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*** A common, if not inevitable, problem with Santa-oriented movies. Just pass it off as a NecessaryWeasel.
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*** A common, if not inevitable, problem with Santa-oriented movies. Just pass it off as a NecessaryWeasel.AcceptableBreaksFromReality.
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** So when the magic train gains cars, does it spontaneously generate children in them too? Or when it loses cars...[[AdultFear where do the children go?]]
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** So when the magic train gains cars, does it spontaneously generate children in them too? Or when it loses cars...[[AdultFear where do the children go?]]go?
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*** The narration doesn't make sense if the friends being referred to are the ones from the train. Billy and Chris live in the same town, yet they only would've become friends after the train ride. There's no way Billy could forget about or dismiss that night's events as his imagination, especially if Chris kept the bell with him well into adulthood. What could he say that would explain it, that it was a dream they had together ''before'' they'd even met each other?
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[[folder: Friends on the train]]
* While it's conceivable that the main character, Chris, wouldn't be able to keep in touch with all the kids he met on the Polar Express, it's said that Billy also lives in his hometown, Grand Rapids. Yet in the ending narration, Chris says that all of his friends eventually lost their ability to hear the ringing bell. Did he not try to connect with Billy again? If he did, it seems unlikely Billy would've stopped believing in Santa since he would have had Chris ''and'' the bell to verify that it had happened.
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* While it's conceivable that the main character, Chris, wouldn't be able to keep in touch with all the kids he met on the Polar Express, it's said that Billy also lives in his hometown, Grand Rapids. Yet in the ending narration, Chris says that all of his friends eventually lost their ability to hear the ringing bell. Did he not try to connect with Billy again? If he did, it seems unlikely Billy would've stopped believing in Santa since he would have had Chris ''and'' the bell to verify that it had happened.
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* While it's conceivable that the main character, Chris, wouldn't be able to keep in touch with all the kids he met on the Polar Express, it's said that Billy also lives in his hometown, Grand Rapids. Yet in the ending narration, Chris says that all of his friends eventually lost their ability to hear the ringing bell. Did he not try to connect with Billy again? If he did, it seems unlikely Billy would've stopped believing in Santa since he would have had Chris ''and'' the bell to verify that it had happened.
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[[folder: Friends on the train]]
* While it's conceivable that the main character, Chris, wouldn't be able to keep in touch with all the kids he met on the Polar Express, it's said that Billy also lives in his hometown, Grand Rapids. Yet in the ending narration, Chris says that all of his friends eventually lost their ability to hear the ringing bell. Did he not try to connect with Billy again? If he did, it seems unlikely Billy would've stopped believing in Santa since he would have had Chris ''and'' the bell to verify that it had happened.
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** One of the first things she does in her verse of the song is to demonstrate empathy for Billy's situation ("With all this Christmas cheer / It's hard to be alone"). This is the first moment in the entire film that Billy is actively choosing to verbally communicate with anyone, even if it starts with just him singing to himself and not thinking anyone's listening. He and the Hero Girl connect via the song and their mutual love of Christmas and continued belief in Santa (Billy never indicates he doesn't believe in Santa, just that "he's never come around"; he's also able to hear the bells later on), despite both acknowledging that it's a nicer time of year for some than others. The song, if you really listen to the lyrics, isn't so much about the material aspect of Christmas as it is about Christmas being at its best when you know there are others celebrating with you - it's that sense of communal joy above all else that Billy's clearly been missing out on (for whatever reason), and that's exactly what the Hero Girl gives him through singing the song with him and sharing her feelings about the holiday, which in turn allows Billy to share his. It's at that moment the two of them truly start learning the lessons from their respective tickets: Billy learns that there are people he can trust and the Hero Girl learns that leading requires confidence in your own approach as well as looking out for others; notice how when she first makes her presence known to Billy by joining in the song, Billy instinctively begins to clam up again but rather than backing off or doubting herself as she did before when the Hero Boy questioned her decisions, she continues to sing and encouraging him to open up and keep communicating with her. And it works.
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** Seeing as Santa exists in the movie, it probably wasn't presents that Billy's parents couldn't afford, but maybe the fancy dinner.
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[[folder: Holly (Hero Girl)'s song]]
* Billy comes from a poor family "on the wrong side of the tracks", who doesn't believe in Santa because he has never gotten presents from Santa because his family can't afford them. Then Holly starts singing about presents and Santa Claus at Christmas, which feels very insensitive to me.
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** This will get more into the movie making side of things then the in universe explanation but consider the following. Perhaps rather then just doubt in general the Hobo is a representation of reasonable doubt? He makes a good point about how it's easy to take advantage of someone gullible enough to take a happy dream like Santa on faith. He exists to be the counterpoint to the true believer that is the Conductor who takes it that the things to believe in most are the ones we can't see. The two of them work together to help the protagonist find a balance between believing in the important things he can't see, whatever you might believe those to be, and not playing the fool as he grows older because of it. Presumably every kid with this sort of conflict who rides the Polar Express would have a similar experience.
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Who is the boss that the conductor mentions in the forsaken and abandoned toy car? It could be Santa, though that begs the question why the conductor doesn't say so.
** Of course its Santa. They just don't say his name because he's the boss. The chief. the big guy. He who's name is only to be spoken when absolutely necessary. It makes him appear more mystical.
** Of course its Santa. They just don't say his name because he's the boss. The chief. the big guy. He who's name is only to be spoken when absolutely necessary. It makes him appear more mystical.
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* Who is the boss that the conductor mentions in the forsaken and abandoned toy car? It could be Santa, though that begs the question why the conductor doesn't say so.
** Of courseits it's Santa. They just don't say his name because he's the boss. The chief. the big guy. He who's whose name is only to be spoken when absolutely necessary. It makes him appear more mystical.
** Of course
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** Maybe everyone inside the train was magically shielded from being disturbed by what was going on outside.
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** Of course its Santa. They just don't say his name because he's the boss. The chief. the big guy. He who's name is only to be spoken when absolutely necessary. It makes him appear more mystical.
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** What's the very first thing the train crew does for the passengers, once they're all on board and settled in? Give them hot chocolate. Perhaps it was ''magically''-hot chocolate, enchanted to warm them up from within for the duration of their journey.
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** Probably the best confirmation that he ''is'' a ghost? There's no plausible reason whatsoever why he'd ask Hero Boy ''about'' ghosts, ''or'' find it so "interesting" that Hero Boy doesn't believe in them despite interacting with him, the Hobo, at some length, if he's '''not''' one.
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[[folder: The Conductor's Boss]]
Who is the boss that the conductor mentions in the forsaken and abandoned toy car? It could be Santa, though that begs the question why the conductor doesn't say so.
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[[folder: The Polar Coaster]]
* When the train goes down the roller coaster like Glacier Gultch, how did the passengers that were inside the train appear unscathed? Other than the Know-It-All telling the Hero Boy about it, the children act like nothing happened.
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*** But the Hobo seems to be aware and concerned of the danger of being on top of the train when the train heads into Flat Top Tunnel. This wouldn't
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*** But the Hobo seems to be aware and concerned of the danger of being on top of the train when the train heads into Flat Top Tunnel. This He wouldn't be trying to warn about and save him if the death was made up.
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*** But the Hobo seems to be aware and concerned of the danger of being on top of the train when the train heads into Flat Top Tunnel. This wouldn't
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*** It should also be noted that, magical railroad or not, executives at the company do not take kindly to their trains being late. It's expected they keep their schedule on time or not at all, and the Conductor is certainly not the type to break that schedule, seeing as he's been on the job for years. Any delay to the train means that they risk falling behind schedule further, and with a lot of more treacherous terrain on the route, they can't take any chances. Plus, he is also a JerkWithAHeartOfGold, and he would hate for the kids to miss seeing Santa. Schedule or no schedule, nothing hurts worse than disappointed children, and that wouldn't have done him any favors.
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*** The obvious answer is that the animators made some goofs during the film itself. In-universe, the best explanation could be representative of the protagonists' own doubts. Is he really on this train? Is he really going to see Santa? If that's the case, then the cars likely come and go to represent the strength of those doubts, with its true consist revealing itself once his doubts finally ceased.
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*** The train was running at such a high speed by the time it slid onto the ice, the pin was practically a projectile waiting to go off, not to mention Steamer had swallowed it while it was floating in zero gravity. With that strong enough of a force, combined with those factors, it was just sharp enough and fast enough to make the appropriate function.
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*** Steam locomotives are, by nature, constantly self-destructive machines. No matter how well you take care of them, something can and will go wrong on route. Remember, it seems like the train only runs once a year, and per FRA regulations, they have to be subject to total rebuilds every fifteen years, or 1,472 days of operation. 1225 still had six years left on her at the time the movie came out, so assuming this is the real 1225, she had only gotten a few basic repairs during downtime. Plus, Smokey and Steamer were pushing her pretty hard, so she was bound to have a few issues on the way.
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*** They primarily pulled Steamer's beard as a means to assert dominance over the head caribou, since it matched their screams somewhat. The whistle would have more than likely spooked them, as pointed above, and an army of caribou against a train full of children wouldn't have been a safe option. Besides, nobody could have seen the herd coming, and even if they did, nobody would have thought Steamer has such a sensitive chin.
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** Assuming the narration was referring to the friends he made on the train instead of his everyday friends who didn't share the experience, it's kind of important to keep in mind that the children are all pre-puberty (I'd say Hero Boy and Hero Girl are probably the eldest and even they are likely only around 11) and the only one to have an actual lasting physical reminder of that night is the Hero Boy himself with the bell and the note left with it. We don't keep memories forever and the memories we do keep are not picture-perfect snapshots that remain untarnished; they can become warped and changed over time, especially if there's no physical "anchor" to them. It really isn't unreasonable to assume that the further the children grew away from the whole experience, the less real it would seem to them and the easier it would be to dismiss it as a dream if they even remember it at all. This would probably also be exacerbated by parents outright telling the kids they must have been dreaming if they ever spoke of the journey. There's also the fact that children, especially at such a young age and in an era that predates social media, simply ''wouldn't'' keep in touch with each other across long distance for very long, even if they exchanged names/addresses/phone numbers - correspondence would last a few years at most. Without that contact with others who shared the same experience, again it would be very easy to forget about it over time.
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** Maybe the Conductor taught it to them? The train has presumably been going all over the US (if not the world) by the time the Hero Boy gets on - since his and Billy's house are the last two stops - so the kids who got on sooner will have had to be entertained ''somehow'' in that time. As for how the Hero Girl and Know-it-All Boy know the train was magic...they're young children (and the Hero Girl explicitly still believes in Santa and thus likely the concept of magic in general) confronted with a previously completely non-existent train complete with tracks that apparently run through actual streets of towns and cities showing up outside their front door with a Conductor who tells them they're going to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. Exactly what conclusion ''other'' than "magic train" do you expect them to reach from that?
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** In the beginning, the Hero Boy looks at a magazine dated December 29, 1956. So it's got to have taken place sometime after that.
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*** Many children would get the idea to pull the brakes to allow kids who didn't board at first but changed their minds to safely board the train, just as Billy did. Billy wouldn't be the only child to change their mind after rejecting the journey initially.
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[[/folder: Who's the Hobo?]]
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[[folder: Selective Belief]]
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** If you mean when the bell fell, for dramatic effect. The song wasn't the point of the scene any more, and slowing down and quieting the song was meant to draw viewers' attention to the important parts of the sequence, as well as drawing out [[{{Overcrank}} something that would normally last five seconds.
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** If you mean when the bell fell, for dramatic effect. The song wasn't the point of the scene any more, and slowing down and quieting the song was meant to draw viewers' attention to the important parts of the sequence, as well as drawing out [[{{Overcrank}} something that would normally last five seconds.seconds]].
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[[folder: Lead Us to the Answer]]
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[[folder: How Many Cars?]]
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[[folder: They Iced Mathematics]]
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[[folder: Chewing Gum at Night]]
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[[folder: Consequence for No Ticket]]
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[[folder: Jewish Elves]]
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[[folder: Not Feeling Cold]]
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[[folder: What if One Died?]]
[[folder: What if One Died?]]
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[[folder: Why Does Christmas Not Work Out for Billy?]]
[[folder: Why Does Christmas Not Work Out for Billy?]]
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** It's possible that it hadn't "worked out" in other ways than just not getting presents, and/or that it hasn't really ''never'' worked out, just not for the past few years or so. It's obvious that he comes from a poor family, so if one (or both) of his parents were, say, abusive, argumentative, or alcoholic, it'd be more than capable of putting a damper on his mood. (Especially so if he believed the presents came from them before the arrival of the Polar Express.)
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** It's possible that it hadn't "worked out" in other ways than just not getting presents, and/or that it hasn't really ''never'' worked out, just not for the past few years or so. It's obvious that he comes from a poor family, so if one (or both) of his parents were, say, abusive, [[AbusiveParents abusive]], argumentative, or alcoholic, [[AlcoholicParent alcoholic]], it'd be more than capable of putting a damper on his mood. (Especially so if he believed the presents came from them before the arrival of the Polar Express.))
*** Even if he got his presents and his parents were fine, maybe Christmas didn't work out because they couldn't afford Christmas dinner.
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[[folder: Why Not the Whistle?]]
*** Even if he got his presents and his parents were fine, maybe Christmas didn't work out because they couldn't afford Christmas dinner.
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[[folder: Why Not the Whistle?]]
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*** Even if they could only communicate with yelling, why didn't they just tell him to scream rather than pulling on the beard?
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[[folder: Why Did They Change Their Minds]]
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[[folder: How Do They Know the Song?]]
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** For that matter, how did Hero Girl and Know-it-All Boy know it was magic?
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[[folder: When Did it Take Place?]]
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[[folder: When Did it Take Place?]]
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** So somewhere between the fifties and the seventies?
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*** But if the Conductor hadn't left the task of bringing the poor boy his drink to one of the other kids, the boy wouldn't have had the chance to learn to trust that not ''every'' other child is going to scorn him for his family's lack of wealth. And the "hero girl" wouldn't have had the opportunity to take the lead, which was ''her'' lesson.
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** The Herpolsheimer's depicted in the movie existed from 1951 until '85. The building now houses a United States Bankruptcy Court, Western District, State of Michigan.
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** The conductor may be required to make passengers leave the train if they don't have a ticket (though he will obviously have to stop the train first). The conductor, not wanting do this, promotes them from passenger to crew member so they can still get to the North Pole. After all, [[ExactWords the staff don't need tickets to ride the train]].
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** So when the magic train gains cars, does it spontaneously generate children in them too? Or when it loses cars...[[AdultFear where do the chilren go?]]
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** So when the magic train gains cars, does it spontaneously generate children in them too? Or when it loses cars...[[AdultFear where do the chilren children go?]]
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** So when the magic train gains cars, does it spontaneously generate children in them too? Or when it loses cars...[[AdultFear where do the chilren go?]]
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** [[Film/JurassicPark That's chaos theory.]]
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** [[Film/JurassicPark That's That's...that's chaos theory.]]
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** They were indecisive. They changed their minds. You said it yourself - they were hesitant. You've never had that happen before?
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** The book was published in 1985, and with the exception of the tech at the North Pole, the movie doesn't show any signs of trying to advance the time of the setting. The most telling evidence is the scene of Hero Boy flipping open a book that he has in his room for evidence as to the existence of Santa, which wasn't even in the book. Combined with other things like a lack of cell phones, the implication is that the story takes place before computers and personal technology became widespread.
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** I don't think they were intended to be Jewish so much as New York stereotypes: grouchy, and obsessed with everything being done quickly and efficiently. The accent just has a lot of overlap. Kinda the same reason a Spartan King was played by a Scotsman: the stereotype associated with the accent fit the mood of the character.
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** 1) The ending narration came straight from the book, in which the other 3 main kids were not in, having been made exclusively for the film; 2) since the boy is still alive (at least at the time he is narrating this) there is still a chance he will meet them again after this.; 3) If he has met the other kids on the train at the time of the narration, he may have only saw at least one of them only once, so they might not count; 4) If he met and/or became official friends with them later in life, then yes, he was talking about his everyday friends (I assume from his school) because the movie happened during his childhood. 5) the 3 main kids are likely to still believe in Santa, as they each had their own lesson to learn and had also the special case of adventuring outside what should normally be the routine for all passengers (the whole lost ticket part, glacier glitch/ frozen lake, north pole journey, ECT.)
