The polar express needs to be more appreciated because although the story is meh and the animation sucks. It proved why realism doesn't work with movies. Yes are there movies that still use realism and you could reference before this movie came out? Absolutely but the polar express is what became famous and truly referenced when animators say "realism doesn't work with animation". I'm not saying people should love this movie. I'm saying appreciate it for what it has done to improve the animation industry so that animation is not somewhat crappy. Also am I saying animation can't be crappy now either? No absolutely it can but at-least it can look half way decent and the animation can be tolerable at points.
