Thomas the Tank Engine | |
---|---|
The Railway Series , Thomas & Friends , and Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go character | |
First appearance | Thomas the Tank Engine (1946) |
Created by | Wilbert Awdry Christopher Awdry |
Designed by | L. B. Billinton (in-universe) Reginald Payne |
Voiced by |
Other
|
Number | NWR 1 (formerly L.B.S.C. 70 in Thomas & Friends) |
In-universe information | |
Species | Tank locomotive |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Station pilot Passenger train |
Home | Island of Sodor |
Nationality | English (formerly) Sudric |
Thomas the Tank Engine is an anthropomorphised fictional tank locomotive in the British Railway Series books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher, published from 1945. He became the most popular character in the series, and is the titular protagonist in the accompanying television series adaptation Thomas & Friends and its reboot Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go .
Thomas is a locomotive on The Fat Controller's North Western Railway on the Island of Sodor alongside Edward the Blue Engine, Henry the Green Engine, Gordon the Big Engine, James the Red Engine, Percy the Small Engine, Toby the Tram Engine, and many other locomotives.
Thomas is based on the LB&SCR E2 class. [1] Thomas first appeared in 1946, in the second book in the series Thomas the Tank Engine , and was the focus of the four short stories contained within.
In 1979, British writer and producer Britt Allcroft came across the books, [‡ 2] and arranged a deal to make the television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (later simplified to Thomas & Friends). The programme became an award-winning hit around the world, with a range of spin-off commercial products.
Awdry based Thomas on a wooden toy made for his son Christopher. This toy looked rather different from the character in the books and television series, and carried the letters NW on its side tanks, which stood for "No Where" according to Awdry. [2]
The first Thomas model was not based on a prototype. [3] After Awdry's wife encouraged him to publish the stories, [4] the publisher of the second book Thomas the Tank Engine hired illustrator Reginald Payne. Awdry selected a real locomotive for Payne to work from to create authenticity: a Billinton designed 0-6-0 T E2 Class of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. [5] This may have been chosen because Awdry had a photograph to hand. [3]
The models of Thomas used in the Thomas & Friends television series and produced by Hornby are based on the E2 locomotives fitted with an extension to the front of the water tanks. [6] Awdry was unsatisfied with one detail of the illustration; the front end of his running board sloped downward, which meant that his front and back buffers were at different heights. This was an illustrator's mistake that was perpetuated in subsequent books. The crash seen in Thomas Comes to Breakfast was partly devised as a means of correcting this. Thomas has always been shown with a curved running board in the television series.
Payne was not credited for his illustrations at the time, and it is only since the publication of Brian Sibley's The Thomas the Tank Engine Man that he has received recognition. It had often been erroneously assumed that C. Reginald Dalby created the character, as he was responsible for illustrating books 3–11 and repainting the illustrations of the first two books.[ citation needed ]
All of the prototype LB&SCR E2 class locomotives were scrapped between 1961 and 1963. Thomas locomotives used on Day Out with Thomas days on heritage railways are either unpowered replicas or converted from other locomotives. [7]
Despite becoming the most popular character in The Railway Series, Thomas was not featured in the first book, The Three Railway Engines .
Thomas was described in the opening to "Thomas and Gordon", the first story in the book Thomas the Tank Engine , as "a tank engine who lived at a big station. He had six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler and a short stumpy dome. He was a fussy little engine, always pulling coaches about. [...] He was cheeky, too." [‡ 3]
Thomas arrived on Sodor shortly after he was built in 1915, when The Fat Controller bought the locomotive for a nominal sum to be a pilot engine at Vicarstown. Thomas initially worked as a station pilot engine in the first three stories in the second book, but longed for more important jobs such as pulling the express train like Gordon the Big Engine; his inexperience prevented this. In the fourth story, "Thomas and the Breakdown Train", Thomas rescues James and is rewarded with his own branch line. [8]
Thomas's on-screen appearances in the television series were developed by Britt Allcroft. The first series of twenty-six stories premiered in October 1984 on ITV in the United Kingdom, with former Beatles drummer/vocalist Ringo Starr as the narrator. The stories were featured as segments as part of Shining Time Station in the United States beginning in 1989, with Starr as the show's Mr. Conductor character. From 1991 to 1993, George Carlin later replaced Starr as both the storyteller and as Mr. Conductor for Shining Time Station. Carlin also told the Thomas stories for Shining Time Station in 1995.
In 1996, the Thomas stories were segments for Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales, again featuring George Carlin. Alec Baldwin portrayed Mr. Conductor in the franchise's first theatrical film, Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000), and narrated the series for the US from 1998 to 2003. Michael Angelis narrated the series from 1991 to 2012 in the UK, while Michael Brandon narrated the series from 2004 to 2012 in the US. From 2013 to 2017, the series was narrated by Mark Moraghan. From 2018, the episodes were told from Thomas's point of view.
Thomas's personality in the television series was originally consistent to the books. As the show branched away from the books, modifications were made; Thomas became less arrogant and self-absorbed, developing a more friendly, altruistic side.[ citation needed ] He is not limited to his branch line and works multiple oddjobs over Sodor.
From Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails until series 18, Thomas was voiced by Martin Sherman in the US dub and Ben Small in the UK dub. [9] From 2015-2021, Thomas was voiced by John Hasler in the UK, and by Joseph May in the US. Both ended their roles after the twenty-fourth series was produced. The role was taken by several child actors in Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go ; Meesha Contreras voices Thomas in the US [‡ 1] and Aaron Barashi voices him in the UK. David Kolsmith later took over from Contreras before getting replaced himself by Kai Harris for the third season.
In Thomas & Friends: The Adventure Begins , a retelling of many of the first episodes of series 1, he dons a green colour when he first arrives on Sodor, his tanks are lettered "LBSC" (for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway) with the number 70 on his bunker. The 70 is a reference to 2015 being the 70th anniversary since The Railway Series' debut, despite the fact that LB&SCR E2 class were actually numbered from 100–109;[ citation needed ] the real life LBSC no. 70 is an A1 class.
Thomas had his genesis in a wooden push-along toy from the early 1940s made by Wilbert Awdry out of a piece of broomstick for his son Christopher. This engine looked notably different from the character in the books and television series and was based on an LNER Class J50, which was going to be his originally intended basis, with smaller side tanks and splashers. [10] He was painted blue with yellow lining and carried the letters NW on his side tanks. Christopher lost this model, which was recreated for the 70th anniversary. Awdry happily endorsed Payne's account that the locomotive was an LBSC E2, although the first Thomas on Awdry's model railway, from Stuart Reidpath, lacked extended tanks. In the 1979 Thomas the Tank Engine annual, he wrote the following:
I bought Thomas in 1948 when I was writing Tank Engine Thomas Again , and wanted to start modelling once more after a lapse of some twenty years. Thomas was one of Stewart Reidpath's standard models with a heavy, cast white metal body, and was fitted with his "Essar" chassis and motor. Stewart Reidpath is now dead, and his motors, let alone spare parts for them, have been unobtainable for years; but Thomas still keeps going! He is, as you might expect from his age, a temperamental old gentleman, and has to be driven very carefully indeed.
— Wilbert Awdry [‡ 4]
Thomas Mk. I was retired with its passenger coaches in 1979, with Thomas Mk. II having been produced the year before using a Tri-ang 'Jinty' 3F 0-6-0T. After the British model railways manufacturing company Hornby Railways produced the LBSC E2 tank engine, Awdry adapted one in 1980 to take the role of Thomas Mk. III on his layout of the Ffarquhar branch.[ citation needed ]
Awdry's requested models, to which Lines Bros. subsidiary, Meccano Ltd, responded with Percy and wagons in 1967. [10] Hornby Hobbies launched their "The World of Thomas the Tank Engine" range in 1985. This was a OO gauge range of model railway train sets and models which they would continue to produce for the next 30 years. When designing their Thomas model, Hornby reused their 1979 model of a LB&SCR model of a class E2 tank engine, which they suitably altered with a face and extended tanks to resemble the character. Many of the other characters in the Railway Series books were thus modelled by Hornby, including characters added for the television series. Hornby also supplied suitable coaches, wagons and lineside buildings within the series.
Thomas was the only fictional character included in The Independent on Sunday 's 2009 "Happy List", recognised alongside 98 real-life adults and a therapy dog for making Britain a better and happier place. [11] In 2011, Thomas the Tank Engine featured on a series of 1st class UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail to mark the centenary of the birth of its creator, Reverend Wilbert Awdry. [12]
Japanese Ōigawa Railway's locomotives include five characters from the Thomas & Friends series: Thomas, Hiro, Percy, James, and Rusty. The locomotives are based at Shin-Kanaya Station. [13] Thomas runs between Shin-Kanaya Station and Kawaneonsen-Sasamado Station. [14]
Thomas has been referenced, featured and parodied in popular culture. In 1988, he was parodied on ITV's Spitting Image where he was portrayed as a drunk who "went completely off the rails." [‡ 5] In 2009, he appeared in "The Official BBC Children in Need Medley" where he was voiced by Ringo Starr, who narrated the first two series of Thomas & Friends. [15] In the British comedy show Bobby Davro's TV Weekly, a spoof was created titled "Thomas the Tanked Up Engine" involving Jeremy, a pink recolour of James. Bobby Davro provided the narration by impersonating Ringo Starr.
In Cartoon Network's MAD , Thomas the Tank Engine appears in "Thomas the Unstoppable Tank Engine", a crossover between Thomas & Friends and Unstoppable . [‡ 6] A parody of Thomas & Friends was in Robot Chicken , entitled "Blow Some Steam". In the skit, Thomas was voiced by Daniel Radcliffe. [‡ 7]
The 2015 Marvel superhero film Ant-Man features a Bachmann HO scale model of Thomas. In the film's climactic battle, Ant-Man and Yellowjacket fight atop a model train pulled by the Thomas model while in their insect sizes, until Yellowjacket derails the model train and throws Thomas at Ant-Man, who knocks him onto a windowsill. An accident during the fight results in Thomas suddenly growing to the size of a real train and demolishing a large portion of Ant-Man's daughter's house before landing on top of a police car. [16] [17] [18]
Video game players have frequently modified released games to include Thomas and other characters, typically by replacing a boss character with Thomas and using sounds and music from the show. One of the first popular efforts was replacing dragons with engines and trucks in the game The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim in 2013, and Thomas has since been incorporated into other games like Grand Theft Auto V , Sonic the Hedgehog and the 2019 Resident Evil 2 remake. [19]
Thomas & Friends is a British children's television series that aired for 24 series and 584 episodes from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher, the series was developed for television by Britt Allcroft. The series follows the adventures of Thomas, an anthropomorphic blue steam locomotive on the fictional North Western Railway on the Island of Sodor with his friends Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby and others who are engines of The Fat Controller.
Britt Allcroft was an English writer, producer, director, and voice actress. She was best known for adapting the Reverend Wilbert Awdry's The Railway Series in the form of the children's television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. She was also known for creating Shining Time Station, Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales, and Magic Adventures of Mumfie. She also wrote, co-produced, and directed the film Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000).
Wilbert Vere Awdry, often credited as Rev. W. Awdry, was an English Anglican minister, railway enthusiast, and children's author. He is best remembered as the creator of Thomas the Tank Engine and several other characters who appeared in his Railway Series.
Christopher Vere Awdry is an English author. He is best known for his contributions to The Railway Series of books featuring Thomas the Tank Engine, which was started by his late father, Wilbert Awdry (1911–1997). He also produced children's books based on a number of other railways, as well as non-fiction articles and books on heritage railways. He was born at Devizes, the family moving to Kings Norton, Birmingham, when he was aged five months. Awdry was educated at Worksop College, a public school in North Nottinghamshire.
The Fat Controller is a fictional character in The Railway Series books written by Reverend W. Awdry and his son, Christopher Awdry. In the first two books in the series he is known as The Fat Director, and as of the third book he becomes The Fat Controller, as the railway has been nationalised. In the foreword to the 1951 book Henry the Green Engine, his real name is revealed to be Sir Topham Hatt.
James the Red Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic tender locomotive from The Railway Series children's books by the Reverend Awdry and the TV series adaptation Thomas & Friends. James is the number 5 engine on the North Western Railway, the Fat Controller's railway on the Island of Sodor.
The Railway Series is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. Twenty-six books were written by Awdry, the final one being written in October 1972. Sixteen more were written by his son, Christopher Awdry, between September 1983 and July 2011. The series features many anthropomorphic vehicles, including Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas became the most popular and famous character in the series and the titular character of the television series Thomas & Friends from 1984 to 2021. The children's television series originated as adaptations of these stories.
Toby the Tram Engine is a fictional anthropomorphic tram engine who debuted in The Railway Series by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry. Toby has cowcatchers and sideplates, and is the North Western Railway's number 7. He works on the Ffarquhar Branch Line alongside Thomas the Tank Engine.
The Island of Sodor is a fictional island that is the setting for The Railway Series books by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. It is also the setting of the Thomas & Friends television series, though it is significantly different from the island in the books. Sodor lies in the Irish Sea between Cumbria and the Isle of Man.
David Nelson Godfrey Mitton was a British director, producer, writer, model maker and special effects technician. He was best known for producing and directing the children's television programmes Thomas & Friends and TUGS. During the 1960s, he worked with Gerry and Sylvia Anderson as a special effects technician on series such as Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90, The Secret Service and UFO.
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends is a children's television series about the engines and other characters working on the railways of the Island of Sodor, and is based on The Railway Series books written by the Reverend W. Awdry.
Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends is a children's television series about the engines and other characters working on the railways of the Island of Sodor, and is based on The Railway Series books written by the Reverend W. Awdry.
The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) E2 class was a class of 0-6-0T steam locomotives designed by Lawson Billinton, intended for shunting and short distance goods trains. Ten examples were built between 1913 and 1916. Some of these tank engines were trialled on push-pull passenger trains in which they were proven to be unworthy due to their roughness at speed and inadequate coal bunker capacity. All were withdrawn from service and scrapped between 1961 and 1963.
The GER Class C53 was a class of twelve 0-6-0T steam tram locomotives designed by James Holden for the Great Eastern Railway. They passed to the London and North Eastern Railway at the grouping, and received the LNER classification J70.
Clive Spong is an English illustrator of The Railway Series books by the Rev. W. Awdry. He illustrated the books written by Christopher Awdry published since 1983.
Merchandise for the Thomas & Friends franchise has been produced to capitalize on the success of the television series Thomas & Friends. Whilst merchandise was produced alongside due to the popularity of the first of The Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry since 1945, and the original broadcast of the television series in 1984 in the United Kingdom, large numbers of manufacturers have sought to produce Thomas-branded items after the television series was broadcast in the United States and Japan.
Thomas & Friends is a children's media franchise created by Britt Allcroft and currently owned by Mattel. The franchise revolves around an ensemble cast of anthropomorphic steam locomotives and other vehicles, including the main protagonist Thomas the Tank Engine, who work on the Island of Sodor.
In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):