BOONE, NC – Not since the historic 1940 flood forced the Linville River Train to close
The station has a train stopped in downtown Boone, NC This fact will change at 7 p.m. Tuesday,
December 13, when Tom Hanks and “The Polar Express” enter the Appalachian Theater
of the High Country for its inaugural series of family vacation films.
“The Polar Express” is a 2004 computer-animated fantasy adventure film co-written and
directed by Robert Zemeckis, based on the 1985 children’s book of the same name by Chris Van
Allsburg. The film features human characters brought to life using live-action CGI animation and motion capture. It tells the story of a young boy who, on Christmas Eve, sees a mysterious train bound for the North Pole stop outside his window and is invited to board by its conductor. The boy joins several other children as they embark on a journey to visit Santa Claus who is getting ready for Christmas.
The film stars Tom Hanks, also one of the film’s executive producers, in several distinct roles,
with Daryl Sabara, Nona Gaye, Jimmy Bennett and Eddie Deezen in supporting roles. Castle
Rock Entertainment produced the film in association with Shangri-La, ImageMovers, Playtone and Golden Mean Productions for Warner Brothers Pictures. It was Castle Rock’s first CGI animated film and was made on a production budget of $165-170 million, a record sum for an animated feature film at the time, eventually grossing $314 million. dollars in the world. The film was later listed in the 2006 Guinness World Records as the first all-digital capture film.
Music lovers will note that the film’s soundtrack, titled “The Polar Express: Original Motion
Picture Soundtrack”, was released in November 2004 by Reprise Records, Warner Music Group
and Warner Sunset Records. The song “Believe”, written by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri, was
nominated for Best Original Song at the 77th Academy Awards and was sung at the
ceremonies by original performer Josh Groban with Beyoncé. He won a Grammy Award in 2006.
The architecture at the North Pole in “The Polar Express” refers to a number of buildings related to
History of the American Railroad. The buildings in the square in the center of town are loosely based
on the Pullman Factory in the Pullman neighborhood of Chicago.
The locomotive shown in the film is an American steam locomotive type 2-8-4 Berkshire
modeled on the Pere Marquette 1225, which had spent many years on static display near
Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan on the campus of Michigan State University, where
Children’s book author Chris Van Allsburg recalled playing on the engine when he attended football
games like a child.
In partnership with Allen Wealth Management, “The Polar Express” is one of four films
programmed by the App Theater for its Holiday Family film series. The walking time of
movies is 100 minutes. The remaining film in the series is “The Muppet Christmas Carol” with
a session at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 17.
Note that [email protected] are presented without a trailer, so please arrive a few minutes before the
scheduled start time to get tickets and buy concessions. The general admission ticket
the price is only $5 per person and participants under 13 must be accompanied by a parent
or guardian.
Events, days, dates, times, artists and prices are subject to change without notice.
Although the App Theater’s online ticketing system is accessible 24/7, customers can avoid
online service fee by visiting the lobby box office between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. starting Tuesday
until Friday, or one hour before the screening for each film. For a complete service
calendar of all upcoming events, or to sign up for the theater’s electronic mailing list, visit
organization’s website at www.apptheatre.org
