NORWALK, CT – Renew (or begin) a family tradition by securing your tickets for a magical ride to the North Pole as “The Polar Express” steams back onto the giant IMAX screen for a limited engagement at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk.
“ ‘The Polar Express’ is becoming a modern holiday classic, with its message of how we never grow too old to believe in the spirit of Christmas,” said Chris Loynd, the Aquarium’s marketing director. “It’s a story for families worth hearing – and seeing – every year.”
Digitally remastered into the immersive IMAX format, the animated film starring Tom Hanks will play on the Aquarium’s six-story screen Nov. 25 through Dec. 31. Show times through Dec. 24 are 4 & 7:30 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays. After Christmas, “The Polar Express” will play at 4 & 7:30 p.m. Dec. 26-30 and at 4 p.m. Dec. 31. (Confirm times at www.maritimeaquarium.org or text TMA to 71297.)
Also, preschool and elementary school teachers can book a weekday-morning pajama party with “The Polar Express” that will be BYOB (“bring your own blankey”). Call (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206, for details.
Based on the 1986 Caldecott Award-winning book by Chris Van Allsburg, “The Polar Express” follows a young boy who doubts the existence of Santa Claus. On Christmas Eve, a locomotive arrives to take him and other doubtful children to Santa's North Pole headquarters. Their shared experiences – onboard with a mysterious conductor, at the North Pole and then on the return leg – make a compelling adventure.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis, “The Polar Express” was the first feature film to be shot entirely in Performance Capture, a process by which an actor’s live performance is digitally recorded by computerized cameras and becomes a human blueprint for creating virtual characters. The highly developed system captures every subtlety of human expression in an actor’s performance, down to the slightest nuance or flutter of an eyelid.
Film critic Roger Ebert called the film “a movie for more than one season; it will become a perennial, shared by the generations. It has a haunting, magical quality because it has imagined its world freshly and played true to it, sidestepping all the tiresome Christmas cliches that children have inflicted on them this time of year. The conductor tells the boy he thinks he really should get on the train, and I have the same advice for you.”
Tickets for “The Polar Express” are specially priced at $11.50 for adults, $10.50 seniors 65 and older, and $9.50 for children ages 2-12. Maritime Aquarium members save $1.
Tickets can be reserved in advance online at www.maritimeaquarium.org or by calling (203) 852-0700, ext. 2206
For more details about The Maritime Aquarium’s IMAX movies, call (203) 852-0700 or go online to www.maritimeaquarium.org.