The Polar Express (2017 film)

For the 2004 film, see The Polar Express (film).

The Polar Express
Directed by	Rich Moore Steven Spielberg
Produced by	John Edwards Nicholas Stoller
Written by	Chris Van Allsburg
Screenplay by	Karey Kirkpatrick Steven Spielberg Tyler Lopez
Story by	Lenny Corcovado Tom McGrath Jennifer Lawrence
Based on	The Polar Express  by Chris Van Allsburg
Starring	Jack McGraw Anna Faris T.J. Miller Bex Taylor-Klaus Michael J. Fox
Narrated by	Bex Taylor-Klaus
Music by	Score: Henry Jackman Alan Menken Songs: Alan Menken Karey Kirkpatrick
Edited by	Tim Mertens
Cinematography	Phil Méheux
Production company	Movie Land Animation Studios Amblin Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date	November 17, 2017
Running time	112 minutes
Language	English
Country	United States
Rating	PG (MPAA)
Budget	$150 million
Box office	$370 million
Preceded by	The Street of San Francisco
Followed by	Eddie

The Polar Express is an 2017 animated holiday film that is based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg and the 2004 film of it's same name. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and produced by Movie Land Animation Studios and Amblin Entertainment. This motion picture was directed by Rich Moore and Steven Spielberg from the writer Chris Van Allsburg, story by Lenny Corcovado, Tom McGrath and Jennifer Lawrence, producers John Edwards and Nicholas Stoller, and screenplays by Karey Kirkpatrick (also with songwriter), Steven Spielberg and Tyler Lopez. The movie title was released on November 17, 2017 in the United States alongside The Star and Justice League.

Plot

On the night of Christmas Eve, a boy is growing bitterly skeptical of the existence of Santa Claus. As he struggles to sleep, he witnesses the arrival of a steam locomotive on the street outside his home, and dons his robe to investigate, tearing the robe's pocket as he retrieves it. Outside, the train's conductor introduces the train as the Polar Express, bound for the North Pole. The boy initially declines to board, but jumps aboard the train as it pulls away.

In a passenger car, he befriends a spirited and amicable girl, and a condescending know-it-all. The train stops to pick up an impoverished child, Billy, who also declines to board; Billy changes his mind, and the boy applies the emergency brake to allow him to board, much to the conductor's dismay. As Billy sits alone in the train's rear dining car, hot chocolate is served in the passenger car, and the girl saves her hot chocolate for Billy. As she and the conductor cross to the dining car, the boy notices she left her ticket behind unpunched, but loses hold of the ticket between the cars when he attempts to return it. The ticket reenters the passenger car, but not before the conductor notices its absence and escorts the girl back to the rear car.

The know-it-all claims that the conductor will jettison the girl from the back of the train; the boy recovers the ticket and dashes to the dining car in search of the conductor, climbing onto the roof from the rear platform. He meets a hobo camping on the roof, who offers him coffee and discusses the existence of Santa Claus and belief in ghosts. The hobo skis with the boy along the tops of the cars towards the train's coal tender, where the hobo disappears. In the locomotive's cab, the boy discovers that the girl has been made to supervise driving the train while engineers Steamer and Smokey replace the train's headlight. The train stops while the conductor witnesses a herd of caribou that is blocking their way, The conductor pulls Smokey's beard, causing him to let out animal-likes noises, therefore clearing the caribou horde. The train continues on, but at extreme speed. The throttle's split pin sheers off, causing the train to accelerate uncontrollably down a 179-degree grade and onto a frozen lake. Smokey uses his hairpin to repair the throttle as the train drifts across the ice to realign with the tracks moments before the ice breaks. The boy returns the girl's ticket for the conductor to punch, and as the three return to the passenger car, the boy is accosted by an Ebenezer Scrooge marionette, taunting him and calling him a doubter, in reality controlled by the hobo.

The train finally arrives at the North Pole, where the conductor announces that one of the passengers will be chosen to receive the first gift of Christmas, from Santa himself. The girl discovers Billy still alone in the rear car, and she and the boy persuade him to come along; however, the boy accidentally unhitches the car, sending it back along the line to a railway turntable in Santa's workshop. The children sneak through an elf command center and a gift sorting office before accidentally being dumped into a giant sack full of presents, where they discover that the know-it-all kid stowed away. The elves escort them out as Santa arrives. A jingle bell flies loose from the galloping reindeers' reins; the boy initially cannot hear it ring, until he finds it within himself to believe. He shows the bell to Santa, and Santa selects the boy to receive the bell as the first gift of Christmas. The boy asks to keep the jingle bell, Santa says yes, and he places it in his robe pocket.

The wayward rear car is returned to the train as the children board to return home, but then the boy discovers that he had lost the bell through the hole in his robe pocket. He returns home and awakens Christmas morning to find a present containing the bell. He and his younger sister Sarah ring the bell to their delight; their parents, not believing in Santa, lament how the bell is "broken". As an adult, the boy reflects on how his friends and his sister grew deaf to the bell as their belief faded over the years. However, the bell still rings for him, as it will do for all those who believe.

Cast

• Jack McGraw as the Hero Boy
• Anna Faris as Sister Sarah
• T.J. Miller as the Conductor
• Bex Taylor-Klaus as the narrator
• Michael J. Fox as Know-it-All

Production

It was announced that its film was based on the book of its same name.

Sound

The sound from The Polar Express (2017 film) was recorded, designed by Shannon Mills and edited by Michael Silvers at Skywalker Sound and re-recording was mixed by Gabriel Guy at Disney Digital Studio Services who are providing this motion picture with Big Hero 6.

Visual effects

The visual effects from The Polar Express (2017 film) were created by Movie Land Digital Production Services who had provided this motion picture with Illumination's Despicable Me 3.

Music soundtracks

The music from the movie was composed by Alan Menken and Henry Jackman, with original songs by Menken and Karey Kirkpatrick

Release

The theatrical release film will be released on November 17th, 2017 to theaters in RealD 3D, IMAX and Dolby Cinema.

Marketing

The teaser poster shows on December 8th, 2016. The theatrical release poster shows on October 17th, 2017. The international theatrical release poster shows on October 24th, 2017.

Home media

The home media release film will be available for this purchase from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD on February 27th, 2018 and on Digital Download and Movies Anywhere on February 13th, 2018. This release includes the new mini-movie featuring Tom the Hand, Mousey. The mini-movie were only available for this purchase on Blu-ray, Ultra HD Blu-ray and iTunes.

See also

• The SPI version of The Polar Express
• The Polar Express, a book that is based on the 2004 film and the 2017 film.

References

v - e - d

Part of WarnerMedia (AT&T) Filmography Released Stickman: The Movie (2014) • Reggie and the Penguin (2015) • Loppy the Dog (2016) • Birds (2017) • The Street of San Francisco (2017) • The Polar Express (2017) • Eddie (2018) • Major Lazer: The Movie (2018) • Penguinopolis (2018) • Smash of Claws (2018) • The Wampanoag Movie (2018) • The Hi-Tech and Science Fiction Movie (2018) • Doug (2018) • Funimals (2018) • Stuart Little (2018) • Sarcastics (2018) • Animals of Spy (2018) • Light It Up (2019) • Birds 2 (2019) • The Hampster Movie (2019) • Stickman 2: Larry's Adventure (2019) • Sphere (2019) • The Crown (2019) • Charlotte's Web (2019) • Animal Party (2019) • Car Chase (2019) • Ghost in the Shell (2019) • Star Trek (2019) • Loppy the Dog 2: The Second Movie (2019) • GoGo Tomago (2019) • Sarcastics 2 (2019) • The Great Spy Racers (2019) • Chunko (2020) • Ned's Newt (2020) • The Legend of Disguise (2020) • Spanish Empire (2020) • Twister (2020) • The Trumpet of the Swan (2020) • Technoville (2020) • Scrambled Eggs Super! (2020) • The Hunger Games (2020) Produced with Sony Pictures Animation The Animals in the Attic (2019) • The Secret Life of Animals 2 (2019) • Dimensions (2019) • Shaun and Roger: Roger Breaks the Internet (2019) • Gwen and Dan (2019) • Carmen Sandiego (2019) • Hoverboard (2019) • Chocolate Fever (2019) • Spider-Gwen (2019) • Go (2019) • Everest (2019) • Grossology (2019) • Bunny (2019) • Cool Girls (2020) • Spectrum (2020) Upcoming Romeo and Juliet (2020) • Las Vegas (2020) • Mr. Magoo (2020) • Spider-Gwen 2 (2020) • Panko the Dragon (2021) • Famous 5 (2021) • Carmen Sandiego 2 (2021) • Voltron (2021) • The Hollow (2021) • The Last Kids on Earth (2021) • Grossology 2 (2021) • Untitled Romeo and Juliet sequel (2022) Produced with Aardman Animations The JH Movie Collection Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) Upcoming The JH Movie Collection Movie: The Fate of the Tour (2020) • The JH Movie Collection Movie 4: Lost in Florida (2021) As Ted-LaPai Productions A Bird's Tale (1994) • The Secret of Ace (1995) • Cycle Throughout the World (1996) • Life of Animals (1996) • Power Up (1997) • One Little Rabbit (1997) • El Fuego (1997) • A Trip to Denmark (1998) • The Secret of Ace 2 (2000) • Yeti (2000) • A Bird's Tale 2 (2000) • Life of Animals 2 (2001) • Magnus • Los Altos (2002) • Two Little Rabbits (2002) • Bunnies on the Streets (2003) • The Animals Movie (2004) • Kevin the Lost Dog (2006) • A Trip to Los Angeles (2007) • The Final Chapter (2008) Upcoming Faster Bike (2020) • Cuphead (2020) • Jin (2020) • Carlos & Ricky: Into the Future (2020) • Reggie and the Penguin 2 (2020) • Shank (2020) • Spy Penguins (2020) Associated productions Sarcastics (2018) Direct-to-video films The Hunger Games (2020) Television series Stickman: The Series (2016-present) • Tom the Hand (2016-present) • All Hail Loppy the Dog (2017-present) • How Penguins Goes to Kansas (2017; television film) • The JH Movie Collection Show (2018-present) • The Christopher the Stickman Show (2020-present) Franchises Stickman (2014-present) • Loppy the Dog (2016-present) • The JH Movie Collection Movie (2018-present) • Sony's Movie Land Universe (2019-present) • Tom the Hand (season 3; 2016, 2019-present) People Directors Ted V. Miller • Robert Zemeckis • Stephen Heneveld • Mike Mitchell • Don Hall • Phil Lord and Christopher Miller • Chris Williams • Chris Miller • Jenny Harder • Bob Persichetti • Peter Ramsey • Rodney Rothman • Tom McGrath • William Renschen • Ella Ray • Dominic Formella • Alejandro Munoz • Marcos Rivera Producers Chris Meledandri • Kristina Reed • Bonnie Arnold • Roy Conli • Roy Lee • Phil Lord and Christopher Miller • Jordan Kerner • Don Hahn • Darla K. Anderson • Dan Lin • John Lasseter • Avi Arad • Amy Pascal • William Renschen • Ella Ray • Dominic Formella • Alejandro Munoz • Marcos Rivera Writers Karey Kirkpatrick • Nicholas Stoller • Rodney Rothman • Phil Lord and Christopher Miller • Jordan Roberts • John Davis • Peter Lord • Nick Park • William Renschen Executives/Associated figures Ted V. Miller • Michael LaPai • Monty LaBueno • George MacGuffin • Christopher MacGuffin • Chris Meledandri Animators and visual/special effects artists Gal Gadot • Jamie Chung • Bex Taylor-Klaus • Jeffrey Katzenberg • Rich Moore • Roy Conli • Gary Trousdale • Phil Lord and Christopher Miller • Steven Spielberg • Duncan Rouleau • Steven T. Seagle • Steven Yeun • Jenny Harder • Hailee Steinfeld • Shiyoon Kim • Panat Thamrongsombutsakul • John Knoll • Craig Hammack • Simon J. Smith • Samik Roy Choudhury • Erik-Jan de Boer • Cedric Nicolas-Troyan • Emilio Ruiz del Río Signature voice actors/actress Ben Stiller • Adam Sandler • Jim Carrey • Gal Gadot • Hailee Steinfeld • Jamie Chung • Bex Taylor-Klaus • Michael J. Fox • Andy Samberg • Keegan-Michael Key • Rihanna • John DiMaggio • Tenzing Norgay Trainor • Shameik Moore • Jake Johnson Signature musicians Henry Jackman • James Newton Howard • Lorne Balfe • Major Lazer • Alan Meyerson • Daniel Pemberton Signature character designer Monty LaBueno • Ronnie del Carmen • Jin Kim • Shiyoon Kim Visual Development & Storyboard Artists Dante Eriksen • Cody Cameron • Andrew Stanton • Shiyoon Kim • Jin Kim • Geoff Johns • Ronnie del Carmen Related topics Related media and projects Birdy Animation • Touchstone Animation Studios • Sphere Ball Studios • Shank Films • Panko and Panda Studios Miscellaneous Warner Bros. films (Unproduced Warner Bros. projects • WAG films • Warner Bros. animated films • Warner Bros. Animation franchises and productions) See also Movie Land • Movie Land Entertainment • Warner Bros. Pictures • Warner Bros. Animation • Warner Animation Group • Acquisition of Movie Land by Warner Bros. • The JH Movie Collection Movie (2018) • Gwen and Dan: Level Two (2020)