The Polar Express   
 

HeroBoy / Father / Conductor / Hobo / Scrooge / Santa Claus: Tom Hanks

Hero Girl: Nona Gaye

Lonely Boy: Peter Scolari

Know-It-All: Eddie Deezen

Sister Sarah / Mother: Leslie Zemeckis

 

 

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

 

Screenplay by Robert Zemeckis &

William Broyles, Jr.

 

Based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg

The Polar Express is an animated adaptation of the book by the same name written by Chris Van Allsburg.  It's a story of a little boy who has reached that age where it is becoming harder and harder to believe that Santa Claus really exists.  On Christmas Eve night, a train startles him awake as it stops in front of his house.  He eventually climbs on board for a wild ride to the North Pole to see Santa off for the night.  The experience forces him to come to grips with what it means to believe in something, whether you see it or not.

It took a lot for me to get up enough courage to go see this movie.  The Polar Express has always been one of my favorite books.  It is a heartwarming and magical story that has always held a significant place in my heart, which took on even more meaning after my mom passed away. 

My mom was a kindergarten teacher who always came across the latest, greatest children's books every year, and this one was no exception.  The Polar Express reached acclaim in 1986 when it won the Caldecott Medal, an award given "to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children."  The book won over my mom who gave me a copy of my own that Christmas.

On future Christmas Eves, when we would have the whole extended family over, my mom would read the book and show the pictures.  This story and those images are etched into my memory, and though I haven't read the book in a few years, they will always be fresh in my mind.  Every time I read or even think of this book, I think about the Christmas I received it as a gift, I think about the joy my mom would get when reading it, I think about the inscription she wrote on the inside page, and, most of all, I just think of her.

Needless to say, I was worried.  How do you recreate something so beautiful already?  What extensions to the narrative will have to be made, and will it derail the true story?  Will the movie take away from what the book has given so many people?  And, finally, will the movie even be any good?

The answer to the last question is yes, and all the others worked out pretty well, too.  There were some aspects of the movie plot I did not like (Steven Tyler singing, the elf general and lieutenants, the engineers on the train).  And they were such tiny moments that I think they could have easily been cut.  But it didn't ruin the movie for me, mainly because Robert Zemeckis got it absolutely right. 

The movie is gorgeous.  The motion capture animation used for the movie worked perfectly, and Van Allsburg's illustrations seemed to have jumped right out of the page.  Zemeckis was able to use each illustration from the book as the basis for a shot in the movie.  It was a great experience to be able to watch the movie and wait for each of the indelible images that Van Allsburg had created to come across the screen.

Tom Hanks gives great performances as several different characters.  He is able to embody each one so perfectly, that you either forget or fail to realize he is portraying so many different people. 

The movie has a dark tone, which all great holiday classics have.  But believing in the spirit and true meaning of Christmas requires you to emerge from the dark corners of human emotion, and this movie provides exactly that.  Believing in yourself, believing in others, learning from your mistakes, and possessing hope are aspects of life that you wish everyone would learn, not just a few kids on a magical train ride on Christmas Eve.

The Polar Express should easily join the list of those Christmas movies everyone must watch every year - just as long as you also read the book.  As I sat in my seat, my worries about this movie disappeared after I saw the first shot of the snowy night.  It was a movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. And the experience I had watching it was a cathartic one, because I know Mom would have absolutely loved it, too.