Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure

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Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure
ThomasamdFriendsLegendoftheLostTreasureCover.jpg
Directed by David Stoten
Screenplay byAndrew Brenner
Produced by
  • Ian McCue (HIT)
  • Jennifer Hill (Arc)
Starring
Narrated by Mark Moraghan
Edited byMatthew Ahrens
Music by
  • Robert Hartshorne
  • Peter Hartshorne
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
Running time
  • 60 minutes (UK)
  • 63 minutes (US)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$3.4 million [2]

Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure is a 2015 British animated fantasy adventure comedy film and the ninth feature-length special movie of the British television series, Thomas & Friends . [3] The film is produced by HIT Entertainment and animated by Arc Productions.

Contents

The film stars John Hasler and Joseph May as the voice of Thomas in the UK and US dubs respectively. It stars the voices of Sir John Hurt, Eddie Redmayne, Jamie Campbell Bower, Olivia Colman, Keith Wickham, Tim Whitnall, Rob Rackstraw, William Hope, Kerry Shale, Christopher Ragland, Glenn Wrage, Joe Mills, Teresa Gallagher, Jules de Jongh, Steven Kynman and Tom Stourton in supporting roles. In the film, Thomas the Tank Engine becomes unwillingly caught in a conspiracy to steal recently-discovered pirate treasure.

The film marks the screen debuts of Rex, Mike and Bert, the Arlesdale Railway engines, the central characters of the Reverend Wilbert Awdry's twenty-second book, Small Railway Engines . The three characters, based on real locomotives from the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, had previously only appeared in The Railway Series and had been omitted from the television series. Several characters who had been absent from the television series for many years also make their return, such as Donald, Douglas, Daisy and select members of the Sodor Construction Company.

The film received a theatrical release in the United Kingdom in July 2015. [1] It was met with mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised the direction and plot but were critical of the film's somewhat dark undertone.

Plot

Thomas the Tank Engine wins a race against Bertie the Bus, who reveals that a new branch line is being built. This concerns Annie and Clarabel, who fear that Thomas' branch line may be closed. The next morning, Gordon makes Thomas lose his temper and cause a derailment. Sir Topham Hatt sends Thomas to assist him in the construction on the new branch line as punishment for his actions, while new engine Ryan is given Thomas' job.

At the building site, part of the land subsides underneath the new track. Thomas does not pay attention to the danger signs and falls into a cavern where he finds a pirate ship. He tries to tell Sir Topham Hatt about the ship, but Hatt does not listen, believing Thomas is making excuses. Rocky the crane is thus credited with discovering the ship, which is put on display at Arlesburgh Harbour. Partly repaired, Thomas meets Sailor John and his boat Skiff, who has been fitted with wheels that allow him to move on the rails. John says he is looking for treasure but is hesitant to give Thomas details.

Ryan accidentally lights some dynamite after taking on bad coal. Thomas saves Ryan and gets rid of the dynamite, but Hatt is furious, thinking that Thomas is chasing Ryan with the dynamite. Accusing Thomas for making up excuses again, Hatt confines him to his shed for the rest of the afternoon and orders everyone else to get back to work. Marion the steam shovel finds a treasure chest full of gold and jewellery, which Hatt keeps in his office overnight intending to donate it to a museum. Thomas meets a furious John, who reveals that it is the treasure he had been looking for, and demands it to be handed over. Thomas says that Hatt has the treasure and refuses to help John take it.

That night, John breaks into Hatt's office and steals the treasure, using Skiff and the pirate ship as his getaway. Thomas chases them through a junction where the miniature engines slow the ship by derailing their ballast trucks. A loose rope is caught on Ryan, who derails the flatbed carrying the ship, leaving John with only Skiff to take him away.

At Arlesburgh Harbour, Thomas tries to knock Skiff off of the rails, but to no avail. At the rail-boat launch ramp John rows Skiff out towards the sea, and Thomas ends up partially submerged. With the help of a large wave, Skiff knocks Sailor John and the treasure off of him. The treasure sinks to the bottom of the harbour, and Sailor John is soon arrested by the police. Thomas is rescued and attempts to explain to Hatt, fearing he'll be furious with him again. However, Hatt is proud of Thomas, as Ryan explained everything to him, and Hatt assures Thomas that he will always be his "number one engine" as his engines are more important to him than anything else.

When the branch line is completed, Sir Topham Hatt gives a fully repaired Thomas his old job back, and lets him cut the ribbon to the new line. Skiff gives rail-boat tours around Arlesburgh Harbour.

Voice cast

Actor/ActressRegionRole(s)
Mark Moraghan UK/USNarrator
John Hasler UK Thomas
Joseph May US
Keith Wickham UKEdward, Henry, Gordon and Percy
UK/USSalty, Bert, Bertie, Sir Topham Hatt, Sodor Brass Band leader, Policeman, a diver, some workmen
Rob Rackstraw James and Donald
UK Toby
US
Christopher Ragland Percy
Kerry Shale Henry, Gordon and Kevin
William Hope Edward and Toby
Teresa Gallagher UK/USDaisy, Annie, Clarabel and some children
UKEmily
Jules de Jongh US
Glenn Wrage Cranky
Matt Wilkinson UKCranky and Kevin
David Bedella UK/USVictor
Steven KynmanDuck
UKJack
David Menkin US
Jonathan BroadbentUK/USBill and Ben
Joe MillsDouglas, Oliver and Toad
Eddie Redmayne [4] Ryan
John Hurt Sailor John
Jamie Campbell Bower Skiff
Tim Whitnall Mike and Oliver the Excavator
Tom Stourton Rex
Nathan Clarke Alfie
Olivia Colman Marion

Reception

Box office

The film grossed £889,927 in the UK, US$72,928 in Hong Kong and US$2,510,062 in China for a total of $3,472,917 worldwide. [2]

Critical response

Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure currently holds an 80% "fresh" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 5 reviews. [5]

Andrew Pulver of The Guardian gave the film a 3/5 stating, "Like Tale of the Brave, Lost Treasure jams locomotive action together with a pop motif supposedly beloved of kids: Brave had dinosaurs, Treasure has pirates." [6]

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References

  1. 1 2 Stuart Heritage (4 June 2015). "Thomas and Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure trailer – steamy stuff". The Guardian . London, England. Archived from the original on 31 August 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure - Box Office Mojo". Archived from the original on 31 August 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  3. ↑ "ALL ABOARD FOR NEW THOMAS & FRIENDS® FEATURE LENGTH MOVIE 'SODOR'S LEGEND OF THE LOST TREASURE'". 26 February 2015. Archived from the original on 14 November 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  4. ↑ "Eddie Redmayne steams in to Thomas the Tank Engine film". BBC . 26 February 2015. Archived from the original on 31 August 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  5. ↑ "Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure". Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2018– via www.rottentomatoes.com.
  6. ↑ Pulver, Andrew (16 July 2015). "Thomas & Friends: Sodor's Legend Lost Treasure review – pirates on track". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077. Archived from the original on 6 November 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
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