The Polar Express **** (2004, Tom Hanks, Chris Coppola, Michael Jeter) – Classic Movie Review 498

A little boy gets a ticket to ride aboard a magical steam train to meet Santa at his home in the North Pole on Christmas Eve, in the 2004 Christmas treat The Polar Express, the first all-digital capture film.

A little boy gets a ticket to ride aboard a magical steam train to meet Santa Claus at his home in the North Pole on Christmas Eve, in the 2004 American computer-animated fantasy adventure film The Polar Express, featuring human characters animated using live-action and motion-capture CGI animation. It is listed in the Guinness World Records as the first all-digital capture film.

Invited aboard a mysterious train that stops outside his window by the Conductor, the boy joins several other children as they set off to visit Santa Claus, who is preparing for Christmas.

It is clever – if eerie – to turn actors into virtual images and director Robert Zemeckis’s sweet 2004 Christmas treat of a film is always elegant, warm and vivid.

But the sugary tale chugs along a bit too slowly and uneventfully to keep the kids fully engrossed, and the songs are on the sickly side. It’s great that a CGI Tom Hanks ‘stars’ as the Conductor, and in this role he’s very comfortable, appealing and effective. But getting him to do five other voice parts is rather over-egging and larding the nice pudding, not to mention putting less famous actors out of work! And at Christmas too!

The Polar Express is a triple Oscar nominee – for Best Original Song (‘Believe’ music and lyrics by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri), Best Sound Mixing (Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis S. Sands and William B. Kaplan) and Best Sound Editing (Randy Thom and Dennis Leonard). ‘Believe’ by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. It won a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

Tom Hanks, one of the film’s executive producers, stars in multiple distinct roles, and voices the Conductor, Hero Boy, Father, Hobo, Scrooge and Santa Claus. Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett, and Eddie Deezen appear in supporting roles.

It is Michael Jeter’s last acting role (as as Smokey and Steamer) before his death, and the film was thus dedicated to his memory.

It is co-written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, based on the 1985 children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg, another of the executive producers.

It is produced by Castle Rock Entertainment in association with Shangri-La Entertainment, ImageMovers, Playtone and Golden Mean Productions, and distributed by Warner Bros, as Castle Rock’s first CGI-animated film. Its CGI visual effects and CGI performance capture were achieved at Sony Pictures Imageworks. Its production budget of $165 million – $170 million is record breaking for an animated feature at the time.

It was shown at the Chicago International Film Festival on 13 October 2004 and released in the US on 10 November 2004. It underperformed at the box office, grossing $286 million, but with re-releases eventually grossed $314 million worldwide.

© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 498

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