From his dark fortress of Fornetarma, the Rhîwghûl, otherwise known as Aerdegil the Annual, judges the moral worth of all Middle-Earth, and once per year upon midwinter he leaves his throne, and with his army of Moriquendi, descends on the realms of Men.
The facial expressions are tough to get past in The Polar Express movie -- plus they stretched out the story a lot. The Final Fantasy Spirits Within movie did a better job in 2001 than Polar Express did in 2004. Five years later, Avatar.
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The uncanny valley, yes, but even without that, the weirdly menacing adults who yell a lot and creepy dolls firmly put this in horror movie territory for me.
Arrived at my hotel late last night and turned it on … I don’t recall it being that extraordinarily creepy; turned it off after 10 minutes, but then, everything seems creepy these days.
It's interesting that it uses the same language as religion. If you believe hard enough you get your reward. However it's a religion that doesn't ask for money seems self financing.
Just rewatched it the other day and thought the same!! That scene when Santa comes out to board his sleigh and all the elves are singing or whatever was visually creepy. It was never really a big hit as I recall. It must have terrified children. The book was beautiful
Some cousins in the generation between me and my kids (so, older Zoomers) really loved it. I don’t think it was a box office hit but it had a long home video afterlife and ended up being a cherished childhood memory for many of them.
That and the final fantasy movie are some pretty interesting time capsules from a time when doing an entire movie in CGI was still sort of a novelty and have the uncanny valley vibes to prove it
The whole thing with a train pulling up to the house with absolutely nobody hearing it makes no sense. Also how does the kid just walk out of the house without his parents noticing? Sketchy asf
Movie was a bit weird, but a solid story.
Saw it on the IMAX/3D with my toddler girls and my father.
Seeing them reach for the ticket was magical.
A great memory for me and for my late father on Christmas.
I read that it touches the Uncanny Valley and that makes sense, I always had a slightly vague uneasiness when watching it.
My children loved it and it is a great Christmas film 🐾🐈⬛😊❤️
It’s always in the top 5 Xmas movies my kids request every year. Their elementary school teachers showed it every year in class the last day of school. They are now 17/20 yo. I love it. 😂
I want a new Rudolph where Mrs. Claus tells Santa to rip the reindeer and Rudolph’s dad (every over-amped high school football coach, complete w whistle and baseball cap) a new one for bullying Rudolph to the point where he feels he has to leave.
I agree 100%. Why does everyone seem to think this is a wonderful holiday classic? Is it because Tom Hanks plays all of the characters? I refuse to be in the same room when it’s on.
The Industrial Revolution styled present factory and Orwellian elf workforce is bizarre to me. And where do all of those Chocolate waiters go for the rest of the trip? Are they stored in a rack somewhere?
These thoughts keep me entertained while the rest of the family watches it every year.
Did you notice the squished faces? In the transfer from 3D (which I saw in the theater and thought was delightful) to 2D for the DVD, something went piggy and the planes of the faces in 3D didn't V translate properly (which I have ever after found distracting).
Lol I remember my younger cousin was taken to see that as a little kid & she was scared of it. I saw it a few years after it came out and thought it was awful.
I wanna smack the crap outta that boy with glasses. The know it all asshole.
And the whole movie creeps me out. Kiddo enjoys it, so while he watches it, I do Xmas prep, have a cup of hot cocoa, and wonder about where those waiters are stashed when they’re not singing.
I like the totally apropos nothing breaking into song. The one with the poor sad boy, everyone completely oblivious to his sadness, including Santa. Wtf, Santa. The BEST time of the yearrrrr!
It's like they looked at the renders for Spirits Within and said "no, we have to go even further into the Uncanny Valley".
Not to knock on Spirits though, I'm sure it would've been a great film if they'd gone with traditional animation mixed with CGI for the monsters, Titan AE style.
New Orleans has a Polar Express Train that runs each night until Christmas, passengers are asked to wear pajamas to board. It's surreal watching real life imitating art!
I think it's beautiful. It's an animation milestone. Some people feel the uncanny valley thing because they read they should on the internet and that for me says more about people than the actual phenomena.
It was one of the things that stopped Alita being huge. AND SHE ISN'T EVEN HUMAN!
The best part was the POV animation and the train itself. The rest was creepy, especially the kids. They should have done a Roger Rabbit and used live action actors in an animated world.
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That’s … not where it went.
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Didn't they basically kidnap a bunch of kids and spirit them away to the North Pole?
I half expected them to be kept there as assembly line workers.
It's like a dream you'd have in the hospital.
Saw it on the IMAX/3D with my toddler girls and my father.
Seeing them reach for the ticket was magical.
A great memory for me and for my late father on Christmas.
My children loved it and it is a great Christmas film 🐾🐈⬛😊❤️
Now, hot frosty is a weird movie…
I find the animation (that was the best at the time) unnerving.
Like just an entire hanksverse.
OTP vp
These thoughts keep me entertained while the rest of the family watches it every year.
Never liked it.
And the whole movie creeps me out. Kiddo enjoys it, so while he watches it, I do Xmas prep, have a cup of hot cocoa, and wonder about where those waiters are stashed when they’re not singing.
Not to knock on Spirits though, I'm sure it would've been a great film if they'd gone with traditional animation mixed with CGI for the monsters, Titan AE style.
Ahead of its time and not good IMHO.
I love a good Christmas movie.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDqgKppth8F/?igsh=MXh0OGtzOHF0eTJwNQ==
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706620/
It was one of the things that stopped Alita being huge. AND SHE ISN'T EVEN HUMAN!