What makes Robert Zemeckis' big-screen adaptation of Chris Van Allsburg's classic book The Polar Express (2004) a modern Christmas classic? Is it the fact that it was the first movie to feature all-digital capture performances, the fantastical-looking computer-generated (CG) backdrops and stylized yet slightly offputting look to the character animation, Tom Hanks' compelling performances for his multiple characters (including but not limited to the Hero Boy, the Polar Express' Conductor, the Hobo, and Santa Claus himself), Alan Silvestri's all-around whimsical, bittersweet, haunting, and sweeping symphonic score, and its emotional and thematic resonance of belief that improves with age? The answer is yes to all of the above.
When I first saw this movie when I was younger, I was frightened by some of the scenes' emotional intensity; however, in the years since, I have grown to adore this film for its thematic depth and its technical and storytelling skills in bringing the world of the beloved book to life. I would go as far to say that this is a perfect holiday movie for despite its visual imperfections in the character animation that show its limitations of the day, the film's greatest triumph comes in its full encompassing of human emotions like timeless fantasy films like The Wizard of Oz (1939) or Zemeckis' own Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). From joy and laughter to sadness and longing, and from suspense and scares, to thrills and awe. The exuberant sight of tap dancing waiters serving hot chocolate to the children is eventually followed up by the Hero Boy slowly questioning himself about his desires with a mysterious Hobo on top of the train, to a masterful degree.
The world of The Polar Express truly comes to life through the film's technical achievements. Visually, this movie resembles the book's illustrations, almost to a tee, with a beautifully diverse color palette that ranges from cold yet nostalgic for the Hero Boy's neighborhood to warm yet nostalgic for the North Pole. It also features excellent use of world-building in the scenes set at the North Pole, from its Tomorrowland-esque shuttles for elves to its workshops as tall as the lead children. The sound mixing and design are incredible, and the one instance where this is best exemplified in the sequence involving the Polar Express on the frozen lake. The extraordinary use of editing and sound mixing highlights the larger-than-life sounds of the steam locomotive's rapid chuffing of smoke, the shifting of gears, the skidding of steel wheels on ice, combined with Silvestri's heart-pounding score and his incorporation of individual character themes is second to none.
On a side note, not to outdo the Know-It-All Kid (voiced by Eddie Deezen), but the steam locomotive that served as the basis for the Polar Express' engine was built by the Lima Locomotive Works in 1941, not the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1931, as he claims in the movie. Perhaps this was an intentional way to foreshadow Know-It-All's lesson at the end: "Learn". Either way, very well-thought-out on Zemeckis' part.
As stated previously, the lesson of maintaining one's belief, whether it is in the spirit of Christmas, a religious belief towards a higher power like God, in oneself, or someone or something else entirely, improves with age. As the Conductor states, "Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see." Not only do I notice and appreciate more of this movie's nuanced instances of thematic and visual foreshadowing every time I view this film every Christmas Eve with my brother, but it gently encourages me and the audience to be open to learning from one's mistakes, to take charge in one's decisions, be there for family and friends, and keeping a childlike belief in Christmas spirit in one's heart even as people grow older. For this experience, I will be forever grateful.
Final Score: 10 out of 10
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