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The Polar Express(2004)
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2004 · FILM
The Polar Express
A skeptical boy boards a magical Christmas‑eve train to the North Pole and must keep his faith alive while battling mysterious forces that threaten the journey—and his chance of ever believing in Santa again.
“A journey like you’ve never imagined.”
AdventureAnimationFamily
Synopsis
A young boy who doubts the magic of Christmas takes an unusual train ride to the North Pole, beginning a journey of self-discovery that reveals the wonder of life remains for those who believe.
Credits
Actors
Production Designer
Director of Photography
Director
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How many hands made this film
The scale of the collaboration
A crew of 68+ credited
Why a floor?
This is a minimum, not a total. We only count the credits we’ve captured so far, and coverage is uneven — a blockbuster might show a few hundred names while another of the same size shows a couple dozen. The real crews all ran into the thousands. The number here only grows as full credits are enriched — so we frame it as a floor, never a headcount.
Craft leads on file
Edited by R Orlando DuenasShot by Don BurgessScored by Alan SilvestriDesigned by Rick Carter
Box Office
2004 · Box office
⚖️ Fell short of break-even — grossed 1.9× its budget
Why 2.5×?
Cinemas keep roughly half of every ticket sold, and a wide release’s marketing often costs about as much again as the film — so a movie needs to gross around 2.5× its production budget just to break even theatrically. It’s a rule of thumb, not the studio’s ledger (home video and streaming come later).
Worldwide gross
$318.4M
Budget$165.0M
Worldwide gross$318.4M
break-even (2.5×)
US & Canada: $162.8M — 51% of worldwide · International: $155.7M (49%)
Opening weekend: $7.3M — 4% of its US run. It had legs — it kept earning long after opening weekend.
Opening week (7-day): $7.3M — 4% of its US & Canada run.
Peak 3,650 theaters
Re-release box office
- 202180 theaters
- $40K($49K today)
- 2020450 theaters
- $1.4M($1.8M today)
- 2018392 theaters
- $601K($791K today)
- Total re-release
- $2.0M
Domestic gross earned in theatrical re-release, by year · adjusted for inflation
Full synopsis
Also known as
- Der Polarexpressde
- El Expreso Polares
- Le Pôle expressfr
- Polar Expressit
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Cast & Crew
68 unique people credited
Top billed cast
Tom Hanks
as Hero Boy (Adult)/ Father / Conductor / Hobo / Scrooge / Santa Claus
Leslie Zemeckis
as Sister Sarah / Mother
Eddie Deezen
as Know-It-All
Nona Gaye
as Hero Girl (voice)
Chris Coppola
as Elf
Peter Scolari
as Billy / Lonely Boy
Michael Jeter
as Smokey / Steamer
Josh Hutcherson
as Hero Boy (motion capture)
Daryl Sabara
as Hero Boy (voice)
Jimmy Bennett
as Lonely Boy (voice)
Tinashe
as Hero Girl (motion capture)
Brendan King
as Pastry Chef
Supporting cast
41Andy Pellick
as Pastry Chef
Josh Eli
as Waiter
Mark Mendonca
as Waiter
Rolondas Hendricks
as Waiter
Mark Goodman
as Waiter
Jon Scott
as Waiter
Gregory Gast
as Waiter
Sean Scott
as Waiter
Gordon Hart
as Waiter
Julene Renee
as Red Head Girl / Elf
Charles Fleischer
as Elf General
Steven Tyler
as Elf Lieutenant / Elf Singer
Phil Fondacaro
as Elf
Debbie Lee Carrington
as Elf
Mark Povinelli
as Elf
Ed Gale
as Elf
Dante Pastula
as Little Boy
Andre Sogliuzzo
as Smokey / Steamer (voice)
Isabella Peregrina
as Sister Sarah (voice)
Eric Newton
as Acrobatic Elf
Aidan O Shea
as Acrobatic Elf
Aaron Hendry
as Acrobatic Elf
Kevin C Carr
as Acrobatic Elf
Bee Jay Joyer
as Acrobatic Elf
Jena Carpenter
as Acrobatic Elf
Karine Mauffrey
as Acrobatic Elf
Elisabeth P Carpenter
as Acrobatic Elf
Bill Forchion
as Acrobatic Elf
Devin Henderson
as Acrobatic Elf
Sagiv Ben Binyamin
as Acrobatic Elf
Ashly Holloway
as Sister Sarah
Jimmy Jax Pinchak
as Know-It-All
Chantel Valdivieso
as Hero Girl
Hayden Mcfarland
as Lonely Boy
Connor Matheus
as Toothless Boy
Evan Sabara
as Young Boy
Jack Angel
as Wolves (uncredited)
Rodger Bumpass
as Wolves (uncredited)
Dylan Cash
as Boy (voice) (uncredited)
Cody Klop
as Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Patrick Stogner
as (uncredited)
Directors
1Writers
3Producers
4Other crew
9Parents Guide
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Ratings & reviews
Official ratings
MPA·GUSRe-ratedBBFC·UGBRe-ratedFSK·FSK 6DERe-ratedACB·GAURe-ratedEirin·GJPRe-ratedClassInd·LBRRe-ratedKAVI·SFIRe-ratedCNC·TPFRRe-ratedItaly·TITRe-ratedKijkwijzer·ALNLRe-ratedIFCO·GIERe-ratedRTC·AAMXRe-ratedKMRB·ALLKRRe-ratedNORWAY·6Re-ratedBELGIUM·ALRe-ratedCANADA·GRe-ratedCZECH REPUBLIC·URe-ratedDENMARK·7Re-ratedGREECE·KRe-ratedHUNGARY·16Re-ratedPOLAND·ALRe-ratedPORTUGAL·M/6Re-ratedROMANIA·APRe-ratedRUSSIA·6+Re-ratedSWEDEN·7Re-ratedSWITZERLAND·12Re-rated
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The Polar Express(2004)
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The Polar Express(2004)
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