The forest is a location in The Polar Express book and film.
The Polar Express[]
In the book, the Polar Express passes through a dark forest on its way to the North Pole, a contrast to the bright lights of the various towns and villages earlier. It is populated by wolves and rabbits, which hide from the train while three of the wolves can be seen watching it race past.
In the film, the forest is part of the ticket ride scene. After the wind blows Hero Girl's ticket away, it lands on the ground in the forest. When the Polar Express passes through the forest, three of the wolves appear onscreen and are seen watching the train racing by. When the ticket gets blown away again, the other wolves run through and the three of the animals ran with the rest of the pack. A few hundred wolves are seen chasing after the Polar Express through the forest with the ticket flying among them. The pack continues to run after the train crossing over a nearby viaduct until the wolves came close to the edge of the cliff, and turn right in the other direction and the ticket gets blown up, before it gets snatched by a flying eagle.
Behind the scenes[]
The ticket ride scene was included in the film to feature the illustration in the book with the forest as the filmmakers wanted every illustration to be represented. When the wolves appear, three strike the same pose as in the book for a few seconds before running off with the rest of the pack.[1]
Early concept art by Doug Chiang shows a sleuth of bears gathering around a campfire and having a party in the forest.[2] This likely would have also taken place during the ticket ride, but it did not make it into the final film.
Trivia[]
- While the book lists rabbits as one of the animals in the forest, they do not appear in the illustration.
- In the book, the illustration has three of the wolves watching the train pass by, which was used in the ticket journey scene.
- In the early concept art, during the bears's Christmas celebration, one of the bears is shown to be playing a double bass.
- When the Polar Express first goes through the forest, the second whistle that is heard is from Canadian Pacific 136.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Schaub, David (November 15, 2005). "'The Polar Express Diary': Part 4 -- Keyframe Animation". Animation World Network.
- ↑ Cotta Vaz, Mark. Starkey, Steve. (November 4, 2004) The Art of the Polar Express, Chronicle Books. p. 51. ISBN 978-0811846592.
| Locations | |
| Grand Rapids, MI | Grand Rapids, Michigan • Hero Boy's house • Herpolsheimer's • 11344 Edbrooke Avenue |
| The Journey | Forest • Viaduct • Tunnel 1225 • Big Hill • Flat Top Tunnel • Glacier Gulch • Ice Lake • Corkscrew Mountain • Suspension Bridge • Arctic Circle • North Pole Bridge |
| North Pole | North Pole • North Pole Square • Railroad Turntable • Surveillance room • Wrapping hall • Sorting room • Present room |