Tom Hanks and his Playtone partner, Gary Goetzman, approached Van Allsburg about bringing the beloved Christmas story to the big screen a few years ago. After getting the okay from Van Allsburg, Hanks turned to his friend Robert Zemeckis to adapt and direct "The Polar Express" movie. Realizing the movie needed to remain faithful to both the story and the feel of Chris Van Allsburg's book, Zemeckis and Hanks felt the film couldn't be a live-action movie in the traditional sense. Instead, Zemeckis turned to visual effects master Ken Ralston who came up with the idea of working with actors and digitally capturing their performances on computers, creating "The Polar Express" film by way of a brand new technology, which has since been christened 'Performance Capture'.
Catching up with "The Polar Express" star Tom Hanks and writer/director Robert Zemeckis at the movie's Los Angeles Premiere, I had the chance to ask each of them about bringing "The Polar Express" to moviegoers worldwide and the use of this new technology.
INTERVIEW WITH TOM HANKS:
For people who haven’t read the book, can you give me a snapshot of what the film’s about?
It’s about a kid who is waiting to hear Santa Claus up on his roof, and instead a huge express train shows up on his lawn and he gets on board.
What is the movie's message?
I think it’s saying that Christmas spirit is a fleeting thing. You can lose it or you can keep it. You’re better off if you can keep it.
How did you keep all of your characters straight in your head?
(Laughing) That’s my job ma’am. I’m a professional actor. That’s a trade secret.
How many characters do you play in “The Polar Express?”
I play five, six… [Wife/actress Rita Wilson throws in the correct answer of five] Five. It wasn’t confusing. I knew what my job was to do. They put on a different name on my Velcro outfit and that’s all I needed.
Who was your favorite character to play?
I guess it was the big man, Santa Claus. It’s tantamount to playing Elvis in an Elvis movie.
What was it about Chris Van Allsburg book that grabbed you?
I think that Chris Van Allsburg really wrote a masterpiece. The paintings are really quite impressionistic and very haunting. It’s a Christmas tale that’s told from really a substantially different version of the usual ways we’ve gotten the Christmas myth. And the jeopardy that is involved in it is not about somebody trying to keep Christmas from happening or trying to steal the Christmas spirit. It’s all about whether one individual can honestly bring themselves to keep believing in the spirit of Christmas after he’s past a certain age, when all sorts of things dictate that it doesn’t exist anymore.
How did you feel the first time you saw the completed process?
Well, I never seen it all done really. I’ve seen it like 80% done, and 92% done. But look, I don’t understand it. I think it’s pretty miraculous. I think it’s pretty good.
Do you have a favorite holiday tradition?
We’re pretty standard. I like the Christmas Eve make-out session with my wife (laughing). I’d have to say that’s my favorite. You know, there’s the Thanksgiving make-out session that’s pretty good, too. I like that (laughing).
INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR ROBERT ZEMECKIS:
Could this movie have been made live-action?
Anything can be done live-action if you have unlimited time and unlimited money. But it wouldn’t have looked like the book and it wouldn’t have kept the same emotion as the wonderful paintings that Chris illustrated. So I don’t think it would have been as true to the book if it was done live-action.
The actors were on a set with very few props. Does that change how you direct your cast? Do you give them more or less direction than you would on a regular film?
Oh no, no, no. You direct it the same. We all use our imagination. It’s like directing black box theater.
You could gone hundreds of different ways with each scene in the film because of the way this was shot and captured on the computer.
Right.
How did you decide what ended up in the film?
You just have to make judgment calls. But I mean, I always try to just do what I feel is best for telling the story. I do that when I make a live-action, and I did it when I made this movie.
Did the film turn out as you anticipated?
I don’t get to see it with any objectivity. I’ve been living with it for so many years. I always had a fantasy that I’d love to hypnotize myself for one day and see the movie when it was finished. I don’t ever really get to see what my movies look like to someone who is really objective.
Additional Interviews from the Premiere of "The Polar Express:"
Nona Gaye / Peter Scolari / Daryl Sabara / Producer Steve Starkey
