The Empire State Express

Theatrical release poster

***The Empire State Express*** is a 2024 American animated Christmas musical adventure film written, produced, and directed by Jonah Campbell. It is the third and final installment in *The Adventures of Pablo and Tyrone* and the sequel to *Pablo And Tyrone's Epic Escape* (2023). The film is based loosely on the 1985 children's book, *The Polar Express,* by Chris Van Allsburg and its 2004 film adaptation by Robert Zemeckis. The film stars eight characters from three of Jonah Campbell's favorite animated TV shows from his childhood: *The Backyardigans*, *Wild Kratts*, and *Go, Diego, Go!*, along with characters from *Sid the Science Kid* and *Monster House* (2006) in supporting roles. Set on Christmas Eve in 2024, it tells the story about a group of six friends who are trying to escape from two evil mermaids and see a historical passenger train bound for the North Pole and are invited aboard by its conductor. The gang joins several other friends as they embark on a journey to visit Santa Claus preparing for Christmas. The film's ensemble voice cast includes Microsoft Betty reprising her respective role of Mabel from previous films. Oddcast Tom and Oddcast Steven, who voiced Pablo and Tyrone in the first two films, retired from Vyond in October of 2023, one year before the release of the third film, so the roles of Pablo and Tyrone were passed down to Microsoft Sam and Microsoft Mike. The returning cast is joined by Albert Brooks, David Cross, Will Smith, Megan Fox, Thomas Haden Church, Adam Sandler, Elizabeth Perkins, Allison Janney, Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, Spencer Locke, Samuel L. Jackson, Microsoft Anna, and Microsoft Mary who voice the new characters introduced in this film. The film also marks Charles Nelson Reilly's last acting role before his death, and the film was thus dedicated to his memory.

## Synopsis

Wondering if Santa Claus is real, Pablo and Tyrone embark on a huge, amazing, magical, fun-filled, extraordinary adventure to the North Pole on the New York Central's *Empire State Express* during the night of Christmas Eve, long after the town has gone to sleep. Bringing their four animal-loving friends along, the journey involves many fun activities the gang does together to make the best of it, which includes skiing, roasting marshmallows over campfires, drinking hot chocolate, storytelling, and lots more. However, this adventure isn't all fun and games. The gang also has a mission to complete, which is escaping from the two evil mermaids, Uniqua and Tasha, who are both trying to get Pablo and Tyrone, and then later on the whole gang, for unknown reasons! Nobody knows what in the world this evil duo is trying to do to the gang, but whatever it is, it must be really bad! The gang must do everything they can to keep themselves happy, entertained, and occupied on their trip to the North Pole all while avoiding the evil duo of mermaids whose sole purpose is to get the gang. What will the six brave adventurers and two evil mermaids do? Watch the movie to find out!

## Characters

### Starring roles

* Pablo Griffin
* Tyrone Griffin
* Martin Kratt
* Chris Kratt
* Diego Márquez
* Alicia Márquez
* Uniqua Brooks
* Tasha Brooks

### Featuring

* Sid McMillen
* Gerald Feldstein
* Gabriella Freeman
* May Turner
* DJ Walters
* Chowder Peterson
* Jenny Bennett
* The Conductor
* Peter Parker
* Harry Osborn
* Santa Claus
* Austin Perkins
* Ivan Griffin
* Mabel Griffin
* Rescue Pack
* Click

### Appearing roles

* Elf Harold
* Elf Roland
* Elf Roxanne
* Zoey
* Zara
* Danny
* Sawyer
* Alex
* Marty
* Leo
* June
* Quincy
* Annie
* Fred Jones
* Daphne Blake
* Velma Dinkley
* Shaggy Rogers
* Scooby-Doo
* Bob the Builder
* Scoop
* Muck
* Dizzy
* Roley
* Lofty
* Miss Frizzle
* Arnold Perlstein
* Ralphie Tennelli
* Wanda Li
* Dorothy-Ann Hudson
* Carlos Ramón
* Phoebe Terese
* Tim Wright
* Keesha Franklin
* Dallas
* Gwen

## Plot (in progress)

### Opening Narration

"On Christmas Eve, many years ago, me and my brother, Tyrone, both slept quietly in our bed. We did not rustle the sheets. We both breathed slowly and silently. We were listening for a sound; the sound we were afraid we'd never hear: the ringing bells of Santa's sleigh."

### Storyline (In Progress)

One year after the events of the previous film, Pablo and Tyrone are both now feeling better than they've felt in a long time. Mabel had adopted Pablo and Tyrone as her very own sons, and they couldn't be any happier. Pablo and Tyrone have no problem calling Mabel their mom, for they both finally have a parent that loves and cares for them. On the night of Christmas Eve in 2024, Pablo and Tyrone are skeptical about the existence of Santa Claus. After the boys think they hear bells downstairs, they go down only to find no presents and no Santa. They look toward the kitchen and hear what they think is Santa Claus. But it turns out it's only their father Ivan allowing Austin (who's spending the night) to get a drink. This discourages Pablo and Tyrone, and they head back up to their room. As it turns out, the boys have been telling Austin they're not sure if Santa is real. As they're looking for something to prove his existence, Mabel and Ivan suddenly come into the room just to check and make sure Pablo and Tyrone are asleep. After they leave, the boys still wonder if Santa is real.

Just as time suddenly freezes at 11:55 PM, Pablo and Tyrone start getting an idea to go outside and ski around the backyard. Doing so, they quietly sneak downstairs and fetch their skiing equipment from the foyer before heading outside. Meanwhile, Uniqua and Tasha struggle to fall asleep until they hear the boys having fun outside. They decide to join them, but suddenly realize that they don't have skiing equipment of their own. After a few seconds of brainstorming, Uniqua suddenly comes up with a plan for her and Tasha to magically transform themselves into evil mermaids and chase after Pablo and Tyrone, to which Tasha ultimately agrees with and plans to open up a secret club as well. The girls head into their secret chemistry laboratory and brew the potion that transforms them into the same mermaids they played roles of from the episode of *The Backyardigans* called "Into the Deep".

Pablo, Tyrone, and Austin all joyfully ring the bell, but Mabel and Ivan don't hear it because they don't believe in Santa Claus. Pablo reflects on his and Tyrone's childhood friends and even Austin eventually growing deaf to the bell over the years as their belief in Santa Claus faded. However, despite the fact Pablo and Tyrone are now adults, the bell still rings for them, as it does "for all who truly believe".

### Closing Narration

"At one time, most of our friends could hear the bell. But as years passed, it became silent for all of them. Even Austin found, one Christmas, that he could no longer hear its beautiful sound. Though me and Tyrone have both grown old, the bell still rings for us. As it does for all who truly believe."

## Voice Cast

1. Microsoft Sam as Pablo Griffin
2. Microsoft Mike as Tyrone Griffin
3. Albert Brooks as Martin Kratt
4. David Cross as Chris Kratt
5. Will Smith as Diego Márquez
6. Megan Fox as Alicia Márquez
7. Microsoft Anna as Uniqua Brooks
8. Microsoft Mary as Tasha Brooks
9. Thomas Haden Church as Sid McMillen
10. Adam Sandler as Gerald Feldstein
11. Elizabeth Perkins as Gabriella Freeman
12. Allison Janney as May Turner
13. Mitchel Musso as DJ Walters
14. Sam Lerner as Chowder Peterson
15. Spencer Locke as Jenny Bennett
16. Samuel L. Jackson as the Conductor
17. Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker
18. Adam Driver as Harry Osborn
19. Charles Nelson Reilly as Santa Claus
20. StreamElements Carter as Elf Harold
21. StreamElements Mark as Elf Roland
22. StreamElements Jasmine as Elf Roxanne
23. Streamlabs Salli as Zoey
24. Streamlabs Joanna as Zara
25. Leonardo DiCaprio as Danny
26. Brie Larson as Sawyer
27. Ben Stiller as Alex
28. Chris Rock as Marty
29. Andrew Garfield as Leo
30. Jennifer Lawrence as June
31. Eddie Murphy as Quincy
32. Jodi Benson as Annie
33. Bryan Cranston as Fred Jones
34. Anya Taylor-Joy as Daphne Blake
35. Linda Cardellini as Velma Dinkley
36. Matthew Lillard as Shaggy Rogers
37. Jim Carrey as Scooby-Doo
38. Quentin Tarantino as Bob the Builder
39. Keanu Reeves as Scoop
40. StreamElements Madison as Muck
41. StreamElements Vanessa as Dizzy
42. H. Jon Benjamin as Roley
43. J. K. Simmons as Lofty
44. Lindsay Ellis as Miss Frizzle
45. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Arnold Perlstein
46. Jack Black as Ralphie Tennelli
47. Ann Coulter as Wanda Li
48. CereProc Katherine as Dorothy-Ann Hudson
49. Jerry Seinfeld as Carlos Ramón
50. CereProc Megan as Phoebe Terese
51. Jamie Foxx as Tim Wright
52. VoiceForge Kayla as Keesha Franklin
53. StreamElements Liam as Dallas
54. Streamlabs Kimberly as Gwen
55. Tom Holland as Rescue Pack
56. VoiceForge Princess as Click
57. Acapela Rod as Austin Perkins
58. VoiceForge Conrad as Ivan Griffin
59. Microsoft Betty as Mabel Griffin
60. Jonah Campbell as the Narrator/Pablo Griffin (adult voice)

## Gallery

### Miscellaneous/Concept art

A promotional image of the 8 main characters from the film. From left to right on the top, then right to left on the bottom: Pablo, Tyrone, Uniqua, Tasha, Martin Kratt, Chris Kratt, Diego, and AliciaThe "Grover Cleveland" Combine Car's interiorThe "Charles S. Whitman" Coach Car's interiorThe "Daniel D. Tompkins" Coach Car's InteriorThe "David B. Hill" Coach Car's interiorThe "Hamilton Fish" Coach Car's interiorThe "George Clinton" Dining Car's interiorThe "John Jay" Dining Car's interiorThe "Morgan Lewis" Coach Car's interiorThe "Reuben E. Fenton" Coach Car's interiorThe "Silas Wright" Coach Car's interiorThe "William H. Seward" Coach Car's interiorThe "Franklin D. Roosevelt" Observation Car's interior
### Screenshots

Charles Nelson Reilly's dedication card at the end of the film
## Technical Specifications

* Release Date: Friday, November 22, 2024
* Rating: G
* Protagonists: Pablo, Tyrone, Martin, Chris, Diego, and Alicia
* Antagonists: Uniqua and Tasha
* Duration: TBA
* Footage: Color
* Sound Mix: Dolby Atmos®
* Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

## Differences from the original fanfiction story

* The film focuses more on the Christmas theme than the story does.
* The film is supposed to be a loose parody of Robert Zemeckis's *The Polar Express* (2004). In fact, the train in the very first original version of the story **was** originally **the** Polar Express itself. Jonah Campbell originally intended for Pablo, Tyrone, Martin, Chris, Diego, and Alicia to ride the Polar Express in this film, which would've given it the same title as its 2004 counterpart. Eventually, the train in this film was changed to the New York Central's *Empire State Express* for a few reasons:
	1. Jonah Campbell isn't obsessed with *The Polar Express* like a lot of people are.
	2. This change was made to avoid major Copyright issues from Warner Bros. and Castle Rock Entertainment.
* The story begins on the evening of December 20, 2024. It later transitions to the morning of December 21. In the film, the majority of the plot takes place starting on Christmas Eve and eventually transitions to Christmas Day later on, toward the end of the film.
* The story simply ends with the gang boarding the train so they can leave the North Pole and eat lunch together at a KFC located somewhere back in Maine, which happens during the day. This scenario is majorly changed in the film with five distinctive differences:
	+ The meal (which surprisingly still consists of food from KFC) is now dinner.
	+ Uniqua and Tasha are no longer present.
	+ The situation now takes place on the *Empire State Express*'s "George Clinton" dining car on the night of Christmas Eve.
	+ While it isn't revealed where it takes place, it's implied that the gang is eating their meal together inside the dining car as the train travels somewhere through Canada.
	+ Instead of the gang simply eating a fine meal together, they turn it into a fun musical when the song, "Fried Chicken", begins.
* In the story, the gang is never physically inside any one of the train's passenger cars. Instead, they ride the train by camping on top of the roof of the observation car before getting up to leave and head toward the locomotive by skiing across the roofs of the passenger cars until the train makes it to Flat Top Tunnel, kind of like in *The Polar Express* when the Mysterious Hobo camps on top of the roof of the observation car before escorting the Hero Boy to the locomotive (in order to find the Hero Girl) by skiing across the snow-covered roofs of each passenger car until the train approaches Flat Top Tunnel.
* Several characters such as the Little Einsteins, Miss Frizzle and her class, Scooby-Doo, Bob the Builder, Sid and his friends, Danny, Sawyer, Alex, Marty, Peter, Harry, DJ, Jenny, Austin, Ivan, Mabel, the Conductor, Santa Claus, and any non-generic elves aren't in the story.
* The tickets aren't featured in the story, though they're briefly mentioned at one point.
* Most of the events during the gang's trip to the North Pole aren't in the story, including the bedroom, attic laboratory, train station, dining car, combine car, Glacier Gulch, underwater, ceremony, and Christmas Day scenes.

## Trivia

### General

* The film takes place 1 year after the events of *Pablo And Tyrone's Epic Escape*.
* This film is the third and final installment in *The Adventures of Pablo and Tyrone*, and it's also Jonah Campbell's third feature-length movie overall.
* Before the New York Central's *Empire State Express* was chosen to be the train in this film instead of the Polar Express, the Santa Fe *Super Chief* was briefly considered.
* Jonah Campbell provided narration for the film, whose voice (in the film) is supposed to be Pablo as a grown-up.
* Pablo's drawing of Alex and Gia and Tyrone's drawing of Diego and Shira from *Pablo And Tyrone's Epic Escape* can both be seen hung up on the wall in Mabel's living room.
* The train's passenger cars all have nameplates both above and below the windows on either sides; the upper nameplates for coach cars read "NEW YORK CENTRAL", whereas the upper nameplates for the combine, observation, and dining cars read "EMPIRE STATE EXPRESS". The lower nameplates for all passenger cars are named after the former Governors of New York, some of which also served as the Presidents of the United States. This is ironically true to the real *Empire State Express*.
* Throughout the film, the train is shown to be pulling 12 passenger cars behind the locomotive; here's the order they appear in, from front to back:
	1. Combine Car "Grover Cleveland"
	2. Coach Car "Charles S. Whitman"
	3. Coach Car "Daniel D. Tompkins"
	4. Coach Car "David B. Hill"
	5. Coach Car "Hamilton Fish"
	6. Dining Car "George Clinton"
	7. Dining Car "John Jay"
	8. Coach Car "Morgan Lewis"
	9. Coach Car "Reuben E. Fenton"
	10. Coach Car "Silas Wright"
	11. Coach Car "William H. Seward"
	12. Observation Car "Franklin D. Roosevelt"
* The interiors of each passenger car feature 3 portraits displaying several different scenarios. The coach cars have 2 portraits displaying various cities, landmarks, places, celestial events, sea creatures, or even well-known paintings by famous artists. The combine, observation, and dining cars have only 1 portrait displaying these kinds of scenarios, with the other portrait displaying various fictional characters. The portrait that all the passenger cars share is a painting of a former Governor of New York, based on which one the passenger car is named after.
	1. Combine Car "Grover Cleveland"
		1. Diego and Shira (*Ice Age*)
		2. Grover Cleveland
		3. Cleveland, Ohio
	2. Coach Car "Charles S. Whitman"
		1. *Wheat Field with Cypresses* by Vincent van Gogh
		2. Charles S. Whitman
		3. *The Great Wave off Kanagawa* by Katsushika Hokusai
	3. Coach Car "Daniel D. Tompkins"
		1. Chicago, Illinois
		2. Daniel D. Tompkins
		3. Snow-covered mountains
	4. Coach Car "David B. Hill"
		1. A countryside farm
		2. David B. Hill
		3. A beluga whale
	5. Coach Car "Hamilton Fish"
		1. A field of flowers
		2. Hamilton Fish
		3. A desert
	6. Dining Car "George Clinton"
		1. Alex and Gia (*Madagascar*)
		2. George Clinton
		3. A painting of the Plaza Hotel
	7. Dining Car "John Jay"
		1. Ariel and Eric (*The Little Mermaid*)
		2. John Jay
		3. A yellow kayak in a river
	8. Coach Car "Morgan Lewis"
		1. New York City
		2. Morgan Lewis
		3. An orca
	9. Coach Car "Reuben E. Fenton"
		1. *Woman in the Garden* by Claude Monet
		2. Reuben E. Fenton
		3. A solar eclipse
	10. Coach Car "Silas Wright"
		1. The Statue of Liberty
		2. Silas Wright
		3. Boston, Massachusetts
	11. Coach Car "William H. Seward"
		1. *Mona Lisa* by Leonardo da Vinci
		2. William H. Seward
		3. A lighthouse near the ocean at night
	12. Observation Car "Franklin D. Roosevelt"
		1. Simba and Mufasa (*The Lion King*)
		2. Franklin D. Roosevelt
		3. A lunar eclipse
* By the time of this film, Dallas's hair is now brown instead of blonde.
* Due to her death in *The Sad Story of Pablo and Tyrone*, Lisa does not return in the film. Streamlabs Joanna does return, however, as Zara (who alongside Zoey appears to Pablo, Tyrone, Martin, Chris, Diego, and Alicia as a hallucination inside the combine car).
	+ This is because Oddcast Julie, who voiced Zara in the first two films, retired from Vyond alongside Tom and Steven in October of 2023, one year before the release of the third film, so the role of Zara was passed down to Streamlabs Joanna.
* The film and its storyline all started as a dream Jonah Campbell once had. On the night of Friday, April 19, 2019, while it was raining and thundering outside, Jonah was sleeping peacefully and quietly in bed, and he had a whole dream about the fanfiction story's plotline, which was so calm and relaxing that it inspired him to write it, and then create a feature-length movie about it later on.
* At the very end of the closing credits, there's a dedication to Charles Nelson Reilly (1931-2007), the voice of Santa Claus in the film.

### References

* Many scenes throughout the film are inspired by certain scenes from some of Jonah Campbell's favorite animated films. Primarily, the film itself and its storyline are both inspired by Robert Zemeckis's *The Polar Express* (2004).
* Uniqua saying, "First rule of Mermaid Club: you do not talk about Mermaid Club. Second rule of Mermaid Club: you do not talk about Mermaid Club," is a reference to *Fight Club* (1999), where the famous quote, "The first rule of Fight Club is, you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is, you do not talk about Fight Club," comes from.
* This film references *Ice Age*, *Madagascar*, *The Little Mermaid*, *The Lion King*, *Toy Story*, *Home Alone*, *The Twilight Zone*, *Finding Nemo*, *Over The Hedge*, *Space Chimps*, *Titanic*, *Hot Tub Time Machine*, and 2 episodes of *The Backyardigans*: "Viking Voyage" and "Into the Deep".