The North Pole

### Inhabitants

Santa Claus, Elves, Acrobatic Elves, Elf General, Elf Lieutenant, Elf Singer, Santa Claus' Reindeer

## The Polar Express Route

### Next

North Pole Square

**The North Pole** is the place where Santa Claus and his elve live.

## Role in the book

*The Polar Express* portrays the North Pole as a city filled with factories where the Christmas toys are made. Every year on Christmas Eve, the Polar Express travels there, taking children to see Santa, who will give one of them the first gift of Christmas before leaving to deliver the presents.

When the Polar Express arrives at the North Pole, the children notice a lack of elves. The Conductor tells them they are gathering at the center of the city to watch Santa give the first gift of Christmas. Sure enough, elves are seen once the train arrives at the Square and comes to a stop. The Conductor and the children get off and press through the elf crowd to Santa's sleigh where the excited reindeer rang the silver bells hung from their harness, creating a sound Hero Boy thinks is beautiful.

Soon, Santa shows up and everyone cheers. He walks to the children and chooses Hero Boy to receive the first gift of Christmas. Hero Boy sits on Santa's lap in his sleigh and tells him he wants one of the bells from the sleigh. An elf cuts a bell off and tosses it to Santa, who declares it the first gift of Christmas. At that moment, the clock strikes midnight, so Hero Boy leaves the sleigh and Santa goes to deliver the presents. Once he leaves, the children and the Conductor get back on the train and head home.

## Role in the film

Despite some difficulties along the way, including a caribou crossing, a broken throttle and ice freezing over the tracks, the Polar Express was able to arrive at the North Pole five minutes early. Once at the Square, the Conductor and all the children get off to see Santa, except Billy the Lonely Boy, who stays behind in the observation car, but Hero Girl and Hero Boy go back to try to change his mind. However, Hero Boy accidentally steps on a lever which uncouples the car from the train, causing it to roll away and down a hill. Luckily, Hero Boy finds a brake wheel, thanks to the help of the Hobo, and slows down the car right before it crashes. The children find themselves on a spinning turntable. After the turntable stops spinning, the children get off and look for a way back to the Square by following the sound of the silver bells. However, only Hero Girl and Billy can hear it.

They soon arrive at the surveillance room where a few elves are doing some last minute work watching the children before leaving on the pneumatic for the Square. The children take the pneumatic too, but instead arrive in a big factory where they cannot hear the bells anymore. They find a present on the conveyor belt, which is for Billy. Billy grabs onto it and Hero Boy and Hero Girl follow. They go on a big slide, into a black hole and onto a big pile of presents.

The presents, along with the children, are enclosed in a big bag with a small opening at the top, which is carried by zeppelins to the Square. While in the bag, something grabs Billy's leg, so Hero Boy and Hero Girl pull his arm to free him. They find it to be Know-It-All, who was in the bag finding out what he will be getting for Christmas. They soon arrive at the Square, but the bag hits the star on top of the big tree. Luckily, a few acrobatic elves catch it and put it back on the tree just before it hits the ground. After the bag is landed on Santa's sleigh, the elves help the children out of the bag.

Soon, Santa shows up and everyone cheers, including the reindeer, which causes one of their silver bells to fall off. It lands in front of Hero Boy, who picks it up and rings it, but does not hear it until he tells himself, "I believe." Santa overhears and asks what he said, but Hero Boy says, "I believe... this is yours," and gives the bell to him. Santa then talks with the children and decides to give Hero Boy the first gift of Christmas. Hero Boy sits on Santa's lap in his sleigh and tells Santa that he wants one of the silver bells from his sleigh. After which, Santa holds up the bell, declaring it, "The first gift of Christmas!" Suddenly, the clock strikes midnight and Santa flies away in his sleigh to deliver the presents.

It was then time for the train to take the children home, so the children line up to get their tickets punched by the Conductor while some of the elves use a handcar to retrieve the observation car and re-couple it to the train. The children get on and the train departs the North Pole.

## Behind the secnes

The architecture of the North Pole was inspired by that of on the Pullman Palace Car Company, a former railroad car manufacturer a mile from director Robert Zemeckis' childhood home which production designer Rick Carter discovered while visiting the director's old neighborhood. The building Santa comes out of at the Square is based on the Pullman Clock Tower.

While designing the North Pole for the film, the filmmakers envisioned the home life of the elves. Some early concept art showed an elf kitchen, elf bar, and elf bathroom, though none of which appear in the final film.

## Trivia

* In real life, the North Pole would not be visible from the Arctic Circle because it would still be over 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometers) away.
* The record room the children pass shows names for various locations at the North Pole not seen in the film, including a confectionery, snow patrol, toy workshop, reindeer stable, and blacksmith.
* According to a party kit from the book's website, the zip code for the North Pole is 001225 and Santa Claus' address is 456 Christmas Lane. The zip code likely references the number of Pere Marquette 1225, the real-life locomotive which inspired the Polar Express. Another party kit from Houghton Mifflin's website lists the zip code as 12345.