After the sack is loaded onto Santa's sleigh, the elves escort them out before Santa and his reindeer arrive.Ī bell flies loose from the galloping reindeer's reins the boy initially cannot hear it ring, until he finds it within himself to believe. The children make their way through an elf command center and a gift-sorting office facility, where Billy finds a present in his name, before sliding down a massive slide into a funnel and being dumped into a giant sack of presents, where they also find the know-it-all kid. However, the boy accidentally uncouples the car, sending it hurtling along a route towards an underground railway turntable inside Santa's workshop. Seeing Billy still alone in the observation car, the girl and boy persuade him to join them. The train arrives at the North Pole, where the conductor announces that one of the children will be chosen to receive the first gift of Christmas from Santa himself.
THE POLAR EXPRESS SOUNDTRACK LIST FULL
They go through an abandoned coach full of thrown away toys where the hobo uses a marionette puppet of Ebenezer Scrooge to frighten the boy. Once the hero boy and the girl are safe, the conductor takes them back to their seats. Once they reach a frozen lake, Smokey uses his hair pin to replace the split pin and Steamer narrowly gets the train onto the tracks on the other side of the lake after the ice breaks. And soon, they start rocketing down Glacier Gulch.
As the train continues on, it moves at an extreme speed due to the split pin shearing off.
The conductor yanks on Smokey's beard, causing Smokey to cry out in pain, and the caribou clear the tracks. After the light is replaced, they are forced to stop the train when they see a herd of caribou blocking the tracks.
THE POLAR EXPRESS SOUNDTRACK LIST DRIVER
The hero boy encounters a mysterious ghostly hobo that takes him to the engine, where the girl has been put in charge since the driver and fireman, Smokey and Steamer, are busy replacing the headlight. Before the boy can stop the train again, he finds the ticket and traverses the rooftops of the train to find the girl. The ticket soon finds its way back into the train after the girl discovers that her ticket is missing (although the boy offers his ticket, the conductor does not allow this), the conductor leaves with the girl, presumably to throw her off. When he tries to take it to the girl, the wind blows it out of his hand. The conductor and the girl go to give Billy his cup, but the boy notices that the girl's ticket has not yet been validated. The children are given hot chocolate by a team of waiters, and the girl stows one cup under the seat to reserve for Billy, who chooses to sit alone in the observation car. At first, Billy refuses to board, but he changes his mind, prompting the boy to apply the emergency brake, allowing Billy to board. The train then stops to pick up a boy named Billy. Although reluctant at first, the boy climbs aboard and meets a spirited girl and a smart know-it-all boy. The conductor of the train claims that it is on its way to the North Pole. On the night of Christmas Eve in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a boy, who is growing increasingly skeptical about the existence of Santa Claus, sees a steam-hauled train named the Polar Express outside his house. The film also marks Michael Jeter's last acting role before his death, and the film was thus dedicated to his memory. The Polar Express was released in both conventional and IMAX 3D theaters on Novemand grossed $286 million worldwide during its initial run ($314 million with subsequent re-releases) and was later listed in the 2006 Guinness World Records as the first all-digital capture film. The film was made with a production budget of $165 million, a record-breaking sum for an animated feature at the time.
Its visual effects and performance capture were done at Sony Pictures Imageworks. Pictures, as Castle Rock's first animated film. The film stars Tom Hanks, also one of the film's executive producers, in multiple distinct roles, with Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett, and Eddie Deezen in supporting roles.Ĭastle Rock Entertainment produced the film in association with Shangri-La Entertainment, ImageMovers, Playtone, and Golden Mean Productions for Warner Bros. The boy joins several other children as they embark on a journey to visit Santa Claus preparing for Christmas. It tells the story of a young boy who, on Christmas Eve, sees a mysterious train bound for the North Pole stop outside his window and is invited aboard by its conductor. The film features human characters animated using live-action motion-capture animation. The Polar Express is a 2004 American computer-animated Christmas musical fantasy adventure film co-written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, based on the 1985 children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg, who also served as one of the executive producers.