"One thing about trains: It doesn't matter where they're going. What matters is deciding to get on."

Rating: Null/10 (16 June 2007)

Directed by the great Robert Zemeckis, with an outstanding music score by Alan Silvestri, "The Polar Express" is a superbly enchanting motion picture for the Christmas season. Featuring its own unique brand of "live performance" animation, this movie boasts an excellent screenplay that is filled with excitement, warmth, and good humor. (If you have not yet seen "The Polar Express," please DO NOT read any further.) The main character, played by Tom Hanks and voiced by Daryl Sabara, is a little boy (known as "Hero Boy" in the credits) who, on Christmas Eve night, is invited to join a large group of other children passengers for a ride on the Polar Express train. Destination: the North Pole! Over the course of this exciting (and sometimes PERILOUS) train ride, the Hero Boy befriends a pretty African-American girl ("Hero Girl," played by Nona Gaye) and a poor, shy, lonely boy named Billy (played by Peter Scolari and voiced by Jimmy Bennett), who claims that Christmas has never been a happy time for him. Together, the Hero Boy and Hero Girl help Billy to understand the joy of Christmastime, all the while the Hero Boy finally learns to permanently put aside his own doubts about Santa Claus.
My two favorite characters in "The Polar Express" are the Hero Girl and the train conductor. The girl is such a sweet, lovable young lady with a joyful, generous spirit. She particularly has a deep affection for Billy and truly wants him to have a wonderful Christmas. The conductor (marvelously played by Tom Hanks) is also someone I consider highly admirable, particularly in his interactions with the Hero Boy & Girl. True, the conductor may need to be a stern disciplinarian at times, but I never have any doubts about his warm heart. This is a man who truly cares about all the children passengers and their safety on the trip.
And now, here are my favorite highlights from this very charming movie. The lively song "Hot Chocolate," sung by the conductor, accompanies a group of waiters & chefs performing some of the most unbelievable acrobatics as they serve hot chocolate (without spilling one drop!) to all of the passengers; even the conductor gets to join in on the acrobatic fun! The Hero Girl's train ticket does some rather extensive travelling all by itself; after flying out the passenger car window, the ticket flies in the air, lands on the snow-covered ground, flies again with a pack of running wolves, gets snatched by an eagle, gets spit out by a baby eagle, lands on the ground where it becomes a giant snowball, flies underneath the locomotive, and winds up back inside the same passenger car! Terrible danger strikes the Polar Express train as it travels at uncontrollably high speeds up and down what is, in effect, a very steep roller coaster, with the conductor and the Hero Boy & Girl at the very front of the locomotive! A little later, the train swerves and slides dangerously across a massive glacier that has completely frozen over the train tracks! My absolute favorite scene in the entire picture, and one that never fails to bring a little tear to my eye, is that of Billy and the Hero Girl together singing "When Christmas Comes to Town." Shortly after that, we hear a children's chorus singing the lively "Polar Express" theme as the train merrily chugs along; the conductor becomes a little teary-eyed when the train arrives at the North Pole with five minutes to spare! For a light touch of humor, as the Hero Boy, Hero Girl, and Billy explore the town where Santa's elves live & work, the threesome becomes aware of a few Christmas phonograph records that keep skipping. When the Hero Boy meets Santa Claus (again played by Tom Hanks), Santa tells him that although a sleigh bell is an important symbol of the spirit of Christmas, the TRUE spirit of Christmas exists in the boy's heart. And for one more little humorous touch, several instruments in the elves' rock-and-roll band require two or more elves to play each of them.
"The Polar Express" is a magical movie full of joy and delight for the Christmas season. The Hero Boy ultimately learns that all people who truly believe in Santa Claus will hear the ringing of the symbolic sleigh bell.