How Chicago's Historical Pullman Neighborhood Inspired 'The Polar Express' (2024)

PULLMAN — Chicago-area fans of the 2004 animated holiday movie “The Polar Express,” an adaptation of the 1985 picture book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg, may be surprised to learn the filmmakers were heavily inspired by a historic city neighborhood.

When the “Polar Express” brings the unnamed protagonist and his fellow travelers to the North Pole, they disembark in front of a sprawling multi-building workshop that closely resembles Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood.

Though most viewers may not know the origins of the stately clocktower Santa emerges from,brick arches seen on buildings throughout the North Pole, or other architectural flourishes from the film’s animation team, eagle-eyed Pullman residents and history buffs have long noticed these and other visual nods to the South Side neighborhood.

“Polar Express” director Robert Zemeckis, who grew up in the city’s Roseland neighborhood and attended Fenger Academy High School, drew heavily from his upbringing in the Pullman area for the look of the film, Pullman resident Tom McMahon said. Several photos of the neighborhood were featured in the volume “The Art of the Polar Express,” released the same year of the film’s debut.

Residents and community stakeholders believe the film’s surge in popularity over recent years and the 20th anniversary of its release next fall could be an opportunity for an increase in local tourism to the area. Discussions have already started about potential holiday activities inspired by the film.

“The potential of developing this association is fantastic and I think you have several people… that are very enthusiastic about expanding the involvement over the years,” said Mike Shymanski, a volunteer for the Pullman House Project. “People are excited [for] next year so people in the neighborhood and in the organizations are talking: ‘Well, what can we do next year to enhance this?’”

Activities could include tours, lighting shows, train rides and more with enough planning, local stakeholders said.

Even this year, “Polar Express” fans can find some film-related activities in the neighborhood.

Youth who say they “believe,” as the film’s protagonist does, will receive a free bell from the Pullman Club Coffee Shop at 605 E. 111th St., which also will sell hot chocolate this holiday season, said Bart Darress, the Communications and Membership Director for the Historic Pullman Foundation.

The Foundation is also hosting a model train event, with hundreds of feet of track, vintage Lionel trains and a “Polar Express” exhibit noon-4 p.m. on Dec. 28-29, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Dec. 30 and noon-4 p.m. on Jan. 3-6 at the Historic Pullman Foundation Exhibit Hall at 11141 S. Cottage Grove Ave.

“Polar Express” filmmakers visited Pullman to do research for the look of the film, much of which was designed by architect Solon S. Beman at Pullman company and town founder George M. Pullman’s request. Pullman functioned as a company town for employees of Pullman’s Palace Car Company; those workers eventually struck in 1894 after the company lowered wages for workers but did not lower rents.

In the film, the train’s conductor announces they are approaching “11344 Edbrooke Ave.,” a nod to Zemeckis’ childhood home at that same address in Roseland.

The look of the “11344 Edbrooke Ave” in the film belonging to the character known as “Lonely Boy,” was taken from another home two doors down from Zemeckis’.

Filmmakers also found inspiration in the Pullman Clock Tower and Administration building, the Hotel Florence and arches found in the neighborhood’s Market Square.

“If this stuff wasn’t here, those art directors couldn’t come, and it’s preserved, it inspires, it expands their imagination. So, it provides a perpetual set,” Shymanski said. “That’s the cool thing about Pullman, many films have been done here already” — including scenes from “The Fugitive” and “The Road to Perdition” — “and the reason [filmmakers] love it is because they hardly have to do anything.”

Nora Catlin, a Chicago-based writer who authored an article examining the connection between the Polar Express film and Pullman in 2022, believes that in addition to the film’s architectural inspirations, there are other, less obvious connections between the film and the historic Far South Side neighborhood, she said.

Catlin, who wrote “Pullman and The Polar Express: Architecture of the Uncanny Valley” for her Substack newsletter, said Polar Express’ interpretation of Santa, his elves and the industrialized toy workshop, different from other film depictions, seem to evoke a similar relationship to the one between George M. Pullman and the workers he employed.

Like the elves in Zemeckis’ film, Pullman company staff worked for the same figurehead that provided their housing, Catlin said.As she described it in her article, “the North Poleisthe most well-known company town of all, where Christmas elves reside and work to make the toys that all expect for Christmas.”

“I think by using that setting in reference to the North Pole … I think that fits into this paternalistic, capitalist model that George Pullman was trying to create by having the workers be this idealized version of what a workforce should be — really obsessed with working … and living in the workplace,” Catlin said. “I think that connection is interesting between the real workers in Chicago and that era.”

Teri Gage, superintendent of the Pullman National Historical Park, believes “The Polar Express” including physical details from the Pullman neighborhood emphasizes the importance of the area.

“In terms of storytelling about Pullman, when you can take something that is more modern, that people are very familiar with, and help them connect it to the past, it makes that history more relevant to them, and then they are more motivated and inspired to learn more about that story,” Gage said.

“’The Polar Express’ is a really fun connection to Pullman and it emphasizes what most of us already know: that Pullman is a really special place. It has an impact on you when you’re here.”

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