November 4, 2004
By Matt Savelloni
“I WILL HONOR CHRISTMAS IN MY HEART, AND TRY TO KEEP IT ALL THE YEAR.” – Charles Dickens
There is beauty in simplicity but too often the latter is confused with pandering stupidity. Luckily for readers of all ages, there are writers like Chris Van Allsburg who understand the difference. As much as it is a throwback to simpler times that probably never existed, THE POLAR EXPRESS speaks to the transparent receptivity of a child. That is, it is a great holiday ride that never underestimates or insults its audience and resists every temptation to sink into commercialized hooey.
Legend has it that Van Allsburg, a sculptor, wrote THE POLAR EXPRESS almost on a lark, a side diversion from his main profession. I tend to doubt this as he still had to summon the energy and moxie to package his work with illustrations and market it to agents and publishers. Still, the anecdote serves as a nice adjunct to an incredible book. And speaking of those illustrations, while matter-of-fact, they remain eye-catching and robust, deep in detail that suggests an alternate world on the other side of the page rather than just a two-dimensional ideal. Combined with effortless and adventurous prose, those pictures rocketed THE POLAR EXPRESS to wide acclaim and stamped Chris Van Allsburg as one of the giants of juvenile literature.
THE POLAR EXPRESS begins where most children’s novels would not dare tread. It starts with the possibility that there is no Santa Claus. This earth-shattering revelation is introduced in the first paragraph and sets up the quest to discover not just the renowned Claus but the true meaning of Christmas. Now, renditions of this very same spiritual journey have been explored in countless books and films and carols but Van Allsburg wisely positions the story through the eyes of a first-person boy. By doing so, he allows younger readers to easily identify with this strange and wondrous expedition and older readers to recall their romping youth. It’s an astute touch, one that fuels the breathless plot to its too-soon conclusion.
“TO PERCEIVE CHRISTMAS THROUGH ITS WRAPPINGS BECOMES MORE DIFFICULT WITH EVERY YEAR.” – E.B. White
Van Allsburg’s earnest tale could easily have been undone by vacant platitudes. Instead, he focuses on telling the story rather than aiming to please a particular demographic. Younger readers and listeners will require an explanation of many words and phrases Van Allsburg employs and when is the last time you could say that about a children’s author? Recalling such luminaries as A.A. Milne, Margery Williams and Kenneth Grahame, Van Allsburg renders a fantasy world tied tightly to the real one, connecting rites of passage and outgrowing childhood myths to a charming and vigorous escapade. Although his imagination is lit, his doubts assuaged, by book’s end the boy possesses a more advanced insight, his whimsy fulfilled. Youngsters will be having too much fun to notice, but they will have just been taught a lesson in striving for and realizing their dreams.
THE POLAR EXPRESS is a modern fairytale, a gee-whiz voyage and a life-affirming morality piece about brotherhood and charity, those elements so far buried beneath the mad commerciality plaguing all holidays. Van Allsburg mixes artistry with diversion, comedy with heart, discovery with wisdom and marvel with integrity. Our hero returns with confidence in humankind’s basic goodness, an ethic left buried in another age when real altruism existed, buried perhaps in the minds of children. A captivating ride, THE POLAR EXPRESS endures as one of the greatest celebrations of simple joy, more than capable of melting the ironclad heart of any cynic, young or old.
“I'VE DECIDED SOMETHING: COMMERCIAL THINGS REALLY DO STINK.” – Andy Warhol
Is it possible for a book extolling the simple virtues of Christmas to express the same message in an animated movie with merchandising opportunities out the wazoo? THE POLAR EXPRESS seems to be a contradiction in terms. In a perfect world, the talent would work for free and all the proceeds would be donated to children’s charities around the globe. That and only that would be deserving of Van Allsburg’s work. Then again, Van Allsburg is a true American success story: pulling himself up by his bootstraps, plucking timelessness from his imagination, teaching humility and charity to millions of kids and being righteously rewarded for the effort.
But there’s just something a little bit hypocritical when Hollywood tries to shill the same mojo. I call it the FIGHT CLUB contradiction: A megabudget movie produced by a megaprosperous studio, starring megarich movie stars. To see it, you have to shell out at least ten bucks. Double that if you want to enjoy a bucket of popcorn and a soda. All of this for the pleasure of enduring a two-and-a-half-hour satirical harangue about the dangers of commercialism…Does the phrase “pot and the kettle” enter anybody else’s mind here? Perhaps that is why “issues” movies typically are box office losers. You have to do more than just wave your finger like a disapproving parent and/or pat the audience on its head in a condescending affirmation of “values” while feel-good tropes parade across the screen. Similar to IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, cinematic success still boils down to character and story.
And if there is anyone who can wear both hats of old-fashioned storyteller and feel-good messenger, it is Robert Zemeckis. Like Steven Spielberg, Zemeckis is a populist filmmaker of refined artistic tastes, intelligence and wit. They are the modern-day heirs to Capra, Hawks, Hitchcock and Lean. Zemeckis is a fabulist. At his peak, he transports viewers to cinematic lands we are never anxious to leave: the passionate jungles of ROMANCING THE STONE, the whimsical 1950s of BACK TO THE FUTURE, the insanity of Toon Town in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?, the vapid Tinseltown landscape of DEATH BECOMES HER, the flight of faith through CONTACT’s deep space and the isolated splendor of CAST AWAY. He does have a tendency to allow his Boomer sensibilities to override the natural ebb and flow of his stories but for the majority of his career, Zemeckis has worked magic behind the camera. THE POLAR EXPRESS sees him returning to the keyboard as well. While his name has been attached to lesser efforts like BORDELLO OF BLOOD and TRESPASS, THE POLAR EXPRESS will be his first major compositional effort since the BACK TO THE FUTURE trilogy. Always a fan of the most contemporary special effects, the film will undoubtedly be a feast for the eyes. If Zemeckis can convey Van Allsburg’s soul, THE POLAR EXPRESS should be an early Hollywood treat as well.
“Man is the only animal that learns by being hypocritical. He pretends to be polite and then, eventually, he becomes polite.” – Jean Kerr
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