The new CG movie The Polar Express is getting some early “creepy” reviews. From having seen the trailers, I think it’s as much a matter of a somewhat stiff drawing style turning into a stiff animation style (that, and trying to pad out a very thin book into a full-length film). But other folk are blaming the “Uncanny Valley” (discussed here before):
Though originally intended to provide an insight into human psychological reaction to robotic design, the concept expressed by this phrase is equally applicable to interactions with nearly any nonhuman entity. Stated simply, the idea is that if one were to plot emotional response against similarity to human appearance and movement, the curve is not a sure, steady upward trend. Instead, there is a peak shortly before one reaches a completely human ?look? . . . but then a deep chasm plunges below neutrality into a strongly negative response before rebounding to a second peak where resemblance to humanity is complete.
In other words, folks like the Incredibles are cartoony enough to be adorable, but the not-altogether-realistic denizens of the Polar Express are just a bit … off, and, therefore, creepy.
And the thing looks like lame, smarmy crap. To me.
Well, there is that. Though it wouldn’t be the first time that “lame, smarmy crap” in my own eyes turned out to be terribly popular.
True. Don’t know if lame, smarmy pod-people aliens will do the trick though. Didn’t Shreck run into the scarily-almost-human phenomenon too?
Yeah.
They had to go back and “un-realistic” most of the characters, especially Fiona.