Polar Express, The

image for Polar Express, The

Short takes

Not suitable under 6; parental guidance to 12 (scary and suspenseful scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Polar Express, The
  • a review of Polar Express, The completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 4 December 2023.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 6 Not suitable due to the number of scary and suspenseful scenes.
Children aged 6–7 Not recommended due to scary and suspenseful scenes.
Children aged 8–12 Parental guidance recommended due to suspenseful scenes.
Children aged 13 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Polar Express, The
Classification: G
Consumer advice lines: The content is very mild in impact
Length: 99 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

The film begins on Christmas Eve, with a young boy whose growing sense of logic leads him to think that there is no Santa, and yet something inside him still wants to believe. Lying awake, he strains to hear sleigh bells and instead is jolted upright by the thundering arrival of a huge train, 'The Polar Express'. The train is bound for the North Pole, carrying pyjama-clad children, from all walks of life, who do not believe in Santa; have forgotten the meaning of Christmas; or who have lost a part of themselves that this trip will help them find.

On the train, the young boy, who remains nameless throughout the film, meets a few new friends – a lonely boy; a courageous and confident girl; and a know-it-all. The boy also encounters a ghostly hobo, travelling on the roof of the train, who is always there to help just in the nick of time. The journey turns into a rollercoaster ride with one crisis following another as the conductor tries desperately to keep the train on track (literally) and on time. In the end, after facing a lot of freakish occurrences that threaten to keep the train and its passengers from reaching their destination, the children see that it was through these challenges that they got the very things they needed most.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

The magic of Christmas; Companionship; Self-discovery.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • When two train engineers are trying to change the light bulb on the front of the train, one gets stuck and his beard is used to keep the other from falling off the train. Later, the conductor repeatedly yanks on his beard to communicate with a herd of caribou, despite the fact that it is obviously very painful.
  • The hobo, sitting on a speeding caboose, smashes into a wall.
  • The emergency brakes on the train are pulled a few times, sending passengers banging around the compartments.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are quite a few suspenseful scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • The young boy meets a hobo on the top of the train. Although the hobo is polite, he looks very creepy. In a couple of close-up shots, his features look sinister and distorted.
  • When the young boy and the hobo try to ski to the train’s engine room from the caboose, they both slip backwards and the boy dangles behind the train, hanging on only by a ski pole. He is pulled up and he and the hobo ski forward while the train is plunging downhill into the darkness. They reach the engine room where the boy jumps into the coal pile only a moment before he would have slammed into the side of a mountain. The hobo vanishes. Loud, suspenseful music is playing in the background.
  • When the conductor yanks on the engineer’s beard, the engineer’s face contorts grotesquely.
  • A lever in the engine room breaks and the train speeds out of control onto rickety, rollercoaster-like tracks, with the young boy, the courageous girl and the conductor hanging on to the front. The sequence goes on for some time, accompanied by loud and suspenseful music, with the characters being in great peril, from one threat after another.
  • The young boy winds up in a compartment filled with broken, dirty and forgotten toys. It is dark and creepy and the boy is terrified when he sees a grotesque looking marionette of Scrooge come to life. He gets tangled up with other marionettes and he struggles to free himself as Scrooge advances on him. He flees the compartment in terror.
  • The caboose comes loose with the young boy, the lonely boy and the courageous girl all trapped inside, speeding out of control, down the streets of the North Pole.
  • While trying to get back to the main square in time to see Santa Claus, the lonely boy, the young boy and the courageous girl must pass through a series of tunnels and alleyways. They are following a sound that only two can hear and they wind up eavesdropping on some elves in order to find out where to go. Young children may not understand what is happening and consequently find this part of the film somewhat frightening.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Children in this age group are likely to be scared or disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes and images.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

  • Some children in this age group are likely to be scared or disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes and images.

Thirteen and overinfo

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

  • None noted.

Coarse language

  • None noted.

In a nutshell

Based on the award-winning picture book by Chris Van Allsburg, The Polar Express is a film that has something for young and old. For children, it is an action-packed adventure full of courage, hope and holiday cheer. For older children and adults, there are outstanding special effects as well as deeper meanings to be found. Due to the number of suspenseful scenes, this movie is not suitable for children under 6 and parents should carefully consider whether or not it is suitable for their 6-7 year old. Parental guidance is also recommended for ages 8 to 13.

The main messages from this movie are that sometimes the most real things in the world are things we cannot see; and that the true spirit of Christmas lies in the human heart.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Faith
  • Courage
  • Friendship
  • Humility.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of the true meaning of Christmas.