One of the more common fan theories about The Polar Express is that the whole movie was set in Hero Boy’s dream. According to one theory, Hero Boy falls asleep while his father reads him a bedtime story just before the movie begins. The newspaper clipping scene is all part of the dream, as is the rest of the movie until he wakes up the next day.

According to this theory, the reason all the characters are all voiced by Tom Hanks is that they’re his father’s voice that he hears in his dreams. He effectively carries his dad’s voice into his dream. The conductor is his grown-up belief in Christmas, doing his best to show him the spirit of Christmas. The Hobo represents his disbelief and scepticism, even hinting to Hero Boy that he might be in a dream. Santa Claus becomes the manifestation of his belief as he “defeats” the Hobo, who isn’t seen again after Hero Boy cements his faith in the spirit of Christmas.

While it is a fun theory to read, the consensus in our household is that it wasn’t a dream, but that Hero Boy actually went to the North Pole and met Santa. On Christmas morning, the bell that Santa gave him is still there, along with a note from Santa. At this point, it’s still possible that it was all a dream and that it was simply another gift from his parents, but they then ask him about the bell and where it came from. They both pick up the bell, but since they can’t hear it, they think it’s broken. Would the parents have given him a random broken bell and then denied doing so as some sort of Christmas prank? I don’t think so! Since they can’t hear it ring, but the children can, it could only have come from Santa himself, proving that it wasn’t a dream!