The Polar Express

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about The Polar Express' classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of The Polar Express completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 14 November 2004 .

Overall comments and recommendations

Based on the award winning picture book by Chris Van Allsburg The Polar Express is a film that has something for everyone. For children it is an action-packed adventure full of courage, hope and holiday cheer. For older children and adults there are outstanding special effects as well as deeper meanings to be found.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie The Polar Express contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

The film begins on Christmas Eve with a young boy, whose growing sense of logic leads him to think that there is no Santa, and yet something inside him still wants to believe. Lying awake, he strains to hear sleigh bells, and instead is jolted upright by the thundering arrival of a huge train, the Polar Express. The train is bound for the North Pole, carrying pyjama-clad children from all walks of life who do not believe in Santa, have forgotten the meaning of Christmas or who have lost a part of themselves that this trip will help them find.

On the train the young boy, who remains nameless throughout the film, meets a few new friends, a lonely boy, a courageous and confident girl and a know-it-all. He also encounters a ghostly hobo, traveling on the roof of the train who is always there to help just in the nick of time.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

The film contains a few instances of violence:

• When two train engineers are trying to change the light bulb on the front of the train, one gets stuck and his beard is used to keep the other from falling off the train. Later the conductor repeatedly yanks on his beard to communicate with a herd of caribou, despite the fact that it is obviously very painful.
• The hobo, sitting on a speeding caboose smashes into a wall.
• The emergency brakes are pulled a few times, sending passengers banging around the compartments.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

There are quite a few suspenseful scenes that could be frightening for young viewers.

• The young boy meets a hobo on the top of the train. Although the hobo is polite, he looks very creepy. In a couple of close-up shots, his features look sinister and distorted.
• When the young boy and the hobo try to ski to the train's engine room from the caboose, they both slip backward and the boy dangles behind the train, hanging on only by a ski pole. He is pulled up and he and the hobo ski forward while the train is plunging downhill into the darkness. They reach the engine room where the boy jumps into the coal pile only a moment before he would have slammed into the side of a mountain. The hobo vanishes. Loud, suspenseful music is playing in the background.
• When the conductor yanks on the engineer's beard the engineer's face contorts grotesquely.
• A lever in the engine room breaks and the train speeds out of control onto rickety, roller coaster like tracks with the young boy, the courageous girl and the conductor hanging on to the front. The sequence goes on for some time, accompanied by loud and suspenseful music, with the characters being in great peril, from one threat after another.
• The young boy winds up in a compartment filled with broken, dirty and forgotten toys. It is dark and creepy and the boy is terrified when he sees a grotesque looking marionette of Scrooge come to life. He gets tangled up with other marionettes and while he struggles to free himself as Scrooge advances on him. He flees the compartment in terror.
• The caboose comes loose with the young boy, the lonely boy and the courageous girl all trapped inside and sends them speeding out of control down the streets of the North Pole.
• While trying to get back to the main square in time to see Santa Claus the lonely boy, the young boy and the courageous girl must pass through a series of tunnels and alleyways. They are following a sound that only two can hear and wind up eavesdropping on some elves in order to find out where to go. Young children may not understand what is happening and consequently find this part of the film somewhat frightening.

Aged eight to thirteen

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Depending upon the age and maturity of the child some children between the ages of 8 and 13 may be frightened by some of the above mentioned scenes.

Over the age of thirteen

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

Children over the age of 13 would not be frightened by this film.

Sexual references

There were no sexual references in this film.

Nudity and sexual activity

There was no nudity or sexual activity in this film.

Use of substances

No substances are used in this film.

Coarse language

The film does not contain any coarse language.

The movie's message

The movie has two main messages: firstly, that sometimes the most real things in the world are things we cannot see and secondly that the true spirit of Christmas lies in the human heart.

Parents may wish to take the opportunity to discuss with their children the qualities of:

• Faith
• Courage
• Friendship
• Humility
• The true meaning of Christmas.