Dubuque Theater Showing "The Polar Express," Tickets Only $1

A contemporary holiday classic will be returning to theaters just in time for the Christmas season, and one Dubuque theater is making it an absolute bargain to see this great film on the big screen once again.

The Polar Express finds itself in various TV lineups around this time of year, typically in Freeform's "25 Days of Christmas" (formerly ABC Family). However, this awe-inspiring, technologically revolutionary movie deserves to be experienced on the big screen at least once. You'll have the opportunity to see it come to life in the most premium moviegoing experience Dubuque has to offer.

Beginning December 1st, The Polar Express will return to Phoenix Theatres, located in Kennedy Mall in Dubuque. Tickets are only $1! From Friday, December 1st through Thursday, December 7th, the film will be shown three times a day (10am, 12:15pm, and 2:30pm) at Phoenix Theatres.

If for some reason you've never seen The Polar Express (fix that ASAP), the film tells a magical story of a boy who boards a mysterious locomotive on Christmas Eve. The train is en route to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus, who is preparing to hit the skies to deliver presents:

Wrestling with burgeoning doubts on the ever-present question over Santa Claus' existence, the skeptical youngster, Hero Boy, hears the familiar sound of a locomotive which interrupts his already troubled sleep. And then, much to his surprise, a cryptic conductor invites him to board the magnificent Polar Express on an unforgettable and magical adventure all the way up to the frozen landscapes of the vast North Pole, Santa Claus' realm. Will he and the rest of the young non-believers aboard the train finally find the true spirit of Christmas? - Nick Riganas' plot summary, per IMDb

The Polar Express marks the first feature-length film to be conducted entirely through motion capture technology. In layman's terms, actors perform the motions of their characters during filming. They're fitted with special suits that capture their movements before a green screen, and through the wonders of technology (aka the hard work of animators) their animated counterparts reflect those motions.

Photo Credit: Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers, YouTube

The film was directed by Robert Zemeckis, who would later go on to make another feature-length motion capture film for Disney called Mars Needs Moms (albeit to far less narrative and financial success). Motion capture technology was a critical instrument in the making James Cameron's Avatar movies. Part of the reason Avatar: The Way of Water took so long to come out was due to the shortcomings of underwater motion capture technology required for Cameron's vision.

But I digress. The Polar Express will be shown at Phoenix Theatres in Kennedy Mall for one week only starting December 1st. Get your tickets on Phoenix Theatres' website.