10 Things That Don’t Make Sense About The Polar Express

The Polar Express is one of the legions of Christmas classics that makes the streaming circuit year after year and has since become a holiday mainstay along with the likes of A Christmas Carol and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Like so many of its kind, it’s so easy to become intoxicated by the outpour of holiday magic that viewers suspend their belief to let the enchanting tale wash over them.

That being said, upon reviewing the film and its charms, a few questions begin to arise about the magical train and its journey to the North Pole. And they’re certainly more complex than deciding to get on board.

Can Only The Boy Hear And See The Train?

One of the first things some watchers might wonder is why the boy is the only person that notices the gigantic express train that suddenly appeared, tracks and all, right in the middle of the street.

Granted, maybe it was supposed to appear to him and him alone because he needed the magical journey, but the train’s next stop was only a few minutes away. Considering how loud a train whistle can be and how far it can travel, Billy should have been able to hear it before it showed up on the other side of the tracks.

How Do Kids Earn A Ticket?

It might be fate, it might be chance, it might be some grand cosmic die-roll of the universe, but it’s not really clear what kids have to do to earn or deserve a trip on the Polar Express. It could be argued it’s based on the status of belief or Christmas spirit, based on the inclusion of the Hero Boy and Billy, but it doesn’t explain the other kids like the Hero Girl appearing to be roaring and ready to go.

At the end of the day, it’s still unknown how kids get chosen to ride the train. It might be random, but it also might be based on needs or level of Christmas spirit, but it goes unexplained either way.

Why Wasn’t The Sister Invited?

One Polar Express character that might go overlooked is the boy’s younger sister from the beginning of the film. While her brother is having his own internal struggles concerning the existence of Santa Claus, his sister is openly asking so many questions that it’s enough to wonder why she didn’t get invited too.

On paper, it seems a bit unfair to take one sibling on a magical Christmas journey and not the other. Plus, there’s no reason other than self-control that he wouldn’t have told her about it. The whole situation feels more than a little one-sided.

Can Kids Take Multiple Trips?

The answer to this one is more than likely no, but there are two pieces of information that make it seem otherwise. When the boy meets the Hero Girl and the Know-It-All Kid, they briefly discuss the train’s type and obviously magical ability. The girl might just accept all this, but then there’s the Know-It-All Kid.

Granted, it might be from his insufferable insistence on being the smartest kid on the train, but it also might be because this isn’t his first trip. That would explain how he’s able to quote the make, model, and specs of the train, as well as the route when approaching the “other side of the tracks.”

What Makes These Kids So Special?

This question isn’t about whether or not the kids earn a ticket, are randomly selected, or whatever else; but instead the common factor that must unite the passengers on the Polar Express, although the movie never tells us what that is.

The children all have to have something in common to warrant their appearance on the train, especially if they have a record on file like the boy’s shown by the conductor. Research and study have definitely been done on them, so there has to be some overarching reason for them to be there. It has to be planned.

The Hot Chocolate Mug Mishap

This might be a mistake made by the animators, but it still warrants a mention since viewers caught this little detail. During the “Hot Chocolate” musical number, the girl is shown hiding a cup of cocoa under her chair to take to Billy in the next car. But when she’s served again, she repeats the action before the waiters disappear out the door.

This doesn’t feel intentional, yet it was fully rendered and animated. She receives and hides a mug twice, yet only one appears when she tries to take it to the boy in the back.

It Becomes A Musical Over Halfway Through

While the movie does have musical numbers, the need for it to be considered a musical feels a bit unwarranted. With the exception of the previously-mentioned “Hot Chocolate” sequence, the rest of the songs come out of nowhere.

While “When Christmas Comes To Town” and “Rockin’ On Top Of The World” aren’t bad additions to the film, they don’t exactly have much reason to exist. If it was going to be a musical, it should have made itself more clear from the very beginning.

The Needless Ticket Chase

There’s really no other way to say this, but the sequence where the girl’s lost ticket does a complete lap around the train through the wilderness of the frozen tundra was only included to show off the animation budget. From getting stuck in the window to clinging to the vent, the ticket makes a needless journey in and out of the train.

The sequence is indeed beautifully animated, and it does give the viewer a chance to see the size and scope of the world the characters inhabit, but it does nothing to further the plot. If the entire sequence was removed or the ticket simply remained stuck somewhere, the story wouldn’t change.

Walking Across The Roof Of The Train

This isn’t just questionable, it’s dangerous. There is literally no need for the conductor to take the Hero Girl to the engine by literally walking the full length of the train. Remember, they’re walking across the top of a moving machine in a snowstorm.

There is no reason that the pair couldn’t have just walked through the various compartments of the train to get to the engine, still had the bit with the puppet car, the caribou crossing, and even avoided the treacherous fall after Flat-Top Tunnel. It makes sense to make the film longer, but it was not a practical decision.

Who Or What Is The Hobo?

Perhaps this one is better left unanswered, but one of the more discussed elements of The Polar Express concerns its mysterious traveling spiritual guide. He might be a ghost, he might be an angel, he might be something else altogether, but the undeniable fact remains that his ambiguity is what makes him so memorable.

It’s never fully explained, but that’s the beauty of his character. It’s not made clear whether he’s a past conductor, a magical member of the North Pole, or why he’s there to begin with. But no matter what the real answer may be, any version of the movie or story would simply be incomplete without him.

About The Author