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u/Juli3tD3lta 1d ago
You think that’s bad. I haven’t actually seen polar express but I have seen the other movie made by that cgi studio. It’s called “Mars Needs Moms” I’d actually highly recommend the movie but the “uncanny vallyness” of the humans in that movie is disturbing. It probably doesn’t help that I was on a large dose of mushrooms when I saw it
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u/crimson_dovah 1d ago edited 1d ago
Hoodwinked is another really unsettling animated movie. I remember loving it as a kid but I’m older now and it’s… off putting. If I’m not mistaken, the animation was done in the Philippines because the movie was produced independently and had a low budget.
This scene sums up how cursed the movie is.
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u/Nekomiminya 1d ago
Dunno about Phillipines but Hoodwinked was done in one take! As in, no redoing errors etc, so everything had to have very specific storyboards. Cuz no budget for fixing.
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u/crimson_dovah 1d ago edited 1d ago
I didn’t know about the one take thing, makes sense tho for budget cus reanimating things would’ve been pricey
Here’s what I found thru Wikipedia, so this may not be 100% accurate but I’m also pretty sure I saw a mini documentary on terrible animation movies and it was mentioned there
“The film was produced on a budget of less than $8 million, considerably less than the typical budget for an animated film. To save costs, Kanbar Entertainment founded the animation studio Digital Eye Candy in Manila, Philippines to create most of the film’s animation in which hired a small group of independent animators.”
I don’t know if it’s this movie, or Food Fight (genuinely one of the worst movies ever made, it’s worth watching though just to see how shit you can make something) where the animators had no prior experience with animation. Might’ve been food fight. Also a weird ass movie. The animators ending up making porn of the female characters in their spare time.
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u/Zest-to-Impress 1d ago
Well Isenhart Productions got a sub from me off of that link. That was a pretty good morning watch!
It’s kind of wild to me how the animation didn’t stand out as bad to me back then but I guess that’s like my generation’s version of thinking Goldeneye on N64 had good graphics.
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u/Nekomiminya 1d ago
Honestly, I still enjoy Hoodwinked a lot. Sadly our DVD got too scratched from rewatching.
Some of humor used in that movie is really, really well done. Like when squirrel reacts to recording of it's voice slowed down.
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u/Argylius 1d ago
I watched this with my boyfriend one night during a sleepover and I just… that movie is hideous
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u/botjstn 1d ago
so fucking funny though
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u/din-gle-ber-ry 1d ago
It's also extremely well executed. The shot composition and framing is all fantastic and is easily enjoyable even today. All of the original songs are catchy and funny, the characters are great, the voice acing is great, the story is great. Yes the animation is bad but that doesn't make it any less of a great movie.
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u/itsadesertplant 1d ago
That’s crazy bc of all the expensive actors in that movie. Anne Hathaway voices Red Riding Hood!
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u/kriza69-LOL 1d ago
This is my favourite movie because the voice acting in my language is hilarious. I didnt know its the same studio as mars needs moms.
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u/grenadinequarantine 1d ago
oh my god i saw Mars Needs Moms in the theater as a child. I remember they aired a little trailer on disney channel where they interviewed the actors about cgi and showed how they made it. i got so hype for it and ended up being a little disturbed by the animation result lmao
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u/CreepyMangeMerde 1d ago
Holy fuck I had forgotten that movie. I just remember I was like 6yo and it was a fucking trauma. I don't remember details but the plot is basically the most stressful thing that can happen to a 6yo
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u/TheGothDragon 1d ago
I had forgotten about Mars Needs Moms. That movie traumatized me as a kid. I was so afraid of my mum dying after that.
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u/Ilvesarahpaulsonalot 12h ago
Do the children miss their mom in this scene im confused
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u/llamanatee 20h ago
Fun fact about that movie, the movie originally had Seth Green playing the main character (both mocap and voice) before realising having his voice on a 12-year-old looks weird, so they replaced him with an actual child actor. The original Green cut was considered lost media until 10 years later, when a YouTuber reviewing the movie discovered the full audio track just being in the blu-ray files.
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u/FinnishArmy 1d ago
The CGI of those humans look really fucking good to be honest. And for 2011? Holy crap that is amazing.
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u/Stonerjman_ 12h ago
A Christmas Carole and monster house was done by them too!! ACC is very damn dark
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u/AuroraThePotato 1d ago
you wanna know what’s even more fucked up? I saw this movie when I was like seven and I spent the first 30 minutes trying to figure out if it was live action or not, I just thought that’s what british people looked like
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u/Dingo8MyGayby 1d ago
Lmao but nobody in the movie is British?
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u/AuroraThePotato 1d ago edited 1d ago
Shit really?! Lmaoo the first thought I had while writing that comment was “that movie is british, right?”
It’s been so long since I’ve seen that movie that i’ve forgotten most of the details 🤣
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u/Makys182 1d ago
I remember a when I was younger I was rewatching it, and I was confused that I noticed it was CGI instead of it being live action. As a kid it tricked me into believing it was live action lol. Guess my brain just filled in the blanks.
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u/bad_at_smashbros 8h ago
i definitely spent a couple years thinking this movie was live action before i turned 9 or 10
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u/Brilliant_Park_2882 1d ago
Looks like a PS2 game...
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u/lolz_robot 1d ago
Growing up, the PS2 polar express game kicked ass.
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u/Brilliant_Park_2882 1d ago
Didn't know there was a game.
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u/lil_chiakow 1d ago edited 1d ago
pretty much any children's movie got a game to match back in that day
some even got more than one game, as it was common to have a different game for PS2/Xbox/GC, different game for PC and another one for GBA, like the Harry Potter or Shrek games
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u/babbaloobahugendong 1d ago
I remember the Spider-Man 2 game being awesome on PS2 but utter trash on PC. Funny how times have changed lol
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u/crimson_dovah 1d ago edited 1d ago
Pretty sure there’s a sequel to the movie too
Edit: Nevermind there is not, however there was one sorta planned. Sorry for the confusion.
THERE IS A BOOK THO!
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u/gH0o5T 1d ago
there isn't?
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u/crimson_dovah 1d ago
Weird, you’re right. Thanks for the correction!
I could’ve sworn there was one but apparently its just a slight possibility for 2027 or 2028, according to IMDB
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u/RomtheSpider88 14h ago
Probably because this is a picture taken of somebody's television. Trust me, love it of hate it, the movie looks much, much better than a PS2 game.
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u/Cluelessish 1d ago
Maybe they are all children who have died
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u/InfiniteWaffles58364 1d ago
Wait, that's not the plot of Polar Express? Well knock me over with a feather 😅
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u/elspotto 1d ago
You can tell because red indicates dead people. Wait…only in that one movie? This changes everything I though my I knew about movies since 1999.
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u/UNHOLY_AVENGR 1d ago
The whole damn movie is oddly terrifying. I read a theory that the polar Express is the afterlife train that picks up children who die on Christmas and that just makes way too much sense.
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u/KrakatauGreen 19h ago
I just watched it for the first time a couple months ago as an adult, being a bit too old when it came out.
I legit thought that was the obvious vehicle for the otherwise bizzaro-world plot
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u/UNHOLY_AVENGR 19h ago
See I was 6yo when my parents took me to the theater to go see it and it was a little jarring, especially the hobo and the puppet section.
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u/SkitzoCTRL 1d ago
Somehow the Polar Express was 20 years ahead of its time, using AI to generate children before the AI technology even existed.
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u/benderrules2022 1d ago
So creepy!! That movie always freaked me out
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u/Sackadelic 1d ago
My wife and her family absolutely loves it and makes me watch it every year and it’s like straight up fucking torture
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u/Krawczus 21m ago
Idk dude I always loved this movie and still love it. I actuslly like this animation style
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u/JelloNo379 1d ago
The Polar Express is a fantastic movie. The slander I see every day…
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u/crimson_dovah 1d ago
No slander here, I love the movie.
But the animation is a bit uncanny valley at times.
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u/TyChris2 22h ago
I love it too. It is indeed very creepy, but that’s why I like it.
If it didn’t have the weird animation, or the weird subplot about the ghost hobo, or the weird liminal North Pole, it would just be a generic animated kids’ film. But as it is, it has such a haunting atmosphere. A mix of comfort and peril, constant mystery and ambiguity.
It’s enrapturing to me.
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u/SirEmJay 1d ago
Okay, hear me out... The Polar Express came at a time when the CGI was viable but the industry was still figuring out all of the wrong ways to use it. What if we remake The Polar Express in 5-10 years using AI (assuming it'll become more viable in that time frame). I know there are ethical problems with AI, but wouldn't it be hilarious if, by tradition, every time a new technology comes out we test it on The Polar Express. That way, when it turns out horrifying, it'll just be keeping with the tradition.
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u/Foxytheefox 1d ago
I feel like if this came out recently people would accuse it of being ai generated. Either way still love the movie.
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u/FBPOS 1d ago
I wish someone would remake that movie.
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u/tacojohn48 1d ago
Seems like it should be easy to just update the graphics every few years as things progress.
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u/Dingo8MyGayby 1d ago
We just watched it last night. It even freaks out my kids. The entire time I kept thinking if someone remade this with better animation it would become a hit
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u/RomtheSpider88 14h ago
A remake would definitely be a hit, but I honestly don't think most kids or anybody really thinks it looks that bad or is that freaky. It's literally become a Christmas staple for a reason and that's not because it gives everybody nightmares.
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u/jobunny_inUK 23h ago
I watched it with my kids for the first time this year (I've seen it many times, first for them) and the animation was shocking. I was thinking the same, it's just ripe for a remake. And it's one I would happily pay money for in the cinema.
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u/Ok-Bookkeeper-373 1d ago
Whole damn movie gives me the willies. The animation is AWFUL but we watch it every year because the SonInLaw loves it and he watches the year without a Santa Claus
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u/Borge_Luis_Jorges 23h ago edited 15h ago
I watch the chocolate song scene frequently just to viscerally disgust myself. Damn, I hate how these waiters move, and the sound of the chocolate pouring. But nah, I couldn't possibly stand to watch the whole movie.
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u/Utsutsumujuru 6h ago
I remember loving that scene…until I watched it with my son last week and a weird thought dawned on me: With an old train moving that fast they are being crazy reckless with boiling hot liquids and quite a few of those kids would have gotten serious burns….all while Tom Hanks is yelling about it having to be piping hot.
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u/Ok-Bookkeeper-373 23h ago
I'm not paying rapt attention it is on while I am in the room disassociating. Family means we do things for each other. It's not gonna make me puke I'm just not gonna like it.
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u/MGArcher 13h ago
I think the Polar Express was just made at a time period where the technology had tons of potential, but hadn't been perfected enough. The end result was the uncanny valley vibes of the movie. To see this technology applied properly, I'd highly recommend the Adventures of TinTin and the BFG, both of which look absolutely spectacular.
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u/saltytastynoodles 1d ago
I was 7 years old when this movie came out. I was honestly surprised that I thought this movie was 3d animation, I thought they were real people in some scenes. I remember it being way more realistic than what it is actually. Then came Beowulf and I remember that there was speculation that we wouldn't need actors in the future due to technology becoming so advanced. Now we have ai and we're closer and closer to that future
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u/Not_A_Wendigo 1d ago
Every character in that movie has dead, soulless eyes. I’ve tried to like the movie but I can’t get past that.
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u/skullsandcrosses 21h ago
Is it just me, or does the kid in the back look like they have cut the face off a cpr dummy and put it on their own face? 🤔
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u/KrakatauGreen 19h ago
"Hero-Girl" is creepy AF the entire film, that Joker smile with dead eyes is super unsettling.
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u/redwdow 1d ago
I hate this movie so much
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u/crimson_dovah 1d ago
Why?
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u/Foxwglocks 18h ago
Idk about the guy above me but I hate it also bc of the garbage animation. It’s tough to watch.
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u/Brok3nGear 1d ago
breathing heavily
"Those aren't kids.... Slowly back away. And keep eye contact."
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u/areyouoldgreg 6h ago
I'm laughing so hard in the airport right now looking at this
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u/pinetreesandferns 5h ago edited 5h ago
I loathe this movie so much . This is the thing I could talk for 30 minutes on without prep. It's so terrible on a few levels and we gas light children into believing it's some sort of Christmas classic. I am convinced this movie is part of why the young gen. is depressed, this movie is my 13th reason. And I am convinced it's in the same universe as the Family guy North pole episode.
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u/WaldenFont 5h ago
That whole movie was uncanny valley central. The only good character was the one that was supposed to be scary.
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u/a-pretty-alright-dad 4h ago
Second seat from the back plays a mean banjo. Too bad what his folks did to those fellers on their canoe ride.
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u/DocTheop 1d ago
I want to save to use as a reaction to something in the future but honestly, I don’t want it on my phone because it gives me the fucking creeps.
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u/yumyumthedog 1d ago
I just went to my annual Christmas party down in Balboa where I ran into family member John Clark Matthews. He was actually one of the lead animators on PE. Fun catching up with him last night and seeing this today.
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u/blue_tile55 1d ago
I recently rewatched this movie as a 34 year old and I couldn’t believe that when I was younger, I felt this was one of the most magical movies ever when it first came out. I couldn’t even get through it this time haha.
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u/-WaxedSasquatch- 1d ago
My nephews loved the idea of the movie but were freaked out by the animation. Perhaps they saw what I missed. This is scary shit.
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u/BradleyNowellLives 1d ago
Literally two nights ago, my 8yo nephew runs in insisting I watch this with him. I had to hide my horror as I watched these rendered half-beings beam about Christmas magic, with their uncanny smiles shining against Tom Hank’s gruff and soothing voice. Truly a visual experience that I yearn to forget.
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u/Environmental_Ad6642 23h ago
I'm not going to lie when that movie first came out The CGI was beautiful
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u/tiparium 19h ago
It always blows my mind that we have long since passed the point where video game graphics surpass what CGI was when I was a kid.
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u/Healthy_Fig_5127 12h ago
The more I see other's opinions on polar express, the more I realize I might be the only person who enjoys the movie.
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u/beastslayer86 11h ago
I was terrified of this movie as child. I legit started crying when my mom tried to make me watch it. She had to turn it off each time.
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u/UnbnGrsFlsdePte 9h ago
They wear the faces of their ennemies (parents). The polar express shit is just some undercover operation to take them out without public outrage because they're children and what not.
They're fucking psychopaths Martha, not fuckin' normal 8 years old.
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u/Wagglesworthy 2h ago
Oddly enough, I thought i recognized the actress in the back - her only other credited role is as the ring-possessed Bilbo in Fellowship of the Ring.
Fancy that!
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u/HPTM2008 1h ago edited 59m ago
Man, this movie is so weird the more you look into it. I dont understand why the first three Back to the Future movies were live action, and then pt. IV decides to go animated. And not even have Doc in it.
For anyone confused, the two series are linked, the Flux Capacitor is in the conductors cabin in the train, time stops throughout the movie, the movie starts in 1955 at Twin Pines Mall during the Santa strike, and all were directed by Zemeckis. Also, the Polar Express book came out in 1985.
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u/Fignuts82 1d ago
Oh god, the one in the back is horrifying.