Thomas the Tank Engine – kids love it, parents are made bankrupt by it. Let me explain about good ole Thomas. He “lives” on the Island of Sodor, which my sources inform me is near/like the Isle of Man. Thomas has many friends, in the original books, he had just 5 friends – James, Henry, ... Read review
Advantages: entertains the children, only 5 minutes per episode Disadvantages: too much merchandise to be conned into
Thomas the Tank Engine – kids love it, parents are made bankrupt by it. Let me explain about good ole Thomas. He “lives” on the Island of Sodor, which my sources inform me is near/like the Isle of Man. Thomas has many friends, in the original books, he had just 5 friends – James, Henry, Gordon, Edward (all Tender engines) and Percy (who was the only other Tank engine). Shortly after other characters started to appear; such as Duck, Bertie (the bus), ... ...late 1980s, Thomas (as I’m sure you know), was made into a television series read by Ringo Starr, kids loved his reading voice and parents loved him because “he was the bloke from the Beatles” (who their kids had never heard of…) After a few series, Ringo passed the voiceover baton to Michael Angeleo (although I recently read in Heat magazine that Ringo was only just giving up the job, I think they are about 15 years behind the times).
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Thomas the Tank Engine – kids love it, parents are made bankrupt by it. Let me explain about good ole Thomas. He “lives” on the Island of Sodor, which my sources inform me is near/like the Isle of Man. Thomas has many friends, in the original books, he had just 5 friends – James, Henry, Gordon, Edward (all Tender engines) and Percy (who was the only other Tank engine). Shortly after other characters started to appear; such as Duck, Bertie (the bus), Harold (the helicopter) and Terence (the tractor). In the late 1980s, Thomas (as I’m sure you know), was made into a television series read by Ringo Starr, kids loved his reading voice and parents loved him because “he was the bloke from the Beatles” (who their kids had never heard of…) After a few series, Ringo passed the voiceover baton to Michael Angeleo (although I recently read in Heat magazine that Ringo was only just giving up the job, I think they are about 15 years behind the times).
--The Island-- As I already mentioned, the Island in question is the Island of Sodor, which seems very busy for the apparent size of it – there is a quarry, a dock, a vicarage (and vicar that is mentioned only very occasionally), a seaside and several villages. There always seems to be hundreds of passengers in demand of the railway, who subsequently (when things invariably go wrong) call it a “bad railway”, and demand their money back.
--The Fat Controller-- The man can only be described a Railway Magnate, a Rupert Murdoch of the railways if you like. If there is a pie to have a finger in, then Sir Topham Hatt (the name of the Fat Controller) has got his finger in it. He has absolutely LOADS of trains and new ones conveniently pop up whenever a new job needs doing, or a new part of the Island is “discovered”. Several trains are saved from the scrap (and bought in as new characters), but existing engines never seem to wear out. He also appears to be in charge of the quarry and the docks which must make him a considerable amount of money. Lady Hatt must be a very happy lady.
--The Railway-- Asides from the main railway, there is also a “narrow gauge” railway with added characters such as Skarloey and Duncan, that are only mentioned in very few episodes, but they still manage to con parents into spending money on them. Some of the characters (such as Thomas and Toby(the tram engine) from the main railway have their own “branch” lines, which the Tender engines (especially Gordon) do not like, as it means they have to fetch their own coaches, and occasionally push trucks. Gordon (and possibly James) believes that they are too important to do “dirty” jobs and told Edward that he had “black wheels” (apparently a derogetary term if you are an engine) for doing such jobs. The Fat Controller however reassured him that he “had nice blue ones”.
--The Engines-- The Island is in a bit of a time warp – it has been the 1950s since the year dot. Since this is the case, the engines believe that Steam is the bee’s knees, and it is for this reason that characters such as Bulgy (a double decker bus) and Diesel (a diesel engine, quelle surprise) are portrayed as being “bad”, with the intention of “destroying” the railway. I was going to mention a bit about each engine, but there are just WAY to many. They always seem to be getting into trouble after cooking up some ill advised scheme, and they are forever on the look out for the Fat Controller giving them the ultimate praise of "Really Useful Engine".
--Merchandise-- Again there is just too much to list, but let me tell you this, you better have a lot of money if your child decides that he/she likes Thomas, there are literally hundreds of books/videos/models/railways/etc/etc that you can buy. My son has even just conned his dad into renting one of the videos from Apollo. Grandparents also help perpetuate your bankrupt state by fuelling the obsession with comics/more models/videos etc. I just pray that he never gets wind that there is a feature length film!
Other than this, Thomas the Tank Engine is brilliant as it keeps the children entertained (which is suppose what *was* designed for), and it’ll keep my son quiet for ages (even longer than the Tweenies) and when the music comes on he always does a little dance and “do, do, do’s” along to the music. Brilliant fun, but only if you are knee high to a toadstool. (Small confession, I'd rather watch this than something like the Teletubbies).
Advantages: Great stories, good engines, educational experience Disadvantages: The new stories aren't as good
...still love watching the odd Thomas The Tank Engine story very ocassionly. I grew up watching it and I had, and still do have, most of the videos and story books. I was pleased to discover that the programmes and concept is still going strong. They are continuing to make new stories and introduce more characters, both of which have some positive and negative costs. I will write everything that I know about Thomas The Tank Engine and try and gives ... ...it all involves.
Thomas The Tank Engine (and Friends), is a childrens programme about the trains that operate on the island of Sodor. It follows them through their ups and downs and also their funny moods and strops that they get into. Each story tends to have a message at the end of it and it can be quite informative for the young children who watch. There are number of engines and other things that operate around around the railway, all featured ...
thespurs 06.10.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Thomas the Tank Engine
Advantages: A good programme for the kids Disadvantages: none
...The Cartoon was of course, Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas was actually written many years before by the Reverend W Awdry in 1945, who provided the stories that entertained generations for his son, Christopher. Out of interest, he lived with a Transvetite in Roxwell, a small village outside of Chelmsford, for a long time! It was not until the 1980's however that we got to see them on TV. The stories Follow a small Blue Tank Engine who is called Thomas. ... ...location caled Sodor. Thomas and all of his friends have a number on the side of the train. Anyone remember Thomas's number? Thats right, Number 1. But he was not alone. Thomas pulled 2 carriages. They had names too. Annie and Clarabel. The other engines in Thomas's stories all had their own personalitles. Firstly was Percy. Percy was as cheeky and naughty as Thomas was good. He is a small Saddle Engine and Green in Colour. Used for shunting around ...
andycharger 31.10.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Thomas the Tank Engine
Advantages: Excellent childrens programme, no sex or violence Disadvantages: None
...entertain his son Christopher, Thomas the Tank Engine was created as a TV programme in 1987. The programme has always drawn closely on the books and retains their essential character. The world where the Fat Controller’s railway is, is an island called Sodor. Here the engines share an engine shed where they rest at night following their individual adventures. The Fat Controller (aka Sir Topham Hat) tries to run a ‘good railway’ where the trains ... ...which suited Thomas better.
The Thomas the Tank Engine has had huge merchandising success for Britt Allcroft who bought the rights to the books when they were first turned into TV programmes. I hope Thomas continues to be shown to a new generation. I’ve always got my videos. ...
polydeuces 16.11.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Thomas the Tank Engine
Advantages: easy to follow storylines Disadvantages: none
It was great to see Thomas the Tank Engine making a return to our teles, I can remember watching them the first time around and enjoying them, now nickleodean have got their hands on it and reshowing them, giving my two young sons the chance to enjoy them.
they love following the adventures of Thomas and all his friends so much so that I have had to go and buy lots of the little die-cast figures for them to play with.
Thomas is showing every weekday ... ...young children, It a bright eyecatching program which instantly draws the eye to the screen and the catching theme tune catches young childrens attention too, and it has good easy to follow storylines.
I really recomend this program to anyone with young children as it has great entertainment value. ...
sarah14 16.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Thomas the Tank Engine
Advantages: Everything about it Disadvantages: None
...like the Thomas series. I wonder if any of you read the same book. To sum up I would highly recommend this series as imperative for children of all ages. There are lots of toys for sale to accompany the series, allowing the child to use their imagination. ...
Moonflower 01.10.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Thomas the Tank Engine
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Advantages: They love it Disadvantages: and i dont
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