For the first time on this blog, I'll be reviewing something not related to either Thomas or My Little Pony. It's a rail-transport film about Christmas, The Polar Express!
OPINIONS IN THIS BLOG ARE SOLELY MY OWN; NOT THOSE BY ANYONE ELSE
Several successful films were released throughout the fourth quarter of 2004 - The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, National Treasure, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Incredibles, the first installment of the Saw film series, Finding Neverland, and of course, The Polar Express.
The Polar Express
Original Book by Chris Van Allsburg
Screenplay by Robert Zemeckis and William Broyles Jr.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Released to Theaters November 10, 2004
On Christmas Eve, a young boy who used to love Christmas boards the Polar Express on its journey to the North Pole with other children. After several misadventures with the conductor, the engineer and stoker, a girl, and a hobo, the train reaches the North Pole. There, the boy, the girl, and a kid named Billy get separated from the rest of the kids when the observation car runs away after being uncoupled by mistake. They make their return just as Santa Claus comes out, and when a reindeer bell is shaken loose, the boy picks it up and hears its sound when he says he believes, and asks Santa for the bell, which is declared the first gift of Christmas. Sadly, he's lost the bell through a hole in his pocket, but on Christmas morning, the boy has it back again, and it rings for him and those who truly believe.
Ten years ago, back in November 2004 when I was in elementary school, my parents and I wanted to see Pixar's then-latest film The Incredibles, but tickets were sold out for said movie, but we did get to see The Polar Express instead, and my parents knew of my love for trains and the Christmas season. I really enjoyed myself, and a decade later I still do.
I also have the book version from 1985, where it was just the boy getting on the train, a brief journey to the North Pole, he's chosen, says he wants for Christmas, loses the bell, and regains it as a present from Santa. Bear in mind you often have to expand on the book to make it a full length movie, and it has advantages; you can have creative freedom with the characters and add new ones, plus add some subplots here and there. I mean, the 2012 film adaptation of The Lorax was focused on Ted (who was unnamed) wanting to impress Audrey by bringing her a tree, but the mayor wants to stop Ted from ruining his business.
The main character himself is expanded upon drastically from the original book, giving him a little bit of background and expansion on his family, and the three other major kids - the girl, the know-it-all, and Billy - also allowed to give the boy interactions while the train was headed for the North Pole. Interesting fact; Tom Hanks did the motion capture for the boy, as well as the father, the conductor, the hobo, and Santa Claus, as well as the boy as the adult narrator.
The locomotive for the Polar Express itself is Pere Marquette 1225, a 2-8-4 tender locomotive built in 1941 (in the film, the know-it-all said 1931). According to Van Allsburg, the engine was the inspiration for the book and its number, to him, was 12/25 (12 stands for December), Christmas Day. The actual locomotive was used to create its animated counterpart and its sounds were recorded from the real thing. Something I feel is worth noting is that the length of the train changes drastically during the course of the film. For instance, on the frozen lake, the train is five coaches in length, but upon reaching the North Pole, it's at least nine coaches long. I wonder why this is? There are at least four known coaches on the train - the coach with the kids, the observation coach, the buffet coach, and the coach of broken toys. And people say Arc Productions makes silly mistakes...!
Of course, I can't review the movie without talking about the musical numbers. My favorites from the film itself are Hot Chocolate and When Christmas Comes to Town. The former is more quirky and exciting with brilliant spoken singing by Tom Hanks ("Here we only got one rule: never, ever let it cool!"), whilst the latter is more gentle and expands on the friendship between the boy, the girl and Billy. The theme song as the train reaches the North Pole features Tom Hank's vocals in the soundtrack describes what it's like being on the Polar Express. The end credits song is Josh Groban's Believe, which I feel is the perfect song for Christmas.
Overall, this is my favorite Christmas-themed movie of all time. This isn't about being mindlessly cheerful for Christmas; there's a darker tone to The Polar Express and you don't know what to expect next. The basic plot was very much the same as the original book, down to the bittersweet final shot of the bell and the last line:
"At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe."
If you haven't seen the movie yet, well, where the heck have you been for the past ten years? The Polar Express is a film that must be seen to be appreciated with it's wonderful music and storytelling.
10 out of 10
Tomorrow: Top 10 Winter-Themed Thomas Stories
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