[Movie] The Polar Express-- The Power of Believing

Merry Christmas!!! Since the holiday's coming, let me introduce you guys my favorite Christmas movie-- The Polar Express.Suppose most of you've already seen this movie, however, since it's from the year 2004, I'd better write the main plot for you to recall.

The little boy who was the leading role of the movie, was on the verge of not believing in Santa Claus. However, on Christmas Eve, a miracle happened-- a magic train called "The Polar Express" stopped right outside his home and he was invited aboard. The train was full of kids, heading directly to the North Pole.

The conductor of the train.

The boy made friends with a brave girl, a "know-it-all" boy (he was REALLY annoying...) and a lonely boy on the train, together they had a thrilling adventure, including facing a blizzard on the top of the train, saving the uncontrolled train from crashing into a glacier, and getting lost in the maze-like town of the elves. After all these fantastic experiences, the doubted boy began to "believe".

The friends the boy met.

At the end of the story, the boy and the kids eventually met Santa Claus, and he started to understand the true meaning of believe, as the conductor of the train said: "Sometimes seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see."

 In the very end, the boy got "the first gift of Christmas" from Santa-- a bell on Santa's sleigh which could only be heard by those who truly believed. As time elapsed, all of the boy's friends and his little sister couldn't hear the bell ring anymore; nonetheless, the bell always worked for him no matter how long the time had passed.

All right, the above is the introduction of the plot. Now, surely I must mention the music of the movie. The Polar Express featured a few of impressive original songs and a combination of classic Christmas songs, the following are my recommendations, you can also find the full soundtrack on You Tube.

My favorite is "When Christmas Comes To Town", I was deeply moved when I first heard that song, the melody was touching, the scene was beautiful, and the lyrics spoke of the true meaning of Christmas. The last two songs were medley of some original songs and classic songs, hope you can enjoy them.

Have you ever wondered that why this movie seemed so real despite that it was an animation? The magic behind it was the technique of motion capture. The actors wore loads of sensors on their face and body to capture their every single movement, then the engineers and anime artists transferred them into images. 

The huge hit Avatar also applied this technique, though this was a big breakthrough at the time when The polar express was filmed. Another interesting fact is that the actor Tom Hanks played SIX roles himself, including the leading role (the little boy), the conductor, Santa Claus, the hobo, the boy's father and the narrator. The following videos are some behind-the-scene clips.

A detailed explanation of the techniques used in the film (I failed to post the video directly):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w22BQpyoydk

It's really amazing to see how they brought the astonishing scenes to life, and how Tom Hanks talked to himself(?). Okay, just kidding, it's definitely a challenging task to act six characters at the same time, and Mr. Hanks was indeed an outstanding actor to do such an excellent job.

The first time I watched this movie, I was immediately fascinated. As you can see, EVERY SINGLE SCENE was breathtakingly beautiful, the plot was interesting and imaginative, and the most important of all (for me) is those attractive pieces of music.

Now I've grown up and watched the movie once more, I found that this is not only a Christmas movie about interesting adventures of the kids, but also told us how to view the world. When we're not a child anymore, we started to have lots of pressure from the others and ourselves. We tend to get depressed easily, and stop believing in joy and happiness. 

We forgot how excited we once were just by seeing those presents under the Christmas tree or in the stockings, by hearing the cheerful songs on the streets, or getting together with family and friends. I found my eyes filled with tears when Santa said to the boy: "Just remember, the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart." Then I realize, just appreciate every moment of life, we can always find joy and happiness in our own heart.

Merry Christmas!!!!