Who is polar express dedicated to

Two actors lent their vocal talents to the Hero Boy—Tom Hanks, who plays the character as the adult narrator, and Spy Kids star Daryl Sabara , who voices him as a child. Along with Tom Hanks, The Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson , who was just 12 years old when the film was released, did motion capture work that was used to animate the character. Robert Zemeckis has directed several blockbusters over his career, but Back to the Future is undoubtedly one of his most beloved contributions to cinema.

Sharp-eyed viewers will notice that the director inserted some references to the earlier film into The Polar Express. Toward the beginning of The Polar Express , the conductor shouts out what sounds like a random address: Edbrooke. This is actually the address of the home where Zemeckis grew up in Chicago.

When looking for a locomotive to serve as a model for the one in the movie, filmmakers chose the Pere Marquette , one of the largest operational steam trains in the country at the time. Straining with all the elaborate new-fangled wizardry at its disposal to become an instant Christmas classic steeped in old-fashioned storybook charm.

By David Rooney. As with most Christmas-themed American pics, overseas prospects are shaky, with longterm ancillary life as a holiday item more promising. Even on a regular screen, the action often displays a tangible, at times visceral 3D quality, so the giant screen format and immersion in the action may help give the unsatisfying film more audience immediacy and excitement. While digital animation has made considerable strides in the past decade, the trick of creating emotionally vivid, realistic human characters has yet to be achieved.

In fact, the three dead-eyed tykes who lead the action here resemble nothing so much as Stepford children, giving the film an at times creepy feel, amplified in the later reels by spindly, hyperactive elves who perform stereotypical Jewish shtick, including Yiddish and a Santa who descends on the North Pole town square like some kind of yuletide Mussolini hitting Piazza Venezia.

When he does doze off, the boy is awakened by a massive steam train, thundering to a halt in the snow outside his house. On the train, the boy meets and befriends a girl Nona Gaye , one of many children clad in pajamas and slippers.

Of all the kids, only two are given a discernible personality — the girl and a know-it-all dweeb Eddie Deezen determined to be chosen by Santa to receive the first gift. The train makes a final pre-destination stop to pick up a lonely boy Peter Scolari, voiced by Jimmy Bennett outside his rundown home, but the kid is too shy to hang with the pack, slinking away to an adjoining carriage to make the trip alone.

Instead, action covers a series of brushes with danger that create the illusion of a propulsive narrative but never really develop into a satisfying fable. View On One Page. Photo 0 of 8. Previous Next Start Slideshow.

You May Also Like. Mariah Carey. Taylor Swift. Santa leaves with his reindeer and a band plays in celebration. The elves use a handcar to re-couple the observation car back to the train and the children prepare to head home.

They request the Hero Boy to show the bell but he finds that he has lost it through the ripped pocket. Though devastated for the loss, he regains his spirit after finding out that Santa has been to Billy's house. The Hero Boy is taken home and everyone else bids him farewell.

Their parents hear nothing and the Hero Boy leaves it on the table before going somewhere. The narrator ends the story by saying that, at one time most of his friends could hear the bell but as years past all of his friends, including Sarah, lost their ability to hear the bell, but he, even though he has grown old, can still hear its ring as all who truly believe, closing the movie. The Polar Express Wiki Explore. Browse wiki. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account?