The Polar Express

"Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see."

- The Conductor

The Polar Express is a 2004 American computer-animated Christmas musical fantasy adventure film co-written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, who previously directed Back to the Future, Forrest Gump and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, based on the 1985 children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg, who also served as one of the executive producers. The film features human characters animated using live-action motion capture animation. The film stars Tom Hanks, who was also one of the film's executive producers, in multiple distinct roles, with Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett and Eddie Deezen in supporting roles. Castle Rock Entertainment produced the film in association with Shangri-La Entertainment, ImageMovers, Playtone and Golden Mean Productions for Warner Bros. Pictures, as Castle Rock's first animated film. It was released in both conventional and IMAX 3D theaters on November 10, 2004.

Plot
On Christmas Eve, wrestling with burgeoning doubts on the ever-present question over Santa Claus' existence, the sceptical youngster, Hero Boy, hears the familiar sound of a locomotive which interrupts his already troubled sleep. And then, much to his surprise, a cryptic conductor invites him to board the magnificent Polar Express on an unforgettable and magical adventure all the way up to the frozen landscapes of the vast North Pole, Santa's realm. Will Hero Boy and the rest of the young non-believers aboard the iron steam engine finally find the true spirit of Christmas and trying to find out if Santa is real?

Why It Believes

 * 1) It follows the source material book by Chris Van Allsburg very faithfully and never took any liberties.
 * 2) The idea of story about a boy trying to find out if Santa is real while enter the express train ride journey to the frozen landscapes of the vast North Pole is really creative.
 * 3) Very beautiful motion capture animation, for the first time ever.
 * 4) Similar to Shrek, it has very well-designed complex and realistic character designs.
 * 5) Incredible score of Alan Silvestri.
 * 6) The film takes a unique look at believing in Santa, treating it as a challenge of faith.
 * 7) Likable and really entertaining characters including the Hero Boy, Conductor, Hero Girl, and Billy.
 * 8) What helps this film's characters stand out from the others is that very few characters are given names, as Zemeckis thought it would be unnecessary if none of them were going to be addressed.
 * 9) Director Robert Zemeckis did a fairly amazing job following the book and he stays the spirit to the book.
 * 10) Some scenes have a very fast, roller coaster-Esque pace in order to make them feel like a proper wild ride.
 * 11) *On the subject, this is why the film is the rare case where the 3D helps improve the experience.
 * 12) The cinematography is really amazing, which captures impressive background colors.
 * 13) There is a complete tone of whimsy within every scene, in order to make the experience truly magical.
 * 14) Catchy and unforgettable musical numbers that combine original tunes, including ballads, children's fun songs and Christianesque pop with Christmas classics performed by the likes of Bing Crosby, Perry Como and The Andrews Sisters. It is simply awesome. These are like Hot Chocolate, When Christmas Comes To Town and even Believe.
 * 15) Tom Hanks played multiple roles in one film (Hero Boy (motion-capture), Hero Boy's father, Conductor, Hobo, Scrooge puppet, Santa Claus, and the Narrator), proving that he has a terrific vocal range.
 * 16) The way that the Conductor (Tom Hanks' character) delivers the "Who in the blazes applied that emergency brake?!" quote is pretty hilarious.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Sometimes, the character animation gets creepy, though this is understandable, as this was the first time they made use of live-action motion capture computer animation in a movie.
 * 2) The story can be a bit awkward at times, with a couple of scenes that only exist to pad the film's runtime, including one scene where the girl's ticket is blown away by a wolf pack and almost being fed to a baby bird before it finds its way back to the train. You could cut that scene and not miss a thing.
 * 3) Smokey and Steamer are kind of pointless characters.

Critical response
The Polar Express received mostly mixed-to-favorable reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 56% based on 208 reviews and an average score of 6.42/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Though the movie is visually stunning overall, the animation for the human characters isn't lifelike enough, and the story is padded." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Roger Ebert gave the film his highest rating of four stars, saying, "There's a deeper, shivery tone, instead of the mindless jolliness of the usual Christmas movie", and "it has a haunting, magical quality". Acknowledging comments by other reviewers, Ebert said, "It's a little creepy. Not creepy in an unpleasant way, but in that sneaky, teasing way that lets you know eerie things could happen."

Box office
The Polar Express opened at #2 behind The Incredibles, and earned $23.3 million from approximately 7,000 screens at 3,650 theaters, for a per-theater average of $6,390 and a per-screen average of $3,332 in its opening weekend. It also brought in a total of $30.6 million since its Wednesday launch. The weekend total also included $2.1 million from 59 IMAX theaters, for an IMAX theater average of $35,593, and had a $3,000,000 take since Wednesday. In its second weekend, the film dropped 33%, and grossing $15.7 million, averaging $4,293 from 3,650 venues and boosting the 12-day cumulative gross to $51.5 million. In its third weekend, which was Thanksgiving weekend, the film increased by 24%, earning $19.4 million, averaging $5,312 from 3,650 venues and raising the 19-day cumulative gross to $81.5 million. The film has made $187.2 million in North America, and $126.3 million overseas for a total worldwide gross of $313.5 million (including all re-releases). It appeared at No. 3 in the "25 Highest-Grossing Christmas Movies of All Time at the U.S. Box Office" list by Forbes, placed after Home Alone and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Awards
The Polar Express was nominated at the 77th Academy Awards in the categories of Best Sound Editing (Randy Thom and Dennis Leonard), Best Sound Mixing (Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis S. Sands and William B. Kaplan), and Best Original Song for "Believe" (music and lyrics by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri). The film was nominated at the 3rd Visual Effects Society Awards in the category of "Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture."

Videos
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Trivia

 * Co-star Michael Jeter (who also starred with Tom Hanks in The Money Pit and The Green Mile) died in early 2003 before the film was originally theatrically released the following year in 2004 and the film is dedicated to his memory.
 * This was the third Robert Zemeckis film to have Tom Hanks casted in after Forrest Gump and Cast Away.
 * This is the first Warner Bros' computer-animated film.
 * This is the latest-released Warner Bros.' animated film to be rated G by the MPAA.
 * There are many Easter eggs like Flux capacitor from Back to the Future appears on the Pere Marquette 1225 and home address of Billy was the same location of Zemeckis' childhood house.
 * The film was originally released in theaters about a year before the book's 20th anniversary, but came out on DVD and re-released in theaters the same year as the book's 20th anniversary, so was some of the merchandise of the film. The film was released on DVD as separated widescreen and full-screen versions in single and two-disc special editions (with bonus features) and on VHS on November 22, 2005, one year after the film originally came out in theaters. 2005 was also the year The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (Released in the UK and Australia in 2005) and The Incredibles were released on home video after they originally came out in theaters.