Talk:The Polar Express (film)

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Animation

When I watched this movie, what impressed me the most was the animation. It seemed far better technologically than similar films like Toy Story, and it's the best animated rendition of humans that I've seen so far. I think this article needs to discuss a bit more the animation - or at least point the reader to an article about the animation studio that did this work. Nyh 13:40, 18 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think the animation should be mentioned to, but for a different reason. Many reviewers reacted negatively to the film, the biggest reason being that they found the characters to be creepy. One reviewer (Jeffrey Westhoff from the Northwest Herald) said "Combine the dead eyes with the shiny skin and Polar Express becomes a Christmas pageant enacted by the kids from Village of the Damned after being dipped in wax." Phil Villareal of the Arizona Star-Daily said Polar Express was "Either the year's worst children's film or its best horror flick." In short, they all thought the animation looked creepy. I agree with it, as some of the characters looked downright disturbing (the smart kid, for one, had the worst face when trying to talk.) If you are going to talk about the animation, the dislike for it should be mentioned. Hawk405359 05:27, 9 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. Google "polar express hanks creepy" and you get over 41000 hits(!). I have added a link to the page discussing this phenomenon. 85.227.226.243 09:11, 16 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"True to the original"

The article says, "The film expands a story that can be read in under three minutes into a ninety-nine-minute movie, while remaining true to the spirit of the original."

The article on the original book says, "The book is now widely considered to be a classic Christmas story for young children. It was praised for its detailed illustrations and calm, relaxing storyline."

The movie, on the other hand, has many long, exciting action sequences, with the main characters worried for their lives throughout much of the story. I would say that this constitutes a pretty fundamental departure from the spirit of the original.

If nobody minds, I'll update that sentence to say that the movie captures the visual style of the original. --Josh 21:56, 18 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]

That's a good point. One of the reasons I like the movie is that it is almost a non-stop adventure. However, the Living Books computer version my kids have is more pacifying than something which is very pacifying :) Sabalon 02:46, 26 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

English a Second Language?

Without sounding too judgmental, id just like to say that this article reads as if it was written by someone for whom english was a second language. Purhaps it needs some heavy editing for grammar and sentence structure.

Engineer/Fireman

The character descriptions currently lists the two men in the engine as "The Engineers." Technically, the fat bald one should be the engineer, and the tall, skinny, red-haired one would be the fireman. The film's credits don't list their titles--only the names "Steamer" and "Smokey"--but perhaps the title "Engineers" appears somewhere else (such as in the special features on the DVD), so I don't want to change it yet. If I come back here someday and don't see a reply to this, I may go ahead and change it.

Also, I was quite impressed with the modeling of the train. I'm not as familiar with the specifics of steam railroading, but based on my experience with modern American diesel railroading, the details of the train, from the automatic brake handle to the handbrakes, the couplers and even the cut lever that Hero Boy steps on just before the rear car separates from the train (although it should have been lifted to make the cut, not pushed down), were all identical to real trains. I wonder if this should be mentioned--would it break Wikipedia's ban on original research?

cluth 02:07, 18 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Jewish elf

Anyone else notice the elf was speaking a little Yiddish in the Naughty/Nice room?--Vercalos 10:20, 31 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Time-Stop

I believe that a time stop is what occoured to keep it at 5 til 12, and allows San'D Klaus (San the Deluded) to deliver all his presents. JaJaon 21:41, 18 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Neocon Conspiracy

I found the movie quite creepy. My son got hooked for a while, so I watched it quite a few times. At some point I realized that the main charaters are very similar to condoleeza rice (hero girl), george bush (the silent boy) and dick chenney (hero boy). Am i paranoid? I don't think so. Besir660 20:11, 26 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I do... :-) 85.227.226.243 09:13, 16 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I second that. Conspiracy? Huh. Somebody's been watching too much television :). Red Zion^X 22:07, 8 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hilarious you think that considering there was conservatives criticizing the movie for Tom Hank's involvement at the time.[1]OfficialDoughboy (talk) 22:13, 15 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry have to correct myself I found the link to what the conservatives were criticizing - Steve Bing. He financed a big chunk of the movie and he's an enviromentalist. I know Hanks got some flack for his involvement.OfficialDoughboy (talk) 22:18, 15 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Whose Vision?

The whole movie is kind of weird/creepy. The movement of the animated characters is almost-human, yet strangely robotic. The whole "reality" of the movie is sometimes near-real, sometimes wildly slap-stick like old looney tunes cartoons. Some extended sequences very video-game like, esp at the North Pole. The introduction of Santa Himself has very heavy-religious overtones, raising obvious Jesus/God issues. What do religious commentators make of the movie? It has obvious influences, such as Star Wars, yet manages to be a surprisingly unique vision. Who were the most important creative people that created this vision? -69.87.203.60 02:41, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hobo

does anyone else think that the hobo might be jack frost? i mean think about it jack frost is always portayed as being selfish and having a tendency for believing himself to be the greatest. this seems to fit the portrayal (spelling) of the hobo. also whenever the hobo disappears his turning to snow really strikes me as Jack Frost esque. just tryin to see if anyone else sees the similarities 68.192.43.48 (talk) 22:04, 8 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

He is actually more than likely the spirit of the snowman in Hero Boy's front yard. He wears the same gloves as the snowman and he always burts into a cloud of snow when he dissapears. --EveryDayJoe45 (talk) 00:11, 9 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

i thought about that, but i dont see it. the whole bursting into snow was wat struck me as jack frostish in the first place. and i looked at the snowman, but i noticed he's wearin oven mitts not the half fingerd gloves that the hobo wears READY TO FINISH THE FIGHT! (talk) 00:35, 10 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Under the Hobo's character description, it says he died when he collided with Flatop Tunnel. But you see him at the end of the movie! Someone clarify that? Farslayer (talk) 01:13, 19 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The hobo didn't die. If you notice he "appears" to/from snow. As well, this movie has more in line with a God/Jesus/Holy Spirit than Jack Frost. God = Santa, The Conductor = Jesus, Hobo = The Holy Spirit 24.208.168.143 (talk) 15:18, 15 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Soundtrack

I've Just Realised One Of The Tracks "When Christmas Comes To Town" Is Linked On The Soundtrack Page, [2] And If The Link Is Clicked It Is Redirected Here Though There Is No Mention Of The Song On This Article. Should This Be Corrected? QuietusExtraho (talk) 23:56, 26 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Phrase “dead eye syndrome” seems to be original research

I did a web search for the phrase “dead eye syndrome” and all the mentions of it seem to derive from this Wikipedia article. Who created this phrase? If this Wikipedia entry created the phrase, then this would seem to violate the No Original Research WP:NOR policy. Rahul (talk) 09:32, 1 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fan-based Experience?

Just found this official site: [3] Seems noteworthy to me, considering it's all over the nation (US, that is). Shouldn't it be mentioned? BlackPearl14 ^[talkies!^•^contribs!] 05:07, 18 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Seven times

I have seen 7 times the movie and today when I readed the articule found that the plot is not close to the film, I think that this must be cleaned. --I Am Nash (talk) 05:42, 15 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]