Thomas the Tank Engine: Difference between revisions
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Unfortunately, despite creating the visual image of such an iconic character, Payne did not receive any credit for his work, and it is only since the publication of [[Brian Sibley]]'s 'The Thomas the Tank Engine Man' that he has started to receive major recognition. Indeed, it had often been erroneously assumed that C. Reginald Dalby, responsible for illustrating books 3-11 and repainting the illustrations of book 1, was the character's creator. |
Unfortunately, despite creating the visual image of such an iconic character, Payne did not receive any credit for his work, and it is only since the publication of [[Brian Sibley]]'s 'The Thomas the Tank Engine Man' that he has started to receive major recognition. Indeed, it had often been erroneously assumed that C. Reginald Dalby, responsible for illustrating books 3-11 and repainting the illustrations of book 1, was the character's creator. |
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==Thomas in the news== |
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The owner of the website rathergood.com, Joel Veitch, was threatened with a lawsuit by Gullane Entertainment Inc. for uploading a flash cartoon which parodied Thomas the Tank engine. Veitch replaced the 'T' at the beginning of Tank with a 'W'. Veitch removed the animation from the site; however the link to the animation remains. The page, however, has been replaced with one of apology to the creators and owners of the Thomas the Tank Engine stories. |
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Revision as of 13:36, 19 July 2006
Thomas is a fictional anthropomorphic tank locomotive created by the Rev. W. V. Awdry in his The Railway Series books, made into the British children's television series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and its somewhat less popular American spinoff Shining Time Station. In his first appearance in the television series he was described as follows:
- "Thomas is a blue tank engine who lives at a big station on the Island of Sodor. He's a cheeky little engine with 6 small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler and a short stumpy dome" -narrator Ringo Starr from the episode "Thomas & Gordon" (aka "Thomas Gets Tricked"). He has also been described as "a cheeky little engine" and "a little engine with a long tongue."
Thomas the Tank Engine first appeared in 1946, when stories about him were published in The Railway Series by Reverend W.V. Awdry. He is the best-known fictional locomotive in the world.
When he first appeared, in the book 'Thomas the Tank Engine', he was a station pilot, used to shunt coaches and trucks for the bigger engines. He longed for more important jobs, but his inexperience prevented this. Eventually he was responsible for rescuing James after an accident, and the Fat Controller (who was then known as the Fat Director) decided that he was a Really Useful Engine, and ready for his own branch line. He has remained in charge of this line ever since.
His closest friends are Annie and Clarabel, his coaches. However, he is also very good friends with Percy the Small Engine, despite a lot of arguments, Edward the Blue Engine who is always helping Thomas, and Toby the Tram Engine whom he became very fond of.
Thomas is based on the class E2 0-6-0T's built for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway between 1913 and 1916.
Thomas in the Railway Series
Thomas' character differs strongly between the Railway Series and recent seasons of the television series. In the Railway Series, he has generally been depicted with a cheeky and even self-important personality. He believes that he should be more respected by the others, and he gets annoyed when he does not receive this respect. Luckily, Percy and Toby are more than capable of standing up to him, and Annie and Clarabel often rebuke him.
He is aware of his fame in the real world, and following a visit to the National Railway Museum at York he became an honorary member of the National Collection, joining such legendary locomotives as Mallard, City of Truro and Rocket.
It should be noted that the Thomas of the early stories looks a little different from the one shown in later ones. Following the events of the story 'Thomas Comes to Breakfast', in which Thomas crashed into the Stationmaster's house, his front end was rebuilt without the "dip" in his footplate. He has kept this ever since. For the reasons behind this, see 'Origins of Thomas'.
Thomas has been the source of some friction between Christopher Awdry and his publishers, who repeatedly asked for more books centering around the character. Although Thomas was the most popular character in the books, both Wilbert and Christopher Awdry had always treated the characters in the books as an ensemble, and so before the television series was released there had only been two books named after Thomas ('Thomas the Tank Engine' and 'Tank Engine Thomas Again'). After the television series, there were five more ('More About Thomas the Tank Engine', 'Thomas and the Twins', 'Thomas and the Great Railway Show', 'Thomas Comes Home', 'Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines'). Some of these are rather tenuous in their links with the character. 'Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines' (the 50th anniversary volume, originally to be called 'The Fat Controller's Engines') features only one story out of the four centering on Thomas. In 'Thomas Comes Home', Thomas appears only on the last page, the rest of the book dealing with the other engines on his branch line while he was away at York.
Thomas on Television
In the early series of Thomas the Tank Engine, the attitude that Thomas had used in the Railway Series were used, but the attitude that he should have was soon realised, and the title "Really Useful Engine" was used at the end of Series 2. From season three onwards, Thomas' character was modified from that depicted in the Railway Series. He became less cheeky and pompous. He is now kind to other engines, always ready to stand up for a friend in need. He is always eager to prove himself, and has had many exciting adventures as a result.
He no longer appears to be limited to his branch line, which disturbed the fans greatly, and now seems to work all over Sodor under the power of being Sir Topham Hatt's servant.
This change in his personality and duties is a result of his "star" status. He is the most popular character in the series, and therefore he has the largest number of appearances.
Thomas on Film
Thomas's on screen appearances have all been produced by The Britt Allcroft Company PLC, now Gullane Entertainment, and distributed in more than 120 countries to date. The TV series, first broadcast in 1984, was narrated by former Beatles member Ringo Starr, followed by Michael Angelis in later editions. (In the U.S. video releases, Starr was followed by comedian George Carlin, and then actor Alec Baldwin.)
In 2000, Thomas starred in a feature film, 'Thomas and the Magic Railroad'. He was voiced by Edward Glen. He was the only engine from the television series to play a major role in the story, and he even leaves Sodor briefly. The film was not a success, but Thomas' movie career continued in the straight-to-video feature 'Calling All Engines!'
Thomas in Toyboxes
With the popularity of Thomas the Tank Engine among American children in recent years, the acquisition of 'Thomas and Friends' toys is both hobby and career for both young and old. Four different categories of trains and tracks exist (Take Along Thomas with gray tracks, battery-operated engines with blue tracks, Classic wooden engines with wooden rails and roads, and LEGO engines and tracks) along with complementary videos, DVDs, books, coloring books, apparel and household items. An international tour featuring Thomas and conductor was completed in 2005 in honour of the 60th anniversary. In America, especially in Texas, Thomas the Tank Engine is thought to be excellent role model for children in being "really useful". The former President George H.W. Bush dedicated the presidential train during a ceremony in 2005. Originally there was a series of ertl toys.
Real Thomas'
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The Nene Valley Railway at Peterborough in England was the first railway in the world to possess a full-scale replica Thomas. This was an industrial tank engine built by Hudswell Clarke that had been nicknamed "Thomas" due to its blue livery and resemblance to the famous tank engine. In 1971, the Rev. W. Awdry made the name official.
Since then, other tank engines around the world have been dressed up as Thomas. Some railways, most notably the Mid Hants Railway and Strasburg Rail Road, have gone so far as to rebuild locomotives in order to produce a better replica. This has divided preservationists. Those opposed claim that it disfigures historic locomotives and trivialises the preservation movement. Those in favour claim that they draw much-needed visitors and can help to kindle an interest in railways in young children.
Such locomotives form the basis of "Day Out With Thomas" events, which have proved to be a very lucrative source of income for preserved railways. Railways that have no "Thomas" of their own often hire one from another line. These replicas travel to other scenic railways for events over the road on specially built trucks.
In New Zealand, Mainline Steam's Bagnall tank locomotive has appared as Thomas on a number of different locations, most recently in the main Railway Station in Auckland (New Zealands largest city).
A "Real Thomas" was used in a special play staged to celebrate the Eightieth birthday of Queen Elizabeth II, starring beloved characters from children's literature. In the play, Thomas was used to convey Sophie Dahl to centre stage. The little engine was greeted by thunderous applause and cheers from the audience of 2000 children and their parents.
Simulated Thomas'
In California, the Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway operates on standard-gauge tracks between Santa Cruz and the Roaring Camp depot in Felton. Unlike the prime movers described above, this employs a dummy Thomas (with operator) at the head end of a train that is actually propelled from the rear by a conventional diesel-electric locomotive.
Behind the Scenes
When Rev. W. Awdry created Thomas, he existed only as a push-along wooden toy made for his son, Christopher. This engine looked rather different from the character in the books and television series, and carried the letters NW on its side tanks. Awdry claimed that this stood for "No Where", but later works would identify the railway Thomas and his friends worked on as the North Western Railway.
Awdry wrote four stories about Thomas, which were collected into a book called Thomas the Tank Engine. For this, the publisher hired an illustrator named Reginald Payne. Payne decided to base his version of Thomas on a real locomotive, an E2 Class of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. Awdry was initially annoyed that Thomas in the book differed so substantially from his original visualisation, but was satisfied when Payne explained that he was taken from a real prototype. Indeed, in later books, Awdry based all his characters on real locomotive classes.
One detail of Thomas' design bothered Awdry. This was the fact that the front end of his featured a downward slope, which meant that his front and back buffers were at different levels. This was an illustrator's mistake that was perpetuated in subsequent books. The accident in 'Thomas Comes to Breakfast' was partly devised as a means of correcting this.
Unfortunately, despite creating the visual image of such an iconic character, Payne did not receive any credit for his work, and it is only since the publication of Brian Sibley's 'The Thomas the Tank Engine Man' that he has started to receive major recognition. Indeed, it had often been erroneously assumed that C. Reginald Dalby, responsible for illustrating books 3-11 and repainting the illustrations of book 1, was the character's creator.