History WesternAnimation / ThePolarExpress

* PresentPeeking: The Know-It-All sneaks away from the others to look through the presents, but "All I got was like a stupid underwear."

** An old Pinocchio puppet, appears in the abandoned toys wagon, [[https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://deadline.com/2020/01/pinocchio-robert-zemeckis-to-direct-1202840440/amp/&ved=2ahUKEwiJru-23L3pAhX1IbkGHbd5BxMQFjACegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw0kLTBXpDnY0mEFf_xPfSvJ&ampcf=1 It was confirmed that Robert Zemeckis will direct a live-action remake of Disney's Pinocchio.]]

** Steam engines are naturally self-destructive machines that require constant maintenance and upkeep (which is part of the reason they got replaced by diesel power in the first place), and no part of it is immune to the occasional breakdown. The pin holding the throttle in place is one such part, and it eventually wears out and needs replacement. Unfortunately, such wearing happens just before the train approaches the steep downhill grades of Glacier Gulch, when it sticks and causes the throttle to jam.

* CrazyPrepared: The Fireman somehow keeps an emergency cotterpin under his hat, which is used to hold up a bun hairdo.

** The Know-It-All Kid gives a very accurate technical description of the locomotive's weight and pulling power...but loses most of his credibility when he gives the locomotive's class, build year, and manufactuer. He claims it is an S-3 Class Berkshire built by Baldwin in 1931, but Pere Marquette 1225 is actually an N-1 Class Berkshire built by Lima in 1941, a full ten years after his claim. He was right that Baldwin built the S-3 class, but they did so for the Pere Marquette's chief competitors, the Nickel Plate Road (1949) and Erie Railroad (1928). No Berkshires were built in 1931, there being a gap in Berkshire production between 1930 and 1934.

* RuleOfThree: The train is stopped once to let Billy on, and again when coming upon the caribou crossing; both times, the Conductor isn't real happy about it. The third time though, the train starts going too fast and urges Hero Girl to tell the engineer to slow the train down, but the throttle suddenly self-destructs when the cotterpin comes loose.

** The length of the train keeps varying from five to as many as twenty cars. The inside scenes, however, show a consist of only three cars: the used toys car behind the locomotive, the car with the kids, and the observation car at the end.

* BrickJoke: When Hero Boy hears the ruckus outside near the beginning of the film, he rushes to grab his bathrobe and accidentally rips one of its pockets causing marbles to fall out. Near the end when Sarah wakes him up, the same thing occurs with the other pocket.

* ChekhovsGun: The pocket that Hero Boy rips in his haste to check out the train outside his house.

* RunawayTrain: After caribou crossing the throttle breaks and the train runs out of control going through glacier gulch at dangerous speeds before ending up on the ice lake.

** An old Pinocchio puppet, appears in the abandoned toys wagon, [[https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://deadline.com/2020/01/pinocchio-robert-zemeckis-to-direct-1202840440/amp/&ved=2ahUKEwiJru-23L3pAhX1IbkGHbd5BxMQFjACegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw0kLTBXpDnY0mEFf_xPfSvJ&ampcf=1 It was confirmed that Robert Zemeckis will direct a Live Action of Disney's Pinocchio.]]

* ActionizedAdaptation: The movie added action scenes of the protagonist sledding down the top of the train and working to get the train back on the rails before ice on a frozen lake broke beneath it.

** Trains may need to keep on schedule, but there's making up time and going dangerously fast. The Conductor, who spent the film worrying about arriving on time, becomes greatly concerned when the train picks up speed, as he knows all too well that there's a particularly dangerous drop up ahead. With passengers aboard (and children passengers no less), he promptly instructs the Hero Girl to tell Smokey to slow down. Unfortunately, he's too distracted by a jammed throttle to notice.
** Once the two get the throttle back on (with a pin from Steamer's hair) and manage to stop the train, the sharp application of the brakes, combined with the high speed from which they started off at and the slipperiness of the ice, nearly tips 1225 on her side before the kids and the conductor are able to balance her out just enough to keep her upright.

* ThoseTwoGuys: Smokey and Steamer, the engineer and fireman.

-->'''Hero Girl''': When Santa's sleigh bells ring\\

-->'''Conductor:''' WHO IN THE BLAZES APPLIED THAT EMERGENCY BRAKE?!!
-->'''Know-It-All:''' ''[points to Hero Boy]'' He did!
-->'''Conductor:''' You!

-->'''Hero Boy:''' You?! I thought you got thrown off and...you're driving the train?!
-->'''Hero Girl:''' They put me in charge!

* FailedASpotCheck: Evidently, no one in the Grand Rapids, MI area noticed a steam locomotive and a small train of passenger cars full of children running through their city. Perhaps justified in the sense that the ride was for the children, and it is a [[AWizardDidIt magic train]] after all.

* ActionizedAdaptation: The movie added action scenes of the protagonist sledding down the top of the train and working to get the train back on the rails before ice on a frozen lake broke beneath it.
* AdaptationExpansion: A good deal, seeing as it is a 100 minute long movie, based on a 32-page book that can be read in less than 10 minutes.
* AluminumChristmasTrees: The train passes by Herpolsheimer's, which was a real department store in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

** There is another theory that the Hobo is Jack Frost explained on the WMG page.

* VehicleTitle

** Hero Boy blows the train whistle while saying "I've wanted to do that my whole life!" So did [[Film/BackToTheFuture Doc Brown]]. In a further nod to ''Back to the Future'', a flux capacitor can be seen mounted on the locomotive's boiler backhead when the cotter pin shears off. Santa's sleigh also leaves behind a trail after it disappears.

* MeaningfulName: Hero Boy's name is Chris, after the book's author.

* BoringReturnJourney: The trip back home from the North Pole is very quiet and melancholic; this is meant to reflect the Hero Boy's disheartenment after he [[spoiler:accidentally loses the bell that Santa gave him]]. [[RealityEnsues Plus all the kids must be probably tired after all that excitement, as quite a few are seen going to sleep.]]

* RealityEnsues:
** A steam engine randomly appearing in the middle of a street where no tracks ever existed before is enough to confuse anyone, but one that claims it's going to the North Pole? It's no wonder the Hero Boy initially refuses to get on.
** Living life on the rails is dangerous enough, but for hobos, the danger is even greater if they're unfamiliar with the route. This is apparently what got the Hobo [[spoiler: killed]], according to a deleted scene, as he chose to ride the Polar Express for what became his first [[spoiler: and, in the land of the living, only]] ride. Once they approached Flat Top Tunnel that night, [[spoiler: his failure to notice it until it was too late ended him right there and then.]]
** Steam engines are naturally self-destructive machines that require constant maintenance and upkeep (which is part of the reason they got replaced by diesel power in the first place), and no part of it is immune to the occasional breakdown. The pin holding the throttle in place is one such part, and it eventually wears out and needs replacement. Unfortunately, such wearing happens just before the train approaches the steep downhill grades of Glacier Gulch, when it sticks and causes the throttle to jam.
*** This point also ends up playing out two other key instances of this trope. First, the throttle getting stuck causes an annoyed Smokey to try and ram it loose. Doing so only shreds the pin out of place and into the heating grate leading inside the firebox, causing the engine to pick up speed rapidly as they approach the dangerous drop. It was a miracle they didn't derail from that excessive speed (well, before they hit the frozen lake anyway). Then, when they do get the pin out (courtesy of their run throwing the cab into zero gravity), Steamer swallows it and Smokey has to ram him with a shovel to get him to cough it out. It might not have been an issue, but they were running out of control on the ice, and when a sharp object hits a fragile patch of ice, it makes for a deadly combination.
** Trains may need to keep on schedule, but there's making up time and going dangerously fast. The Conductor, who spent the film worrying about arriving on time, becomes greatly concerned when the train picks up speed, as he knows all too well that there's a particularly dangerous drop up ahead. With passengers aboard (and children passengers no less), he promptly instructs the Hero Girl to tell Smokey to slow down. Unfortunately, he's too distracted by a jammed throttle to notice.
** Once the two get the throttle back on (with a pin from Steamer's hair) and manage to stop the train, the sharp application of the brakes, combined with the high speed from which they started off at and the slipperiness of the ice, nearly tips 1225 on her side before the kids and the conductor are able to balance her out just enough to keep her upright.
** Icy-cold weather and metal do not mix well, as it leaves such surfaces slippery. When the Conductor is taking the kids back to the passenger cars, the Hero Boy nearly slips and falls off the tender. Fortunately, the Conductor (who happens to be telling a story about such familiar experiences) manages to catch him.
** When the Hero Boy and Hero Girl go back into the observation car to try and convince Billy to come with them to see Santa, the former slips on the steps and accidentally triggers the coupling mechanism, causing the car to become uncoupled from the rest of the train. One slight jostle later (presumably from the engine), and the loose car rolls downhill.
** Trying to sneak a peak at one's Christmas presents before the day comes is a good way to get yourself into trouble. All the Know-It-All Kid finds marked for him when he sneaks into Santa's bag is nothing but socks and underwear. Evidently, the elves must have known he'd pull a stunt like this, as they mentioned they knew the children were inside the bag the whole time when they found them.
** When the elves deliver Santa's massive bag of presents, they let the air out of the Zeppelin delivering the bag too early, causing them to tip the star on top of the tree over. Even the Conductor, who knows nothing about aircraft, is quick to recognize they need more altitude, so the elves lighten their load by parachuting off their craft, since refueling in the air is impossible.

* {{Mondegreen}}: An odd example, because the erroneous lyrics are actually sung ''by the artist''. In the AwardBaitSong "Believe," there is a line that says "Hear the melody that's playing." For some reason, there's a version of the song (which has been played on the radio) in which Josh Groban sings this as "Hear the ''lemody'' that's playing."

* AluminumChristmasTrees: The train passes by Herpolsheimer's which was a real department store in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
* ArbitrarySkepticism: The protagonist is doubtful Santa Claus exists, even though ''he’s riding a magic train''. Even when he reaches the North Pole which is full of elves and an entire Christmas town he has a hard time believing Santa is in charge.