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‘Tomorrow’s Technology’ is true to Polar Express

Posted by Ed and Lois

The book, which has sold more than 5 million copies and is No. 18 on USA TODAY’s Best-Selling Books list, tells the simple story of a boy who, wavering in his belief in Santa Claus, takes a mysterious train to the North Pole. The film adds characters and subplots; as Van Allsburg says, “If they had done a page-by-page retelling, the movie would last 12 minutes.”

In Polar Express, Van Allsburg says, Zemeckis, Hanks and screenwriter Bill Broyles Jr. have been “reasonably faithful” to the spirit of the book and “the possibilities of belief in a world that often doubts beliefs.” Usually, he says, Hollywood asks: “How do we keep some hyperactive 9-year-old in his seat for 90 minutes?”

At his home in Providence, Van Allsburg, 55, says, “There’s a paradoxical quality to the film being the beneficiary of absolutely cutting-edge technology while telling a story that’s quite different from most contemporary movies for kids.” He says the movie is “an earnest, old-fashioned story told with tomorrow’s technology