Written by Chris Van Allsburg, Robert Zemeckis, and William Broyles Jr.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis

With all of the fuss about the Polar Express up in these parts (those “experiences” around the country began and were modeled on what they did here in North Conway), I made it a point to finally see the film itself last year. I don’t know exactly why I hadn’t seen it before then – with three kids you would think I would have sat down with them at some point and viewed it, but I hadn’t. My kids had already seen this beautifully animated movie based on Chris Van Allsburg’s book by the same name.

The movie opens with narration straight from the book, read by Tom Hanks, who voices most of the characters in the film, including the boy as a grown-up. At the time of the story, he’s at that age where his belief in Santa is waning, but he’s not willing to move totally into disbelief just yet.

One Christmas Eve, when he is at that certain age, he awakens near the stroke of midnight to find his parents hustling his sister to her bed. His doubts are still firmly in place, yet he is kept from returning to his bed by the appearance of a long and large train in front of his home, The Polar Express.

The conductor (also voiced by Tom Hanks) cries “All aboard!” and invites him onto the train for a trip to the North Pole. With that, they are off on a magical journey. He’s not the only child on board, either. All of them are in their pajamas and nightgowns for the trip. The goal is to bring them to the North Pole to help send off Santa on the magical Christmas journey. 

The boy is a little bit too curious for his own good. At times it seems like he has to be in on everything that’s going on, and that could end up coming back to bite him.

The film version differs from the book, adding more moments of action and suspense. There were times I didn’t like those additions. It seemed like they were there to create unnecessary drama, although my kids certainly enjoyed it. Still, these were additions and didn’t substitute for the story from the book itself. If you’ve read the book, that’s all still in the film as well.

What I did enjoy without exception were the musical numbers, which are pretty good. Not only are there original tunes written just for this movie, but there are Christmas classics as well. The original music isn’t all slow and sentimental. There are a few fast-paced numbers including great jazz numbers as the travelers on the train are being served hot chocolate.

The voice talent is great. Until I viewed the special features, I didn’t realize just how many of the characters Hanks voiced in the film. He’s reunited with his Bosom Buddies co-star, Peter Scolari, who voices the lonely boy in the tale. None of the characters’ names are given throughout the movie, but instead, a general description of their personality is provided. There’s even an elf voiced by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler which was an awesome surprise the first time I watched the movie.

Robert Zemeckis directed this tale and he did a great job. The vocal performances lead to the animation, so he manages to get the actors to emote just perfectly. The adults really seem to capture their inner child as they are providing their voices.

The animation is quite different. At times it appears almost life-like. The little nuances are captured such as the effect of the wind on clothes while they are traveling, or the movement of hair when the children turn their heads. In the special features, it shows how the characters themselves were captured using special costumes and sensors on the actors as they were reading their lines and acting them out in the studio.

There are two discs in the DVD release, one just with special features. If you like watching these, there’s plenty to show how the magical story was brought to the screen. I found myself as interested in the process of making the film as I was in the film itself.

Overall, The Polar Express is a great Christmas movie. The story is a terrific boost to that “Christmas magic” we all want to believe in. It’s inspiring enough to make you want to take your own journey on the Polar Express.



SPECIAL FEATURES:

• You Look Familiar (Tom Hanks talks about all of the different characters he voiced in the film and how he did it)
• A Genuine Ticket to Ride
• True Inspirations: An Author’s Adventure
• Josh Groban at the Greek
• Behind the Scenes of “Believe”
• Polar Express Challenge
• Meet the Snow Angels
• THQ Game Demo
• Additional Song (deleted scene)