The Polar Express

"A journey like you’ve never imagined."

2004 1h 40m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

🥫

55%

ROTTEN

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.6

IMDB

★6.7TMDB · 7,069🥫55%Rotten Tomatoes●61Metacritic★6.6IMDB · 270,029

AdventureAnimationFamilyFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When a doubting young boy takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that shows him that the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.

“A journey like you’ve never imagined.”

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Cast

Tom Hanks
Hero Boy (Adult)/ Father / Conductor / Hobo / Scrooge / Santa Claus
Leslie Zemeckis
Sister Sarah / Mother
Eddie Deezen
Know-It-All
Nona Gaye
Hero Girl (voice)
Peter Scolari
Billy / Lonely Boy
Michael Jeter
Smokey / Steamer
Josh Hutcherson
Hero Boy (motion capture)
Daryl Sabara
Hero Boy (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Robert Zemeckis, William Broyles Jr., Maureen Beatty
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$165M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 22 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Polar Express Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

338+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, shot by Don Burgess. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alan Silvestri. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor R. Orlando Duenas shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tom Hanks and Leslie Zemeckis and Eddie Deezen carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Zemeckis directs. Don Burgess behind the camera. Alan Silvestri scores. R. Orlando Duenas cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$165M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Released 22 years ago.
3Part of the "The Polar Express Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4338+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Robert Zemeckis, shot by Don Burgess. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Alan Silvestri. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor R. Orlando Duenas shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Tom Hanks and Leslie Zemeckis and Eddie Deezen carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "A journey like you’ve never imagined.".
10IMDB entry: tt0338348 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 19 themes, including "winter", "faith", "holiday", "santa claus".

The technical file

Cinematography: Don Burgess
Original score: Alan Silvestri
Editing: R. Orlando Duenas
Production design: Rick Carter
Costume design: Joanna Johnston
Makeup / hair: Kathryn Blondell
VFX supervisor: Jim Berney
Sound: Tom Johnson
Stunt coordinator: Allen Robinson
Runtime: 100 min · 1h 40m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $165,000,000
Box office: $318,432,432
Return: 193% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: The Polar Express (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes: 55% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 61/100
IMDB rating: 6.6/10 · 270,029 votes
MPAA: G

Awards

Nominated for 3 Oscars. 5 wins & 26 nominations total

Part of

The Polar Express Collection

The Polar Express - Collection

Also by

Robert Zemeckis

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2018-11-30
★ 5/10
Some kids with creepy dead eyes take a dreamlike trip to the North Pole on The Polar Express A boy from Grand Rapids, Michigan, is at the age where he no longer believes in Christmas, as far as Santa, his elves and flying reindeer go, but a magical train appears in front of his home on Christmas Eve and whisks him away on an adventurous trip to the North Pole with several other kids. “The Polar Express” (2004) was based on the 1985 Christmas book and was the first mainline movie to use motion capture animation for all its characters beginning to end (think Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy). Some people think the animation is weak, but I feel it creates its own world and has its own charm. It holds up as long as you can adapt to those creepy dead eyes of the characters. Some people love this movie while others think it’s weird, like a Twilight Zone Christmas flick. Roger Ebert, for instance, loved it and gave it a perfect grade. I’m sorta in the middle. I see its good points and appreciate them, like the haunting winter ambiance, parts of the trip to the North Pole (e.g. the quasi-rollercoaster ride) and the kids’ investigation of the Christmas factory. But there are some meh parts and dubious sections like the whole last act with the multitude of elves and the towering Santa who looked like he was modeled after 6’5” Christopher Lee with a pillow strapped to his mid-section. The movie’s interesting in some ways but also quaint in a cheesy way, as well as peculiar and lifeless. The film runs 1 hour, 40 minutes. GRADE: C
Peter89Spencer2020-12-13
★ 10/10
No matter how many times I watch this, it always brought me to tears! I only wish that I got to see it in 3D at the cinema.
Peter McGinn2020-12-19
★ 8/10
Watching The Polar Express is not an annual event for me, but I believe I have seen it three times and would not nix the idea if someone were to suggest watching it again. I feel a connection to it for an odd reason: my wife and I volunteered one Christmas season to be elves serving cocoa and dancing for an actual Polar Express narrow gauge train ride when we lived in Maine. (Though I can assure you our dancing was not as acrobatic as what you see in this movie.) The animation feels a little odd at first, but I stop noticing it each time I watch it. The story turns the train trip to the North Pole into a real thrill ride for the children on board, especially for our hero boy, voiced by Tom Hanks. In fact, if you are a Hanks fan, settle in, because he does multiple voices here, including one that sounds remarkably like Gilbert Godfrey to me. I try to avoid punching holes in the plots of Christmas movies. Half the point is that they will include unlikely events all leading to the miracle of Christmas ending. You want logic; pull out the old algebra textbook!