In fairness to Alec Baldwin. In the second half of him doing the narration with Thomas, he had a lot of personal issues (depression, divorce, etc.) And it shows up in his work.
@@usualblokeluke I wouldn't say Baldwin in Season 6 isn't terrible... he's just a bit quiter than before, and it matches the more laid back tone of this season. He could be better, but he's not horrid here
@@Scsigs it's funny that a lot of people criticize Baldwin for one season of mid narration when Angelis did this for nine seasons and did not get backlash.
This is how I sum up The Magic Railroad...I see it as the "Sonic 06" of the Thomas movies, ridiculous plot with the only saving grace being it's GORGEOUS soundtrack
@@roberttreacy8271 Maybe, but I like John Bellis. I wish Henry was voiced by John Cleese in order to compliment his vain, egotistical, and dignified personality.
54:02 I think Unlucky Tug summed it up best in his Ranking Video of all Thomas Movies: "I honestly want to say this [TATMR] is an awful movie and rank it lower, but...I just can't. It doesn't feel right to. This is so not on the same par as Misty Island Rescue. Misty Island and Day of the Diesels and BWBA feel like noone gave a sh*t. That's not the case here. There was a clear Effort with Magic Railroad."
Honestly this is why I'm glad that nowadays test audiences are no longer a thing. Cause imagine if they were still doing test audiences today and if they were the main cause of why a film did so poorly during its production movies would be a lot worse especially with some people are critical about movies now before they're even set to start producing footage.
What makes me laugh about the test audiences complaining about Diesels 10s Russian voice and PT Boomer being too scary, John Bellis and Michael Angelis having "old voices" and thus leading to the butchered theatrical cut that rolled into cinemas of 2000 is that this film came out after the Disney Renaissance which saw a slew of hits such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty And The Beast, The Lion King and Pocahontas. Keep in mind that those films featured intense moments including: 1. Ursula the sea witch with a collection of unfortunate souls that are these skeleton abominations that couldn't pay her price of her services and gets stabbed by a ship later on 2. Jafar attempting to drown Aladdin and squeeze him as a snake 3. Mufasa getting tossed into a wildebeest stampede and Scar in the film getting attacked by his former hyena cohorts though through a shadow show 4. An entire song about the English and Native Americans suiting up to do war against the other side Yet a loud Russian voice and a grumpy biker are considered too frightening for test audiences? On the topic of Angelis and Bellis getting cut from their voice roles because of sounding old, do longtime families forget when Carlin and Starr who are 2 other old dudes narrated previous seasons? Yet when the engines gain their own voice actors, certain old voices suddenly dont work for them?
@@Thomasmemoryscentral I think it’s important to keep in mind that the type of audience that a Disney movie is going for and the type of audience that a Thomas movie is going for are different. Even with this movie, where the stakes are “THE UNIVERSE IS IN DANGER AAAAAAH -“, the target audience is still littler kids. Disney movies usually have a WAY larger range of target demographic, so they can get away with stuff like attempting to drown the main character.
@@brightredmogul1912 Okay but why the fuss over Bellis and Angelis being too old sounding? Parents from North America just forget Ringo and Carlin narrated and they're old too? They could have kept Bellis and Angelis for a UK dub of the film at least and then cast Eddie, Susan Nd Lubda for the US dub
I’m a little confused, I thought they do still use test audiences. I mean, if you look at those documentaries Disney makes about the making of certain films, there are test audiences.
What strikes me about this video moreso than others is just the depth of knowledge that you have about Thomas before going into it. These are some very well researched and irrefutable points brought up in this video, and it's a very engaging watch.
@@usualblokeluke No worries, keep it up man! Perhaps a video on Awdry's original vision for Thomas and how the TV show strayed from that could be an interesting watch? I feel like you'd have enough to say on the matter to make it interesting.
They should've made it so that in the real world the people are real, but when you go into Sodor you're a wooden figure. That would've been a way to work around blending real humans and wooden humans. A good way? Debatable, but a way nonetheless.
I see what you're thinking and I don't know whether that'd be better or worse than real life humans But what I do know is if you have a scene where a human magically transforms into a wooden figure, the same problems with not being able to see Sodor without that kiddy magic element would still be present. Kudos for thinking of that idea though.
As a child, I started watching the American dubbed version on VHS narrated by George Carlin, but it was just the stories. I don't remember Shining Time Station airing on TV that much, though I was was aware of it by the time the film came out. Around this time, I had the complete collection of the original Railway Series. It's actually how I taught myself to read a year before I started school. Since the show's narration almost followed the books word for word, I could easily find the dialogue that I recognized from the show. I did, however, notice some of the language differences, but never questioned it as a small child. I was always more curious why the engines themselves looked so different from those in America, but of course I know now as an adult. Great video! I saw this movie in theaters when I was about five years old and remember being so disappointed by how much of the runtime didn't feature the engines at all. It was so bad my father fell asleep and I kept wondering if we had walked into the wrong theater.
That's awesome that you taught yourself to read with the railway series. Goes to show those books are the gifts that keep on giving. Not just teaching moral lessons but how to read in general. For as little as the Sodor characters appeared in the film, I still would've loved to have seen this film on the big screen just for the Sodor shots alone.
@@usualblokeluke thanks man, and I agree with you. I feel like any feature length story would inevitably differ from the series, it would be nice to see a documentary about the show's original production (not just a quick behind the scenes special we got years ago). There was so much work in designing sets, nevermind operating them, I would love to know what that looked like
Thomas: "I had a great time traveling the world for the first time." Interviewer: "Wait a minute. Thomas, didn't you pass through magic buffers on your home island? And didn't they teleport you across inter-dimensional railway tracks to the isle of Mann?" Thomas: "Oh, I completely forgot about that."
Being from the States, Shining Time Station did introduce me to the series. I recorded many episodes and watched them over and over. I was around 9 when this movie came out, and when I seen it with my younger brother, I did enjoy seeing the STS characters again. But you are right, international audiences had no idea who these characters are. This is not a Thomas movie in the end, and that’s a problem.
Exactly. I wouldn't have any problem with a Shinning Time Station film so long as it's advertised as Shinning Time Station film. Which, from what I saw in SmurfyDan's Steaming To Legacy Documentary, there was such a thing that was pitched and never saw the light of day. Advertise it as a Thomas film, then the issues start to rise.
@@usualblokeluke If you ask me, there is a way that this movie could've worked without Shining Time or Mr.Conductor or magic gold dust. Like what if this movie was instead a 90 minute version of "Escape"? Whast if the film was about Thomas and Percy traveling to the other railway to fill in for two broken down diesel shunters while they are being repaired, only to end up in a jail heist break as they try to help Lady escape the other railway to avoid being scrapped by Diesel 10 and Boomer. (who in this version would be played by Tim Curry and Bob Hoskins if he were still alive). Heck you could rename the film, "Thomas and the Lost Engine".
Even all these years later, the sound of Lady's whistle echoing through the hills in the night still brings a shivver. That was one part I felt they got right. Would make a good ghost story, a high mournful wail in the still of the night with no obvious source.
I grew up watching Thomas on Shining Time Station. That's how I got into the Thomas series. I saw this movie back when it premiered in theaters and loved it as a child. To this day, I find it incredbly nostalgic and wholeheartedly love Hummie Mann's music tracks. With that said, this movie is not only completely frustrating as a Thomas movie (for all of the reasons you mentioned), but also completely fails to work as a Shining Time Station movie. But first, I need to mention a couple of things. First, you mention how it makes no sense for Mr. Conductor to just walk to the windmill and get lost along the way. That is true. However, in between his saying goodbye to James and his climbing up the side of a cliff only to lose his sense of direction was a deleted scene in which Mr. C tried one more time to use his gold dust to teleport himself directly to the windmill. His gold dust malfunctions and ends up sending him to the wrong place, where he climbs up the side of a cliff and only then realizes that he's lost his sense of direction (instead of never having it in the first place, as in the final cut of the movie). Secondly, Edward was absent from this movie because his model was damaged during the film's production. I feel like his role went to Henry instead, as the scene at Tidmouth Sheds where Henry tells the others about the legend of the lost engine feels more like something wise old Edward would have known about instead of Henry. And speaking of Henry, I feel like Alec Baldwin making Henry sound congested all the time in the US dub of Series 5 was meant to be a precursor to his poor health in this movie, as Henry also sounds congested when Thomas goes to get him his trucks of special coal. And finally, something interesting to note that ties into your calling Lady's whistling at night in the mountain "otherworldly". In scenes deleted from the extended cut of the movie, it's revealed that Lady's whistle can only be heard by certain people, implied to be those who either believe in magic or who have minds open enough to believe in it. Burnett, Lily, and Patch all hear her whistle, but P.T. Boomer (who is up on the mountain riding his motorcycle looking for Lady at the time) cannot hear it, which ties into his refusal to believe in magic. Now, onto how this movie fails as a Shining Time Station movie. In addition to all that you said about this movie ignoring and contradicting established lore and continuity from Thomas & Friends (and its Railway Series roots), it also ignored and contradicted so much of the established lore and continuity of Shining Time Station. This movie talks so much about how there's magic in the world that is vital to maintaining the stability and harmony of the entire universe. That was _never_ a thing in Shining Time Station. In that show, the only magic that existed was confined entirely to just Mr. Conductor (and his family members), certain aspects of the station itself, and a local wishing well that was never seen but was mentioned a couple of times. The entire valley, let alone the entire _universe_ , was never portrayed as anything more than just an ordinary world (much like how the world of Thomas & Friends was). The Magic Railroad itself being vital to the world's existence is something this movie just made up. Admittedly, the show was very sparse on fleshing out the lore of the Conductor Family and their relation to the Island of Sodor. But what was told was just that the Conductors simply travel to Sodor and back to Shining Time Station, as well as to other destinations, via their Magic Dust's teleportation ability. There was never anything about the Conductor Family being some kind of guardians who help to maintain the balance and order of the entire universe. It was never that kind of "fate of the world is at stake" type of show. As such, the world of Shining Time as seen in this movie also feels only _vaguely_ similar to how it was in the show. Namely, the fact that the town itself is even named "Shining Time" is something the show barely ever acknowledged. Outside of the town sign seen in the theme song, the show only ever referred to the town's name a small number of times, while this movie makes such a big deal about it for no real good reason. In the show, the whole valley was given greater significance. Known as Indian Valley, it was home to the Indian Valley Railroad. In the movie, "Indian Valley" is only seen on the side of Billy's engine, the Rainbow Sun, while "Indian Valley Railroad" is only barely visible on Billy's map of the valley that Patch looks at. It's like the show and movie swapped the significance between the two. "Indian Valley Railroad" went from being a vital aspect of the show to a mere Easter egg/footnote in the movie, and vice versa with the town being named "Shining Time". Two deleted scenes from the movie claim that "Shining Time" is an old railway term that refers to the beginning of a journey, when an engine's wheels start to spin and the rails shine. That goes against the final episode of Shining Time Station's third season. Titled "How the Station Got Its Name", the episode established that the station was named "Shining Time Station" after Stacy's grandmother, Gracie Jones, had saved a train from crashing into a horse carriage that had broken down on the station's tracks, by shining an emergency light from a signal lantern. "I saw your light shining just in time!" said the train's grateful engineer. That was how "Shining Time Station" was coined. Another inconsistency between the show and the movie is how the character of Billy Twofeathers was portrayed. In this movie, he's an all-knowing sage attuned to nature, magic, and the harmony it brings to the valley. That is almost the exact _opposite_ of how he was in Shining Time Station. He wasn't some guru who fully understood magic and its importance to the world, he was the straight man who was completely _bewildered_ whenever anything magical or supernatural happened in the show. He helped _ground_ the show in reality, always feeling surprised and unexpected by Mr. Conductor's magical abilities, and one time even wished he'd never gotten out of bed on a day when Mr. C's magic accidentally ended up running amok throughout the station. It nearly drove him nuts. I won't bother comparing Alec Baldwin's Mr. C to those of Ringo or Carlin since their two Mr. Conductors were already established in the show as being cousins to each other, so there's no inconsistency there with Baldwin's Mr. C likely being just another family member. What IS inconsistent about him, though, is his gold dust. For starters, this movie consistently refers to it as "Gold Dust" and "Sparkle", two terms that were _not_ used in Shining Time Station. Rather, the stuff was instead called "Magic Dust". A small thing, but considering that Britt Allcroft made both productions, one would think she'd have kept the terminology consistent. Then again, she also didn't keep any consistency with how the stuff even _works_ between the show and the movie. Here, the Gold Dust is stored inside Mr. C's whistle and Junior's kazoo, and activated by their blowing into either object. In the show, Ringo and Carlin's Mr. Cs didn't need to blow their whistles to use their Magic Dust. They could just activate its teleportation ability at will, or just wave their hand to perform other magical abilities. Their whistles were only blown to start the Thomas stories, which (as you've illustrated in your video) were _not_ magical in nature. The whistle was just used as a tool for scene transitions. Other differences are found in some of the movie's subtleties, the little details that the filmmakers put in to try making the movie feel more connected to the show, but which were done all wrong. For instance, the newspaper seen in the background of the Shining Time scenes in the movie is named "The Shining Times". Cute name, right? Well, that's actually a big slap to the face of Shining Time Station's continuity. In the show, not only was the local newspaper actually named "The Indian Valley Gazette" (consistently in _several_ episodes, even), but "The Shining Times" was the name of a _fake_ newspaper, from an episode where the kids at the station decided to write their own newspaper with articles full of lies and exaggerations (it was an episode where they learned about journalistic integrity). Of the two newspaper names this movie could have chosen, it went with the name of the fake newspaper instead of the legitimate one. Nice going, there, movie! About the only thing from Shining Time Station that this movie got right was Stacy Jones. The correct actress, the correct look, and the correct portrayal. But like you said, she'd already played the character before, so she had the experience to get the part right. Though, even with her and Billy's larger roles in the extended cut, their additional scenes only amount to the two of them just spouting more exposition, in which the two make some _ridiculously_ large leaps in logic to uncover the secrets of the Magic Railroad, reaching conclusions without any real prompts that would have led them to those conclusions in any believable way. Like how Adam West Batman used to solve the Riddler's riddles with similarly huge leaps in logic. Thomas fans may get headaches from how fast and loose this movie plays with Thomas continuity and lore, but the same is just as true for how much it botches Shining Time Station's continuity and lore.
Wow, I only really watched 1 or two episodes of Shinning Time Station just to have reference material so I had no idea that there were that many continuity errors when it came to The Magic Railroad. I also heard there was supposed to be a Shinning Time Station movie of some kind to do with a circus, who knows, maybe that would've had some more inconsistencies. One top of the inconsistencies that came from the Thomas and Friends segments of the show, it really makes me wonder if this was consecutive meddling or Britt just being very unfocused. It all sounds like she was so giddy to make a Thomas and Friends movie, on top of it being her first feature film as far as I'm aware, that she let the excitement get to her head and ran too far off course when writing it. Thank you for this extremely detailed comment with all this info 🙂
@@usualblokeluke Yeah, the circus movie was something considered, but not much really got off the ground past the point of pitching ideas. A circus train would have come to the station and an evil ringmaster would kidnap Mr. Conductor. Not much in the way of Thomas, there. As for the narration edits made to the Thomas segments for the US, those were done for psychological reasons. The show (Shining Time Station) had consultation from child psychologists at the time who recommended the changes of UK railway terms to US railway terms ("trucks" to "freight cars", "guard" to "conductor", etc.) to better aid in the mental development of the US children watching the show. The softening of some details of the stories was due to how things like leaving Henry in the tunnel "for always and always and always" and that "he deserved his punishment" were deemed pretty messed up and cruel from a US perspective. I've actually written out a complete Microsoft Word document containing every line Ringo re-narrated for the US, and it really depends on the episode for how much was changed. Like, the US dub of "Old Iron" from Series 2 is virtually unchanged from the UK dub, with only one single line of narration edited: "The Fat Controller was waiting," became "Sir Topham Hatt was waiting." Which leads me to the whole removal of the word "fat" from the show. That was due to that word being considered insulting and disrespectful. They didn't want American children running around calling each other and adults "fat". At the time, bullying was big concern in the late 80s/early 90s, with lots of anti-bullying PSAs airing on American TV, so any use of the word "fat" like that was seen as damaging and harmful, since Shining Time Station was targeting a preschool audience (these were the days before shows like Arthur and Wishbone would target older kids, when PBS's kid shows were all preschool-aimed). I agree that it was probably Allcroft letting the ambition of making a movie go to her head that led to this movie being such a mess. In the words of the late Rev. Wilbert Awdry, "somewhat big-headed" seems very accurate. Especially since only the US and Canadian audiences would have been familiar with Shining Time Station, leaving the rest of the world high and dry on knowing anything about it beforehand. I can only imagine just how shocked the original UK audiences were to see random live-action humans in this movie from a show they'd never heard of (and only one of which, Stacy, was actually from said show: Billy and Mr. Conductor were recast, Schemer and the Jukebox Band were left out, and the likes of Burnett, Lily, Patch, and Mutt were all made up for this movie). Even in the extended cut (of which I have seen three different fan-produced versions), the movie is only slightly better with things making a little more sense, like the aforementioned deleted scene of Mr. C trying one more time to use his magic to teleport straight to the windmill, only for it to fail and send him to the wrong place (instead of him just walking to the wrong place in the final version). But even then, it's only a longer version of a still not-very-good movie. Though, even then, things like making Lily the narrator instead of Mr. C help make Lily's inclusion in the movie feel less random, but in turn it makes Mr. C's inclusion feel more random. He was the only character between the two shows who had any real connection between the two (in the US dub, that is, as we were suppose to assume that all of the Thomas stories were narrated by Mr. Conductor even on the home VHS releases), so it made sense for him to be the movie's narrator. Lily being the narrator in the extended cut makes Mr. C's fourth-wall break at the windmill make even less sense than it did in the final cut, as there is no longer that "You may help along the way in this story" setup near the beginning. I feel like a lot people cut this movie so much slack because it was the first Thomas movie and it's so nostalgic for those who saw as kids. It is for me too, but even when I first saw it in theaters as a kid did I notice all the little inconsistencies with both Shining Time Station and Thomas & Friends, which made me go "Wait a minute, that's not how it was in the show!" But even though it confused me as to why the engines were all driving with no drivers or firemen, or why the name "Shining Time" was such a big deal while "Indian Valley" was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it thing, my younger self brushed all those aside for the sake of enjoying the movie. Now, as an adult, I cannot in good faith sweep those inconsistencies aside. Thomas fans don't consider this movie canon to Thomas, and I just cannot consider it canon to Shining Time Station either. I do wish it could be, since the things it adds to the lore of STS are pretty interesting, but all the pre-established things from STS that it just downright _butchers_ make it far too irreconcilable to work with that show's established canon. In a sense, Thomas and the Magic Railroad is to both Thomas & Friends and Shining Time Station what Dragon Ball Evolution is to the Dragon Ball franchise: A movie that thinks it knows better, but is just way too disrespectful to the source material in far too many ways to count.
The line, "You're too fat, you need exercise" being changed to, "You're too slow, you need exercise" actually kinda makes more sense if you think about it. Henry being mostly a machine used for transportation of goods & people needs to be driven (given exercise) regularly to be able to operate at his maximum efficiency & isn't organic, so he's not fat, so that makes more sense to me. Granted, I can't remember the entire context of that moment because I haven't seen that episode in a while, but I kinda like it better, even if it was Thomas being an asshole to Henry. They're both trains so it makes sense he'd say something like that.
Maybe 'fat' was just a kind of figure of speech in this context. I mean, yeah, common sense says literal steam engines aren't made of muscle and fat, but he may have meant 'fat' in the sense 'large but slack' sense.
@@tobbs5410 I mean, maybe, but we're also talking about the series that uses "fat" as a descriptor as we normally take it for Sir Topham Hatt's nickname by the engines, the Fat Controller. So, I'm more inclined to believe that's what the writer & character meant. Hence why they changed it for PBS & US home video releases.
@@Scsigs Thinking about it more, one could argue that a vehicle could be 'fat' in the sense that they have a pudgy face and stocky appearance, but that might be grasping at straws. Then again, just look at Ten Cents from TUGS.
You're the first person I've seen who likes James' voice in this movie. Also, I think the reason why Magic Railroad is so nostalgic to so many people is because it's good at capturing vibes. Long after I'd forgotten most of the movie, the image of Lady gaining a face stuck with me.
People can say whatever they want about how incredibly mediocre this film turned out to be _(I know I have),_ but there's one thing about this film that I think *EVERYONE* can appreciate, despite how we might feel about the overall result of this film..... It gave us *DIESEL 10* who's probably the most badass motherf--ker in the entire series. I love that bastard. Also I wasn't expecting to see my remake at 52:27. It really surprised me to see the unexpectedly massive impact it had on UA-cam. Makes me happy to see other people share it, Thank you👍
I'm planning to do a CGI remake of Magic Railroad fanfic with adding original plan elements to it like Thomas songs, P.T. Boomer and add new things to it like new scenes to give Thomas more screentime as well as cameoing the other characters including Series 5 ones, make Diesel 10 more serious despite his funny moments, more mention and focus on railway repairs and maintained the real part of Sodor to make it better.
Alec Baldwin: Oh look, it's a little green goblin on wheels. Ha ha. Get me a double espresso and see if there's a place with decent sushi. I would kill for a spicy tuna roll right about now.
I was surprised when I learned about George Carlin's comedy career. I grew up with his dub of the show so hearing that same voice use such crude language was interesting. Love his comedy though, always gets a laugh from me.
9:15 Somewhat off topic but the the way the edited narrator's voice tone changing from "Oh dear, why did I worry about the rain spoiling my lovely coat of paint... 😔" to "I'd like to come out of the tunnel!😀" Is just so funny lol
Understand that we, Americans, are sensitive with words, and shelter our kids too much from reality. That's why the US dubs are different than the UK dubs at times. That's also why our kids are dumb as a cork or even a troublesome truck😂
I do agree that it's had an "interesting" past, but I don't think anyone can deny that it was something that the company wanted to do for fun. I'm actually trying to do a version where the engines are the focus. The problem I'm facing though is making a script and editing and cutting it to the correct proportions without showing any humans.
Yeah trying to cut the humans out of the film and only show the engines is asking for a lot given how little they contribute to the main plot lol must be quite the challenge
@@usualblokeluke So far, I just finished the part where D10 destroys the steel pipes on the shed wall that's there for no reason, and trying to get Crackedwin out of shot was a challenge seen as how he was needed there. I'm also trying to making a good way as to try at least have Edward talked about amongst the engines and have a connection to Lady.
That's a cool idea, and actually one I also thought of. I was gonna make an edit more in line with the TV show called Thomas & Friends: The Movie. I would have done it by using the Micheal Angelis narration voice from Uberduck.AI, combining a bunch of stock footage from this movie and other episodes (I would have worked Edward and the Fat Controller amongst other TVS characters into the story), and omitting any use or mention of magic or Shining Time Station. But I also had the problem of thinking of having a script that works around the footage (yes, I would have also drastically edited certain scenes if necessary though, but I didn't know how I'd make the edits look believable enough) whilst still having a coherent flow. I could have maybe done it from scratch in Roblox or Trainz, but the last time I used the former on my laptop, it crashed and gave it a virus. So yeah, I don't wanna risk it. Regardless, I'd love to see what you'll come up with. Good luck.
Season 5 was a start and was the foundation for the downfall, but TATMR made the downfall official for Thomas. Both of them disrespected Awdry’s bible and premise.
@@supermariof0521 ua-cam.com/video/BGW9VJ2VALo/v-deo.html 1. The action-packed stuff was meant to be a preparation for TATMR and was the build up to the movie. 2. Season 7 is objectively the last of the Classic series not Season 5. 3. I was born in 2000 and I’m only alive during TATMR up until S7. I consider all of them to be factually classics like S5 was. Plus, the early 2000’s were supposed to be retro by now. Season 5 is just incredibly overrated compared to the later two seasons.
It's also worth mentioning, that in the terms of Shining Time Stn...they did something similar with the 90s animated series of Noddy called "The Noddy Shop" that WAS, for a time, shown in the UK in the early mornings on CBBC
To me, it would be very cool if you put in the intro of the review of Thomas And The Magic Railroad, “Did someone say magic?” Because I love the DVD being put on the face and it inspires me to love acting
Thomas's Anthem, as that outro song's called in my country's pure nostalgia for me. It was my first music video of my own, since I got the video it's on back when we had to rewind our vids. I grew up with the models as a '90's kid and was probably brand new to the franchise when I got that video. I think I was almost 5 before I ever found a Thomas video, so maybe 5 when I had one of my own. Before that, I got them from a library I frequented as a child. I got some Thomas book of my own, too.
I grew up in America with only the VHS releases and had never heard of the PBS Shining Time series until this week. I had no idea why they put all this stuff about shining time in the movie. It felt so out of place, but now I at least know they based it one *something*, even if I don’t really care about that thing.
Just one thing about the german dub of this...thing. They renamed the Island of Sodor to Soldau. Just for this movie, completely random (besides of course not dubbing Baldwin with the usual thomas narrator Manfred Steffen). Oh and also they named the Movie "Thomas: The phantastical Engine" Making him not being the main character (and also not the magical engine of the story) even more confusing for me as a kid.
I have a soft spot for Magic Railroad, but nostalgia does have a massive factor. I used to watch it occasionally at my gran’s house (I remember grabbing a bag of sugar from her cover and waving it at Diesel 10 once), but I never thought much of it other than that it was “that one Thomas film with real people.” Whilst admittedly it’s far from perfect, Magic Railroad does have a few things I like. Hummie Mann’s score is great even if it doesn’t have too many familiar motif, the Sodor sets are faithful translations from the TV series, and the small number of Thomas characters present are more or less written in character. Although I think the test audience massively screwed the movie over, I can’t help but passively enjoy it.
A curious fact is that when it is said that Japan was the first to have voices actors in which the characters of Thomas the Tank Engine and friends is that those same voices were part of the movie, even the same Japanese narrator was part of the movie which changed the narration of mr. Conductor to the same narration of the series and added some extra dialogues, like Annie and Clarabel who have 2 dialogues instead of one or in the same narration, also the song really usfel engine one of the ones I sang was the one that did the voice of edward, what is also that all the characters in the series that were in the movie their voices were respected in japan (even Harold, who is the same voice but with an echo effect)
"Controller" is a term used in the U.K. to refer to the overseers of nationalized industries and companies-in this case, the North Western Region of British Railways, which is the main railway on the Island of Sodor. In the U.S., the railroad industry is populated by a variety of independent companies that compete in an open market. Thus, the U.S. doesn't have an equivalent to the U.K.'s railway controller. That said, American viewers wouldn't understand who "the Fat Controller" is, nor what his job entails. That's why Sir Topham Hatt is known by his real name in the American version. (However, the railway was later privatized and renamed North Western Railways, but this didn't occur until after the events of the film.) On a related note, in the U.S. the word "railroad" is used whereas in the U.K. the word "railway" is used. They're basically synonyms, much like "truck" and "lorry" in the U.S. and the U.K., respectively. Personally, as an American myself, I prefer "railway", but I use the preferred term in its proper context.
@@NitroIndigo That _might_ have been a factor, but I highly doubt it. Political correctness was definitely around when the original seasons and the first film were produced and released, but it wasn't anywhere near as toxic as it is now, so I don't think the nickname "the Fat Controller" would be considered offensive.
What about "superintendent"? In the US episode "Thomas Breaks The Rules" (called "Thomas In Trouble" in the UK), Sir Topham Hatt announces his intention to bring Toby to work on Thomas' branch line, and he says, "I'll write to his superintendent at once!" (The original UK line was "I'll write to his controller at once!")
At last I had the time to watch this fully and it was a great review! I respect your opinions on the many aspects on the film. As for me, I absolutely love the film and one of my all-time favorite Thomas movies. Flawed, yes. Imperfect, yes. But it still holds a very special place in my childhood and I consider it my special movie to watch. For the problem you said with Henry earlier, I would like to point out that the 'special coal' thing wasn't included in the May 1999 script and instead just regular coal. My main problems are pretty obvious as a kid like Edward not appearing in the film and no human characters on Sodor. Rainbow Sun Productions had written Edward in their own version where he takes the Hatt couple to their holiday hence why Diesel 10 has arrived to help out. The human characters, since they were going for live-action actors rather than the inanimate figures, I think seeing a real human interact with a wooden figure would probably not fly well in the eyes of some folks. Additionally, they were originally going to cast STH as a live-action figure, but no actor of the right size couldn't be found (and while Michael Angelis could've done the role of him and Britt Allcroft as Lady Hatt, I think it would be understandable that it would be very hard for an actor to put on weight to seem like he IS the Fat Controller. A similar incident happened w/ a DOWT event where STH was too thin to most children). As for the music, it was brilliant. And for the set design of Sodor, it was SO real that just like the first 5 seasons, I really wish I could go there. And for the voice acting, it was spot on (minus Susan Roman as James to which I think Michael Angelis could've worked better in the final cut) and what I love about them is that they aren't trying to put on a voice to seem impressive to children, no this is the very moments where the voice actors ARE the characters. Even Neil Crone as Gordon (to which he captured his age very well), and Linda Ballantyne as Percy (making him sound like an actual British schoolboy and also his age too). The human actors and characters are good for me, and I do have a good laugh and heartfelt moment out of them (I always wondered why Schemer and the other kids never appeared, but I feel as if they were on holiday too in the Indian Valley and anywhere else in the film). Had TATMR not been a failure though, Britt would still been at the realm of the show and probably would've ended w/ a great finale instead of continuing (despite what Brenner and his team also did good, but that's just me). Not much else to say, but I still really enjoy it for all the nostalgia and wonder.
I could imagine Edward and Duck sitting in the shed with the other engines hearing about Lady. I could also imagine Edward on the left side of James and Percy on the left side of Henry during the engine meeting.
Fun Fact: This wasn't George Carlin's only Kids Tv/ Film Role. in 2006 he Played Filmore in Disney/Pixar's Cars and I believe cars 2 after his Death in 2008
8:19 The dialogue regarding Henry’s wall is the one instance in where I actually prefer the change in the American version. TFC telling Henry that he’ll be left here “for always and always and always” followed by the narrator saying that he _deserves_ this always seemed just a tad too cruel to me, and it’s why a lot of people got this unfortunate impression of TFC being some kind of authoritarian despot. It’s arguably not even in line with his character in the later stories, which depict him as far less harsh. That isn’t to say I like the ham-fisted concluding narration, but it still bothers me less than the conclusion that Henry _deserves_ to rot in a tunnel forever.
This is probably one of the better reviews of TATMR I've seen. TATMR Has great to amazing moments with its model work, and music; in fact its has one of the best soundtracks in any Thomas movie, but on it's own, it's still a bad, and messy movie that it's own iconic character is barely in it and focus on humans that aren't very good (minus the exceptions of Mr C and Junior because they're funny). I'm not as nostalgic with this film as many fans will be, but I do appreciate its highs even if its not that many. This comment might be a year late, but still great work with this review.
The music is what drew me to the series. However, I do find a few flaws with the film itself such as focusing way too much on the human characters. IMO, they should've combined TATMR with Great Discovery's plot where Thomas finds an abandoned part of Sodor and with help from his friends, work together to hide Lady from Diesel 10. It's basically combining Hiro of The Rails
I never got the whole special coal thing in TATMR Like it says that the special coal is for Henry, but then it's apparently from Sodor? So is the coal that ALL the engines use special? Is Sodor coal just magical? Or is this "special coal" just exclusive to Henry?
One more thing I'd like to say about my past with the movie: Since I'm German I grew up with the German Dub of the movie. And The German Voice Cast...I wouldn't say it's an All Star Cast, but the Voice Actors who worked on that Dub also voiced a bunch of other well known Characters: Thomas was voiced by Marcel Collè, who also voiced Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad, and if someone's gonna ask why we Germans Like to dub anything and everything: that's due to a lower acceptance of subtitles over here (As well as Italy, France and Spain, for instance) Gordon was voiced by Norbert Gescher, who also voiced Ki-Adi Mundi in the Prequel Trilogy as well as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and who also voiced the older Mr. Spock in the 2009 Star Trek Movie. James was voiced by Wanja Gerick, who also voiced Anakin Sykwalker in the Prequel Trilogy (Aside from Phantom Menace) as well as Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Lady was voiced by Rita Engelmann, who also voiced Mrs. Puff from Spongebob Squarepants. Bertie was voiced by Santiago Ziesmer, who also voices the Titular Character of Spongebob Squarepants. Junior was voiced by Kim Hasper, who also voiced Light Yagami from Death Note, in both the Anime and the 2006 Japanese Live Action Movies. Diesel 10 was voiced by Helmut Krauss, who also voiced Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction. Dodge was voiced by Klaus Sonnenschein, who also voiced Count Dooku in the Prequel Trilogy as well as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Whew...that was a mouth full.
I thought Germans (as well as the Dutch) prefer watching English language media with subtitles because they could learn and speak English relatively well. At least that's what I've heard from Germans and Dutch.
I can understand and see the issues Thomas & The Magic Railroad had. Thomas originally was supposed to be a real place (to the children watching it) and this movie made it look like it was all magic. Honestly, I love this movie. It may be for nostalgia but, I respect what Britt and others wanted to try, it's just a shame that since this movie was badly received, Britt had to step down as CEO. I will always love this movie, even as a teen, I still watch this from time to time.
Fun fact about percy's and james's finalized voices in magic railroad, each of their voice talents are from two different versions of the Sailor Moon english dub. Percy is voiced by Sailor Moon and James is voiced by Sailor Jupiter.
@@AnimeArchaeologist Because most of the US doesn't understand what made thomas appealing. On top of that the test audience for magic railroad didn't like the original script that britt made because it wasn't "kid friendly".
The reason why we have different terms than UK dub it because we have different meanings here Like trucks and vans are basically cars here that will probably confused a lot children here that why we used term like freight cars and cabooses Or guard vs conductors , points vs switchers Also I believe George said railroads for the narrow gauge series
Yes, that would make Sodor feel more realistic, they could even have recreated the engine cabins to make it feel more real to even say that the engines depend on a driver and firemen (although it will be difficult if it is necessary that Diesel 10 had a driver even now you never know if Diesel 10 has or not in his future appearances in the movie)
It's interesting to hear the point of view of someone who grew up exclusively with the UK version. Personally, I remember hearing all of these voice actors as a kid. And I get where you're coming from, but I absolutely LOVE hammy voices in cartoons! Even to this day when I watch dubbed anime and such. Exaggerated voices just make me feel like the voice actors loved the roles and the characters that much more. I gotta say, my favorite is probably Baldwin.
Oof, when really useful engine started playing, i instinctively checked and double checked my headphones were in. I work in a metal shop, and only one other person knows I'm into Thomas, so it'd be super awkward if it randomly started playing for all the guys to hear, y'know? You're stuff is really good though! Keep it up! Something to note, a lot of the dialogue changes were removed in the Carlin dubs. Obviously, they kept the deferring railway terminology, but they didn't keep it so condescending. At least from what I've seen.
When I first watched Thomas and the Magic Railroad many years ago I though that there would more characters like Edward, Duck, Donald Douglaus, Bill, Ben. Oliver and the rest of the characters but unfortunely that never happened, plus I was expect to see Gordon, Henry, James, Percy and Toby at the end of the movie with Thomas and Lady.
As somebody who is American, I actually think the British dub is better because it’s the original and because the character voices and line deliveries are usually a lot better (I also really can’t stand the retitlings for the episodes in the Ringo seasons).
A lot of fans say that TATMR started the real downfall of TTTE. I think that Thomases downfall still would’ve happened just at a later time. TATMR just sped up the process
The poor reception effected the general public's view on Thomas, making it seem like just another dumb kid's show. Which lead to Brit having to step down and thus Series 6 barely had any input or direction from her.
@@usualblokeluke Hi also at 5:36 there was also an instance but in reverse , the BBC’s British version of “The Magic Roundabout” episode “Piano Moving” there’s an instance where the term “freight” is mentioned in Eric Thompson’s narration from 1971. instead of the British term “Goods”
I liked Thomas and the Magic Railroad when it first came out but as I got older I began to see the flaws. I wonder if the film came out the way it was meant to be seen would the film have been better or worse.
I think that it would still have undermined the magic of Thomas, ironically. It would have still broken the realism aspect of it all and it would still have felt like stupid mush.
Lovely and entertaining video Luke. I will say... you made some pretty good points throughout the review, especially near the end with what makes people love thomas and watch the old episodes so much, with its down to earth and quite realistic storytelling and atmosphere. Although I would argue that Thomas as a concept is something a child would make in their imagination... there's a lot of things that can happen on Sodor, like sentient vehicles and trains, that realisticly, would make people raise an eyebrow. But I believe that is what also makes Thomas appealing, even for non train fans, I'm not a huge train fan tbh, yet there's something about Thomas that's intresting to me, and TATMR is a huge example of that for me. That and it's also what helped me be a fan of TTTE alongside the show. I didn't really grow up with the RWS, and in my humble opinion, it is very important and helped Thomas be where it is, but for me, it feels a little TOO one for one real life, that and some of the stories may not stick the landing, again, in my opinion... still I believe this movie, although not perfect, still should get some credit, for showing us the magic of imagination and how that relates to Thomas. Thomas is a lot of things, and that's what makes it appealing, and TATMR is a huge example of this... in my opinion anyway. Still, nonetheless Great review, keep up the good work too Keep the magic of that little blue train alive, in your own way! Still keep up the good work and have a wonderful day too mate! 😊👍💛💙🤍
Honestly, it isn't a masterpiece, but still holds a special place in my heart, for my childhood and as a Thomas Fan, it isn't for everyone, but much like Thomas, it can be for some, and that's alright! Once again, keep up the good work and have a wonderful day! ❤
How most of the episode titles were changed in the states is very interesting. Some season 3 and 4 episode have had their titles changed in both the US and the UK. For example, "A Scarf for Percy" was originally called "Percy and the Trousers" as you corrected in your season 3 review, "Time for Trouble" was originally called "Double Header", "Gordon and the Famous Visitor" was originally called "Domeless Engines", "The Trouble with Mud" was originally called "Leaves" as you stated in your season 1 review, "Tender Engines" was originally called "Tenders for Henry", "Oliver Owns Up" was originally called "Resource and Sagacity", "A Bad Day for Sir Handel" was originally just called "Sir Handel", and "Thomas and Stepney" was originally called "Stepney's Special".
Using my imagination, in the Tidmouth sheds scene, I'd imagine Duck sitting in the first shed between Henry and Toby, and Edward in the fourth shed between Percy and James.
It's kinda funny knowing that the Japanese voice actor for Vegeta from Dragon Ball also voiced Henry. You couldn't get 2 different characters for him to play.
I will give one personal fact, I did actually get introduced to Shining Time during my first relationship with someone I went to a documentary making course with, as well as that, thanks to her I was introduced to the US dub and what lead me to create my UA-cam channel in 2009
How to fit TAMR into the series canon in two steps: Step 1- add a scene in the very end of the movie, where we see Thomas’ driver (a wooden figure) talking to him and getting ready for the day Step 2- have Thomas say “I just had the most fucked up dream ever” Perfect 11/10
This version of Really Useful Engine starts off similar to the Disney logo theme (Although this movie came out in 2000, and Disney changed their logo and intro in 2006), and ends similar to the star spangled banner (Which plays right after this intro).
I loved this movie growing up. Tbh I’ve been hesitant to re watch it because of the directors cut. The fact I didn’t or anyone know that there was more to the plot just ruins the movie for me. Honestly PT Boomer wouldn’t have scared me. But I agree that changing the voices of the characters was a good call
If I made a Thomas Movie, it would be about Thomas discovering a Railway Show and would be a hybrid of The Great Discovery, Calling All Engines, TATHP and Sodors Legend Of The Lost Treasure.
I know it’s a shame that some of the voice actors that were originally planned to voice the characters got cut by the test audience and were replaced by Canadian voice actors. But I mean come on. Which was worse? Having the Thomas characters being voiced by Canadian voice actors from Toronto like Neil Crone, Eddie Glen or Susan Roman to do the characters? Or having the Thomas characters being voiced by American voice actors from Los Angeles like Frank Welker, Jeff Bennett or Billy West to do the characters? No matter how much they do their best to sound like their characters.
Stuff like this in the show didn’t scare children at all because they find it funny whenever crashes happen because it’s so entertaining in their lives and makes them want to do it when they grow up if they’re going a little too fast in their vehicles or something.
Interestingly enough, the VHS tapes here in America had the British episode titles, even though it was the American dub. I distinctly remember the British episode titles you show on the screen, and I don’t recognize the American titles. I watched “Troublesome Trucks” countless times as a child, but Ive never heard of “Foolish Freight Cars”
This was actually supposed to be a TV movie for shining time, Mr Conductor was going to be kidnapped by a circus, and The kids got Thomas to help rescue him. There would've been ways to make it better: cast Ringo George and Micheal in Engine Roles, George could voice the twins, Ringo could voice Duck and Edward, Micheal could voice James and Percy.....Also Susan Roman Played Sailor Jupiter and Linda Ballentyne was (drum roll) Sailor Moon
I can't believe that my best friend said to me that this and the great race are the best Thomas specials/movies then again he grew out of the show and had never seen Sodor's legend of the lost treasure so that explains it to an extent
I'd take it in the same way like film reviewer Mark Kermode and his review of The Great Race. In that Mark is fine calling the film enjoyable if he liked it, but chances are if he had the interest to watch the others, he'd rank it a lot lower.
Also, you forgot to mention this in your season 3 video, but Thomas & Friends had a TV special aired exclusively in Japan. It’s called “Thomas and the UK Trip”.
I seem to be in the minority that doesn’t mind the concept of magic existing in Thomas’ world. Hell, Season 4 and 5 experimented with Sodor having some mysterious roots and some fantastical elements like a semi sentient boulder and alleged ghost engines. Hell, The famous Island Song describes Sodor as being like a magical storybook land. The thing is though, that the film threw out established from the ground up realism from the Railway Series and depicted Sodor as being a fantasy world with talking trains that run off of magic. The way I think it could’ve worked is if the whole magical element was kept to the Conductor Family itself, Lady, and the Magic Railroad. Like Sodor has some magical elements like the buffers and bellflowers, but does not necessarily need magic to survive. If Sodor was just kept as it was, an imaginary island off of the British Mainland, with only a few fantastical elements, perhaps it would’ve been better received.
To be honest I really loved this movie one of the greatest childhood movies I've ever seen in my life and I've seen a lot of negative reviews on IMDB and I can't say some Thomas fans hated this movie but for me this is definitely one of the greatest Thomas and Friends movies and still to this day I'll always be glad to watch this movie to make me feel like a kid.
You know what? I one day hope for someone who wants to make a new Thomas Series to make a reboot of this movie. With Lady having PTSD from her Encounter with Diesel 10, and because of how many characters we have today, we could potentially have a fully model movie with everyone and have the ending, but this time it's Thomas, James, Percy and Rosie at Knapford Station with the Substitute Controller Welcoming her to the Northwestern Railway.
In fairness to Alec Baldwin. In the second half of him doing the narration with Thomas, he had a lot of personal issues (depression, divorce, etc.) And it shows up in his work.
Yeah it was definitely a rough time for him
@@usualblokeluke I wouldn't say Baldwin in Season 6 isn't terrible... he's just a bit quiter than before, and it matches the more laid back tone of this season. He could be better, but he's not horrid here
I’d be depressed too if I was in Cat in the Hat.
@@dannythehipster5644 "'Scary Jack Frost,' cried James."
@@Scsigs it's funny that a lot of people criticize Baldwin for one season of mid narration when Angelis did this for nine seasons and did not get backlash.
This is how I sum up The Magic Railroad...I see it as the "Sonic 06" of the Thomas movies, ridiculous plot with the only saving grace being it's GORGEOUS soundtrack
A fitting comparison
And good model work.
And it was an honestly good plot, with or without Thomas
Did you literally forget about Diesel 10 and Splodge?? -_-
R I P George Carlin 1937-2008. He was really the sound of my childhood narrating episodes based on railway series books or magazine stories.
If Edward was in this film, I feel like John Belles could've been decent voice for Edward
Hey! Imagining the original voice of Thomas doing the role of Edward? That would have made sense
Michael Caine would’ve been great as the voice of Edward.
@@roberttreacy8271 Maybe, but I like John Bellis. I wish Henry was voiced by John Cleese in order to compliment his vain, egotistical, and dignified personality.
54:02 I think Unlucky Tug summed it up best in his Ranking Video of all Thomas Movies:
"I honestly want to say this [TATMR] is an awful movie and rank it lower, but...I just can't. It doesn't feel right to. This is so not on the same par as Misty Island Rescue. Misty Island and Day of the Diesels and BWBA feel like noone gave a sh*t. That's not the case here. There was a clear Effort with Magic Railroad."
Incase you didn’t know originally Sir Topham Hatt was gonna be casted in a Live Action appearance but no actor of “the right size” could be found
Honestly this is why I'm glad that nowadays test audiences are no longer a thing. Cause imagine if they were still doing test audiences today and if they were the main cause of why a film did so poorly during its production movies would be a lot worse especially with some people are critical about movies now before they're even set to start producing footage.
What makes me laugh about the test audiences complaining about Diesels 10s Russian voice and PT Boomer being too scary, John Bellis and Michael Angelis having "old voices" and thus leading to the butchered theatrical cut that rolled into cinemas of 2000 is that this film came out after the Disney Renaissance which saw a slew of hits such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty And The Beast, The Lion King and Pocahontas. Keep in mind that those films featured intense moments including:
1. Ursula the sea witch with a collection of unfortunate souls that are these skeleton abominations that couldn't pay her price of her services and gets stabbed by a ship later on
2. Jafar attempting to drown Aladdin and squeeze him as a snake
3. Mufasa getting tossed into a wildebeest stampede and Scar in the film getting attacked by his former hyena cohorts though through a shadow show
4. An entire song about the English and Native Americans suiting up to do war against the other side
Yet a loud Russian voice and a grumpy biker are considered too frightening for test audiences?
On the topic of Angelis and Bellis getting cut from their voice roles because of sounding old, do longtime families forget when Carlin and Starr who are 2 other old dudes narrated previous seasons? Yet when the engines gain their own voice actors, certain old voices suddenly dont work for them?
What? test audiences are absolutely still a thing lol
@@Thomasmemoryscentral I think it’s important to keep in mind that the type of audience that a Disney movie is going for and the type of audience that a Thomas movie is going for are different. Even with this movie, where the stakes are “THE UNIVERSE IS IN DANGER AAAAAAH -“, the target audience is still littler kids. Disney movies usually have a WAY larger range of target demographic, so they can get away with stuff like attempting to drown the main character.
@@brightredmogul1912 Okay but why the fuss over Bellis and Angelis being too old sounding?
Parents from North America just forget Ringo and Carlin narrated and they're old too? They could have kept Bellis and Angelis for a UK dub of the film at least and then cast Eddie, Susan Nd Lubda for the US dub
I’m a little confused, I thought they do still use test audiences. I mean, if you look at those documentaries Disney makes about the making of certain films, there are test audiences.
What strikes me about this video moreso than others is just the depth of knowledge that you have about Thomas before going into it. These are some very well researched and irrefutable points brought up in this video, and it's a very engaging watch.
It's really appreciative receiving comments like this. It reassures me that I'm doing something right with this channel.
Thank you very much!
@@usualblokeluke No worries, keep it up man! Perhaps a video on Awdry's original vision for Thomas and how the TV show strayed from that could be an interesting watch? I feel like you'd have enough to say on the matter to make it interesting.
They should've made it so that in the real world the people are real, but when you go into Sodor you're a wooden figure. That would've been a way to work around blending real humans and wooden humans. A good way? Debatable, but a way nonetheless.
I see what you're thinking and I don't know whether that'd be better or worse than real life humans
But what I do know is if you have a scene where a human magically transforms into a wooden figure, the same problems with not being able to see Sodor without that kiddy magic element would still be present.
Kudos for thinking of that idea though.
It is da wae
Who wouldn't like George Carlin, he's the funniest person ever!
Probably assholes he would've called out, for essentially breaking one of the biggest golden rules of comedy; Never punch down.
@@retrogamelover2012 His type of humour is really offensive to some people, myself not included. My mum despises him for that reason.
As a child, I started watching the American dubbed version on VHS narrated by George Carlin, but it was just the stories. I don't remember Shining Time Station airing on TV that much, though I was was aware of it by the time the film came out. Around this time, I had the complete collection of the original Railway Series. It's actually how I taught myself to read a year before I started school. Since the show's narration almost followed the books word for word, I could easily find the dialogue that I recognized from the show. I did, however, notice some of the language differences, but never questioned it as a small child. I was always more curious why the engines themselves looked so different from those in America, but of course I know now as an adult. Great video! I saw this movie in theaters when I was about five years old and remember being so disappointed by how much of the runtime didn't feature the engines at all. It was so bad my father fell asleep and I kept wondering if we had walked into the wrong theater.
That's awesome that you taught yourself to read with the railway series. Goes to show those books are the gifts that keep on giving. Not just teaching moral lessons but how to read in general.
For as little as the Sodor characters appeared in the film, I still would've loved to have seen this film on the big screen just for the Sodor shots alone.
@@usualblokeluke thanks man, and I agree with you. I feel like any feature length story would inevitably differ from the series, it would be nice to see a documentary about the show's original production (not just a quick behind the scenes special we got years ago). There was so much work in designing sets, nevermind operating them, I would love to know what that looked like
R I P Peter Fonda 1940-2019. In those last nineteen years of his life after this film, he's still entertaining.
I really love Alec Baldwin's narration in season 5. It's really cool and intense.
Too bad he fucked up in season 6
That may be so, but you cannot underestimate the amazing job he did in season five. It just works in a way that’s unexplainably right.
Everyone constantly dogshits on him for his season 6 narration, while I think he's still nice to listen to.
@@rmn070 to be honest, I had more issue with season six’s episodes than I did with the narration.
The fact that the trains are not in the spotlight is actually what made my cousins respect Thomas.
Thomas: "I had a great time traveling the world for the first time." Interviewer: "Wait a minute. Thomas, didn't you pass through magic buffers on your home island? And didn't they teleport you across inter-dimensional railway tracks to the isle of Mann?" Thomas: "Oh, I completely forgot about that."
Being from the States, Shining Time Station did introduce me to the series. I recorded many episodes and watched them over and over. I was around 9 when this movie came out, and when I seen it with my younger brother, I did enjoy seeing the STS characters again. But you are right, international audiences had no idea who these characters are. This is not a Thomas movie in the end, and that’s a problem.
Exactly. I wouldn't have any problem with a Shinning Time Station film so long as it's advertised as Shinning Time Station film. Which, from what I saw in SmurfyDan's Steaming To Legacy Documentary, there was such a thing that was pitched and never saw the light of day. Advertise it as a Thomas film, then the issues start to rise.
@@usualblokeluke If you ask me, there is a way that this movie could've worked without Shining Time or Mr.Conductor or magic gold dust. Like what if this movie was instead a 90 minute version of "Escape"? Whast if the film was about Thomas and Percy traveling to the other railway to fill in for two broken down diesel shunters while they are being repaired, only to end up in a jail heist break as they try to help Lady escape the other railway to avoid being scrapped by Diesel 10 and Boomer. (who in this version would be played by Tim Curry and Bob Hoskins if he were still alive).
Heck you could rename the film, "Thomas and the Lost Engine".
@@supermariof0521
Quick get on the phone to Paramount pictures 📱
@@usualblokeluke Assuming that's the studio distributing that new Marc Forester Thomas movie that Mattel is working on. XD
@@supermariof0521
True lol
Has there been any more information given out about that film in the works?
Because they've been very quiet about it
Even all these years later, the sound of Lady's whistle echoing through the hills in the night still brings a shivver. That was one part I felt they got right.
Would make a good ghost story, a high mournful wail in the still of the night with no obvious source.
15:34
There's always something about Michael Angelis narrating Bill and Ben that always made laugh
Let's not forget about the lyrics to THE ISLAND SONG!
"A magical island just waiting for you"
"A magical land where dreams come true"
But in this case they are using magic metaphorically. The movie is using it literally.
I grew up watching Thomas on Shining Time Station. That's how I got into the Thomas series. I saw this movie back when it premiered in theaters and loved it as a child. To this day, I find it incredbly nostalgic and wholeheartedly love Hummie Mann's music tracks. With that said, this movie is not only completely frustrating as a Thomas movie (for all of the reasons you mentioned), but also completely fails to work as a Shining Time Station movie.
But first, I need to mention a couple of things.
First, you mention how it makes no sense for Mr. Conductor to just walk to the windmill and get lost along the way. That is true. However, in between his saying goodbye to James and his climbing up the side of a cliff only to lose his sense of direction was a deleted scene in which Mr. C tried one more time to use his gold dust to teleport himself directly to the windmill. His gold dust malfunctions and ends up sending him to the wrong place, where he climbs up the side of a cliff and only then realizes that he's lost his sense of direction (instead of never having it in the first place, as in the final cut of the movie).
Secondly, Edward was absent from this movie because his model was damaged during the film's production. I feel like his role went to Henry instead, as the scene at Tidmouth Sheds where Henry tells the others about the legend of the lost engine feels more like something wise old Edward would have known about instead of Henry. And speaking of Henry, I feel like Alec Baldwin making Henry sound congested all the time in the US dub of Series 5 was meant to be a precursor to his poor health in this movie, as Henry also sounds congested when Thomas goes to get him his trucks of special coal.
And finally, something interesting to note that ties into your calling Lady's whistling at night in the mountain "otherworldly". In scenes deleted from the extended cut of the movie, it's revealed that Lady's whistle can only be heard by certain people, implied to be those who either believe in magic or who have minds open enough to believe in it. Burnett, Lily, and Patch all hear her whistle, but P.T. Boomer (who is up on the mountain riding his motorcycle looking for Lady at the time) cannot hear it, which ties into his refusal to believe in magic.
Now, onto how this movie fails as a Shining Time Station movie.
In addition to all that you said about this movie ignoring and contradicting established lore and continuity from Thomas & Friends (and its Railway Series roots), it also ignored and contradicted so much of the established lore and continuity of Shining Time Station.
This movie talks so much about how there's magic in the world that is vital to maintaining the stability and harmony of the entire universe. That was _never_ a thing in Shining Time Station. In that show, the only magic that existed was confined entirely to just Mr. Conductor (and his family members), certain aspects of the station itself, and a local wishing well that was never seen but was mentioned a couple of times. The entire valley, let alone the entire _universe_ , was never portrayed as anything more than just an ordinary world (much like how the world of Thomas & Friends was).
The Magic Railroad itself being vital to the world's existence is something this movie just made up. Admittedly, the show was very sparse on fleshing out the lore of the Conductor Family and their relation to the Island of Sodor. But what was told was just that the Conductors simply travel to Sodor and back to Shining Time Station, as well as to other destinations, via their Magic Dust's teleportation ability. There was never anything about the Conductor Family being some kind of guardians who help to maintain the balance and order of the entire universe. It was never that kind of "fate of the world is at stake" type of show.
As such, the world of Shining Time as seen in this movie also feels only _vaguely_ similar to how it was in the show. Namely, the fact that the town itself is even named "Shining Time" is something the show barely ever acknowledged. Outside of the town sign seen in the theme song, the show only ever referred to the town's name a small number of times, while this movie makes such a big deal about it for no real good reason.
In the show, the whole valley was given greater significance. Known as Indian Valley, it was home to the Indian Valley Railroad. In the movie, "Indian Valley" is only seen on the side of Billy's engine, the Rainbow Sun, while "Indian Valley Railroad" is only barely visible on Billy's map of the valley that Patch looks at. It's like the show and movie swapped the significance between the two. "Indian Valley Railroad" went from being a vital aspect of the show to a mere Easter egg/footnote in the movie, and vice versa with the town being named "Shining Time".
Two deleted scenes from the movie claim that "Shining Time" is an old railway term that refers to the beginning of a journey, when an engine's wheels start to spin and the rails shine. That goes against the final episode of Shining Time Station's third season. Titled "How the Station Got Its Name", the episode established that the station was named "Shining Time Station" after Stacy's grandmother, Gracie Jones, had saved a train from crashing into a horse carriage that had broken down on the station's tracks, by shining an emergency light from a signal lantern. "I saw your light shining just in time!" said the train's grateful engineer. That was how "Shining Time Station" was coined.
Another inconsistency between the show and the movie is how the character of Billy Twofeathers was portrayed. In this movie, he's an all-knowing sage attuned to nature, magic, and the harmony it brings to the valley. That is almost the exact _opposite_ of how he was in Shining Time Station. He wasn't some guru who fully understood magic and its importance to the world, he was the straight man who was completely _bewildered_ whenever anything magical or supernatural happened in the show. He helped _ground_ the show in reality, always feeling surprised and unexpected by Mr. Conductor's magical abilities, and one time even wished he'd never gotten out of bed on a day when Mr. C's magic accidentally ended up running amok throughout the station. It nearly drove him nuts.
I won't bother comparing Alec Baldwin's Mr. C to those of Ringo or Carlin since their two Mr. Conductors were already established in the show as being cousins to each other, so there's no inconsistency there with Baldwin's Mr. C likely being just another family member. What IS inconsistent about him, though, is his gold dust. For starters, this movie consistently refers to it as "Gold Dust" and "Sparkle", two terms that were _not_ used in Shining Time Station. Rather, the stuff was instead called "Magic Dust". A small thing, but considering that Britt Allcroft made both productions, one would think she'd have kept the terminology consistent.
Then again, she also didn't keep any consistency with how the stuff even _works_ between the show and the movie. Here, the Gold Dust is stored inside Mr. C's whistle and Junior's kazoo, and activated by their blowing into either object. In the show, Ringo and Carlin's Mr. Cs didn't need to blow their whistles to use their Magic Dust. They could just activate its teleportation ability at will, or just wave their hand to perform other magical abilities. Their whistles were only blown to start the Thomas stories, which (as you've illustrated in your video) were _not_ magical in nature. The whistle was just used as a tool for scene transitions.
Other differences are found in some of the movie's subtleties, the little details that the filmmakers put in to try making the movie feel more connected to the show, but which were done all wrong. For instance, the newspaper seen in the background of the Shining Time scenes in the movie is named "The Shining Times". Cute name, right? Well, that's actually a big slap to the face of Shining Time Station's continuity.
In the show, not only was the local newspaper actually named "The Indian Valley Gazette" (consistently in _several_ episodes, even), but "The Shining Times" was the name of a _fake_ newspaper, from an episode where the kids at the station decided to write their own newspaper with articles full of lies and exaggerations (it was an episode where they learned about journalistic integrity). Of the two newspaper names this movie could have chosen, it went with the name of the fake newspaper instead of the legitimate one. Nice going, there, movie!
About the only thing from Shining Time Station that this movie got right was Stacy Jones. The correct actress, the correct look, and the correct portrayal. But like you said, she'd already played the character before, so she had the experience to get the part right. Though, even with her and Billy's larger roles in the extended cut, their additional scenes only amount to the two of them just spouting more exposition, in which the two make some _ridiculously_ large leaps in logic to uncover the secrets of the Magic Railroad, reaching conclusions without any real prompts that would have led them to those conclusions in any believable way. Like how Adam West Batman used to solve the Riddler's riddles with similarly huge leaps in logic.
Thomas fans may get headaches from how fast and loose this movie plays with Thomas continuity and lore, but the same is just as true for how much it botches Shining Time Station's continuity and lore.
Wow, I only really watched 1 or two episodes of Shinning Time Station just to have reference material so I had no idea that there were that many continuity errors when it came to The Magic Railroad. I also heard there was supposed to be a Shinning Time Station movie of some kind to do with a circus, who knows, maybe that would've had some more inconsistencies. One top of the inconsistencies that came from the Thomas and Friends segments of the show, it really makes me wonder if this was consecutive meddling or Britt just being very unfocused. It all sounds like she was so giddy to make a Thomas and Friends movie, on top of it being her first feature film as far as I'm aware, that she let the excitement get to her head and ran too far off course when writing it.
Thank you for this extremely detailed comment with all this info 🙂
@@usualblokeluke Yeah, the circus movie was something considered, but not much really got off the ground past the point of pitching ideas. A circus train would have come to the station and an evil ringmaster would kidnap Mr. Conductor. Not much in the way of Thomas, there.
As for the narration edits made to the Thomas segments for the US, those were done for psychological reasons. The show (Shining Time Station) had consultation from child psychologists at the time who recommended the changes of UK railway terms to US railway terms ("trucks" to "freight cars", "guard" to "conductor", etc.) to better aid in the mental development of the US children watching the show. The softening of some details of the stories was due to how things like leaving Henry in the tunnel "for always and always and always" and that "he deserved his punishment" were deemed pretty messed up and cruel from a US perspective.
I've actually written out a complete Microsoft Word document containing every line Ringo re-narrated for the US, and it really depends on the episode for how much was changed. Like, the US dub of "Old Iron" from Series 2 is virtually unchanged from the UK dub, with only one single line of narration edited: "The Fat Controller was waiting," became "Sir Topham Hatt was waiting."
Which leads me to the whole removal of the word "fat" from the show. That was due to that word being considered insulting and disrespectful. They didn't want American children running around calling each other and adults "fat". At the time, bullying was big concern in the late 80s/early 90s, with lots of anti-bullying PSAs airing on American TV, so any use of the word "fat" like that was seen as damaging and harmful, since Shining Time Station was targeting a preschool audience (these were the days before shows like Arthur and Wishbone would target older kids, when PBS's kid shows were all preschool-aimed).
I agree that it was probably Allcroft letting the ambition of making a movie go to her head that led to this movie being such a mess. In the words of the late Rev. Wilbert Awdry, "somewhat big-headed" seems very accurate. Especially since only the US and Canadian audiences would have been familiar with Shining Time Station, leaving the rest of the world high and dry on knowing anything about it beforehand. I can only imagine just how shocked the original UK audiences were to see random live-action humans in this movie from a show they'd never heard of (and only one of which, Stacy, was actually from said show: Billy and Mr. Conductor were recast, Schemer and the Jukebox Band were left out, and the likes of Burnett, Lily, Patch, and Mutt were all made up for this movie).
Even in the extended cut (of which I have seen three different fan-produced versions), the movie is only slightly better with things making a little more sense, like the aforementioned deleted scene of Mr. C trying one more time to use his magic to teleport straight to the windmill, only for it to fail and send him to the wrong place (instead of him just walking to the wrong place in the final version). But even then, it's only a longer version of a still not-very-good movie.
Though, even then, things like making Lily the narrator instead of Mr. C help make Lily's inclusion in the movie feel less random, but in turn it makes Mr. C's inclusion feel more random. He was the only character between the two shows who had any real connection between the two (in the US dub, that is, as we were suppose to assume that all of the Thomas stories were narrated by Mr. Conductor even on the home VHS releases), so it made sense for him to be the movie's narrator. Lily being the narrator in the extended cut makes Mr. C's fourth-wall break at the windmill make even less sense than it did in the final cut, as there is no longer that "You may help along the way in this story" setup near the beginning.
I feel like a lot people cut this movie so much slack because it was the first Thomas movie and it's so nostalgic for those who saw as kids. It is for me too, but even when I first saw it in theaters as a kid did I notice all the little inconsistencies with both Shining Time Station and Thomas & Friends, which made me go "Wait a minute, that's not how it was in the show!" But even though it confused me as to why the engines were all driving with no drivers or firemen, or why the name "Shining Time" was such a big deal while "Indian Valley" was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it thing, my younger self brushed all those aside for the sake of enjoying the movie. Now, as an adult, I cannot in good faith sweep those inconsistencies aside.
Thomas fans don't consider this movie canon to Thomas, and I just cannot consider it canon to Shining Time Station either. I do wish it could be, since the things it adds to the lore of STS are pretty interesting, but all the pre-established things from STS that it just downright _butchers_ make it far too irreconcilable to work with that show's established canon. In a sense, Thomas and the Magic Railroad is to both Thomas & Friends and Shining Time Station what Dragon Ball Evolution is to the Dragon Ball franchise: A movie that thinks it knows better, but is just way too disrespectful to the source material in far too many ways to count.
The line, "You're too fat, you need exercise" being changed to, "You're too slow, you need exercise" actually kinda makes more sense if you think about it. Henry being mostly a machine used for transportation of goods & people needs to be driven (given exercise) regularly to be able to operate at his maximum efficiency & isn't organic, so he's not fat, so that makes more sense to me. Granted, I can't remember the entire context of that moment because I haven't seen that episode in a while, but I kinda like it better, even if it was Thomas being an asshole to Henry. They're both trains so it makes sense he'd say something like that.
Maybe 'fat' was just a kind of figure of speech in this context. I mean, yeah, common sense says literal steam engines aren't made of muscle and fat, but he may have meant 'fat' in the sense 'large but slack' sense.
@@tobbs5410 I mean, maybe, but we're also talking about the series that uses "fat" as a descriptor as we normally take it for Sir Topham Hatt's nickname by the engines, the Fat Controller. So, I'm more inclined to believe that's what the writer & character meant. Hence why they changed it for PBS & US home video releases.
@@Scsigs Thinking about it more, one could argue that a vehicle could be 'fat' in the sense that they have a pudgy face and stocky appearance, but that might be grasping at straws. Then again, just look at Ten Cents from TUGS.
Honestly, I still love this movie, mainly due to the nostalgia it brings
Same.
You're the first person I've seen who likes James' voice in this movie.
Also, I think the reason why Magic Railroad is so nostalgic to so many people is because it's good at capturing vibes. Long after I'd forgotten most of the movie, the image of Lady gaining a face stuck with me.
People can say whatever they want about how incredibly mediocre this film turned out to be _(I know I have),_ but there's one thing about this film that I think *EVERYONE* can appreciate, despite how we might feel about the overall result of this film.....
It gave us *DIESEL 10* who's probably the most badass motherf--ker in the entire series. I love that bastard.
Also I wasn't expecting to see my remake at 52:27. It really surprised me to see the unexpectedly massive impact it had on UA-cam. Makes me happy to see other people share it, Thank you👍
I'm planning to do a CGI remake of Magic Railroad fanfic with adding original plan elements to it like Thomas songs, P.T. Boomer and add new things to it like new scenes to give Thomas more screentime as well as cameoing the other characters including Series 5 ones, make Diesel 10 more serious despite his funny moments, more mention and focus on railway repairs and maintained the real part of Sodor to make it better.
Alec Baldwin: Oh look, it's a little green goblin on wheels. Ha ha. Get me a double espresso and see if there's a place with decent sushi. I would kill for a spicy tuna roll right about now.
My favourite parts are the engine meeting, the rainbow sun in the countryside, “he’s a really useful engine” sequence” amd Lady’s reawakening
I was surprised when I learned about George Carlin's comedy career. I grew up with his dub of the show so hearing that same voice use such crude language was interesting. Love his comedy though, always gets a laugh from me.
Can't believe you only have 835 subscribers. Love the effort you put into your videos!
It's hard to explain how utterly confusing it was watching this film for the first time as an 8 year old from the UK.
I thought of a new drinking game, take a shot every time Mr Conductor talks to an inanimate object.
Hard mode: every time someone mentions gold dust
9:15 Somewhat off topic but the the way the edited narrator's voice tone changing from "Oh dear, why did I worry about the rain spoiling my lovely coat of paint... 😔" to "I'd like to come out of the tunnel!😀" Is just so funny lol
Ikr the redubbing is so obvious lol
36:44
No I put spikes there but the Windmill Owner said I couldn't place them there
🤣🤣
Understand that we, Americans, are sensitive with words, and shelter our kids too much from reality. That's why the US dubs are different than the UK dubs at times. That's also why our kids are dumb as a cork or even a troublesome truck😂
I do agree that it's had an "interesting" past, but I don't think anyone can deny that it was something that the company wanted to do for fun. I'm actually trying to do a version where the engines are the focus. The problem I'm facing though is making a script and editing and cutting it to the correct proportions without showing any humans.
Yeah trying to cut the humans out of the film and only show the engines is asking for a lot given how little they contribute to the main plot lol must be quite the challenge
@@usualblokeluke So far, I just finished the part where D10 destroys the steel pipes on the shed wall that's there for no reason, and trying to get Crackedwin out of shot was a challenge seen as how he was needed there. I'm also trying to making a good way as to try at least have Edward talked about amongst the engines and have a connection to Lady.
That's a cool idea, and actually one I also thought of. I was gonna make an edit more in line with the TV show called Thomas & Friends: The Movie. I would have done it by using the Micheal Angelis narration voice from Uberduck.AI, combining a bunch of stock footage from this movie and other episodes (I would have worked Edward and the Fat Controller amongst other TVS characters into the story), and omitting any use or mention of magic or Shining Time Station.
But I also had the problem of thinking of having a script that works around the footage (yes, I would have also drastically edited certain scenes if necessary though, but I didn't know how I'd make the edits look believable enough) whilst still having a coherent flow. I could have maybe done it from scratch in Roblox or Trainz, but the last time I used the former on my laptop, it crashed and gave it a virus. So yeah, I don't wanna risk it.
Regardless, I'd love to see what you'll come up with. Good luck.
If you ask me, "The Magic Railroad Parody" is what TATMR wishes it could be. Both in terms of general premise structure, and production value.
Season 5 was a start and was the foundation for the downfall, but TATMR made the downfall official for Thomas. Both of them disrespected Awdry’s bible and premise.
@@Ethan-ey4jx TATMR I agree but what did S5 do that was so offensive?
@@supermariof0521 ua-cam.com/video/BGW9VJ2VALo/v-deo.html
1. The action-packed stuff was meant to be a preparation for TATMR and was the build up to the movie.
2. Season 7 is objectively the last of the Classic series not Season 5.
3. I was born in 2000 and I’m only alive during TATMR up until S7. I consider all of them to be factually classics like S5 was. Plus, the early 2000’s were supposed to be retro by now.
Season 5 is just incredibly overrated compared to the later two seasons.
the parody was rather hilarious
@@wwb16 Not to mention impressive in terms of production value.
It's also worth mentioning, that in the terms of Shining Time Stn...they did something similar with the 90s animated series of Noddy called "The Noddy Shop" that WAS, for a time, shown in the UK in the early mornings on CBBC
To me, it would be very cool if you put in the intro of the review of Thomas And The Magic Railroad, “Did someone say magic?” Because I love the DVD being put on the face and it inspires me to love acting
Thomas's Anthem, as that outro song's called in my country's pure nostalgia for me. It was my first music video of my own, since I got the video it's on back when we had to rewind our vids. I grew up with the models as a '90's kid and was probably brand new to the franchise when I got that video. I think I was almost 5 before I ever found a Thomas video, so maybe 5 when I had one of my own. Before that, I got them from a library I frequented as a child. I got some Thomas book of my own, too.
I grew up in America with only the VHS releases and had never heard of the PBS Shining Time series until this week. I had no idea why they put all this stuff about shining time in the movie. It felt so out of place, but now I at least know they based it one *something*, even if I don’t really care about that thing.
I personally like this movie. I disagree with people who say it's not canon, as it is canon.
It is canon the pt boomer version, i think it happens after diesel 10 last appeareance in season 17 you know that christmas episode
Just one thing about the german dub of this...thing.
They renamed the Island of Sodor to Soldau. Just for this movie, completely random (besides of course not dubbing Baldwin with the usual thomas narrator Manfred Steffen).
Oh and also they named the Movie "Thomas: The phantastical Engine" Making him not being the main character (and also not the magical engine of the story) even more confusing for me as a kid.
Wilbert Awdry definitely predicted the future of how Mattel would ruin his creation into something unsettling. And he was definitely right.
And this isn’t even in Mattel yet.
Did you know that they credited him for this?
I have a soft spot for Magic Railroad, but nostalgia does have a massive factor. I used to watch it occasionally at my gran’s house (I remember grabbing a bag of sugar from her cover and waving it at Diesel 10 once), but I never thought much of it other than that it was “that one Thomas film with real people.”
Whilst admittedly it’s far from perfect, Magic Railroad does have a few things I like. Hummie Mann’s score is great even if it doesn’t have too many familiar motif, the Sodor sets are faithful translations from the TV series, and the small number of Thomas characters present are more or less written in character. Although I think the test audience massively screwed the movie over, I can’t help but passively enjoy it.
I honestly never really hated the movie, I just thought and felt it was kinda weird, but the ties to Shining Time made it bearable I guess.
A curious fact is that when it is said that Japan was the first to have voices actors in which the characters of Thomas the Tank Engine and friends is that those same voices were part of the movie, even the same Japanese narrator was part of the movie which changed the narration of mr. Conductor to the same narration of the series and added some extra dialogues, like Annie and Clarabel who have 2 dialogues instead of one or in the same narration, also the song really usfel engine one of the ones I sang was the one that did the voice of edward, what is also that all the characters in the series that were in the movie their voices were respected in japan (even Harold, who is the same voice but with an echo effect)
"Controller" is a term used in the U.K. to refer to the overseers of nationalized industries and companies-in this case, the North Western Region of British Railways, which is the main railway on the Island of Sodor. In the U.S., the railroad industry is populated by a variety of independent companies that compete in an open market. Thus, the U.S. doesn't have an equivalent to the U.K.'s railway controller. That said, American viewers wouldn't understand who "the Fat Controller" is, nor what his job entails. That's why Sir Topham Hatt is known by his real name in the American version. (However, the railway was later privatized and renamed North Western Railways, but this didn't occur until after the events of the film.)
On a related note, in the U.S. the word "railroad" is used whereas in the U.K. the word "railway" is used. They're basically synonyms, much like "truck" and "lorry" in the U.S. and the U.K., respectively. Personally, as an American myself, I prefer "railway", but I use the preferred term in its proper context.
I always thought the American dub didn’t call him the Fat Controller because of political correctness. Huh.
@@NitroIndigo That _might_ have been a factor, but I highly doubt it. Political correctness was definitely around when the original seasons and the first film were produced and released, but it wasn't anywhere near as toxic as it is now, so I don't think the nickname "the Fat Controller" would be considered offensive.
What about "superintendent"? In the US episode "Thomas Breaks The Rules" (called "Thomas In Trouble" in the UK), Sir Topham Hatt announces his intention to bring Toby to work on Thomas' branch line, and he says, "I'll write to his superintendent at once!" (The original UK line was "I'll write to his controller at once!")
At last I had the time to watch this fully and it was a great review! I respect your opinions on the many aspects on the film. As for me, I absolutely love the film and one of my all-time favorite Thomas movies. Flawed, yes. Imperfect, yes. But it still holds a very special place in my childhood and I consider it my special movie to watch.
For the problem you said with Henry earlier, I would like to point out that the 'special coal' thing wasn't included in the May 1999 script and instead just regular coal. My main problems are pretty obvious as a kid like Edward not appearing in the film and no human characters on Sodor. Rainbow Sun Productions had written Edward in their own version where he takes the Hatt couple to their holiday hence why Diesel 10 has arrived to help out. The human characters, since they were going for live-action actors rather than the inanimate figures, I think seeing a real human interact with a wooden figure would probably not fly well in the eyes of some folks. Additionally, they were originally going to cast STH as a live-action figure, but no actor of the right size couldn't be found (and while Michael Angelis could've done the role of him and Britt Allcroft as Lady Hatt, I think it would be understandable that it would be very hard for an actor to put on weight to seem like he IS the Fat Controller. A similar incident happened w/ a DOWT event where STH was too thin to most children).
As for the music, it was brilliant. And for the set design of Sodor, it was SO real that just like the first 5 seasons, I really wish I could go there. And for the voice acting, it was spot on (minus Susan Roman as James to which I think Michael Angelis could've worked better in the final cut) and what I love about them is that they aren't trying to put on a voice to seem impressive to children, no this is the very moments where the voice actors ARE the characters. Even Neil Crone as Gordon (to which he captured his age very well), and Linda Ballantyne as Percy (making him sound like an actual British schoolboy and also his age too). The human actors and characters are good for me, and I do have a good laugh and heartfelt moment out of them (I always wondered why Schemer and the other kids never appeared, but I feel as if they were on holiday too in the Indian Valley and anywhere else in the film).
Had TATMR not been a failure though, Britt would still been at the realm of the show and probably would've ended w/ a great finale instead of continuing (despite what Brenner and his team also did good, but that's just me). Not much else to say, but I still really enjoy it for all the nostalgia and wonder.
I could imagine Edward and Duck sitting in the shed with the other engines hearing about Lady. I could also imagine Edward on the left side of James and Percy on the left side of Henry during the engine meeting.
Fun Fact: This wasn't George Carlin's only Kids Tv/ Film Role. in 2006 he Played Filmore in Disney/Pixar's Cars and I believe cars 2 after his Death in 2008
8:19 The dialogue regarding Henry’s wall is the one instance in where I actually prefer the change in the American version. TFC telling Henry that he’ll be left here “for always and always and always” followed by the narrator saying that he _deserves_ this always seemed just a tad too cruel to me, and it’s why a lot of people got this unfortunate impression of TFC being some kind of authoritarian despot. It’s arguably not even in line with his character in the later stories, which depict him as far less harsh.
That isn’t to say I like the ham-fisted concluding narration, but it still bothers me less than the conclusion that Henry _deserves_ to rot in a tunnel forever.
This is probably one of the better reviews of TATMR I've seen. TATMR Has great to amazing moments with its model work, and music; in fact its has one of the best soundtracks in any Thomas movie, but on it's own, it's still a bad, and messy movie that it's own iconic character is barely in it and focus on humans that aren't very good (minus the exceptions of Mr C and Junior because they're funny). I'm not as nostalgic with this film as many fans will be, but I do appreciate its highs even if its not that many. This comment might be a year late, but still great work with this review.
The music is what drew me to the series. However, I do find a few flaws with the film itself such as focusing way too much on the human characters. IMO, they should've combined TATMR with Great Discovery's plot where Thomas finds an abandoned part of Sodor and with help from his friends, work together to hide Lady from Diesel 10. It's basically combining Hiro of The Rails
Hummie Mann also composed music for Mel Brooks' Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Dracula: Dead and Loving It.
Ahhh nice bit of trivia
Not seen those films but I know of Robin Hood: Men in Tights
Thomas lady was chasing by Diesel 10 catching bernett stone was the most cinematic style rollercoaster Like "the Trains" From MGM pitures 1965.
I never got the whole special coal thing in TATMR
Like it says that the special coal is for Henry, but then it's apparently from Sodor?
So is the coal that ALL the engines use special? Is Sodor coal just magical? Or is this "special coal" just exclusive to Henry?
Yeah it's never really explained. They should've made the movie a lot more simpler
Show, don't tell!
The shoehorned voiceovers were a way to work around the cut footage surrounding P.T. Boomer!
One more thing I'd like to say about my past with the movie:
Since I'm German I grew up with the German Dub of the movie. And The German Voice Cast...I wouldn't say it's an All Star Cast, but the Voice Actors who worked on that Dub also voiced a bunch of other well known Characters:
Thomas was voiced by Marcel Collè, who also voiced Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad, and if someone's gonna ask why we Germans Like to dub anything and everything: that's due to a lower acceptance of subtitles over here (As well as Italy, France and Spain, for instance)
Gordon was voiced by Norbert Gescher, who also voiced Ki-Adi Mundi in the Prequel Trilogy as well as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and who also voiced the older Mr. Spock in the 2009 Star Trek Movie.
James was voiced by Wanja Gerick, who also voiced Anakin Sykwalker in the Prequel Trilogy (Aside from Phantom Menace) as well as Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Lady was voiced by Rita Engelmann, who also voiced Mrs. Puff from Spongebob Squarepants.
Bertie was voiced by Santiago Ziesmer, who also voices the Titular Character of Spongebob Squarepants.
Junior was voiced by Kim Hasper, who also voiced Light Yagami from Death Note, in both the Anime and the 2006 Japanese Live Action Movies.
Diesel 10 was voiced by Helmut Krauss, who also voiced Jules Winnfield from Pulp Fiction.
Dodge was voiced by Klaus Sonnenschein, who also voiced Count Dooku in the Prequel Trilogy as well as Star Wars: The Clone Wars,
Whew...that was a mouth full.
I thought Germans (as well as the Dutch) prefer watching English language media with subtitles because they could learn and speak English relatively well. At least that's what I've heard from Germans and Dutch.
@@1685Violin For Germans, from my experience this only applies to the younger generations.
I can understand and see the issues Thomas & The Magic Railroad had. Thomas originally was supposed to be a real place (to the children watching it) and this movie made it look like it was all magic. Honestly, I love this movie. It may be for nostalgia but, I respect what Britt and others wanted to try, it's just a shame that since this movie was badly received, Britt had to step down as CEO. I will always love this movie, even as a teen, I still watch this from time to time.
Fun fact about percy's and james's finalized voices in magic railroad, each of their voice talents are from two different versions of the Sailor Moon english dub. Percy is voiced by Sailor Moon and James is voiced by Sailor Jupiter.
I feel dirty! Why did they prove Awdry right?
@@AnimeArchaeologist Because most of the US doesn't understand what made thomas appealing. On top of that the test audience for magic railroad didn't like the original script that britt made because it wasn't "kid friendly".
The reason why we have different terms than UK dub it because we have different meanings here
Like trucks and vans are basically cars here that will probably confused a lot children here that why we used term like freight cars and cabooses
Or guard vs conductors , points vs switchers
Also I believe George said railroads for the narrow gauge series
Honestly, if they just blue-screened in a bunch of real people on Sodor then the other real people wouldn’t look too off
Yes, that would make Sodor feel more realistic, they could even have recreated the engine cabins to make it feel more real to even say that the engines depend on a driver and firemen (although it will be difficult if it is necessary that Diesel 10 had a driver even now you never know if Diesel 10 has or not in his future appearances in the movie)
A lot of the dialogue was changed in the official UK dubs of the first sixteen episodes of season 3.
It's interesting to hear the point of view of someone who grew up exclusively with the UK version. Personally, I remember hearing all of these voice actors as a kid. And I get where you're coming from, but I absolutely LOVE hammy voices in cartoons! Even to this day when I watch dubbed anime and such. Exaggerated voices just make me feel like the voice actors loved the roles and the characters that much more. I gotta say, my favorite is probably Baldwin.
The movie was re-released in theaters back in 2020 for its 20th anniversary.
Oof, when really useful engine started playing, i instinctively checked and double checked my headphones were in. I work in a metal shop, and only one other person knows I'm into Thomas, so it'd be super awkward if it randomly started playing for all the guys to hear, y'know? You're stuff is really good though! Keep it up! Something to note, a lot of the dialogue changes were removed in the Carlin dubs. Obviously, they kept the deferring railway terminology, but they didn't keep it so condescending. At least from what I've seen.
When I first watched Thomas and the Magic Railroad many years ago I though that there would more characters like Edward, Duck, Donald Douglaus, Bill, Ben. Oliver and the rest of the characters but unfortunely that never happened, plus I was expect to see Gordon, Henry, James, Percy and Toby at the end of the movie with Thomas and Lady.
Thank you so much. It’s one of my personal favourite Thomas movies. This will inspire me to love acting like my personal favourite train, Thomas
As somebody who is American, I actually think the British dub is better because it’s the original and because the character voices and line deliveries are usually a lot better (I also really can’t stand the retitlings for the episodes in the Ringo seasons).
A lot of fans say that TATMR started the real downfall of TTTE. I think that Thomases downfall still would’ve happened just at a later time. TATMR just sped up the process
How much of an impact did Thomas and the Magic Railroad hurt Season Six of Thomas and Friends?
The poor reception effected the general public's view on Thomas, making it seem like just another dumb kid's show. Which lead to Brit having to step down and thus Series 6 barely had any input or direction from her.
@@usualblokeluke Hi also at 5:36 there was also an instance but in reverse , the BBC’s British version of “The Magic Roundabout” episode “Piano Moving” there’s an instance where the term “freight” is mentioned in Eric Thompson’s narration from 1971. instead of the British term “Goods”
I liked Thomas and the Magic Railroad when it first came out but as I got older I began to see the flaws. I wonder if the film came out the way it was meant to be seen would the film have been better or worse.
Tbh we wouldn't know
Like obviously it still wouldn't be that good or that bad, but we wouldn't have this version to compare it to.
I think that it would still have undermined the magic of Thomas, ironically. It would have still broken the realism aspect of it all and it would still have felt like stupid mush.
Lovely and entertaining video Luke. I will say... you made some pretty good points throughout the review, especially near the end with what makes people love thomas and watch the old episodes so much, with its down to earth and quite realistic storytelling and atmosphere. Although I would argue that Thomas as a concept is something a child would make in their imagination... there's a lot of things that can happen on Sodor, like sentient vehicles and trains, that realisticly, would make people raise an eyebrow. But I believe that is what also makes Thomas appealing, even for non train fans, I'm not a huge train fan tbh, yet there's something about Thomas that's intresting to me, and TATMR is a huge example of that for me. That and it's also what helped me be a fan of TTTE alongside the show. I didn't really grow up with the RWS, and in my humble opinion, it is very important and helped Thomas be where it is, but for me, it feels a little TOO one for one real life, that and some of the stories may not stick the landing, again, in my opinion... still I believe this movie, although not perfect, still should get some credit, for showing us the magic of imagination and how that relates to Thomas. Thomas is a lot of things, and that's what makes it appealing, and TATMR is a huge example of this... in my opinion anyway. Still, nonetheless
Great review, keep up the good work too
Keep the magic of that little blue train alive, in your own way! Still keep up the good work and have a wonderful day too mate! 😊👍💛💙🤍
Honestly, it isn't a masterpiece, but still holds a special place in my heart, for my childhood and as a Thomas Fan, it isn't for everyone, but much like Thomas, it can be for some, and that's alright! Once again, keep up the good work and have a wonderful day! ❤
Shining Time Station is kinda like the inverse of the situation with The Tracey Ullman Show and The Simpsons.
How most of the episode titles were changed in the states is very interesting. Some season 3 and 4 episode have had their titles changed in both the US and the UK. For example, "A Scarf for Percy" was originally called "Percy and the Trousers" as you corrected in your season 3 review, "Time for Trouble" was originally called "Double Header", "Gordon and the Famous Visitor" was originally called "Domeless Engines", "The Trouble with Mud" was originally called "Leaves" as you stated in your season 1 review, "Tender Engines" was originally called "Tenders for Henry", "Oliver Owns Up" was originally called "Resource and Sagacity", "A Bad Day for Sir Handel" was originally just called "Sir Handel", and "Thomas and Stepney" was originally called "Stepney's Special".
Using my imagination, in the Tidmouth sheds scene, I'd imagine Duck sitting in the first shed between Henry and Toby, and Edward in the fourth shed between Percy and James.
I honestly don't think the test audiences were people that watched the show on VHS. Either that or they were intimidated by the claw on D10.
It's kinda funny knowing that the Japanese voice actor for Vegeta from Dragon Ball also voiced Henry. You couldn't get 2 different characters for him to play.
I will give one personal fact, I did actually get introduced to Shining Time during my first relationship with someone I went to a documentary making course with, as well as that, thanks to her I was introduced to the US dub and what lead me to create my UA-cam channel in 2009
Me talking to the description: Oh, it’s okay. It was Season FIVE that aired in 1998. Season 2 aired in 1986.
How to fit TAMR into the series canon in two steps:
Step 1- add a scene in the very end of the movie, where we see Thomas’ driver (a wooden figure) talking to him and getting ready for the day
Step 2- have Thomas say “I just had the most fucked up dream ever”
Perfect 11/10
Nice
I feel like this is another “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” wannabe.
As someone who was terrified of Diesel 10 when I was very little, I can definitely see why Keith Scott was cut out
The only human character this film needed was Mr. Conductor, the others just make this film too convoluted.
This version of Really Useful Engine starts off similar to the Disney logo theme (Although this movie came out in 2000, and Disney changed their logo and intro in 2006), and ends similar to the star spangled banner (Which plays right after this intro).
I loved this movie growing up. Tbh I’ve been hesitant to re watch it because of the directors cut. The fact I didn’t or anyone know that there was more to the plot just ruins the movie for me. Honestly PT Boomer wouldn’t have scared me. But I agree that changing the voices of the characters was a good call
Unfortunately, they should've casted someone better for both James and Percy
If I made a Thomas Movie, it would be about Thomas discovering a Railway Show and would be a hybrid of The Great Discovery, Calling All Engines, TATHP and Sodors Legend Of The Lost Treasure.
If so Marc Foster makes that new cinematic Thomas feature, then it should have two different lips syncs for both the UK and US versions.
Thomas And The Magic Railroad is a mixed bag, but I‘m nostalgic of it.
I know it’s a shame that some of the voice actors that were originally planned to voice the characters got cut by the test audience and were replaced by Canadian voice actors.
But I mean come on. Which was worse? Having the Thomas characters being voiced by Canadian voice actors from Toronto like Neil Crone, Eddie Glen or Susan Roman to do the characters? Or having the Thomas characters being voiced by American voice actors from Los Angeles like Frank Welker, Jeff Bennett or Billy West to do the characters? No matter how much they do their best to sound like their characters.
The only characters that were terribly cast were James and Percy
Stuff like this in the show didn’t scare children at all because they find it funny whenever crashes happen because it’s so entertaining in their lives and makes them want to do it when they grow up if they’re going a little too fast in their vehicles or something.
Interestingly enough, the VHS tapes here in America had the British episode titles, even though it was the American dub. I distinctly remember the British episode titles you show on the screen, and I don’t recognize the American titles. I watched “Troublesome Trucks” countless times as a child, but Ive never heard of “Foolish Freight Cars”
I was born in 2010 and never knew of the shining time show, but had Thomas and the Magic Railroad dvd and had no clue what shining time was🧐
I always assumed it was an original location built just for the film
This was actually supposed to be a TV movie for shining time, Mr Conductor was going to be kidnapped by a circus, and The kids got Thomas to help rescue him. There would've been ways to make it better: cast Ringo George and Micheal in Engine Roles, George could voice the twins, Ringo could voice Duck and Edward, Micheal could voice James and Percy.....Also Susan Roman Played Sailor Jupiter and Linda Ballentyne was (drum roll) Sailor Moon
I can't believe that my best friend said to me that this and the great race are the best Thomas specials/movies then again he grew out of the show and had never seen Sodor's legend of the lost treasure so that explains it to an extent
I'd take it in the same way like film reviewer Mark Kermode and his review of The Great Race. In that Mark is fine calling the film enjoyable if he liked it, but chances are if he had the interest to watch the others, he'd rank it a lot lower.
@@usualblokeluke your right but still its weird
George Carlin aka original voice of Fillmore is hands down my all time favorite narrator because of the voices he gives such as Donald and Douglas.
You know, Luke, just by looking at the style of TATMR, it looks like a live action Disney movie.
Also, you forgot to mention this in your season 3 video, but Thomas & Friends had a TV special aired exclusively in Japan. It’s called “Thomas and the UK Trip”.
I seem to be in the minority that doesn’t mind the concept of magic existing in Thomas’ world. Hell, Season 4 and 5 experimented with Sodor having some mysterious roots and some fantastical elements like a semi sentient boulder and alleged ghost engines. Hell, The famous Island Song describes Sodor as being like a magical storybook land. The thing is though, that the film threw out established from the ground up realism from the Railway Series and depicted Sodor as being a fantasy world with talking trains that run off of magic. The way I think it could’ve worked is if the whole magical element was kept to the Conductor Family itself, Lady, and the Magic Railroad. Like Sodor has some magical elements like the buffers and bellflowers, but does not necessarily need magic to survive. If Sodor was just kept as it was, an imaginary island off of the British Mainland, with only a few fantastical elements, perhaps it would’ve been better received.
Interesting.
To be honest I really loved this movie one of the greatest childhood movies I've ever seen in my life and I've seen a lot of negative reviews on IMDB and I can't say some Thomas fans hated this movie but for me this is definitely one of the greatest Thomas and Friends movies and still to this day I'll always be glad to watch this movie to make me feel like a kid.
You know what? I one day hope for someone who wants to make a new Thomas Series to make a reboot of this movie. With Lady having PTSD from her Encounter with Diesel 10, and because of how many characters we have today, we could potentially have a fully model movie with everyone and have the ending, but this time it's Thomas, James, Percy and Rosie at Knapford Station with the Substitute Controller Welcoming her to the Northwestern Railway.