The Polar Express: Children's book produced as a feature film review #3

The Polar Express is a 1985 children’s book written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg. It was made into a feature film in 2004. Both the book and the movie tell the story of a young boy who gets to take a ride on the Polar Express one Christmas Eve night. Once the boy gets there, he along with the other children from the train, are greeted by hundreds of elves. The little boy is handpicked by Santa to receive the first gift of Christmas. Realizing that he can pick any gift he wants in the world he chooses a beautiful bell off of Santa’s sleigh. When he arrives home that night he notices that the bell is gone. It had fallen out of a hole in the pocket of his night coat. The next morning when he and his sister are opening their presents they discover that Santa has delivered the bell to him. They are enchanted by the beautiful sound of the ringing bell. His parents cannot hear the bell. Both the book and the movie end with the famous Polar Express quote, "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."

The film expands on the story from the original book. It maintains the visual style of the book, but some scenes such as the "Hot Chocolate" production number was derived from a single sentence and a single illustration. Some of the characters such as The "Hobo," "Lonely Boy," and "Know-it-All" characters are all new to the film. The scenes on rooftops and on the locomotive, and the runaway observation car sequence were all new to the film as well.

The film received good reviews overall with the exception of a few critics commenting on the “creepy” appearance of the characters. The “creepy” appearance is blamed on the decision to use motion capture technology. This film was not the first to use this type of technology but was deemed as being the one with the most noticeable “dead-eye syndrome” in its characters. Many thought that this technology made the characters “soul-less.” I do have to admit that the first time I watched this movie I had the same reaction. I was used to the illustrations of the characters in the book where my mind brought the characters to life rather than a new type of technology. I remember thinking that some of the parts were probably a little scary for some very young children. After watching the movie several times now I honestly do not even notice the characters looking creepy. I think all of the action, special effects, and the heartwarming storyline take precedence over this. In my opinion both the book and the movie are true pieces of art.