Talk:The Polar Express (film)/Archive 1

Archive 1

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)

With the engineers part you are actually wrong, as the girl does refer to them as the enginers within the movie, so it is a fair assumption to call them that 22:19 26/08/21 (BST)

Jewish elf

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

"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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Soundtrack

I've Just Realised One Of The Tracks "When Christmas Comes To Town" Is Linked On The Soundtrack Page, [1] 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)

Fan-based Experience?

Just found this official site: [2] 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)

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)

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)

I've never heard of "dead eye syndrome, but I think the technical term for what the author was going for would be "uncanny valley" which is listed in :the "see also" section at the bottom of the article. Colecoman1982 (talk) 17:27, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Uncanny Valley

I don't have the time to hunt down sources right now, but I think this article would benefit by a brief discussion, in the body of the page, of the widely discussed issues this film had with the "uncanny valley" effect along with a direct link to the "uncanny valley" article here on Wikipedia. There is already a link in the "See Also" section to the "uncanny valley" wiki article but there is nothing mentioned anywhere in the article giving an idea of what that is an why it is related to this movie. Colecoman1982 (talk) 17:32, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Movie Poster

The poster for this movie does not display properly. It shows only a file name.-Zyrath (talk) 23:16, 17 November 2010 (UTC)

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)

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

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

Hilarious you think that considering there was conservatives criticizing the movie for Tom Hank's involvement at the time.[3]OfficialDoughboy (talk) 22:13, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

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)

Rather than political undertones is there not a Christian theme throughout centred on the Father (Santa), Son (Conductor) and Holy Spirit (Hobo), all testing the young boy's faith in different ways? Whilst not a Christian myself I was brought up in the church and the symbolism was stark, even if I could not put a coherent argument forward to support these thoughts.Jsquine (talk) 23:29, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

Ebenezer Scrooge?

Yes Tom Hanks did do the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge in the Polar Express but Scrooge was only a puppet not a real character. I personally believe that Scrooge should be taken off the character list in this article. Do you agree? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.176.154.190 (talk) 01:11, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Yes, because it was the Hobo Ghost mocking the boy. 207.216.193.21 (talk) 04:10, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

Hero Boy

In the cast it says Tom Hanks plays the "Older Hero Boy" and Daryl Sabara plays the "Hero Boy". But, it was Tom Hanks who plays the "Hero Boy". Danyl Sabara only provided the voice for the "Hero Boy". There is no "Older Hero Boy" in the film. Here's a link for it: Behind The Scenes of The Polar Express This video is a part of the Special Features in the DVD of the film. And, whoever has seen the film will know it.

I'll change it soon if there are no objections to this. Halemane (talk) 05:30, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

I think the "Older Hero Boy" is the narrator (which is Tom Hanks)? Maybe? :/ --13² 05:47, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Nevermind. I'm positive. The "Older Hero Boy" is the narrator, which is Tom Hanks. It's fine as is, but the wording could maybe be clarified a bit better. --13² 05:49, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

I added that Daryl Sabara provided the voice for the character and added a N.B. at the bottom because people who are not familiar with the film, especially with these kind of animated films, can easily get confused. If you disagree, we can discuss and come to a conclusion. Your thoughts? Halemane (talk) 12:08, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

I think removing the notation at the bottom, removing "hero boy" from Tom Hank's list and replacing it with "narrator", with Sabara listed as voicing Hero Boy would be perfectly sufficient and the simplest and most concise set-up. The notation of stating voice and linking to voice acting is entirely unnecessary given that this is an animated film with no live actors. --13² 23:32, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

But, Tom Hanks did perform the role of the Hero Boy (That is what is mentioned in the credits of the film), so why would you want to remove "Hero Boy" from Hanks' list? Besides, there are very few lines in the film which Hanks narrates as the Older Hero Boy. So, I think that would be a little impractical.

The "voice" does mean "Voice acting", doesn't it? What Sabara did was indeed "Voice acting", was it not?

Please do correct me if I am wrong somewhere. Halemane (talk) 06:26, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

You're over-complicating this. Everyone did voice acting because it was an animated film. It not necessary to denote that fact next to a single actor, or even the entire list, because that's common sense given the media format and doesn't need to be explained. It might deserve a mention somewhere in the lead, but not in a cast list.

He played the older Hero Boy, which only narrated the film (even if the lines were few), not the younger one. It's two actors playing two ages. We usually note this as specifying the age of the character (as in, "young Hero Boy" and "old Hero Boy"). I just figured using "narrator" would help to simplify things. --13² 02:31, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Because in the movie, Tom Hanks was doing all the motion-capture stunts of Hero Boy because Josh Hutcherson couldn't do all that. Supermariokart64 (talk) 16:45, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

In the name of Mike

Conductor said: "What in the name of Mike?" Who is Mike? Michael Jeter, I assume.77.35.229.216 (talk) 10:57, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

That is an old expression. I haven't seen any published article refrencing it to one specific person.108.73.68.83 (talk) 04:16, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

Smaller?

This line in the Train section " In the film, artistic liberty is taken with the appearance of the locomotive and its tender both being made to seem even more massive than the 794,500 pound (361,136 kg) original." Is unsourced first and was not written by someone who has stood next to the actual locomotive in person. The tender and locomotive are huge and actually could be considered smaller in the movie. This line should be removed when the paragraph is sourced. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.73.68.83 (talk) 04:24, 10 January 2013 (UTC)

Actor removal

Some user keeps on removing the actors Josh and Daryl from the info box in the starring list. There is no need to remove them. Supermariokart64 (talk) 20:16, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

I have no idea why you don't ask my name, but I'm telling you neither Sabara nor Hutcherson got top billing. --Smartie2thaMaxXx (talk) 20:17, 2 February 2013 (UTC)

Cult following?

Just had a look at the citation of the film having a "cult following." Sounds like BS to me, the article does nothing to prove a cult following, it just uses weasel words, stating "which now many regard as a classic."

Perhaps this statement should be removed? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Benpaul12 (talk • contribs) 12:40, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

Benpaul12, thanks for bringing this up. Per WP:WEASEL, "Reliable sources may analyze and interpret, but we, as editors, cannot do so ourselves, since that would be original research or would violate the neutral point of view." Thus it is okay for The Independent to report that. However, per WP:SUBSTANTIATE, I've gone ahead and wrote that it is The Independent saying that, and I directly quoted what they wrote. I think that having a "cult following" is a bit different than regarding the film as a classic. Hope that suffices! Thanks, Erik (talk | contribs) 14:50, 15 May 2013 (UTC)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

Does that make the stoker and engineer Pat Robertson and Jim Baker? I guess the know-it-all kid is supposed to be pope Benedict...

His character profile says he's a ghost. Just because "he 'appears' to/from snow" doesn't change that. His "Do you believe in ghosts?" question and the remark he made about the clearance of Flattop Tunnel are meant to be foreshadowing. I'd take the religious interpretation with a grain of salt, but if that's how you view it, that's how you view it. 207.216.193.21 (talk) 04:08, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

I agree with the belief that he is jack frost, this is mainly from what i know about jack frost from Rise Of The Guardians which shows that jack frost was a ghost who is on his own ,also the caring heroic nature of how he is portrayed in both these movies lead me to believe this, in rise of the guardians jack frost is only seen by those who believe in him aswell. The irony of him sitting around a fire was interesting and the only thing that threw me off but other than that in my head he mirrors the character of jack frost exactly. It would be interesting to know if anyone else has watched both movies and come to the same kind of conclusion that i have. I know it sounds foolish to base the character if jack frost just from another movie but i can only assume that since he was the main character in rise if the guardians they must have based it closely off of what jack frost is meant to be like — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.49.162.206 (talk) 04:34, 25 December 2016 (UTC)

'Citation Needed' in middle of paragraph already covered by reference.

An entire paragraph for the Box Office section ends with a cited reference. That reference includes all the info given in that entire paragraph, so just boggles my mind why someone inserts in the middle of it that a citation is needed. Must we cite every sentence? Is the reference itself perhaps not reliable enough? Is it the fact that each pertinent sentence or part does not list the reference cites per the individual tabs found at the reference? or is this simply a matter of someone questioning a certain part and either not bothering to look at the cite at end of paragraph and/or looking at it briefly and not immediately seeing it on the 'Summary' tab part and hence thinking the reference does not mention and verify wiki's stated info? Just really do not understand, and I see this or something similar done often in wiki. For time being, I will add direct link at end of that sentence allegedly being questioned into the tab that specifically gives info for that sentence. But just think this is silly to either need individual cites for each sentence or portion found at that reference. So in this particular case for that sentence, all info can be found on 'weekly' tab. But I really would like to know why I see this or something similar so often. Kevin "Hawk" Fisher (talk) 16:00, 30 August 2019 (UTC)

Message to the owner of the polar express

Dear, owner, I liked the polar express please add polar express 2 I never seen it before. From, Nathan76.214.66.62 (talk) 18:22, 16 March 2021 (UTC)

1956

In the scene where they boy looks at the news paper of the santas on strike it can be seen that there is a refrence to back to the future and the lone pine mall, with the signs the santas are holding saying "Say yes to the lone pine mall". its believed that the director did this as refrence to the back to the future films he also directed. https://www.reddit.com/r/MovieDetails/comments/pc73vs/in_the_polar_express_2004_a_protest_sign_says_say/ i would like to add this to the main article but i cant find a way, so if anyone else could, or at least show me how that would be greatly appreaciated — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.18.3.15 (talk) 22:29, 26 August 2021 (UTC)

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.

Speaking of which, I've noticed that if you change the language setting from English to Icelandic on the DVD, many signs and messages that are seen in the movie are actually written in Icelandic! How the hell did they do that?! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 118.208.62.88 (talk) 06:46, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

I had difficulty following the plot summary. For instance, what is meant by "The boy finds the ticket back into the train", and "With that, the hobo replies that if he is seen, the boy actually believes in Santa". Can someone who has watched the film please translate the plot summary into English.Royalcourtier (talk) 01:57, 18 June 2014 (UTC)

Says the person that can't spell "perhaps" or "English," and incorrectly uses "was" instead of "were" in the hypothetical. Glass houses, buddy, glass houses. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.241.240.42 (talk) 02:46, 23 December 2021 (UTC)