A standard Railroad ticket but different words are punched when the conductor takes up the fares. This is a magical touch which should arouse skepticism.
Billy's age is about 7, he is smaller than Hero Boy and Hero Girl. Therefore he is not their age, but he is not younger by a lot. Hence, his approximate age is 7.
Yes, but will u live long enough to see it. That is the question.
Tom Hanks. He also narrates the movie, plays the hobo, plays Santa, plays the boy's dad.
I love this film! Been searching for the soundtrack for years, lol...
(FYI: I haven't read the book, so no comment as far as that on any differences between it and the movie.)
Without researching or quoting anybody directly associated with the film, I would say that, because nearly all the characters in the film are either played-by or patterened-after the main star of the show, Tom Hanks(including the Conductor, the Tramp, the main Hero/Child and Santa Claus himself), then the Conductor, along with all of the other characters, is meant to represent the Child either at different stages of his physical life or from different viewpoints of the Child's thoughts at this questioning stage of his life, where he is starting to doubt and question whether Santa really exists or not.
The Child is the POV, or story's point-of-view character, with mild questioning and doubts.
The Tramp shows outright disbelief and mocking scorn in the concept(ie: none of it is real).
Santa Claus is complete belief in the unbelievable and fantastic; "i do believe, i do believe!".
In this context, I think the Conductor shows a grown concept of mature belief, or a willing suspension of disbelief along with a sense of duty("we have a job to go, we have to get there, we have to do it on time", etc).
Continuing, it would then be the Conductor's job to make sure that these children don't lose their sense of belief, so that it can be carried on to the next generation through them and their continued sense of grown, adult belief to their own kids, et al. which would be why he's bringing them to the North Pole to meet Santa, so that their belief is confirmed and continued, etc.
(It's never hinted at in the film, but wouldn't it be possible that each child sees the Conductor as someone different...kinda almost like themselves, but all grown up and more mature and ready to believe in the sense of duty?)
Chris Van Allsburg's "The Polar Express" received the Caldecott Award in 1986.
There is much symbolism in The Polar Express. As a minor example, the fact that the pin that holds a lever together (in the engine room in the train) is gold symbolizes its importance (it could have been silver or another color). Other examples: The boy and Santa represent the true spirit of Christmas. And the "hobo-looking" ghost represents the ba-humbug in all of us: that we will usually believe only what we can physically see.
No there are no polar bears featured in the movie. It is just the name of the train that travels that area.
It is a little more sombre and mysterious than the benign bedtime story book- in which no crisis other than maybe that of a credibility gap among the youth ( is this for real is this a dream> and the major theme of Santa Claus. The movie has something of a sombre mysterious attitude among the passengers, what is this, where are we going, what line is this? ( the last question not answered) There is some vague similarity with mysterious travels en masse such as ( between two worlds) which was rarity of rarities, an Occult drama made during the War ( World War II). The inclusion oif the Railroad into a Christmas drama is in a sense, long overdue, but I did not like the treatment ( Did not see the film) most of the characters function anonymously and this adds to the mysterious atmosphere.
The first gift was one of Santa's bells off his slay.
The name of that song is Believe by Josh Groban here are the lyrics ...
Children sleeping
Snow is softly falling
Dreams are calling
Likes bells in the distance We were dreamers
Not so long ago
But one by one
We all had to grow up
When it seems the magic slipped away
We find it all again on Christmas Day
Believe in what your heart is saying
Hear the melody that's playing
There's no time to waste
There's so much to celebrate
Believe in what you feel inside
And give your dreams the wings to fly
You have everything you need
If you just believe
Trains move quickly
To their journey's end
Destinations
Are where we begin again
Ships go sailing
Far across the sea
Trusting starlight
To get where they need to be
When it seems that we have lost our way
We find ourselves again on Christmas Day
Believe in what your heart is saying
Hear the melody that's playing
There's no time to waste
There's so much to celebrate
Believe in what you feel inside
And give your dreams the wings to fly
You have everything you need
If you just believe
If you just believe
If you just believe
If you just believe
Just believe
Just believe
The hero or lead character, is old fantasy custom I don"t approve of- not given a name in the story. The same tack was followed in The Time Machine ( we never learn the name of the lead character) and in a sense, Alice in Wonderland. ( we never learn her last name).
if you could hear it, you were a true believer in Santa Claus.