THE POLAR EXPRESS TAKE TWO
F or some, it’s the stuff of that takes me back two decades. The Polar Express – adapted and directed by Robert Zemeckis, who’s also responsible for Back to the Future and Forrest Gump – derives its title and story from a children’s book published 20 years prior. Set on 24 December, it follows the nameless Hero Boy on a North Pole- bound adventure, set aboard a train that mysteriously stops on the street outside his house. Upon that steam locomotive, Hero Boy – who had been starting to doubt his belief in Santa – searches for the true meaning of Christmas. Watch the film once and you’ll find yourself thinking: that train conductor looks eerily like Tom Hanks. That’s nightmares; for me, it’s a timeless, transportive Christmas Eve tale because it is Tom Hanks and he actually plays four other roles as well. Setting the Guinness World Record for being the first film made entirely using performance capture, The Polar Express delights some (mainly children) and disturbs others (mainly adults) due to its hyperrealism. The actors recorded scenes at Burbank’s Warner Bros Studios in a black box stage (which Hanks has compared to theatre in the round) and the clips were later animated to mimic the art style of the original material. Despite the film’s 100% mocap claim, two characters – Smokey and Steamer, the train’s fireman and engineer – were not animated using motion capture but through traditional skeletal animation rigs. The three protagonists – Hero Boy, Hero Girl and Lonely Boy – represent the culmination of various talent, including
TAKE 2
Love it or hate it – Robert Zemeckis’ motion- capture musical is a Christmas classic. We look back on 20 years of The Polar Express
WORDS Katie Kasperson IMAGES Warner Bros Pictures/Castle Rock Entertainment
The movie was initially released in IMAX 3D as well as in standard theatrical 35mm format to commercial success, remaining the top-grossing IMAX film for five years until being dethroned by Avatar in 2009. Just days before the picture hit cinemas, the now-defunct THQ dropped The Polar Express video game to play on various consoles, including the Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance, though its plot differed significantly from the film’s. After the fact, the film spawned a series of themed train trips as well as, temporarily, The Polar Express Experience – an attraction at SeaWorld Orlando. Often criticised for its uncanny-valley appearance, yet adored by many, The Polar Express might be a prime example of nostalgia bias. But, while I look back fondly on a film that shaped Christmas for me, there’s also plenty production- wise that makes it worth the watch.
both live and voice actors. Tom Hanks and Josh Hutcherson split the motion work on Hero Boy while Daryl Sabara did the voiceover. Hero Girl and Lonely Boy required additional singing voices to perform When Christmas Comes to Town . That’s right – The Polar Express is also a musical movie, named the best-selling soundtrack/holiday album hybrid as tracked by Nielsen SoundScan. Believe , performed by Josh Groban, was nominated for best original song at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005 and won a Grammy the following year.
ALL ABOARD! The Polar Express was a trailblazer, setting the standard for fully motion-capture productions
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