Junior Easy/Fiction
By Janine from the Winkler Branch
The Polar Express is the magical story of a young boy's train journey to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. The beautiful illustrations in the book perfectly capture the wonder and magic of Christmas. The book details the train's journey to the North Pole where the children will meet Santa and one of them will be chosen to receive the first Christmas present.
While the book depicts a very lovely journey to the North Pole with very few obstacles along the way, the movie is another story. In the movie, the journey to meet Santa is full of obstacles and conflicts. From missing tickets to conflict with the other kids on the train to getting lost at the North Pole, there is never a dull moment.
I realize that it is hard to turn a 32 page children's book into a full length movie but, for me, there is just no comparison between the two. While there is nothing inherently wrong with the book, when compared with the movie, it just seems dull. The train journey in the movie is exciting and full of twists and turns and their arrival at the North Pole brings even more excitement whereas in the book, they ride the train, they meet Santa, they go home. The movie also emphasizes the boy's inner struggle of whether he still believes in Santa or not, which is not really evident in the book. There is just something about seeing the story played out on the screen that makes it come alive, bringing with it cozy, festive Christmas feelings. Add the fact that Tom Hanks plays 5 characters in the movie and you really can't go wrong. Now that I have read the book (this year was my first time), I don't know that I need to read it again, but I will continue to watch the movie every year.
What do you think? Book or movie?
Also check out The Art of The Polar Express
The Art of The Polar Express celebrates the transformation of Chris Van Allsburg's celebrated children's book The Polar Express into a full-length, animated feature film through a fascinating collection of concept art, production storyboards, and computer-generated renderings. Production designer Doug Chiang shares his original, never-before-seen artwork that evolved into the final motion picture. Weaving these pieces together are candid interviews with the star-studded cast and crew, including Robert Zemeckis and his team of filmmaking visionaries, that deliver rare insight into the film as they divulge the secrets behind their creative process.
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