Playtime with Colin

This past Christmas we showed Colin the film "The Polar Express", and he immediately fell in love with it. He watches it several times a week, enjoys playing a computer game based on the movie, and often pretends his toy trains are the Polar Express journeying to the North Pole.

However, this past week he has reached an all-time impressive factor in play, performing and the Polar Express. He asked James to "play Polar Express" with him. James, unsure what this meant, simply followed his lead. Colin proceeded to act out an entire scene from the film, hitting every line, action and facial expression. If James didn't get every cue of his character right, Colin provided a hint. The first time through Colin played the young boy, and then switched to play the character of the Ghost.

Although the lines are somewhat slurred together, if you've seen the film you can tell that he's getting every single line, including ones like: "But you don't want to be bamboozled? Led down the primrose path?" His memory is absolutely astonishing. There are several scenes Colin enjoys acting out in this manner, but the one with the Ghost seems to be his favourite.

I couldn't finish this entry without commenting on the director in him also. Through the scene, Colin will provide cues like "Now cough! Now spit out the drink. Okay, now you speak." There was also one time through when Colin's next line was "Won't you sit down", but James had forgotten to stand up on his previous line, this negating the need for Colin's line. Colin waited a moment, and then whispered "stand up!" As soon as James was on his feet, Colin delivered his line: "Won't you sit down" and proceeded with the scene. I was behind the video camera, capturing the moment for posterity, and had to stifle my laughter. Well, he is the kid of two actor/directors, so I guess we shouldn't be surprised! There's no doubt James and I are the star of many home videos much like this one!