FAQ

Having reached the age where he is beginning to doubt whether Santa Claus really exists, a young boy is invited to board the Polar Express, a magical train headed for the North Pole on Christmas Eve. He joins a number of children in the same predicament, including a brave young girl, a know-it-all boy, and a poor boy named Billy from the wrong side of the tracks who has never gotten a Christmas present before.

The Polar Express (1985) is a Caldecott Medal-winning children's book by American author Chris Van Allsburg. The movie's screenplay was written by American filmmaker Robert Zemeckis (who also directed the film) and American screenwriter William Broyles Jr.

The film was done in all Digital Capture so they had one actor/actress who acted out a character for the Digital Capture and then one actor/actress who voiced the character.

After Santa gives the boy a sleigh bell as the first gift of Christmas, he and the reindeer fly off to deliver the other gifts in his bag, and the Polar Express heads back south to take the children home. When the kids ask the boy to show them the sleigh bell, he realizes that it has through the hole in his bathrobe and it's too late to go looking for it. Billy is the first child to be dropped off; he discovers the big red-and-white wrapped present with the green bow has already been delivered to him. When the boy is dropped off, he discovers that Santa has not yet been there. The next thing he knows, his little sister Sarah is waking him up and shouting, "Santa's been here!" After opening all their presents and having "the beautifullest, most wonderful Christmas ever," Sarah finds one more gift under the tree. It is addressed to the boy. He opens it to find his sleigh bell and a note from Santa saying, "Found this on the seat of my sleight. Better finx that hole in your pocket. Mr. C." He and Sarah jingle the bell and marvel at its sound, by their parents can't hear it and remark that it must be broken. In the final scene, the camera zooms in on the bell as the narrator says: At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I've grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.

The narrator is the grown up boy (voiced by Tom Hanks).

It is called a Hurdy Gurdy.

The Polar Express was released on November 22nd, 2005 nearly a year after its theatrical release. It was available on a single-disc DVD (widescreen and full screen) , & 2-disc special edition DVD. On October 28th, 2008, it was re-released in 3-D on both standard & Blu-ray Disc. Both 3-D versions include 2 pairs (4 each) of glasses. There is also a regular 2-D version of the movie on Blu-ray Disc.