| Site map | Contact

BRISTOL STILL BELIEVES IN SANTA…55 000 and COUNTING!
The Polar Express 3D returns to celebrate Christmas in At-Bristol

24 November 2006 – The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience returns to the giant screen this Christmas season, enchanting Bristol with the magical tale about Santa.

The seasonal 3D blockbuster is back by popular demand and was a major hit during the last two festive periods when it was screened in the IMAX Theatre-At-Bristol. The Polar Express was also listed in this year’s Guinness Book of World Records as the "first all-digital capture" film, where all acted parts were done in digital capture.

First launched in 2004, The Polar Express 3D has drawn over 55 000 moviegoers to IMAX in Bristol. The average number of visitors per show far exceeded expectations in both 2004 and 2005, with nearly 200 screenings sold out.

‘The Polar Express 3D is one of the most popular films in our IMAX theatre and we are excited to be bringing it back again this year. We’ve been receiving very positive feedback and in fact received our very first enquiry from the public way back in August! I think we might have introduced a new tradition to celebrate Christmas!’ says Simon Jones, Head of Marketing, At-Bristol.

‘The film never fails to delight children and adults alike and has certainly proven to be ideal entertainment - or even an alternative to pantomime - for the festive period. The heart-warming storyline, combined with the impressive 3D effects, makes watching The Polar Express 3D a magical and beautiful experience.’ adds Simon.

The film was the world’s first Hollywood feature film ever to be digitally re-mastered into a 3D IMAX Experience and the first movie to use the Imagemotion technology. It has also generated more than $4 million in gross box office in the UK market alone.

Taking inspiration from Chris Van Allsburg’s enchanting Christmas story and directed by Robert Zemeckis, Warner Bros. Pictures’ The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience combines state of the art animation and the magic of IMAX 3D. The images virtually leap off the IMAX screen - audiences will be grabbing at falling snowflakes, ducking as the train screeches into their lap and feeling the howl of the steam whistle via 12,000 watts of surround sound on a screen towering four storeys high!

Believing in Santa Claus isn't easy when all of your friends and family insist he's just make-believe. For one doubting boy, an astonishing event occurs. Late on Christmas Eve night, he lies in bed hoping to hear the sound of reindeer bells from Santa's sleigh. When to his surprise, a steam engine's roar and whistle can be heard outside his window. The conductor (voice of Tom Hanks) invites him on board to take an extraordinary journey to the North Pole with many other pyjama-clad children. There, he receives an extraordinary gift only those who still believe in Santa can experience.

Tickets to The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience cost £8.00 for adults, £6.50 for children, £6.50 for concessions and £24 for a family ticket. The film screens from 25 November.

Call 0845 345 1235 or log on to http://tickets.at-bristol.org.uk/ for advance tickets booking and for more festive fun, the IMAX theatre is also screening the riotous 3D adventure Santa vs. the Snowman (PG) from 2 December.


For press enquiries please contact Mavis Choong, At-Bristol Press Office
0117 915 7152 / 0796 733 4152 / mavis.choong@at-bristol.org.uk

The IMAX® Theatre-At-Bristol (Registered Charity No. 1049954) is the first and only large-format cinema in the South West. With the biggest cinema screen in the West of England – standing four storeys high and large enough to see a whale life-size – the IMAX® Theatre pulls audiences right into the heart of the action in a way no ordinary film presentation can.

Note to Editors:

• The Polar Express is the very first feature film to be shot entirely in the new format of Performance Capture. The technique used in this film surpasses Motion Capture, in that Performance Capture has the ability to offer true human emotions and natural facial expressions with clear and precise detail. As many as 150 reflective jewels were adhered onto the actors' faces, including eyelids, brows, upper and lower lips, chin line and cheeks, which took nearly two hours to achieve. With this technique, Tom Hanks is able to portray five key characters in this film, which was in production for over two and a half years.

• While Smokey and Steamer are floating in the engine cabin trying to capture the cotter pin, the Flux Capacitor from Back to the Future can be seen flickering to the left. This was deliberately added as an ‘in-joke’, because the film was also directed by Robert Zemeckis.

• After Hero Boy pulls the whistle in the locomotive cab, he says, "I've wanted to do that all my life". This exact same line was said by Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) in Back to the Future Part III, after he pulls the whistle in a similar type of steam locomotive. In a news photo of Santas on strike, their placards say they're picketing Lone Pine Mall, which is also the same mall in Back to the Future Part III.

• The locomotive in the movie is based on the Pere Marquette 1225, a restored steam locomotive located in Owosso, Michigan in US. In fact, many of the sound effects of the train are recordings of the actual train and a close examination of all the ticket numbers in the film reveals that they all contain the number "1225". The train runs between Owosso and a nearby town in Michigan for rides during festivals.

• The visuals for North Pole City are based on the architecture of Pullman, the company town for the Pullman rail company, in Chicago, Illinois, near the childhood home of Robert Zemeckis in the Roseland neighborhood. The clock tower that Santa comes out of is based on the Pullman factory Clock Tower and many of the other buildings in the film are also based on Pullman's unique architecture.

• In the beginning of the movie, Hero Boy looks at a picture of himself on Santa's lap in a store. The store's name on the photo is Herpolsheimer's, an old department store in Grand Rapids, which is Chris Van Allsburg's hometown. The store was also shown briefly in the film as the train passes by it.

• The address spoken by the conductor early in the film "11344 Edbrooke" is in fact the real address of Robert Zemeckis' childhood home. The home is in a south side of Chicago neighborhood called Roseland.