The North Pole

The North Pole
Type	City
Sublocations	North Pole Square, Surveillance room, Wrapping hall, Sorting room
Inhabitants	Santa Claus, Elves, Acrobatic Elves, Elf General, Elf Lieutenant, Elf Singer, Santa Claus' reindeer
Visitors	Hero Boy, Hero Girl, Billy the Lonely Boy, Know-It-All, Gus the Toothless Boy, Boy on Train, Red Head Girl, Little Boy, Young Boy
The Polar Express Route
Previous	North Pole Bridge
Next	North Pole Square

"There... is the North Pole."
— The Conductor

The North Pole is one of the locations in the 1985 book, The Polar Express and the 2004 film adaptation of the same name. It is the most northern place on Earth and where Santa Claus, his reindeer and elves live. It is also where the elves make all the Christmas toys and help Santa keep track of all the children in the world to make sure they stay nice.

Role in the book

The Polar Express portrays the North Pole as a city filled with factories where the Christmas toys are made. Every year on Christmas Eve, the Polar Express travels there, taking children to see Santa, who gives one of the children the first gift of Christmas before leaving to deliver the presents.

When the Polar Express arrives at the North Pole, the children notice a lack of elves, though crowds of them appear as they reach the center of the city. The Conductor and the children get off and make it to Santa's sleigh where the excited reindeer ring the silver bells hung from their harness, creating a sound Hero Boy finds pleasant. Santa soon shows up and chooses Hero Boy to receive the first gift of Christmas. Hero Boy sits on Santa's lap in his sleigh and tells him he wants one of the bells from the sleigh. An elf cuts a bell off and tosses it to Santa, who declares it the first gift of Christmas. At that moment, the clock strikes midnight, so Hero Boy leaves the sleigh and Santa goes to deliver the presents. Once he leaves, the children and the Conductor get back on the train and head home.

Role in the film

Despite some difficulties along the way, including a caribou crossing, a broken throttle and ice freezing over the tracks, the Polar Express arrives at the North Pole five minutes early. The Conductor and all the children get off at the Square except Billy the Lonely Boy, who stays behind in the observation car. Hero Girl and Hero Boy go back to try to change his mind, though Hero Boy accidentally steps on a lever which uncouples the car from the train, causing it to roll away and down a hill. The Hobo appears and points Hero Boy to a brake wheel, which he uses to slow down the car and prevent a crash as it stops on a spinning turntable. The children get off after the turntable stops spinning and follow the sound of the silver bells back to the Square, which only Hero Girl and Billy can hear.

They get to a surveillance room where a few elves do last minute work before leaving for the Square on the pneumatic. The children take the pneumatic too, but instead arrive in a big factory where they cannot hear the bells anymore. A conveyer belt sends a present, which Billy grabs onto after learning it is for him and Hero Boy and Hero Girl follow. They end up atop a big pile of presents, which, along with the children, are enclosed in a big bag and carried by zeppelins to the Square. Know-It-All turns up in the bag, who had been checking his presents and pulled on Billy's leg after mistaking it for one. When they make it the Square, the bag knocks off the star atop the big tree, so a few elves from the zeppelins catch it via bungee jumping before it hits the ground and put it back. After which, the bag is landed on Santa's sleigh and the elves escort the children out.

Santa soon shows up and everyone cheers, including the reindeer, which causes one of their silver bells to loosen. It lands in front of Hero Boy, who picks it up and rings it, but does not hear it until he find the belief within himself. He returns Santa the bell, who then talks with the children and chooses Hero Boy to receive the first gift of Christmas. Hero Boy, sitting on Santa's lap in his sleigh, asks for the silver bell, which Santa holds up declaring the first gift. After which, the clock strikes midnight, so Santa hands Hero Boy the bell and flies away in his sleigh to deliver the presents. Some elves use a handcar to retrieve the observation car while the children board the train and make the return trip.

Behind the scenes

The architecture of the North Pole was inspired by that of on the Pullman Palace Car Company, a former railroad car manufacturer a mile from director Robert Zemeckis' childhood home which production designer Rick Carter discovered while visiting the director's old neighborhood. The building Santa comes out of at the Square is based on the Pullman Clock Tower.

While designing the North Pole for the film, the filmmakers envisioned the home life of the elves. Some early concept art showed an elf kitchen, elf bar, and elf bathroom, though none of which appear in the final film.

Trivia

• In real life, the North Pole would not be visible from the Arctic Circle because it would still be over 1,600 miles (2,600 kilometers) away.
• The record room the children pass shows names for various locations at the North Pole not seen in the film, including a confectionery, snow patrol, toy workshop, reindeer stable, and blacksmith.
• According to a party kit from the book's website, the zip code for the North Pole is 001225 and Santa Claus' address is 456 Christmas Lane. The zip code likely references either the number of Pere Marquette 1225, the real-life locomotive which inspired the Polar Express, or the date of Christmas. Another party kit from Houghton Mifflin's website listed the zip code as 12345.

Gallery

The North Pole seen from the Arctic Circle

The North Pole Square

External links

• North Pole on Wikipedia