Polar Express Theory

An elaboration of my POLAR EXPRESS THEORY:

Last year I came up with a small theory about the movie, but after having watched it again, the details have become clearer.  My theory of exactly WHY Tom Hanks plays so many characters in the movie is that the boy has father issues.  Hear me out.  In the beginning and end of the film when the father is present, you can never clearly see his face, even though he is obviously voiced by Hanks.  This gives the audience a frustrating (but metaphorical) point of view shared by the young boy, in that he knows his father well but has no idea what kind of person he is.  The boy later meets three distinct characters that are all voiced by and resemble Hanks, as well as having a specific relationship with the boy.  (Also a side note: the clock by his bed doesn’t stop until his eyes close. Does this mean it was all a dream? Who knows? But this isn’t Inception so let’s not take that path.)  Anyway, these are the characters and the relationships that support how he sees his father.

-  The Conductor- He is the stern, yet fair, father figure that is a bit more obvious right off the bat.  He guides and teaches the boy throughout the whole journey to the North Pole, but always gives him a CHOICE whether or not to do the right thing (“The thing about trains… it doesn’t matter where they’re going. What matters is deciding to get on”).  He is full of wisdom and is able to solve any problem to protect the children when something goes wrong (i.e. the train going over the ice, strapping the children down when it goes out of control, getting the Caribou to move, and alerting the elves of Santa’s bag hitting the star on the giant tree).  The conductor shares a story about how years ago an unknown ghostly figure saved him from falling- the very same thing that happens to the boy on this night!! Near the end, he punches the word “BELIEVE” into the boy’s ticket and gives it to him without even looking at it. When the boy starts to tell him what it says, he stops the boy and states, “It’s not something I need to know”. (“Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can’t see.”)

-  The Hobo/Ghost- Simply the doubt that the boy has in his father. He continuously suggests that that the boy does not believe in Santa because of his fear of being “bamboozled, taken for a ride, railroaded”.  The boy is afraid to have faith in his father because he is afraid of being let down or abandoned.  The Scrooge marionette that the Hobo operates is just a more obvious example of the doubt and stubborn lack of faith that he is trying to get across.  HOWEVER- The fact that the Hobo is a ghost that comes and goes and can vanish shows that even though he has doubt in his father, it is very weak.  He loves his father and will always have that in the back of his mind.

-  Santa- The ultimate representation of faith and magic to children all over the world in a single being.  In a way, he is perfection.  The boy struggles to see him as he appears to the crowd of elves and takes it upon HIMSELF to decide that he does believe in Santa, aka his father.  It is at this moment that Santa presents himself to the boy (watch it again to get what I mean with this part).  As if all this wasn’t enough, Santa gives the boy a bell from his sleigh- an actual, physical vessel of belief as it can only be heard if you have faith in Santa’s magic.  I think this is the promise the boy has always wanted from his dad.  He needs physical proof that his father will never let him down (“This bell is a wonderful symbol of the spirit of Christmas – as am I.  Just remember, the true spirit of Christmas lies in your heart”).  After seeing the magic that is effortlessly pulled off by this single man, he is made a believer for life.

And to top it all off, Tom Hanks narrates the story as the boy’s future, older self, suggesting that he grew up to be the great man he saw in his father all along.
BOOM.