"The Polar Express" is a fun, magical ride into your childhood imagination

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2004)

It was December 24th, 1994; I was 9 years-old. I lay awake anxiously in bed, as the waking hours of Christmas Day slowly approached. My parents were sound asleep two doors down from my bedroom. A bunch of fans we had were still on (the slow setting), but in the otherwise calm darkness, I could pretty much hear everything downstairs.
Now I'm still not quite sure of it, because maybe I was dreaming or my imagination was in overdrive, but I thought I heard the fireplace door in our living room open and close, and the shuffling around of a large, heavy sack. Was that what I think it was? Could be, or could it have been my over-active imagination at its most deceitful?
That's kind of the dilemma that some children face around that age, when the question of whether or not there really is a Santa Claus is open for question. I'm sure lots of children have laid anxiously awake at night in bed for some sort of sign that the jolly fat guy with a beard and a bunch of flying reindeer and presents is flying around in a sleigh out there somewhere. Some may even leave milk and cookies on Christmas Eve and be surprised to find them all gone the next morning. Santa, were you here?
"The Polar Express" stretches beyond the limits of the imagination and goes out of its dear way to prove to children that seeing is always believing. Robert Zemeckis, who directed the film, which is an adaptation of the award-winning children's book by Chris Van Allsburg, believes in the story the same way that young children do: the ideas presented match their own beliefs that there really is life at the North Pole and that Santa is always keeping a watchful eye on kids all across the globe.
Even though I'm 19 now, this film reawakened my long-dormant curiosity in the subject, and I'm sure that any adult that views this movie with an open mind might feel the same. But again, the notion that there is a Santa Claus and life at the North Pole is just a childhood fantasy; I know this, and most other adults do too, but there's nothing stopping them from rekindling their youth.
Still, however, this film almost brought tears to my eyes on a few occasions because it was a brilliant realization of something that I thought had been lost to me forever. This film does bring back the magic of Christmas, especially during the dark times of the 2004 world we live in today. We'd need something like this to escape into, to realize our dreams and long-forgotten fantasies about a time when innocence still ruled the world.
Van Allsburg's "The Polar Express" is one of the best known books in children's literature, and one of the most daring in exploring a child's fantasy. In the late-night hours of Christmas Eve, Hero Boy (we never actually learn his name in the movie) lies awake in his bed, anxiously waiting for a sign - Santa Claus.
And then his father says, who thinks that Hero Boy is sound asleep, "Only an express could wake him up." Sure enough, what at first feels like an earthquake only proves to be a massive locomotive called the "Polar Express," which roars down the snowbound street where Hero Boy lives.
Not believing his eyes, he ventures out into the cold night to see what's what. The Conductor (played and voiced by Tom Hanks, in just one of six roles throughout the film, including Hero Boy), ushers him on board, where he's introduced to the other children, including Hero Girl, Know-It-All, and Lonely Boy, who is the last child they pick up on their journey.
From there on, it's a rough, fast-paced journey to the North Pole, a place that Hero Boy once thought only existed in his youthful imagination. Upon arrival, the quartet of children embark on a wondrous path of excitement, fun, and belief as they explore their innermost feelings about a beloved character in their dreams.
Christmas is the most beloved holiday of the year, especially for children, who wait excitedly for the morning hours to see what a year of patience has brought them underneath their heavily decorated trees; I know I used to, and still do.
Whether you're 90, or 9, Christmas has a magic that never goes away because that little kid in you will always be there, eagerly waiting for that sign - that special little detail that's overlooked by others but is caught in your ever-watchful attention - that maybe, the big fat guy you've always dreamed of, is out there delivering gifts to children all over the world.
10/10