What Disney movie is about the train?

Actually, there seems to be a misunderstanding. The Great Train Robbery (1903) is not a Disney film. Its a silent Western film, a landmark in early cinema, but it predates the Walt Disney Company by decades.

While Disney hasnt released a major animated feature film with a train as the central character and the sole focus of the narrative, trains frequently play significant roles in their movies. Think about the importance of trains in films like Dumbo, where the circus train is essential to the plot and the animals lives. Or consider the train sequences in The Reluctant Dragon and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, where the train provides an important backdrop to the adventure.

However, the film that probably comes closest to what you might be thinking of, even though its not exclusively about a train but heavily features it and makes it integral to the narrative, is The Polar Express (2004). While technically not a Walt Disney Animation Studios production, but rather produced by Castle Rock Entertainment and ImageMovers, and distributed by Warner Bros., The Polar Express utilizes motion capture animation. The entire story revolves around a magical train journey to the North Pole on Christmas Eve, a train powered by steam and filled with children discovering the spirit of Christmas. The train itself is practically a character, with its distinct personality and role in facilitating the journey.

While Disney hasnt given us a full-blown, animated Train Story, their history is rich with trains acting as pivotal elements in the narrative. The circus train in Dumbo is essential for understanding Dumbos predicament and journey, as he and his mother are transported between towns. The ominous train in Pinocchio takes delinquent boys to Pleasure Island and the path to turning them into donkeys. Swiss Family Robinson also prominently features a makeshift train constructed from salvaged materials. Toy Story also uses trains.

So, while no Disney animated classic puts a train front and center as the unambiguous sole protagonist, the company has masterfully woven trains into their storytelling to create memorable scenes and enhance the narrative core. Its something Disney does extremely well, using trains to symbolize journeys, both literal and metaphorical, transformation, and the spirit of adventure. Even though The Great Train Robbery is not associated with Disney and a purely train-centric animated feature is absent from their official canon, trains are undeniably an important aspect of Disneys cinematic storytelling history.