Movies - The Polar Express

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	Movies - The Polar Express

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

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 spirit of the original. The "Hot Chocolate" production number was derived from a single sentence and a single illustration. The "Hobo," "Lonely Boy," "Know-it-All," and "Hero Girl" characters, the scenes on rooftops and on the locomotive, and the runaway observation car sequence were all new to the film.

Summary

The Polar Express tells the story of a young boy on Christmas Eve who is losing belief in Santa Claus. Somehow, a magical train called the Polar Express pulls up in front of his house and he is invited to journey to the North Pole. As he reaches the North Pole, the boy is handpicked by Santa Claus to receive the first present of Christmas. He chooses a bright silver bell from Santa's sleigh which makes a beautiful sound. As the years go by, people around him notice that they can no longer hear the beautiful sound, even his parents and sister. But there are those who still can, those who still truly believe.

Detailed plot

The film, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is entirely computer animated using a novel technology called performance capture to provide natural movement and expressions for the characters. It stars actor Tom Hanks in six distinct roles, including that of the 8-year-old protagonist.

An 8-year-old boy is supposed to be sleeping on Christmas Eve, but is really listening to hear Santa Claus downstairs. All year, news of fake Santas, whether in malls or on the streets, has lessened the boy's faith. Suddenly a loud noise is heard outside as lights fill his room. He goes outside (ripping his right pocket in the process), and to his wonder, a giant train is outside. A conductor tells him it is called the "Polar Express' and it goes to the North Pole. He tells him that he is aware of the boy's dwindling faith and the crucial year (probably the last year he believes in Santa), and tells him he should get on. The Boy is unsure at first, but manages to get on in time. Inside, he meets "Hero Girl" and "Know-It-All". The Conductor comes to mark their tickets, but Hero Boy obviously doesn't have his. However, to his amazement, he reaches into his left pocket and finds the beautiful golden ticket. The Conductor takes it and marks the letter "B" on one end, and "E" on the other, The "Know-It-All" has "LE" on his. The train crosses the tracks to the poor side of town and comes to a small broken house as a little boy curiously walks out (very similar to Hero Boy earlier). "Lonely Boy" is unsure, however, and doesn't manage to reach the train on time, leaving "Hero Boy" to pull the emergency lever to let him on. "Lonely Boy" is shy and unsure and stays in the rear compartment on his own. "Hero Boy" explains what happened to the Conductor, and to all their amazement, orders a group of butlers to deliver hot chocolate to them (literally dancing and singing perfectly as they do so). The Conductor and "Hero Girl" take a cup to the "Lonely Boy" in the back, but she has forgotten her ticket which hasn't been marked yet. "Hero Boy" attempts to take it to them, but it flies out of his hand, and miraculously (flying through the air, getting trampled by wolves, picked and chewed by a baby bird) makes it back to the train. The Conductor takes "Hero Girl" away when she can't find it, even after "Hero Boy" admits to losing it, but he spots it and attempts to follow, worried she'll get thrown off the train.

Making it to the top of the train, he finds a "Hobo". At first glance, he appears to be crazy, sneaking on board and claiming to be "King of the North Pole". "Hero boy" asks if Santa is the king, but "Hobo" shoves it off and asks him what he thinks of Santa. "Hero Boy" merely says that he wants to believe but isn't sure. "Hobo" tells him 'seeing is believing'. Hero Boy asks him is this whole experience is nothing more then a dream, but he tells him that he's the one who said it, not him. Hobo asks him if he believes in ghosts, but he doesn't, he merely replies 'interesting...'. "Hobo" disappears, and "Hero Boy" shoves around, trying to wake up, but he can't. Hobo comes back with skies and they literally slide down into the engine room, before reaching Flat-Top Tunnel (there is only one inch of clearance between the roof of the train and the roof of the tunnel). Hero Boy makes it inside right before they reach the tunnel, but "Hobo" magically disappears. Inside, Hero Girl is inside, and tells him that she wasn't thrown off and she's actually driving the train while the engineers are fixing the light at the front of the locomotive. The Engineer sees something on the tracks and yells to "Hero Girl" to stop the train. After a tense moment where she forgets how to slow down, they pull the brake just in time to avoid hitting a large group of caribou crossing the track. When the Conductor sees the caribou, he pulls on one of the engineers' long beards and his screams cause the caribou crossing to leave.

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Movies - The Polar Express

The story

Story to film

Summary

Detailed plot

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