. They appear to be skittish thoroughbreds when Santa’s elves tether the reindeer to the sleigh, rather than tame cartoon characters. Lonely Boy, on the other hand, even though he manages to make the trip and receives his present, and even though he is fiercely protective of it, we get the impression that his problems are far from over, and that loneliness may be the root of his problems.
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There are so many roles and so many credits on this film that I’m not sure who to single out for praise, but there are some sequences that are truly remarkable. Some are quiet, inconsequential moments, such as a reflection in a wheel hubcap. One such example is a camera angle that looks straight up through a printed page, with the letters float between us and the reader, which is a visual masterstroke in and of itself. For instance, the train car filled with old and dead toys being transported back to the North Pole for recycling is an example of a story concept. Some have elements of mystery, such as the Hobo, who is helpful and even saves Hero Boy’s life, but who is in a world of his own up there on top of the train and doesn’t become anyone’s friend as a result of his isolation (when he disappears, his hand always lingers a little longer than his body).
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“The Polar Express” is a movie that can be enjoyed throughout the year; it will become a classic that will be passed down through the generations. Due to the fact that it has imagined its world from scratch and played true to it, it has a haunting and magical quality to it, while avoiding all of the tiresome Christmas cliches that children have inflicted on them during this time of year. Similarly, the conductor advises Hero Boy that he should board the train, and I have the same recommendation for you.
Take note: I’ve seen the film twice, once in 3-D and once in the standard 2-D format that will be available in more markets. New, oversized 3-D glasses, big enough to fit over your own glasses, light enough so you can forget them, made this the best 3-D viewing experience I’ve ever had. If you have the option, go with the IMAX version. Or go twice. This is a movie that doesn’t wear out.
For more personality quizzes check this: Baaghi 3 Quiz.
