Afternoon and TGIF Phoenix.
It’s time for some Friday Flicks.
I’ll be highlighting Christmas and Christmas themed movies this month.
After my post yesterday, one of the comments about favorite
holiday movies was Polar Express. That’s
the one I’ll highlight today.
Plot: This is the
story of a young hero boy on Christmas Eve who boards on a powerful magical
train that's headed to the North Pole and Santa Claus's home. What unfolds is
an adventure which follows a doubting boy, who takes an extraordinary train
ride to the North Pole; during this ride, he embarks on a journey of
self-discovery which shows him that the wonder of life never fades for those
who believe.
Trivia:
·
When the Hero Boy first meets the Hobo on the
roof of the train, he is playing the carol "Good King Wenceslas." The
story of Saint Wenceslas I, Duke of Bohemia is that of a king braving the harsh
winter to bring alms to the poor on the Feast of Stephan, December 26th. His
page finds he can't go on through the harsh conditions and is directed to walk
in the footprints that the king has made in the snow. The Hobo directs Hero Boy
to follow behind him and ultimately helps him reach the engine before they make
it to the tunnel, thus allowing him to find and help his friend. This is also a
representation of the Holy Spirit idea of the Hobo, that he guides those who
believe in Him to safety, even in perilous times.
·
The address spoken by the conductor early in the
film "11344 Edbrooke" is the real address of Robert Zemeckis'
childhood home. The home is in a south side of Chicago neighborhood called
Roseland.
·
A close examination of all the ticket numbers
reveals that they all contain the number "1225" in them. Pere
Marquette No. 1225 was used as a model for the Polar Express locomotive. 12-25
also refers to the date of Christmas - December 25th.
·
When Hero Boy falls asleep, the clock in his
bedroom reads 10:20 - the same time as the clock in Scrooge's bedroom when
Marley's ghost appears, in the Alastair Sim version of A Christmas Carol
(1951).
·
The Polar Express is another Christmas Carol
movie. Hero Boy is Scrooge and doesn't believe in Santa anymore causing the 3
ghosts of Christmas (the Hobo, Conductor, and Santa) to change him forever. The
Hobo is the Ghost of Christmas Past, and plays the role of Christmas Future. He
tries to intimidate Hero Boy into changing his ways using only himself instead
of the future. The Conductor is the Ghost Christmas Present and is in charge of
keeping order in the present to get Hero Boy to Santa. Finally, Santa is
Christmas Future and changes Hero Boy forever, like Scrooge was. They even pay
homage to Dickens' classic by having a Scrooge puppet dance on screen briefly.
(Controlled by Christmas Past)
Goofs:
·
When the train runs into the caribou, the noise
they are making is actually that of elk.
·
Know-It-All states that the train is a Baldwin
2-8-4 locomotive built in 1931. The Polar Express was modeled from plans of
Pere Marquette 1225 which is a 2-8-4 type built by Lima Locomotive Works in
1941.
·
Throughout the movie, the number of cars on the
train changes, from just three, to as many as eleven plus. This is most obvious
when the hobo and Boy are skiing on the roofs of the cars, and when they are on
the ice tack.
·
The first time the Boy goes downstairs on
Christmas eve there is a red snowman skirt on the tree. Then on Christmas
morning, as the train is going around the tree the skirt on the tree is yellow
kind of color and has bells on it.
·
All the characters when they ring the bell hold
it by the bell instead of the ribbons. The bell will not ring if this is done.
Have a fangtastic day and start to the weekend everyone.
<3 Brock V"""V
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