- The Polar Express turns 20 this year
- Director Robert Zemeckis’ animated movie has become a festive favourite
- Yet it remains one of the creepiest Christmas movies ever
There are wholesome Christmas movies and festive horrors and those that fall somewhere in between, like The Polar Express.
Released in 2004, director Robert Zemeckis’ Christmas adventure stars his regular collaborator Tom Hanks in a number of roles using motion-capture filmmaking. Always an early adopter of new techniques, Zemeckis has long been at the forefront of digital filmmaking since the late 1980s.
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From the Back to the Future trilogy to injecting animation into real-life in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, it’s something Zemeckis has embraced during his years as a director – and for the most part, it’s turned out well.
However, in The Polar Express, something went awry, leaving many feeling creeped out instead of full of festive cheer.
So what is it about The Polar Express that makes it such an unnerving watch – and what have people said about its lasting legacy? Let’s take a look…
What is The Polar Express about?
The Polar Express follows a young boy whose dedication to believing in Santa is wearing thin.
When a mysterious train destined for the North Pole arrives outside his house, he’s welcomed aboard by its conductor. From there, he embarks on a colorful journey to meet Saint Nick alongside a handful of other children.
By the time the credits roll, the boy’s belief in all things festive has been restored. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for viewers. Some felt the movie’s uncanny animation style freaked them out.
Why does it freak people out?
It’s mainly due to Zemeckis’ use of motion-capture-based CGI. In the early noughties, this was a relatively new technique. It allowed animators to inject more life-life movements into their work.
It involved actors performing their scenes in a special motion capture bodysuits. Their movements were then used as a template for animators.
While this gave Hanks’ performance as The Polar Express’s cheery conductor a life-like quality, many noticed that the tool wasn’t quite authentic enough to be believable. This left The Polar Express’s animation style lingering in the ‘Uncanny Valley’ – a place that looks real enough but is somehow still a bit off.
Over the years, it’s become something viewers find impossible not to notice.
“They look human but not human enough, which causes an eerie disturbing sense for people,” suggested one Reddit user when asked why The Polar Express was so unnerving.
“The characters have lifeless eyes, black eyes, like dolls’ eyes,” offered another. Meanwhile, third said: “I was terrified of this movie as a kid and thought the characters looked extremely scary.
“Didn’t realize until today that it’s the uncanny valley effect. It still creeps me out, they just feel so wrong…”
It’s been 15 years and the lifeless CGI eyes in The Polar Express still freak me out pic.twitter.com/p5Qqg8m5zN
— Will Mavity (@mavericksmovies) October 24, 2019
This user has a point. The Polar Express’s lifeless eyes still freak people out.
Does anyone actually like The Polar Express?
Actually, some people have grown to love The Polar Express.
In the 20 years since its release, a generation of viewers grew up watching Zemeckis’ movie who remained happily oblivious to its links to the ‘Uncanny Valley.’ As such, it’s become a cult favourite for some audiences – many of whom can’t seem to understand why it causes other viewers such distress.
“My favorite thing about the Polar Express is it has the best movie version of the North Pole in my opinion,” said one fan on Reddit. “It just feels as large and as industrial as would actually be required for Santa to create as many toys as a billion kids would need.”
“I don’t care what people think about the movie it’s a staple for me to watch at Christmas,” said another.
Meanwhile, others suggested that the whole thing had been blown out of proportion: “A lot of these things become amplified as online memes.
The animation is a bit weird and off, but that translates online to comments like, “Oh my god, this movie terrified me so much as a child I would piss myself at the poster” and stuff like that.”
So there you have it. Whether you consider it a cosy Christmas classic or the work of the devil, The Polar Express has somehow managed to keep festive film fans talking for 20 years.
