Traveling To Comic-Con In Style Aboard The 'City of Ember' Train

The first thing I saw was a mustached man in a blue jumpsuit, with a big “e” on his back twisting itself into a lightning bolt. I asked him if he knew the way to the train, and he responded “gGrszzzyplk.”

I was at L.A.’s Union Station, getting ready to ride on a train for the first time since I was a little kid. The man took my bags and walked me through the terminals, and I remarked on what a big place it was. “Yudesverpy,” he agreed.

“Are you talking gibberish?” I asked. “Is this how the people in ‘City of Ember’ speak?”

With a sly smile, he nodded his head. And then we came around a corner to find an old timey brass band, banners and a guy with a bell, all welcoming me onto my train to Comic-Con.

Every year, dozens of movies compete to get the attention of the press in San Diego. But I must say, the folks behind this upcoming Tim Robbins/Bill Murray fantasy film came up with one of the cooler ideas in recent memory: Renting a train and decorating it to look like something from the movie.

Wednesday afternoon’s voyage began with a peek inside the train, which is the type of old-school ride that has curtains, sleeping compartments, ashtrays, a bar and even a barber (!) on board. Honestly, I felt like I was in “The Natural” and about to bump into The Whammer.

The “Ember” people decked out the train with props, pictures, and even “e”-shaped cookies to get the 20-or-so journalists in the right mood. Once on board, a “conductor” led us in the Ember pledge that every citizen must take – and then director Gil Kenan led us through clips from the October 10th flick, filling in the plot points in between.

“What propelled me on the journey of making this film was the potential to create a living, breathing creature out of a city,” the “Monster House” filmmaker explained of the film’s underground, crumbling setting, citing such random influences as the videogame “Myst” and Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis.” “It’s something that I’m after. My first film turned a house into a character. Here, I wanted to make sure that the city itself, which hides this amazing puzzle that is the adventure, is as alive as any of the players.”

The MTV movies team is here in San Diego. Stay tuned to the MTV Movies Blog and our brand-new comics blog, Splash Page for tons more!

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