“The Polar Express” (2004)

The Polar Express

Brief Description:

It tells the story of a young boy who, on Christmas Eve, sees a mysterious train bound for the North Pole stop outside his window and is invited aboard by its conductor. The boy joins several other children as they embark on a journey to visit Santa Claus preparing for Christmas. 

(from Wikipedia) 

Date: 2004

Genre: American computer-animated fantasy adventure film

Running time: 2 hours

Cast: 

Tom Hanks (Hero Boy / Hero Boy’s father / Conductor / Hobo / Santa Claus / Ebenezer Scrooge)

Josh Hutcherson & Daryl Sabara (Hero Boy)

Nona Gaye, Darrian O’Driscoll, Meagan Moore, & Tinashe (Hero Girl)

Peter Scolari, Hayden McFarland, Jimmy Bennett, & Matthew Hall (Billy)

Eddie Deezen & Jimmy Pinchak (Know-It-all)

Michael Jeter & André Sogliuzzo (Smokey / Steamer)

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Production company: Warner Bros. Pictures

Based on: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Wikipedia page

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Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 5/5

Okay, I adored the aesthetic. It was so beautiful and whimsy! And the winter setting was simply gorgeous, and the train was sooo cool. 

Characters: 5/5

Hero Boy was such a sweet, noble boy whom I really related to. Hero Girl was delightful; Billy was heart-tugging; and Know-It-All was quite humorous. Also, the tiny thread of romance was SOO CUTE. And the conductor was amazing. <3

Plot: 3/5

Okay. So. I loved the beginning of the film. I really did. The train was epic, the characters were epic, the action was epic… I loved it. I didn’t realize Santa Claus was gonna appear, nor that the whole point of the film was to “prove” S.C. existed. So I loved the film up until Santa appeared… and then after he disappeared the windup was satisfactory. I even think skipping all his part would still make for a fun film. 

Theme/Message/Topics: 4/5

While as aforementioned the S.C. believing part I didn’t like, I did appreciate how the tickets brought out what the kids had to learn to do/be, and that was so symbolic and lovely! 

Overall: 3/5

I could have loved it, and in the end I have a very good memory of it. But I do wish it hadn’t been about S.C.!!! It would have been so perfect otherwise.