I know. We’re
in august. It is in no way, shape or form near to Christmas. But what can I
tell you, it was a tiring day. I know I ranted and raved about realism and
happy endings in the last post but it really wasn’t a “realism” and “minimalism”
kinda evening. I had had a little too much of that in my day already. What I
needed was to settle down and be transported to a world where I knew everything
would turn out alright in the end. Preferably a magical world – I needed it to
be as far from “reality” as possible. This may be the main reason I gravitated
towards a Christmas film, I’m not exactly sure. I can tell you without a shadow
of a doubt that if you have had that kind of day, or alternately if it's actually
Christmas and you want a seasonal film that you don’t watch every day, this is
the fella for you.
Now, this
is quite a modern little number. Not only is it made, in its entirety, in
computer animation but it adopts the rather cool “anonymous hero” stance. Our
hero is a little boy. He is just approaching that age when the magic is about
to leave his world. And the exodus of magic has begun with father Christmas.
The little boy wants to believe, but everything
around him seems to be telling him loud and clear that there is no such thing
as Santa. So that Christmas eve, when he closes his eyes and pretends to sleep,
trying to catch Santa out as he does every year, deep down inside he doesn’t
have much hope of it happening. Until he hears something quite extraordinary
going up his street. A train. The magical Polar Express has come to take him on
a journey… After all, anything is possible on Christmas Eve…
I think
Christmas and New Year bring out the “mushiest” in us because they are much
like the ends of long, tiring days. Just like a particularly rough day at the
office, a whole year has gone by. You are tired. You want to see your loved
ones and rest your brains – and bones. You have had reality by the bucket-load.
You want good feelings, a hearty meal a drink or three and a few days off…
Surely you see the parallels? That’s why films like this go so well with
Christmas.
Of course
one has to remember that this film was made in 2004 – which is “way back when”
by technological terms. I feel that the storyline would benefit a lot from a
big special effects overhaul. Heck, it could even be a combination of CGI and
real actors as opposed to a “cartoon” from beginning to end. I’m not completely
nuts about big explosions and fight scenes with magical weapons but magical
lands… You’ll always get my heartstrings with that one. Especially at the end
of tiring day.
But the
thing is, will it ever be a classic? I’m
not that sure. I think the problem is, the story is sweet but the message is
slightly outdated. In complete opposition to the previous film, we are
encouraged to “believe” in this one. And we all know kids today. They are just
as likely as us to smile at that message understandingly and with an air of
superiority. It’s sad really, but I wonder how many kids today really believe
in Father Christmas? We live in an era where mothers quiet their crying toddlers
by giving them their smartphones and tablets to play with. The tiny tots can
browse better than we can and I find that scary seeing that hooking up the
printer ended up becoming a major challenge for me. I am yet to purchase a
smartphone – or a tablet. And of course it’s great that children have so much
knowledge at their fingertips so quickly. It is also great that we live in an
era of science where we know more about the world around us than ever before.
Still, must this mean that all sense of “magic” must be knocked out of children
at as early an age as possible? The jury is out in my opinion. I mean, I’m an
adult, and I physically need magic and fantasy in my world. It’s computer
generated magic, that I grant you, but given the realities of this world… I
reckon it will do…
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