The Polar Express (film)
From AwardAnnals
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| Director(s) | Robert Zemeckis |
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| Distributor | Warner Home Video |
| Honors | |
| Destined to become a holiday perennial, The Polar Express also heralded a brave new world of all-digital filmmaking. Critics and audiences were divided between those who hailed it as an instant classic that captures the visual splendor and evocative innocence of Chris Van Allsburg’s popular children’s book, and those who felt that the innovative use of “performance capture”—to accurately translate live performances into all-digital characters—was an eerie and not-quite-lifelike distraction from the story’s epic-scale North Pole adventure. In any case it’s… | |
Honors
Reviews
Amazon.com
Destined to become a holiday perennial, The Polar Express also heralded a brave new world of all-digital filmmaking. Critics and audiences were divided between those who hailed it as an instant classic that captures the visual splendor and evocative innocence of Chris Van Allsburg’s popular children’s book, and those who felt that the innovative use of “performance capture”—to accurately translate live performances into all-digital characters—was an eerie and not-quite-lifelike distraction from the story’s epic-scale North Pole adventure. In any case it’s a benign, kind-hearted celebration of the yuletide spirit, especially for kids who have almost grown out of their need to believe in Santa Claus. Tom Hanks is the nominal “star” who performs five different computer-generated characters, but it’s the visuals that steal this show, as director Robert Zemeckis indulges his tireless pursuit of technological innovation. No matter how you respond to the many wonders on display, it’s clear that The Polar Express represents a significant milestone in the digital revolution of cinema. If it also fills you with the joy of Christmas (in spite of its Nuremberg-like rally of frantic elves), so much the better. —Jeff Shannon
Barnes and Noble
The Polar Express was slow to pull out of the station in its theatrical run, but it gathered steam and continued to draw audiences throughout the 2004 holiday season, defying the typical pattern. It would be inaccurate to call it a “little engine that could,” though, as director Robert Zemeckis’ adaptation of the Chris Van Allsburg book is pretty much a roaring locomotive thrill ride. Zemeckis, who pushed the visual effects envelope with such films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Forrest Gump, employs a process called “performance capture,” digitally translating the movements of human actors into hyper-realistic animation. What the film lacks in personality, it more than makes up for with breathtakingly beautiful snowscapes. However, it threatens to derail in the time-padding action sequences that would be more at home in a video game, as the Express careers up and down mountains and skids across a frozen lake en route to its rendezvous with St. Nick. Keeping the film on track is Tom Hanks, who provides the human host for several characters, including the young boy (voiced by Daryl Sabara), the conductor, and a mysterious hobo who inexplicably camps on top of the train. Further powering The Polar Express are a heart-melting, Oscar-nominated ballad (“Believe”), a rollicking showstopper complete with dancing waiters (“Hot Chocolate”), and the instantly recognizable Jerry Lewis tones of prolific voice-over artist Eddie Deezen as Know-It-All, who has a lot to learn when it comes to Santa Claus. Donald Liebenson
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The Polar Express: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
In adapting Chris Van Allsburg’s beloved, 1986 Caldecott Medal winning children’s Christmas fable, director Robert Zemeckis fused the technologies of live-action motion capture and CGI to an unprecedented degree, producing a visual sensibility that perfectly embodies the netherworld between fantasy and reality that made the book so inviting. Musically, Zemeckis has shrewdly teamed longtime collaborator Alan Silvestri with hit tunesmith Glen Ballard for the original half his soundtrack, then given the rest over to a star-packed tribute to pop Christmas past that…
Late one Christmas Eve after the town has gone to sleep, the boy boards the mysterious train that waits for him: The Polar Express bound for the North Pole. When he arrives, Santa offers the boy any gift he desires. The boy modestly asks for one bell from the harness of a reindeer. The gift is granted. On the way home the bell is lost. On christmas morning the boy finds the bell under the tree. The mother of the boy admires the bell, but laments that it is broken—for you see, only believers can hear the sound of the bell.
