I wouldn’t say the franchise is dead but it’s definitely past it’s prime. Given how Bob the Builder was left dead after the reboot, I hope AEG does the same.
We have the upcoming Marc Forster movie so given how Paddington and the 2017 Smurfs movies got TV series, Thomas will likely get a series based of the Marc Forster movie if it does well.
My preschooler loves trains, especially Thomas. When he asks to watch Thomas, he differentiates between "Big Thomas" (model/CGI/BWBA) and "Little Thomas" (All Engines Go). He's been asking to watch Big Thomas a lot more lately since we've been reading through The Railway Series. My personal Thomas experience began and ended with George Carlin, so everything before and since has been an exciting new experience for me. While the whole 'anything but trains' schtick drives me a bit nuts, not to mention AEG's reluctance to show engines pulling anything more than just one or two cars, I've come to appreciate the progression of all eras of Thomas. I'm so happy that whatever may come next for the franchise (if anything) there's so much to read/watch/play that's already been created and out there.
My answer, yes and no. Yes in terms of releasing content from the original series on TV. No because of how Thomas and Friends as a brand is being carried on by AEG. Although it is considered bad by most, it’s still carrying on the brand and preventing it from being considered “dead”.
Also, I would consider Pingu to be a dead franchise by technicality. Pingu in the City was the last piece of Pingu media released by any company and that ended in around 2019. So technically speaking, Pingu would be considered a dead franchise.
I will always love Thomas no matter what. I feel like Britt Allcroft focused on Thomas in American in the 90s which doomed the show once TATMR came out and hasn't been the same since
@@rmn070 not exactly. Well technically the show was somewhat simplified in the US and altered to fit their culture, but what he means is that Britt became obsessed with Shining Time and felt that it should be in the same world as Thomas.
I’d love to be a part of the revival era, but hopefully the Marc Forster movie will be good (if it gets made). Then I will hope to give both the kids and the older fans what they deserve.
I feel a revival era is probably not going to happen after All Engines Go ends since I feel if it does then it would be the end of the Thomas franchise as a whole.
@E2ForLife no one and I can, and I will. If Disney can buy everything under the sun, then so can I, plus I understand the IP enough and have a knowledge of its history to do so I get what Thomas is supposed to be and understand said property I actually get the product's history
Ya one thing I admire about this fandom is that we're able to create our own stories on par with the Railway and classic series simply because both are grounded in the real world by nature
When I was very little, Thomas was my obsession. As I grew up Star Wars became my obsession. If you went back and told 13 year old me that at 26 I would be more involved with the Thomas fandom than the Star Wars one, I would've said you're crazy.
@@ChrisSuperDudeFor me it's with Harry Potter and LoTR. I still come back to the fandom and Awdry's original works than the official franchise itself.
I’m glad Thomas & Friends isn’t over, and I’m glad Mattel hasn’t given up on the franchise even if it’s not doing well. But I wish this franchise could still stay alive with good stories, a somewhat realistic aesthetic, quality merchandise, and not ignoring the legacy of the Railway Series, the Tv Show, and the fans watching. The merchandise is getting slightly better, and there are some decent episodes every so often, but Mattel still ignores the fandom and the show’s legacy, and if they never downgraded the merchandise and change the show so much the series might still be doing well!
Well I thought to myself after watching the Mario movie and teenage mutant ninja turtles mutant mayhem that the Marc Forster film do what made those films great by staying respectful to the source material but also keeping things fresh and interesting for a new audience
Here’s how to revive the franchise: 1) Give it a new aesthetic closer to the illustrations of the RWS. Think a mix of John T. Kenney and Gunvor and Peter Edwards’s work. 2) Mix stories from Wilbert’s RWS books, some of Christopher’s books, magazine/annual stories, the classic era, and the Brenner era with wholly original tales meant to fill in the gaps or explore new character dynamics. 3) Get writers who CARE about these characters and can tell Mattel to sod off if they start pushing things in the wrong direction. 4) Be willing to take breaks every now and then. The original series suffered much undue production stress because HiT and later Mattel wanted new content every year. If this reboot can avoid killing an entire animation studio, that’d be nice. 5) Make quality merchandise that embraces what the characters are: realistic locomotives doing day-to-day work.
Continue the original series from Season 24 and return stuff from the classic series like not playing down to kids and playing with different tones, return old characters like BoCo and Duke and expand on them, have Diesel 10 portrayed correctly with his evilness retained and have him be more serious, intimating and threatening, Diesel have his distaste and classic devious traits returned like manipulative and slyness of pulling strings from behind the scene, have Edward, Henry and Toby be mains despite not in the Steam Team any more, more focus on other characters like narrow gauge engines, have other characters sleep at Tidmouth Sheds besides the Steam Team sometimes with the place portrayed like a regular shed, return old locations like Elsbridge and Great Waterton, re-establish Stepney living on the Mainland at the Bluebell Railway as well as Toby's old line in East Anglia and add real life stuff like the books and everything else which I can't say since it's lots.
@@DavidBContentExtravaganza3967 You both are way to in depth about this lmfao, you guys need to be realistic, mattel will own the brand for the foreseable future and not anything will change it, all we can do now is share our love of the classic series
Yes, Mattel owns the franchise. Yes, some of our demands might be a bit unrealistic. But we can still hope that someone out there is listening and wants to bring back the real Thomas. All I really want from Mattel is a good 80th anniversary movie (perhaps one that could test the waters to see if a more “traditional” Thomas series would fly) and some more Wooden Railway 2 items (Duck, Donald, Douglas, and Oliver and Toad or bust).
The way I see it, at least after my last marathon... If it is a dead franchise, it had a good run. 24 seasons ain't bad, even if a few seasons aren't stellar, but hey, no show is perfect. If any Thomas fans want to go back and watch, pick whichever seasons work for you and go from there... Unless it involves a massive 500+ episode marathon. Drawing from experience, I don't recommend that 😂 Even with something like AEG on TV (it's awful, but whatever, the preschool kids may like it), it shouldn't kill the good parts. It's like any other TV show you like that ended. You can still go back and watch the stuff you love any day of the week, and that should be what matters most.
Oh, I would do it. Mainly because of what this series represents for me. It’s totally not for everyone to watch all of it, but I will totally watch as much of it is I can. Willingly ignoring some of the episodes that I absolutely hate.
@@Gondarth I know, I’m just telling you what I would do. lol. I probably would watch all of them, barring none if there weren’t some that I despise so much.
7:38 Completely agree with Jay here. Mattel changing Take-n-Play to Adventures is one of their best decisions. Not only could you couple engines any way round again, they brought back track sets which weren’t around in the Die-Cast range since 2009. Apart from the odd gimmick set, the adventures sets were pretty cool. Even with gimmick sets like the Shark Escape one, you can use the track pieces to do whatever you want with it.
Thomas in the mainstrean is long since padt its prime But for the fandom in its fan content, there's many places it's gone with plenty of room still to grow
PieceofJay, thank you for bringing up the Nitrogen animation! I've always loved the way they shot the trains, how they would focus on the wheels and the steam (especially) and the grandiose size & spectacle of them. Sure the camera angles were mostly static, but man, seeing the undercarriage of an engine pass under the camera is fantastic. Like he said, they look and feel so real (despite the episodes/writing being mediocre at best to absolute period cramp pain at worst (which also makes me wonder why Hiro of the Rails and Blue Mountain Mystery was so good but I'm getting off track)) P.S. Adding in Reflection from SA2 near the end of the video, genius. Really adds to the tone and overall theme. Kudos
Thomas was my first hero when I was little. There was even a point where I refused to answer to "Chris" and so my parents had to call me "Thomas" to get me to respond.
I’ve loved Thomas for as long as I can remember. It’s been with me my whole life up to now. It’s just incredibly sad seeing how alienated it’s become from what it was back in the 80’s and 90’s. I’d even go as far to say that seasons 8-16 were still truly Thomas, even if they weren’t as good. I unfortunately don’t really have any hope for the future of the franchise though. We may get a few things popping up now and again that are good, but at this point Thomas has pretty much faded away. We might get a revival decades down the road, but as of now, Thomas is pretty much dead in the water.
That's the question that's been on nearly everyone's heads. As for me, I'm not sure whether I think Thomas is a dead franchise or not. However, Thomas has been a part of my childhood for as long as I can remember. It has it's ups and down, and has been through a ton of changes. And it seems like Marc Forster's upcoming Thomas film might be be the best bet for the franchise.
@cinnamonmantrainsareawesom7224 if it happens because I want to buy the rights, and it'll probably end up getting cancelled anyway because of said acquisition so it'll be a star wars situation
I dont think Thomas and Friends is a dead franchise considering Mattel still wants to make a Thomas mixed Animation/Live Action movie. As a long fan of Thomas, I will still love it even if the brand stop producing shows or movies, I really love Thomas and hope of more content to come.
mattel is just compressing Content out of this franchise when there is barely any left. if they do make that film, likely it's going to suck due to writers running out of ideas, or just being terrible because they are moderners.
@@Lou-yf1jo The sooner they straight themselves out, get better ideas, get a different company to own the rights to Thomas to treat it better and revive the original show the better. Unlikely by some but here's hoping.
With the Asda part. In my local Asda I don’t see it. At most I rarely see a Thomas dvd. But if you go to let’s say to an entertainer toy shop I’ll usually find Thomas stuff there. Hopefully if the Marc foster movie does come out it will put Thomas in the public eye again especially after the success from Barbie.
I'd say "I'd hope one day Mattel will realize the identity of the show Thomas had and bring it back." but realistically, it's Mattel, I think they're gonna run with what they've got until it burns out.
@@TheLazyFusspot_3428But I'll be honest, You are all are being to harsh on HiT Entertainment, Say what you want about them, They obviously did care about the franchise! I mean, They've wouldn't have kept the realistic feel to the show if they didn't care, They added the 3 strike formula into the show in S8-16, But they still made good specials like "The Great Discovery", "Hero of the Rails", "Blue Mountain Mystery", "King of the Railway", "Tale of the Brave", "The Adventure Begins" and best of all, "Sodor's Legend Of The Lost Treasure", Sure their era (2004-08) and the Miller Era (2010-13) sucked! Along with "Mitsy Island Rescue" and "Day of the Diesels and some were just OK, like "Calling All Engines", I'm not saying the Miller and HiT era is underappericated because its not and deserved the hate they've got, Mattel, the autisim discriminator handled things much worse and made Thomas be anything but just a simple normal train! Big World! Big Adventures! And All Engines Go! is more unbearable to watch, And let's be honest, The Engine Roll Call is pretty catchy and I don't care if they changed the old theme, This is still good, I'm not bashing your opinion or anything, I'm just saying Mattel's an awful owner of Thomas and should send it to the public domain and ask PBS Kids to be HIT Entertainment's new partner instead of Mattel, They've been producing better quality shows (aside from that atrocious Super Why! Comic Book Adventures) than what Mattel could ever hope to do, Sure Mattel fixed the show, but that's because they got people who cared about Thomas, once toys started to slip, Mattel decided to risk it all and fuck up the show, and saying that HIT is worse than Mattel is hysterical, Did HIT distance themselves from the Autisim community? Of course not! Mattel made these choices, and I actually agree, Its not Unlucky Tug's fault thar the show is ruined, It's all Mattel's fault, He was just stating his own opinion for the show and *IF* Mattel does go bankrupt, I genuinely couldn't care less
Sigh, we all know how that's like. Mattel has made some absolute worst decisions in the past few years, especially with cancelling the original show and making All Engines Go. God, are they trying to show kids trains can do more than what they're supposed to do? That's not how it works! And the merchandise has gotten worse too! >:( I'm grateful we fans still remember the old Thomas, which is what everyone should. After all, it was Wilbert Awdry and Britt Allcroft's vision from the start. Even the writers cared for Thomas unlike Mattel. Unless something extraordinary happens, I'm afraid we're gonna be stuck with the franchise the way it is. But I'll still love it for what it originally was anyway. Never gonna give up my love for Thomas.
While the Hit era was pretty flat like soda for the way it aged, certain aspects shine in recent memories: 1. Select portions of the Hartsthorne score 2. Different sets that arent just open countryside. Eg Shen Valley 3. Some of the new characters 4. Consistency in the characteristics of James, Duncan, Gordon and Peter Sam
Personally, I don't think Thomas is a dead franchise. I've noticed with the rise of channels like The Unlucky Tug that there's a big kid and adult fandom for Thomas. However, I personally think that the owners after Britt Alcroft didn't see the appeal of the shows medium and source material. All Thomas content after Magic Railroad was presented to the world in the wrong ways. I think Britt misunderstood Thomas's appeal in the books it was based on, which could be a contributing factor. The HIT era brought in new writers that didn't know how to write for Thomas and it's characters. While it wasn't a great era, it didn't stick to a formula like the Nitrogen Era. The Sharon Miller/Nitrogen Era as described by The Unlucky Tug as showing promise with its new medium, marketing, and music, while being brought down by bad lazy writing. CGI did manage to bring some hidden gems though, such as the Brenner Era. Where the show brought in people who cared. The Big World Big Adventures Era is definitely the worst era of the show in my eyes. Don't even get my started with All Engines Go... The big issues I see with finding if Thomas is a dead franchise boils down to these elements. - People don't know how or don't care about writing good stories for the episodes and characters. - The show tries to make the show the coolest most exciting thing ever, when the show isn't meant to be that way all the time. - The majority of fans like realism, model trains, and intelligent writing that appeals to all ages. - The people who make the show don't care about the legacy, fans, or source material. So in my opinion, I don't think Thomas is a dead franchise. While I don't really appreciate what HIT and Mattel have done to the show, I can respect different aspects of them in some cases in terms of marketing and how the show is handled. The show could be revived if it was presented in its classic medium, with proper marketing, and writers who care about the fans and source material. Treat Thomas and Rev. Wilbert Awdry's legacy with respect. Please
Yeah not sure why Hit had to air S8 so early. They could have done what they did with Seasons 7-9 of Bob the Builder and air Seasons 6-7 of Thomas & the Pack series in 30 minute half hour blocks with 4 episodes each block and keep the classic series music between 2003-04. Than air Season 8 in early 2005. As for BWBA, it could have worked if it was just focused on the international engines with Thomas removed and perhaps just replace Thomas with Nia if the show needs a titled character. This way the Sodor episodes from Season 22 could have been the remaining episodes of Season 21 with Nia, the fantasy sequences and the bouncing removed. As for AEG, that could have worked as a completely original train show.
Executives think shows of any kind can’t be simple and realistic. They shove in random, energetic stuff nobody likes(not even kids), which turned this & many other franchises into a generic show that is the same as everything else. This is why I like Bluey. It has a concept that could be turned into an energetic generic kids fantasy, but instead they stuck to their guns & stayed both simple & realistic, which made them very different from the competition & very succesfull
While I don't think Thomas is dead-dead, especially since AEG is literally the only thing going on rn, I do feel that in a lot of ways... the unrealistic and gimmick-ey shit the franchise has done over the years is what ultimately killed Thomas and it's reputation for many. Not just for the fans, but the general audience too (TATMR most especially for the latter group). The whole reason why Thomas took off in the first place was because it was a fun and cozy series about sentient trains doing real train things. There was something for both the kids and adults to get out of it. But once TATMR-Onward started leaning more towards the goofy shit, that's where the entire series and it's writing jumped the shark. Same goes for the visuals where we went from physical models to CGI (and 2D for AEG). Plus even in the Brenner era where things started getting good again for a bit, it still had a lot of flaws and gimmick-ey crap attached to it. And once BWBA and AEG came into the picture, well... it was like 2 nuclear bombs blowing up an entire city. Leaving nothing but a huge shadow of it's former self. Or, another way to phrase it... a show that once had a soul in the classic era, lost it in the HiT era, got bits of it back in the Brenner era, and then lost it completely again in the BWBA and AEG eras (which of course, we're in now...). Similar problems also apply to the merchandise. Like the series, the Thomas toys we got back then were very simple and not in-your-face with the gimmicks (mostly). Regardless of the range, the stuff we got all boiled down to just: a bunch of characters, some destinations, and a shit ton of track so you can build whatever layout you wanted. It was basic, but very effective and well-made. Contrast that to the shit Mattel's been pulling out of their ass today and it's like... what the hell happened here?
Something I've always wondered is that, if the classic series of Thomas came out today, what reputation would it have? Similar with Bluey, it could be really popular with people online, and gain a good reputation for being simple and having good writing. But I feel like most people who praise Bluey don't view Thomas the same way. I don't mind AEG, but I really do hope it doesn't go on after 2025, as I don't think it needs to go on for that long. However, the reason why All Engines Go is doing better is because of better promotion. It's on Netflix, Paramount Plus, UA-cam, and lots of TV channels. As well as the merchandise having more effort put into it. But we do have that upcoming Thomas film. I hope Marc Forster understands Thomas well enough for the film.
I think the only reason people like the merchandise for AEG is because it’s accurate to the show, which is only because Mattel wanted them to look simplistic so that it would be easier to make cheap toys of them. I don’t mean to sound rude to anyone who likes the merch, but I don’t see Mattel trying to make much effort with them. If this Marc Forster film does happen, I hope it’s a similar case to the Mario movie in which it’s way more successful than the previous theatrical film and sparks a new interest in the franchise.
The biggest problem with Thomas... is how its current owners and the general media treat it. The whole appeal of Thomas is that they are trains that act like real locomotives in the real world. Many of the stories in the books and the Classic era were based on real events. This is why it stood out from everything else and why children were so fond of it ; because of the realism factor. But Mattel and HiT have made Thomas so gimmicky and so babyish , that people who havent seen it always look at it as a dumb baby show about talking trains and that the dark moments in the show are " too inappropriate for kids ". When Mattel bought Thomas , by series 22 and BWBA , they tried to make Thomas as appealing to the most braindead babies and toddlers as much as possible and misunderstood that kids watched Thomas because it was about real trains and instead they made it look like every other flashy , fast paced crappy kids show on the market. When Andrew Brenner left the show , Mattel started caring less about the fans of all ages and made Thomas as stupid and as braindead as possible - enter All Engines Go. AEG just simply misunderstands the whole premise and appeal of Thomas. The trains simply aren't being trains , there's more gimmicky concepts , no consistency and it's as cartoonish as possible. So as of right now the only thing that could save Thomas is Marc Forster film whenever the bloody hell that comes out.
It's also a core element of why so many adults like myself still remember it fondly. I may not be an engineer, nor may I know the complete workings of a steam engine, but the realism that used to be on display right down to the designs was great. The engines, trucks, and coaches may talk and have personalities, but at the end of the day they're still just locomotives and rolling stock - and thus, their worldviews and motivations are wholly different to a typical human's.
In my opinion, yes because of All Engines Go. But I still watch the first 24 seasons as well as the first 14 movies/specials such as Thomas and the Magic Railroad. I originally promised myself to remain a loyal Thomas fan no matter how good or bad the changes are, but because of Mattel’s recent allegations against the autistic community as well as the 2D reboot replacing the original show, I officially gave up on the franchise for the most part. Besides, I never wanted the original show to end in the first place, not even after BWBA. I wanted the old show to last for many generations to come because there are plenty of ideas to go with such as adapting more stories and elements from the Railway Series.
When I see nitrogen era animation style of how they follow the laws of psychosis, but then when jam filled and mattel animated the show, they just make them worse, they seriously get worse when That bouncing and being light trains not heavy, but seeing losing its identity was just gone forever, Other franchises like sonic, Mario, Video games, anime, etc, I just hope he gets more Better treatment and the identity back he used to be, I just hope Thomas' movie will be good for Us and Marc Forster being the man who can help us
Let's look at it this way. Ever since All Engines Go released, they stopped paying attention to the original series. They've been taking down videos related to the old series. I sent an email to Mattel a couple months ago, formally requesting to reconsider the copyright issues surrounding that era, but it must've fallen on blind eyes or deaf ears because I never got a response.
Man... I remember watching Thomas and Friends whenever I got home from School It would either be a CGI episode or a late model series episode And I enjoyed the hell out of it! I once and only once even saw a redone season 6 episode airring (it was Gordon takes a tumble) And I quickly recognized the footage! But found it odd that it sounded different and had some extra stuff in it that wasn't how I remembered it (I'm used to watching the classic series on DVD) Weirdest TTTE experience to date
I have a lot of respect for stuff like season 1-5, there's a reason why I returned back to Thomas after all of these years. It's an enjoyable show with world building, likable & developed characters, beautiful set designs and overall.. it's just something wonderful. It's something that appeals to neurodivergent folk like myself and for good reason. Look, I'm justified for treating AEG like it's the worst thing ever, it's the complete opposite of everything I said ^^^ I got back into Thomas back in 2020 and my overall obsession over trains started all over again and i feel like I'll never fall out of my interest of trains from now on. Heck, nowadays I love going to heritage railways to take pictures and go on a train ride (places like talyllyn, Bodmin and Blaenavon). Great video man.
You're really not justified, AEG is obviously meant to be something besides the older seasons and seems successful enough at that. You don't have to like it, but it's a valid approach for what's clearly a spin-off.
@@ashuebot-tabi4449 if it's supposed to be something that is different, then why did they make it different to a point where it has completely lost the original appeal of Thomas in the first place? Make a new show at that point that doesn't have a fandom to consider. You won't get hate for that. It's not even Thomas at that point, It's just a generic show for embryos with Thomas' skin slapped on top of it. It definitely isn't for the fans (who have kept Thomas alive beforehand so they're getting slapped in the face by Mattel) and it has replaced anything good that can come from Thomas. It just ain't it. What's next are you going to tell people that the Velma reboot isn't terrible?
@@Ollimus This is the same dumb argument made against Teen Titans Go: it's painfully obvious what approach this show was going to take, as it never claimed to be a continuation of the original series. If fans can't realize that, it's their problem. Creators have no obligation to make their choices just because fans won't like it, no one's forcing Thomas fans to watch or discuss this show. The show clearly wants to attract new fans, hence the different approach, and contrary to what some may think that's not the same as purposefully alientating older fans. If it gets those new fans to watch the older series, that's a benefit towards AEG. I don't watch Velma, so I'm not sure what your point is.
@@ashuebot-tabi4449 I mentioned Velma since that's another widely hated reboot that the scooby doo fandom hates, and you'd probably find a way to defend that show. I know AEG isn't a continuation of previous content, it's a hard reboot. But that isn't an excuse for completely disregarding what made Thomas good. Nobody is forced to watch it, I never said something like that but that doesn't excuse it from criticism. The fact that it has currently taken over the franchise makes it worse, it's not even a side thing, it's what Thomas has become, a dead franchise. a reboot shouldn't alienate fans like this one has, but I guess Mattel cares more about money rather Thomas' integrity. You can't just treat an IP like that. Even if AEG isn't particularly awful as a kids show, it's still horrible for a Thomas The Tank Engine reboot. I have to ask how out of touch you are with the Thomas and the overall train community. If you even are part of it because I'm genuinely questioning that.
@@Ollimus What point are you trying to make? The point of a hard reboot is to move away from what came before, so AEG is obviously going to disregard what came before and alienate fans in the process: this is just how reboots work. Moreover, creating media isn't a democracy, and something isn't bad just because fans don't like it. The fact that it's "taken over the franchise" and is a "bad Thomas show" doesn't mean anything to its intended audience, preschool kids not familiar with the series. The fact that several older fans have admitted it's perfectly fine when judged on its merit indicates that fans are the problem, not the show itself. I'm not really interested in Thomas anymore, mainly because my tastes have changed and I don't find the series particularly engaging, but partially because a fair amount of the fanbase is unbearable.
When I started watching Thomas, I really enjoyed it so much, that I think it deserves better, even though Mattel has ruined it from top to bottom, as long as the fandom is around with the fan contents, fanficions, stories, OC, and others, Thomas The Tank Engine will always live on, in our hearts and our minds. He’ll always be a really useful engine.
The Brenner era was a perfect modern take on the show. The main problem was reducing air time, the marketing and cutting costs on toys. Had Mattel hadn't been so stupid, we would likely still be in the Brenner era format and AEG would just be a side spin-off.
my sister is 3 years old and whenever she wants to watch thomas my family ask me to put an episode for her. she loves classic Percy episodes and she watches 10 in a row
10:35 - America suffered greatly with the show, I live in Canada and even to this day they are still airing CGI Episodes, abit they be BWBA episodes or Random season 20/21. Plus PBS had Thomas games you couldn't find anywhere else at the time.
Well one thing is for sure...us as a fandom, will try our hardest, and keep the appeal of what made Thomas so special in the first place, for as long as we can go. Because I feel like we're doing this franchise some Justice, as not being another dumb baby show number 189.
How I see it, Magic Railroad was the first injury with Series 6 and 7 acting like a plaster for it. Then HiT took over and the plaster started to peel off but not to the point of a 2nd injury… until Series 12 and once the CGI series started it started to loose it’s sense of Britishness and only got weaker and weaker until BWBA where the injury left it hospitalised.
How I see is TATMR was where the ship first hit the iceberg, seasons 6 and 7 slowed down the process, then the HiT era sped it up, but not by much, the Brenner era put it on short term life support, Mattel’s stupid decisions made it even faster, BWBA the ship breaking in half and fully submerging under the water, and AEG is the ship rotting underwater.
That closing line hit me. When it comes down to it, we’ve all outgrown the show. But what the stories and characters did for us as kids, we’ll always have that.
I dropped out the show during Series 16. After years of forced monotonous rhyming, copy-pasted writing, the three strike rule and any trace of character being nonexistent, I thought it would never get better. It was actually Journey Beyond Sodor that got me interested again. By that point, I was completely fine with them going all out with whatever idea they were doing if it meant no more rhyming. As for the future of the franchise, there's still the Marc Forster movie. After the success of Barbie, Mattel are putting more resources into films based on their IPs.
For anyone who wants to see high quality Thomas fan content on UA-cam, I recommend Suddery Station Master (his stories are genuinely feel as if they belong with the classic Thomas stories, more people need to watch his stuff), Trampy (His reimagining of all the characters and stories are both respectful and very nuance plus his character banter is legendary) , Carson's Video Workshop (just overall great adaptations of fan stories) and the GOAT Tardisrescue (he doesn't post often but when he does you are guaranteed some of the best thomas writing on the internet).
I would give to find even a shred of the amount of Thomas merch I saw as a kid today. While the wooden railway 2022 reboot is great. Not much has been added sadly. It was a great start just leaves wanting more. As for stories and writing if Mattel did something similar like what happened with Michael White maybe the franchise would have better stories to tell. A lot of the fandom has some really talented and creative people who help keep our love for this little blue train alive. It anything I’m just thankful our fandom has the opportunity to expanded and create their own takes on the franchise while still lying respect to the original material unlike Mattel however. All in all as Michael Angelo’s has said before: “It was time for Thomas to leave. He had seen everything.”
The only hope we have for bringing GOOD Thomas content back in any form is a Mattel movie. The Barbie movie was a runaway success for the company and of Thomas gets the same treatment and it’s GOOD (for everyone), the franchise could be back in business. I’m not holding my breath though.
Despite how Thomas is today in the business world of being as Paw Patrol as possible, I still love Thomas and Friends.....the classic series (S1-S5) anyway and a bit of the Brenner era. The fans on the internet really kept this franchise alive from all of the Trainz adaptations, custom instrumentals, custom model work, etc. I love it! As for Bluey, I've only recently watched the show and all I can say is...its so comfy! Its not a baby show! Its a slice of life show that makes me smile, laugh and even cry. Not to mention, its sooo darn cute! TATMR i do say should of ended there, even when the movie was......not that good. I grew out of Thomas at that point and i was fine. I didn't even though Thomas was still going as i was in my Yugioh phase. In short, Thomas that we knew when the show peaked is dead, but to a fans perspective, which includes myself, it never will.
I’ve got to say even with All Engines Go failing to reach a broad enough audience, Mattel are not giving up on Thomas. They are planning to make a cinematic universe, similar to Marvel and DC, out of their properties such as Uno, Hot Wheels and even Barney; and they have already started with Barbie this year. It’s said that the Mark Forster film will join that franchise. I did enjoy the Barbie movie, but personally I would not be looking forward to Mark Forster’s Thomas movie if the island of Sodor is handled in a similar way to Barbieland in the Barbie film. It might be a money grab or it might surprise us. I don’t know. How about you, Sean?
The way i see it, the spirit of thomas and friends is dead. Thomas was never about being a rocket, flying, or being a super hero. It was about trains being trains and giving them personality. Seeing what happened to thomas hurts. I remember going to toysrus and they had a intire area dedicated to thomas and picking out a new character and taking it home and playing with it. Now you cant do that anymore with the new thomas toys, and it hurts. I dont have hope for the franchise anymore, its spirit is dead in the modern day show, the only reason thomas gets any chance for attention is the fandom, and it makes me wonder, will there be next generation thomas fans, with what martel putting out, i dont think so.
I personally believe it’s dormant right now, as I consider AEG to just be a spin-off. Given the success of the Barbie movie, I have high hopes for Mattel and the Marc Forster Thomas movie, assuming it actually comes out.
I've watched Thomas and Friends from the old days to CGI to Big World, Big Adventures and even the All Engines Go reboot. Honestly of course I don't think the franchise is gone at all. It just needs something to revive it to it's prime where it once stood in the early days.
Thomas will forever stay in my heart as a precious childhood show to me (at least the model era) can’t say the same to the cgi era and especially bwba and aeg
I feel like the success of Bluey and and current slowdown of AEG, Mattel COULD allow Thomas to revert back to its laid back realistic state that it once had. Key word COULD.
I I still love Thomas the tank engine from seasons 1-5. I even still find 6 and 7 ok. But I wasn't a huge fan of season 8 and onwards because of the character inconsistencies. Seasons 17 to 20 were ok though
I am glad that I got into Thomas during the era that I did, I am probably among the last generation who remembers the model era with clarity (I was born in 2004). I also watched older episodes on Nick Jr and grew to love the series, I lost interest when the Merchandise fell down in quality, now the fan content is that I remember the fondest. I have a nephew for whom his grandparents bought him Thomas CD's, of the model era, I plan on getting him a massive Motor Road and Rail Thomas trainset, I don't want him to grow up with the modern crap.
In my opinion, Thomas was at his peak in Season 5. Since 1998, things have never been anywhere near as good. And with the existence of the diabolical AEG reboot, the franchise is pretty much dead to me. Hats off to the fans who are keeping the franchise alive by making their own episodes (either with their own models or in the Trainz games). They do an excellent job, especially when compared to the hacks at Mattel.
12:25 This is so true, I miss the days of Walmart and target having whole aisles dedicated to Thomas And for me I disconnected from Thomas at a young age, but came back to it very late I remember late 2021 i was at Walmart and they had this bargain clearance bin and it was Thomas trackmaster push alongs I was like “sure why not” so I bought one I just wish I was aware why they were on clearance
This is such a great discussion to have with any Thomas fan. It's a disgrace on how Mattel is treating the franchise nowadays, but for us fans who have been with Thomas since the beginning we know what the franchise is and what it's supposed to be. AEG is giving the new generation something they'll like and while I can't blame them for that, but it really doesn't have a basic identity for what hard core from decades past went through. If I ever had my own child someday, I would definitely prefer letting them experience what I went through growing up. Cause each of those early stories felt very real. They're something to dream about but you wish you could actually go to Sodor, meet Thomas and his friends and most of all to just be a kid. That's the impact the classic series left older fans with but AEG clearly doesn't have the same impact for kids today.
Had Season 21 been a longer season (like 30 episodes) the series could have ended there and perhaps AEG could have been an original train show. Also was thinking that BWBA could have worked as an original show if Thomas was removed from the international episodes and was just focused on the international characters or if Nia was the engine traveling around the world instead of Thomas.
The only the stuff that I personally consider as “good” Thomas content are the following - Japanese merchandise in general - Wooden Railway 2022 (though they will be taking them out of physical stores (not counting Day Out with Thomas) and there are theories that they might even flat out discontinue them) - Storytime Podcast - the rip/knock off brand merchandise The motorized talking range is what I’d say is “mid”
Although Thomas may be dead franchise, I'll always remember the Andrew Brenner era and classic era, they're actual the best times for thomas,(excluding the products)
It’s not dead. It has nearly 80 years of content with millions of loyal fans, but because BWBA led to All Engines Go, we have lost a predominantly main show. There are still the memories.
I absolutely agree with you of what your saying. It’s kind of like something I had in mind too. I love Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends as much as you do. I like the classics from Season 1-8 only and do I happen to like Season 17-24. I felt the same way about the Hit Era and the terrible CGI Series from Season 13-16 in between the best ones. I didn’t like the last movie “Big World, Big Adventures the Movie” as it wasn’t the kind of movie I thought it was compared to other good Thomas Movies. Looks like you and I have a lot in common about these series. Especially about the company Mattel when it made a big disgrace on the reboot series. I don’t plan to watch them but something like that has never stopped me from watching the real Thomas series from Season 1-7 & 8 and the best CGI series, Season 17-24. I only like some of the episodes that’s set on Sodor only in the Season 22-24 era. The other episodes set in different countries can be a bit boring and way too much from the latest Season 22-24 episodes. But it’s great that the last Season 24 episode ended with “The Royal Engine” which was definitely the best and greatest episode in the whole franchise of all time! I don’t need to watch the Hit Era from Season 9-11 or Season 13-16 or even the Reboot Era Series if it’s not my type. Except for Series 12 though, Series 12 dose seem much better than the terrible ones in between. Not as bad as I thought. The real Thomas & Friends Series ended in 2020 which was fine though, but I don't know why Mattel just went on and created a terrible babiest reboot series era. I don't get it! Why did it have to be like that? Why couldn't they have just left at that until the real tv show was over? I just ignore them. But I don’t let anything stop me from watching the best type which is something I can always stick to from Series 1-7 & 8 and 12 and Series 17-24. To me, I think it would of been best if "The Great Discovery" would of been made shortly after "Calling all Engines" instead of those other three terrible series in the HIT era. And I think it would of been best if "King of the Railway" was next after Series 12 in 5 years time. Instead of those garbage and terrible CGI Series 13-16 epsidoes. I wouldn't of minded. If the Series were changed to different numbers on. But that's just my opinion on the ones that I like best. But nevertheless, Thomas will always be my favourite childhood tv show forever that I grew up with the most.
Just as someone who grew up with the model series in vhs and loving that, but not fawning over it in my adult years, still acknowledging it’s existence though, I can’t say Thomas is a franchise that can die that easily when it’s not like it had a “Tank Engine Mania” phase in history. It’s a popular kids show but one that doesn’t hold importance to be considered “dead”. The same can be said about Paw Patrol. Yeah, it’s popular and got a few movies, but it’s not important enough to be cared on this level, but it’s iconic and timeless enough that it kinda will just keep going. Although that being said, I’ve heard Extremely little about Barney the Dinosaur (as far as kids shows go), but I suppose Barney has less depth than Thomas and Paw Patrol. It’s a song, a dance, a kinda story, and it’s over, while Thomas and Paw Patrol is a little more engaging. Although I’m not a fan of the new Thomas shows aesthetic. I still think that’ll be popular though
This video speaks to me in a very Personal way. I agree and have the same emotions and feelings towards Thomas & friends, I remember going with my mom to the local supermarket to buy me just one more Train to play with and now when i go there on my own because i'm an adult and i just see the racks that were full of Thomas merch being filled with Legos and Barbie.
I loved this video. I usually hate Thomas review videos because of how they all just regurgitate the same opinions as each other, but this one was so great. Everything said here is what I’ve been feeling since BWBA came out. I was born in 2007, and even if it’s undeniable that the Hit Era was bad, the toys were amazing. I was basically born into Thomas because I have an older brother, but I still remember how happy I always felt whenever I got a new toy. I just don’t really feel that anymore. In fact, I haven’t really felt that since Mattel got their hands on the show. All of the sets and specials always felt gimmicky. Say what you will about MIR or DOTD but the last thing they felt was gimmicky. I firmly believe Thomas should’ve ended at either TGD of BMM, and it’s a shame we’ve gotten to the point we have.
If ended at BMM, no Brenner era to make the show better and get the characters right (most of them) as well as returning old faces like Duck and Daisy so it's good that Thomas goes on and on for us to see more adventures.
I saw the mattle building after a doctor appointment if i knew it was there I'd want the executives to listen to the fans. Fans are the customers and the customers always right. I have a little friend who is a thomas fan he grows on all engines go but for our bday (he and i have a day a part bday i gave him a wooden railway snow ploug thomas as a piece of my childhood to him. I hope to get my own again and more. He has modern merch but he also has a classic thomas amv as his bday gift i won't post because it'll revea our names online I'm keeping online safety.
I don't think Thomas and friends isn't a dead franchise to me I remember this show when I was a kid just like other shows at the time And it is a good show teaching good life lessons in just being their own things And I don't mind if something's on different for the most part And I have kept up with the show since twenty fifteen or twenty sixteen And I still like the show even the Big world big adventures era whenever I watch it on the milkshake arrings online Or watch the episodes on Nick Jr but it's pretty sad that it did not last for too long because I enjoyed the episodes and the songs even the longer credits of the song itself and I absolutely dance whenever I hear that number. And for the merchandise themselves. I have been collecting them for the most part And have some creative spins on them, making layouts or anything that I could do Even some of the AEG models No matter if there was a character or a set that I'm interested to get and I don't know that things had gone worse when AEG came along And it absolutely brakes the realism because of these cartoon bendy physics that is literally not of how Thomas was supposed to be. Also, I don't mind the bouncing in seasons 21 and 24 but come on, this is way too much It's way too cartoony If there was another Renaissance of Thomas for the 80th anniversary Then he would've deserved it But as for now I still love Thomas no matter what.
If your in Australia there's been a mass shortage of merchandise. Like we have gone from two sides of a 15m aisle to at most 2m on one shelf. In a lot of cases it's a single 1m shelfs with a hand full of products. I can concur Mattel hasn't figured out that a train set isn't the same thing as a Hotwheels play set. Which is partly why Hotwheels Railroad failed so hard in the 80ies.
I will always love Thomas. And I will always be his #1 fan. Thomas is dead right now, but if we get the best special for the 80th Anniversary, Thomas could come back one last time and could forever. It's sad that the Thomas we knew and loved will probably be gone forever, but I will always appreciate the fandom and team for bringing this engine and his friends to life. Especially Awdry. 😢😢😢 He will forever be in my heart.
I personally feel that Mattel is deliberately trying to send Thomas to the scrapyard, and has been since late 2017. They've done things like pull the TV show from PBS, pull Edward and Henry from the Steam Team in favor of Nia and Rebecca, decrease the quality of Thomas' merchandise lines, make DVD releases more scarce, make a spin-off that they knew the Rev. W. Awdry would never have approved of, disassociate themselves from the very community that watches Thomas' show and buys his merchandise, disrespect Britt Allcroft's wishes to keep the spirit of the classic series alive by blocking uploads of classic Thomas and Shining Time Station episodes from UA-cam, and not release any new models for the Thomas Wooden Railway revival line other than the Day Out With Thomas model in 2023. I personally feel that Mattel's days with Thomas are numbered and that the franchise's quality can only improve if another company, like Orbrium, acquires the license. I've jumped ship to Orbrium specifically because they make their products with Thomas Wooden Railway in mind. Some of Orbrium's best-sellers are their express coaches (since the official Thomas Wooden Railway express coaches are discontinued, rare, and expensive) and their unpainted engines and rolling stock for the fans to customize as they please. Not only that, but they released several promising new products this year; new unpainted engines, train sets involving a medieval castle and a national park with a spiral mountain, and a track maintenance crew (which I did a wooden railway discussion on). Said discussion also includes links to two petitions I started to get Thomas back on the right track; Orbrium to acquire the Thomas license, and Mattel to stop blocking uploads of classic Thomas and Shining Time Station episodes on UA-cam.
I would feel embarrassed whenever anyone mentioned about Thomas and Friends in front of me, but then again, I am proud that I grew up with a kids show that introduced me to trains, had a long and proud history and origin, all the while it is not some flashy cartoon animation show that is specifically for kids
I’m getting depressed about it because Thomas represents the best parts of my childhood memories. I remember when I was a kid, there was a hobby store that sold most of my favorite Thomas toys. To me, it was the best place in the world. It closed down back around 2005 not long after ERTL discontinued making their die-cast Thomas toys. I missed it so much because I have been having dreams about it this year. I went to a HobbyTown store yesterday that I thought was very much like the one I used to go to, but when I looked around, I saw that they don’t even sell the wooden railway toys anymore. Between this video and what I found yesterday, I realized that the very best part of my childhood was like my paternal grandparents and the home that I remembered, they are all truly dead. I don’t even have a photograph of the hobby store for me to hold on to. I always wanted to have a son that I could pass on my old Thomas collection to and share with him the wonderful moments that Thomas gave me, but now even if I did have a son, Thomas & Friends are not going to be around for the next generation and that I think is the real tragedy. It feels like I’m mourning a childhood friend.
Dead? in terms of what AEG is doing yes and no? But We Still Have The Marc Forster Movie In The Works After The Barbie Movie Came Out Not Too Long Ago, Marc Has Stated That Thomas Has Been His Personal Favorite Since His Childhood And I Can't Say For Sure He'll Save The Franchise. But The Movie Could Either Be Mid Or Very Lackluster, Or We Could Be Surprised By The End Result Of His Work On Said Theatrical Movie
I would love to see Thomas and Friends return but it'll never be back in the form of the model train layout we loved. I think if Disney were to be bought by Apple and Apple invests in making Pixar great again, then I would be happy to see Thomas in the hands of Pixar. It would be so awesome to see Thomas done in the Pixar style of the 90s and 2000s. Especially since the classic Pixar tone fits that of the Railway Series so well.
I think the only thing that can revive the Thomas franchise is the marc foster movie and as much as I love Tatmr they shouldn't do anything like that they should make the movie about trains in a realistic world just like our's the only change from our world is the trains can talk.
8:24 YES! THANK YOU JAKEY! TATMR may have misunderstood the appeal of the franchise for the magic element that screwed up everything, but at least Thomas still does train things.
my real reason of thomas and friends is still alive is the fandom because the people are making their own thomas in youtube by reviewing toys,making trainzs videos and even rewriting the franchise in their own headcanon like characters from railway series and model era are still around making their own version of the steam team like numbers 1-12(emily) along with rosie,molly,nia,and rebecca and that more of better than what mattel made.
I can never truly say that it’s dead, because of how the fandom keeps it alive. We love, appreciate and respect the good, and we scorn and dismiss the bad. In terms of quality, it is dead, but in terms of the fact of how much integrity and love it will always have in the hearts of others, because of what came before it will live on forever. Although, I don’t think Matel should try to touch anything else beyond what they’ve done with the reboot because the damage they have done is irreversible and irreparable. This series means a lot to me because it saved me when I needed it the most. I would be perfectly OK if nothing else was done to the original besides fan Content because I really do feel that enough damage has been done already, and that way as fans we can still keep it alive for ourselves and for each other.
Thomas the tank engine will always remain in my heart no matter how stupid or ridiculous Mattel will make the franchise in the future I’ll always keep coming back to this franchise whether it’s the iconic stories and realism of the railway series, the incredibly adapted and great episodes of the classic series and the amazing and fleshed out seasons of the brenner era that gave the series a second chance and here’s the thing we know little to nothing of what the future holds whether if the Marc Forster Thomas movie is actually good like if it’s either an adaptation of one of the railways series books or if it’s just as stupid as BWBA or all engines go but i will always keep coming back to this franchise because those world and these characters have so much potential
The story of what Thomas has become mirrors what happened to so many other IPs. Just to name a few off the cuff, Star Wars, Halo, MARVEL, DC, Star Trek.... I could go on.
I wouldn’t say the franchise is dead but it’s definitely past it’s prime.
Given how Bob the Builder was left dead after the reboot, I hope AEG does the same.
They pretty much let Bob the builder stop once the DHX media animation seasons ended?
We have the upcoming Marc Forster movie so given how Paddington and the 2017 Smurfs movies got TV series, Thomas will likely get a series based of the Marc Forster movie if it does well.
its not dead as their are many fans making their own episodes thanks to trainz simulator
As far is it being good it could indeed be considered dead
the only thing the keeps the franchise alive is the community
My preschooler loves trains, especially Thomas. When he asks to watch Thomas, he differentiates between "Big Thomas" (model/CGI/BWBA) and "Little Thomas" (All Engines Go). He's been asking to watch Big Thomas a lot more lately since we've been reading through The Railway Series.
My personal Thomas experience began and ended with George Carlin, so everything before and since has been an exciting new experience for me. While the whole 'anything but trains' schtick drives me a bit nuts, not to mention AEG's reluctance to show engines pulling anything more than just one or two cars, I've come to appreciate the progression of all eras of Thomas. I'm so happy that whatever may come next for the franchise (if anything) there's so much to read/watch/play that's already been created and out there.
My answer, yes and no. Yes in terms of releasing content from the original series on TV. No because of how Thomas and Friends as a brand is being carried on by AEG. Although it is considered bad by most, it’s still carrying on the brand and preventing it from being considered “dead”.
Also, I would consider Pingu to be a dead franchise by technicality. Pingu in the City was the last piece of Pingu media released by any company and that ended in around 2019. So technically speaking, Pingu would be considered a dead franchise.
Yeah, I guess Thomas would be a “zombie”, as it is alive but producing nothing of worth.
@@austinreed7343the walmart preschooler toy section barely contains any Sodor merchandise
@@NITR0GAM3RAt least it was an pretty nice reboot.
I will always love Thomas no matter what. I feel like Britt Allcroft focused on Thomas in American in the 90s which doomed the show once TATMR came out and hasn't been the same since
Clearly. And then she greatly misunderstood the lore of the franchise when she decided to make Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
@@joshuaW5621 exactly
So America is the villain you're saying?
@@rmn070 not exactly. Well technically the show was somewhat simplified in the US and altered to fit their culture, but what he means is that Britt became obsessed with Shining Time and felt that it should be in the same world as Thomas.
I pretty much still enjoy Thomas even with some.. *akwardness* in it
I’d love to be a part of the revival era, but hopefully the Marc Forster movie will be good (if it gets made).
Then I will hope to give both the kids and the older fans what they deserve.
I feel a revival era is probably not going to happen after All Engines Go ends since I feel if it does then it would be the end of the Thomas franchise as a whole.
@@islandofsodorflims8712 probably not. I just hope Marc Forster does the franchise justice if his film gets made.
Marc Foster is the only thing that can bring back the series at this point
That's if it happens. I plan to buy Thomas and all of HiTs assets so it will most likely get cancelled
@kingemerald4622 what company do you work for you ain't bying anything laugh 😆 🤣 😂
@E2ForLife no one and I can, and I will. If Disney can buy everything under the sun, then so can I, plus I understand the IP enough and have a knowledge of its history to do so I get what Thomas is supposed to be and understand said property I actually get the product's history
@@kingemerald4622 WITH WHAT MONEY
@@kingemerald4622You have a billion dollars?
Obviously I don’t watch the watch the show anymore but I keep staying in this fandom because of the amazing fan content people have put out.
Ya one thing I admire about this fandom is that we're able to create our own stories on par with the Railway and classic series simply because both are grounded in the real world by nature
@@xavierjuno4572 Agreed. One reason I now come back to this fandom every now and then was because of Unlucky Tug's videos.
When I was very little, Thomas was my obsession. As I grew up Star Wars became my obsession. If you went back and told 13 year old me that at 26 I would be more involved with the Thomas fandom than the Star Wars one, I would've said you're crazy.
@@ChrisSuperDudeFor me it's with Harry Potter and LoTR. I still come back to the fandom and Awdry's original works than the official franchise itself.
@@xavierjuno4572 And CGI series too.
I’m glad Thomas & Friends isn’t over, and I’m glad Mattel hasn’t given up on the franchise even if it’s not doing well. But I wish this franchise could still stay alive with good stories, a somewhat realistic aesthetic, quality merchandise, and not ignoring the legacy of the Railway Series, the Tv Show, and the fans watching. The merchandise is getting slightly better, and there are some decent episodes every so often, but Mattel still ignores the fandom and the show’s legacy, and if they never downgraded the merchandise and change the show so much the series might still be doing well!
Well I thought to myself after watching the Mario movie and teenage mutant ninja turtles mutant mayhem that the Marc Forster film do what made those films great by staying respectful to the source material but also keeping things fresh and interesting for a new audience
@@cinnamonmantrainsareawesom7224 I agree. And I'm looking forward to seeing what ideas Marc Foster has cooked up for it.
I want to buy it
But the show is supposed to be like the novel by Revend W Andrey, not be milked dry if it was to have hundreds of episodes
Even TUGS didn't get plenty of episodes after the first season
Here’s how to revive the franchise:
1) Give it a new aesthetic closer to the illustrations of the RWS. Think a mix of John T. Kenney and Gunvor and Peter Edwards’s work.
2) Mix stories from Wilbert’s RWS books, some of Christopher’s books, magazine/annual stories, the classic era, and the Brenner era with wholly original tales meant to fill in the gaps or explore new character dynamics.
3) Get writers who CARE about these characters and can tell Mattel to sod off if they start pushing things in the wrong direction.
4) Be willing to take breaks every now and then. The original series suffered much undue production stress because HiT and later Mattel wanted new content every year. If this reboot can avoid killing an entire animation studio, that’d be nice.
5) Make quality merchandise that embraces what the characters are: realistic locomotives doing day-to-day work.
6) Use Mike and Junior’s score from Seasons 1-7 and make new themes that fit in with those classic songs.
Continue the original series from Season 24 and return stuff from the classic series like not playing down to kids and playing with different tones, return old characters like BoCo and Duke and expand on them, have Diesel 10 portrayed correctly with his evilness retained and have him be more serious, intimating and threatening, Diesel have his distaste and classic devious traits returned like manipulative and slyness of pulling strings from behind the scene, have Edward, Henry and Toby be mains despite not in the Steam Team any more, more focus on other characters like narrow gauge engines, have other characters sleep at Tidmouth Sheds besides the Steam Team sometimes with the place portrayed like a regular shed, return old locations like Elsbridge and Great Waterton, re-establish Stepney living on the Mainland at the Bluebell Railway as well as Toby's old line in East Anglia and add real life stuff like the books and everything else which I can't say since it's lots.
@@DavidBContentExtravaganza3967 You both are way to in depth about this lmfao, you guys need to be realistic, mattel will own the brand for the foreseable future and not anything will change it, all we can do now is share our love of the classic series
Yes, Mattel owns the franchise. Yes, some of our demands might be a bit unrealistic. But we can still hope that someone out there is listening and wants to bring back the real Thomas.
All I really want from Mattel is a good 80th anniversary movie (perhaps one that could test the waters to see if a more “traditional” Thomas series would fly) and some more Wooden Railway 2 items (Duck, Donald, Douglas, and Oliver and Toad or bust).
@@EternityKingdomsHeadHoncho save those for a yt essay then and not paragraphs on a yt comment lol
The way I see it, at least after my last marathon... If it is a dead franchise, it had a good run. 24 seasons ain't bad, even if a few seasons aren't stellar, but hey, no show is perfect. If any Thomas fans want to go back and watch, pick whichever seasons work for you and go from there... Unless it involves a massive 500+ episode marathon. Drawing from experience, I don't recommend that 😂
Even with something like AEG on TV (it's awful, but whatever, the preschool kids may like it), it shouldn't kill the good parts. It's like any other TV show you like that ended. You can still go back and watch the stuff you love any day of the week, and that should be what matters most.
Oh, I would do it. Mainly because of what this series represents for me. It’s totally not for everyone to watch all of it, but I will totally watch as much of it is I can. Willingly ignoring some of the episodes that I absolutely hate.
@@selinapersaud7629 Nope, the kind of marathon I'm talking about involves watching EVERY episode, bar none. It's all or nothing here 🤣
@@Gondarth I know, I’m just telling you what I would do. lol.
I probably would watch all of them, barring none if there weren’t some that I despise so much.
1:04 Correction: the writing team for season 17 was hired around 2011 by HiT, not Mattel.
Really?
The only fanmade episode we ever got to use models was "the good old days"!
7:38 Completely agree with Jay here. Mattel changing Take-n-Play to Adventures is one of their best decisions. Not only could you couple engines any way round again, they brought back track sets which weren’t around in the Die-Cast range since 2009. Apart from the odd gimmick set, the adventures sets were pretty cool. Even with gimmick sets like the Shark Escape one, you can use the track pieces to do whatever you want with it.
Thomas in the mainstrean is long since padt its prime
But for the fandom in its fan content, there's many places it's gone with plenty of room still to grow
PieceofJay, thank you for bringing up the Nitrogen animation! I've always loved the way they shot the trains, how they would focus on the wheels and the steam (especially) and the grandiose size & spectacle of them. Sure the camera angles were mostly static, but man, seeing the undercarriage of an engine pass under the camera is fantastic. Like he said, they look and feel so real (despite the episodes/writing being mediocre at best to absolute period cramp pain at worst (which also makes me wonder why Hiro of the Rails and Blue Mountain Mystery was so good but I'm getting off track))
P.S.
Adding in Reflection from SA2 near the end of the video, genius. Really adds to the tone and overall theme. Kudos
I will always love Thomas forever. Hes was the biggest part of my life when i was young and he still is.
Thomas was my first hero when I was little. There was even a point where I refused to answer to "Chris" and so my parents had to call me "Thomas" to get me to respond.
@@ChrisSuperDudesame
The Japanese businessman Thomas videos are the best Thomas things in the past 5 years
I’ve loved Thomas for as long as I can remember. It’s been with me my whole life up to now. It’s just incredibly sad seeing how alienated it’s become from what it was back in the 80’s and 90’s. I’d even go as far to say that seasons 8-16 were still truly Thomas, even if they weren’t as good. I unfortunately don’t really have any hope for the future of the franchise though. We may get a few things popping up now and again that are good, but at this point Thomas has pretty much faded away. We might get a revival decades down the road, but as of now, Thomas is pretty much dead in the water.
After all this time?
Always.
That's the question that's been on nearly everyone's heads. As for me, I'm not sure whether I think Thomas is a dead franchise or not.
However, Thomas has been a part of my childhood for as long as I can remember. It has it's ups and down, and has been through a ton of changes.
And it seems like Marc Forster's upcoming Thomas film might be be the best bet for the franchise.
Agreed
@cinnamonmantrainsareawesom7224 if it happens because I want to buy the rights, and it'll probably end up getting cancelled anyway because of said acquisition so it'll be a star wars situation
I dont think Thomas and Friends is a dead franchise considering Mattel still wants to make a Thomas mixed Animation/Live Action movie. As a long fan of Thomas, I will still love it even if the brand stop producing shows or movies, I really love Thomas and hope of more content to come.
mattel is just compressing Content out of this franchise when there is barely any left.
if they do make that film, likely it's going to suck due to writers running out of ideas, or just being terrible because they are moderners.
@@Lou-yf1jo The sooner they straight themselves out, get better ideas, get a different company to own the rights to Thomas to treat it better and revive the original show the better. Unlikely by some but here's hoping.
With the Asda part. In my local Asda I don’t see it. At most I rarely see a Thomas dvd. But if you go to let’s say to an entertainer toy shop I’ll usually find Thomas stuff there. Hopefully if the Marc foster movie does come out it will put Thomas in the public eye again especially after the success from Barbie.
I loved Thomas and Friends throughout my childhood.
Same.
But only the show was made with models mimicking the railway series until it ran of ideas for real
I'd say "I'd hope one day Mattel will realize the identity of the show Thomas had and bring it back." but realistically, it's Mattel, I think they're gonna run with what they've got until it burns out.
Both of you did great on this video. I wished HIT never have bought Thomas. If they didn’t, we would probably be in a better position.
Especially when it switch to CGI.
It's essentially like the situation with Star Wars
@@TheLazyFusspot_3428But I'll be honest, You are all are being to harsh on HiT Entertainment, Say what you want about them, They obviously did care about the franchise! I mean, They've wouldn't have kept the realistic feel to the show if they didn't care, They added the 3 strike formula into the show in S8-16, But they still made good specials like "The Great Discovery", "Hero of the Rails", "Blue Mountain Mystery", "King of the Railway", "Tale of the Brave", "The Adventure Begins" and best of all, "Sodor's Legend Of The Lost Treasure", Sure their era (2004-08) and the Miller Era (2010-13) sucked! Along with "Mitsy Island Rescue" and "Day of the Diesels and some were just OK, like "Calling All Engines", I'm not saying the Miller and HiT era is underappericated because its not and deserved the hate they've got, Mattel, the autisim discriminator handled things much worse and made Thomas be anything but just a simple normal train! Big World! Big Adventures! And All Engines Go! is more unbearable to watch, And let's be honest, The Engine Roll Call is pretty catchy and I don't care if they changed the old theme, This is still good, I'm not bashing your opinion or anything, I'm just saying Mattel's an awful owner of Thomas and should send it to the public domain and ask PBS Kids to be HIT Entertainment's new partner instead of Mattel, They've been producing better quality shows (aside from that atrocious Super Why! Comic Book Adventures) than what Mattel could ever hope to do, Sure Mattel fixed the show, but that's because they got people who cared about Thomas, once toys started to slip, Mattel decided to risk it all and fuck up the show, and saying that HIT is worse than Mattel is hysterical, Did HIT distance themselves from the Autisim community? Of course not! Mattel made these choices, and I actually agree, Its not Unlucky Tug's fault thar the show is ruined, It's all Mattel's fault, He was just stating his own opinion for the show and *IF* Mattel does go bankrupt, I genuinely couldn't care less
Sigh, we all know how that's like. Mattel has made some absolute worst decisions in the past few years, especially with cancelling the original show and making All Engines Go. God, are they trying to show kids trains can do more than what they're supposed to do? That's not how it works! And the merchandise has gotten worse too! >:( I'm grateful we fans still remember the old Thomas, which is what everyone should. After all, it was Wilbert Awdry and Britt Allcroft's vision from the start. Even the writers cared for Thomas unlike Mattel. Unless something extraordinary happens, I'm afraid we're gonna be stuck with the franchise the way it is. But I'll still love it for what it originally was anyway. Never gonna give up my love for Thomas.
Yea Mattel can go to hell
While the Hit era was pretty flat like soda for the way it aged, certain aspects shine in recent memories:
1. Select portions of the Hartsthorne score
2. Different sets that arent just open countryside. Eg Shen Valley
3. Some of the new characters
4. Consistency in the characteristics of James, Duncan, Gordon and Peter Sam
Personally, I don't think Thomas is a dead franchise.
I've noticed with the rise of channels like The Unlucky Tug that there's a big kid and adult fandom for Thomas.
However, I personally think that the owners after Britt Alcroft didn't see the appeal of the shows medium and source material.
All Thomas content after Magic Railroad was presented to the world in the wrong ways. I think Britt misunderstood Thomas's appeal in the books it was based on, which could be a contributing factor.
The HIT era brought in new writers that didn't know how to write for Thomas and it's characters. While it wasn't a great era, it didn't stick to a formula like the Nitrogen Era.
The Sharon Miller/Nitrogen Era as described by The Unlucky Tug as showing promise with its new medium, marketing, and music, while being brought down by bad lazy writing.
CGI did manage to bring some hidden gems though, such as the Brenner Era. Where the show brought in people who cared.
The Big World Big Adventures Era is definitely the worst era of the show in my eyes.
Don't even get my started with All Engines Go...
The big issues I see with finding if Thomas is a dead franchise boils down to these elements.
- People don't know how or don't care about writing good stories for the episodes and characters.
- The show tries to make the show the coolest most exciting thing ever, when the show isn't meant to be that way all the time.
- The majority of fans like realism, model trains, and intelligent writing that appeals to all ages.
- The people who make the show don't care about the legacy, fans, or source material.
So in my opinion, I don't think Thomas is a dead franchise. While I don't really appreciate what HIT and Mattel have done to the show, I can respect different aspects of them in some cases in terms of marketing and how the show is handled.
The show could be revived if it was presented in its classic medium, with proper marketing, and writers who care about the fans and source material.
Treat Thomas and Rev. Wilbert Awdry's legacy with respect. Please
Yeah not sure why Hit had to air S8 so early. They could have done what they did with Seasons 7-9 of Bob the Builder and air Seasons 6-7 of Thomas & the Pack series in 30 minute half hour blocks with 4 episodes each block and keep the classic series music between 2003-04. Than air Season 8 in early 2005.
As for BWBA, it could have worked if it was just focused on the international engines with Thomas removed and perhaps just replace Thomas with Nia if the show needs a titled character. This way the Sodor episodes from Season 22 could have been the remaining episodes of Season 21 with Nia, the fantasy sequences and the bouncing removed.
As for AEG, that could have worked as a completely original train show.
Executives think shows of any kind can’t be simple and realistic. They shove in random, energetic stuff nobody likes(not even kids), which turned this & many other franchises into a generic show that is the same as everything else.
This is why I like Bluey. It has a concept that could be turned into an energetic generic kids fantasy, but instead they stuck to their guns & stayed both simple & realistic, which made them very different from the competition & very succesfull
I still blame Mattel for ruining the legacy, franchise and fandoms!
I blame hit entertainment
I remember when I used to have push along toys of Edward, Gordon and Henry and even drew pictures of them when I was younger. Absolute nostalgia :_)
While I don't think Thomas is dead-dead, especially since AEG is literally the only thing going on rn, I do feel that in a lot of ways... the unrealistic and gimmick-ey shit the franchise has done over the years is what ultimately killed Thomas and it's reputation for many. Not just for the fans, but the general audience too (TATMR most especially for the latter group). The whole reason why Thomas took off in the first place was because it was a fun and cozy series about sentient trains doing real train things. There was something for both the kids and adults to get out of it. But once TATMR-Onward started leaning more towards the goofy shit, that's where the entire series and it's writing jumped the shark. Same goes for the visuals where we went from physical models to CGI (and 2D for AEG). Plus even in the Brenner era where things started getting good again for a bit, it still had a lot of flaws and gimmick-ey crap attached to it. And once BWBA and AEG came into the picture, well... it was like 2 nuclear bombs blowing up an entire city. Leaving nothing but a huge shadow of it's former self. Or, another way to phrase it... a show that once had a soul in the classic era, lost it in the HiT era, got bits of it back in the Brenner era, and then lost it completely again in the BWBA and AEG eras (which of course, we're in now...).
Similar problems also apply to the merchandise. Like the series, the Thomas toys we got back then were very simple and not in-your-face with the gimmicks (mostly). Regardless of the range, the stuff we got all boiled down to just: a bunch of characters, some destinations, and a shit ton of track so you can build whatever layout you wanted. It was basic, but very effective and well-made. Contrast that to the shit Mattel's been pulling out of their ass today and it's like... what the hell happened here?
Something I've always wondered is that, if the classic series of Thomas came out today, what reputation would it have? Similar with Bluey, it could be really popular with people online, and gain a good reputation for being simple and having good writing. But I feel like most people who praise Bluey don't view Thomas the same way.
I don't mind AEG, but I really do hope it doesn't go on after 2025, as I don't think it needs to go on for that long. However, the reason why All Engines Go is doing better is because of better promotion. It's on Netflix, Paramount Plus, UA-cam, and lots of TV channels. As well as the merchandise having more effort put into it.
But we do have that upcoming Thomas film. I hope Marc Forster understands Thomas well enough for the film.
I think the only reason people like the merchandise for AEG is because it’s accurate to the show, which is only because Mattel wanted them to look simplistic so that it would be easier to make cheap toys of them. I don’t mean to sound rude to anyone who likes the merch, but I don’t see Mattel trying to make much effort with them.
If this Marc Forster film does happen, I hope it’s a similar case to the Mario movie in which it’s way more successful than the previous theatrical film and sparks a new interest in the franchise.
All Engines Go! isn't actually on Paramount+. Trust me, I searched it up on Google.
@@joshuaW5621agreed
the way i view bluey is its what thomas used to be. the style anyway for todays kids
@@PowerpuffGirlsestIt isn't in the US I believe.
The biggest problem with Thomas... is how its current owners and the general media treat it. The whole appeal of Thomas is that they are trains that act like real locomotives in the real world. Many of the stories in the books and the Classic era were based on real events. This is why it stood out from everything else and why children were so fond of it ; because of the realism factor. But Mattel and HiT have made Thomas so gimmicky and so babyish , that people who havent seen it always look at it as a dumb baby show about talking trains and that the dark moments in the show are " too inappropriate for kids ". When Mattel bought Thomas , by series 22 and BWBA , they tried to make Thomas as appealing to the most braindead babies and toddlers as much as possible and misunderstood that kids watched Thomas because it was about real trains and instead they made it look like every other flashy , fast paced crappy kids show on the market. When Andrew Brenner left the show , Mattel started caring less about the fans of all ages and made Thomas as stupid and as braindead as possible - enter All Engines Go. AEG just simply misunderstands the whole premise and appeal of Thomas. The trains simply aren't being trains , there's more gimmicky concepts , no consistency and it's as cartoonish as possible. So as of right now the only thing that could save Thomas is Marc Forster film whenever the bloody hell that comes out.
It's also a core element of why so many adults like myself still remember it fondly. I may not be an engineer, nor may I know the complete workings of a steam engine, but the realism that used to be on display right down to the designs was great. The engines, trucks, and coaches may talk and have personalities, but at the end of the day they're still just locomotives and rolling stock - and thus, their worldviews and motivations are wholly different to a typical human's.
@@MrJoeyWheeler Exactly , there weren't many kids shows like Thomas that had such a big realism factor.
In my opinion, yes because of All Engines Go. But I still watch the first 24 seasons as well as the first 14 movies/specials such as Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
I originally promised myself to remain a loyal Thomas fan no matter how good or bad the changes are, but because of Mattel’s recent allegations against the autistic community as well as the 2D reboot replacing the original show, I officially gave up on the franchise for the most part.
Besides, I never wanted the original show to end in the first place, not even after BWBA. I wanted the old show to last for many generations to come because there are plenty of ideas to go with such as adapting more stories and elements from the Railway Series.
I can promise you will get to see these stuff in the revival era eventually. I won’t let this fandom down.
@@joshuaW5621 Same here dude. The only people who can keep Thomas alive are the true and loyal fans like us! 😉
I agree with you. The show should have continued, regardless of failure and back in old story telling format.
@@TrevortheTrainFancouldn’t have said it better myself
@@joshuaW5621Are you going to buy the franchise off Mattel
12:04
Seeing footage of Take Alongs hanging in a shop brand new was so surreal and comforting
Lets hope the Marc Forster movie can change all of this
When I see nitrogen era animation style of how they follow the laws of psychosis, but then when jam filled and mattel animated the show, they just make them worse, they seriously get worse when That bouncing and being light trains not heavy, but seeing losing its identity was just gone forever, Other franchises like sonic, Mario, Video games, anime, etc, I just hope he gets more Better treatment and the identity back he used to be, I just hope Thomas' movie will be good for Us and Marc Forster being the man who can help us
Let's look at it this way. Ever since All Engines Go released, they stopped paying attention to the original series. They've been taking down videos related to the old series. I sent an email to Mattel a couple months ago, formally requesting to reconsider the copyright issues surrounding that era, but it must've fallen on blind eyes or deaf ears because I never got a response.
Man... I remember watching Thomas and Friends whenever I got home from School
It would either be a CGI episode or a late model series episode
And I enjoyed the hell out of it!
I once and only once even saw a redone season 6 episode airring (it was Gordon takes a tumble)
And I quickly recognized the footage! But found it odd that it sounded different and had some extra stuff in it that wasn't how I remembered it
(I'm used to watching the classic series on DVD)
Weirdest TTTE experience to date
I have a lot of respect for stuff like season 1-5, there's a reason why I returned back to Thomas after all of these years. It's an enjoyable show with world building, likable & developed characters, beautiful set designs and overall.. it's just something wonderful.
It's something that appeals to neurodivergent folk like myself and for good reason.
Look, I'm justified for treating AEG like it's the worst thing ever, it's the complete opposite of everything I said ^^^
I got back into Thomas back in 2020 and my overall obsession over trains started all over again and i feel like I'll never fall out of my interest of trains from now on.
Heck, nowadays I love going to heritage railways to take pictures and go on a train ride (places like talyllyn, Bodmin and Blaenavon).
Great video man.
You're really not justified, AEG is obviously meant to be something besides the older seasons and seems successful enough at that. You don't have to like it, but it's a valid approach for what's clearly a spin-off.
@@ashuebot-tabi4449 if it's supposed to be something that is different, then why did they make it different to a point where it has completely lost the original appeal of Thomas in the first place?
Make a new show at that point that doesn't have a fandom to consider. You won't get hate for that.
It's not even Thomas at that point,
It's just a generic show for embryos with Thomas' skin slapped on top of it.
It definitely isn't for the fans (who have kept Thomas alive beforehand so they're getting slapped in the face by Mattel) and it has replaced anything good that can come from Thomas.
It just ain't it.
What's next are you going to tell people that the Velma reboot isn't terrible?
@@Ollimus This is the same dumb argument made against Teen Titans Go: it's painfully obvious what approach this show was going to take, as it never claimed to be a continuation of the original series. If fans can't realize that, it's their problem. Creators have no obligation to make their choices just because fans won't like it, no one's forcing Thomas fans to watch or discuss this show.
The show clearly wants to attract new fans, hence the different approach, and contrary to what some may think that's not the same as purposefully alientating older fans. If it gets those new fans to watch the older series, that's a benefit towards AEG.
I don't watch Velma, so I'm not sure what your point is.
@@ashuebot-tabi4449 I mentioned Velma since that's another widely hated reboot that the scooby doo fandom hates, and you'd probably find a way to defend that show.
I know AEG isn't a continuation of previous content, it's a hard reboot. But that isn't an excuse for completely disregarding what made Thomas good.
Nobody is forced to watch it, I never said something like that but that doesn't excuse it from criticism.
The fact that it has currently taken over the franchise makes it worse, it's not even a side thing, it's what Thomas has become, a dead franchise.
a reboot shouldn't alienate fans like this one has, but I guess Mattel cares more about money rather Thomas' integrity. You can't just treat an IP like that.
Even if AEG isn't particularly awful as a kids show, it's still horrible for a Thomas The Tank Engine reboot.
I have to ask how out of touch you are with the Thomas and the overall train community. If you even are part of it because I'm genuinely questioning that.
@@Ollimus What point are you trying to make? The point of a hard reboot is to move away from what came before, so AEG is obviously going to disregard what came before and alienate fans in the process: this is just how reboots work. Moreover, creating media isn't a democracy, and something isn't bad just because fans don't like it.
The fact that it's "taken over the franchise" and is a "bad Thomas show" doesn't mean anything to its intended audience, preschool kids not familiar with the series. The fact that several older fans have admitted it's perfectly fine when judged on its merit indicates that fans are the problem, not the show itself.
I'm not really interested in Thomas anymore, mainly because my tastes have changed and I don't find the series particularly engaging, but partially because a fair amount of the fanbase is unbearable.
When I started watching Thomas, I really enjoyed it so much, that I think it deserves better, even though Mattel has ruined it from top to bottom, as long as the fandom is around with the fan contents, fanficions, stories, OC, and others, Thomas The Tank Engine will always live on, in our hearts and our minds.
He’ll always be a really useful engine.
The Brenner era was a perfect modern take on the show.
The main problem was reducing air time, the marketing and cutting costs on toys.
Had Mattel hadn't been so stupid, we would likely still be in the Brenner era format and AEG would just be a side spin-off.
my sister is 3 years old and whenever she wants to watch thomas my family ask me to put an episode for her. she loves classic Percy episodes and she watches 10 in a row
10:35 - America suffered greatly with the show, I live in Canada and even to this day they are still airing CGI Episodes, abit they be BWBA episodes or Random season 20/21. Plus PBS had Thomas games you couldn't find anywhere else at the time.
Well one thing is for sure...us as a fandom, will try our hardest, and keep the appeal of what made Thomas so special in the first place, for as long as we can go. Because I feel like we're doing this franchise some Justice, as not being another dumb baby show number 189.
Or perhaps if David Mitton had directed the first movie maybe it would play out differently.
Probably
What about TUGS!?
How I see it, Magic Railroad was the first injury with Series 6 and 7 acting like a plaster for it. Then HiT took over and the plaster started to peel off but not to the point of a 2nd injury… until Series 12 and once the CGI series started it started to loose it’s sense of Britishness and only got weaker and weaker until BWBA where the injury left it hospitalised.
The Brenner era is a good era for Thomas though.
How I see is TATMR was where the ship first hit the iceberg, seasons 6 and 7 slowed down the process, then the HiT era sped it up, but not by much, the Brenner era put it on short term life support, Mattel’s stupid decisions made it even faster, BWBA the ship breaking in half and fully submerging under the water, and AEG is the ship rotting underwater.
That closing line hit me. When it comes down to it, we’ve all outgrown the show. But what the stories and characters did for us as kids, we’ll always have that.
I dropped out the show during Series 16. After years of forced monotonous rhyming, copy-pasted writing, the three strike rule and any trace of character being nonexistent, I thought it would never get better.
It was actually Journey Beyond Sodor that got me interested again. By that point, I was completely fine with them going all out with whatever idea they were doing if it meant no more rhyming.
As for the future of the franchise, there's still the Marc Forster movie. After the success of Barbie, Mattel are putting more resources into films based on their IPs.
For anyone who wants to see high quality Thomas fan content on UA-cam, I recommend Suddery Station Master (his stories are genuinely feel as if they belong with the classic Thomas stories, more people need to watch his stuff), Trampy (His reimagining of all the characters and stories are both respectful and very nuance plus his character banter is legendary) , Carson's Video Workshop (just overall great adaptations of fan stories) and the GOAT Tardisrescue (he doesn't post often but when he does you are guaranteed some of the best thomas writing on the internet).
The best eras
Is the classic era
And the Andrew breen era
Yeah
I would give to find even a shred of the amount of Thomas merch I saw as a kid today. While the wooden railway 2022 reboot is great. Not much has been added sadly. It was a great start just leaves wanting more.
As for stories and writing if Mattel did something similar like what happened with Michael White maybe the franchise would have better stories to tell. A lot of the fandom has some really talented and creative people who help keep our love for this little blue train alive.
It anything I’m just thankful our fandom has the opportunity to expanded and create their own takes on the franchise while still lying respect to the original material unlike Mattel however.
All in all as Michael Angelo’s has said before: “It was time for Thomas to leave. He had seen everything.”
I agree.
I can't think of anything on this planet that sparks the creative mind as much as this little blue bastard
The only hope we have for bringing GOOD Thomas content back in any form is a Mattel movie. The Barbie movie was a runaway success for the company and of Thomas gets the same treatment and it’s GOOD (for everyone), the franchise could be back in business. I’m not holding my breath though.
Despite how Thomas is today in the business world of being as Paw Patrol as possible, I still love Thomas and Friends.....the classic series (S1-S5) anyway and a bit of the Brenner era. The fans on the internet really kept this franchise alive from all of the Trainz adaptations, custom instrumentals, custom model work, etc. I love it! As for Bluey, I've only recently watched the show and all I can say is...its so comfy! Its not a baby show! Its a slice of life show that makes me smile, laugh and even cry. Not to mention, its sooo darn cute! TATMR i do say should of ended there, even when the movie was......not that good. I grew out of Thomas at that point and i was fine. I didn't even though Thomas was still going as i was in my Yugioh phase. In short, Thomas that we knew when the show peaked is dead, but to a fans perspective, which includes myself, it never will.
S6 and 7 count as classic too though.
But not enough episodes from the railway series or youtube to binge without being cashcowed
I’ve got to say even with All Engines Go failing to reach a broad enough audience, Mattel are not giving up on Thomas. They are planning to make a cinematic universe, similar to Marvel and DC, out of their properties such as Uno, Hot Wheels and even Barney; and they have already started with Barbie this year. It’s said that the Mark Forster film will join that franchise. I did enjoy the Barbie movie, but personally I would not be looking forward to Mark Forster’s Thomas movie if the island of Sodor is handled in a similar way to Barbieland in the Barbie film. It might be a money grab or it might surprise us. I don’t know. How about you, Sean?
A dead franchise with a alive fandom
does anyone ACTUALLY believe that ian mccue will release he filmed parts of the missing coach for the 80th anniversay? probably not.
The way i see it, the spirit of thomas and friends is dead. Thomas was never about being a rocket, flying, or being a super hero. It was about trains being trains and giving them personality. Seeing what happened to thomas hurts. I remember going to toysrus and they had a intire area dedicated to thomas and picking out a new character and taking it home and playing with it. Now you cant do that anymore with the new thomas toys, and it hurts. I dont have hope for the franchise anymore, its spirit is dead in the modern day show, the only reason thomas gets any chance for attention is the fandom, and it makes me wonder, will there be next generation thomas fans, with what martel putting out, i dont think so.
I personally believe it’s dormant right now, as I consider AEG to just be a spin-off.
Given the success of the Barbie movie, I have high hopes for Mattel and the Marc Forster Thomas movie, assuming it actually comes out.
My thoughts exactly
I've watched Thomas and Friends from the old days to CGI to Big World, Big Adventures and even the All Engines Go reboot. Honestly of course I don't think the franchise is gone at all. It just needs something to revive it to it's prime where it once stood in the early days.
Thomas will forever stay in my heart as a precious childhood show to me (at least the model era) can’t say the same to the cgi era and especially bwba and aeg
What about the Brenner era?
I feel like the success of Bluey and and current slowdown of AEG, Mattel COULD allow Thomas to revert back to its laid back realistic state that it once had. Key word COULD.
I I still love Thomas the tank engine
from seasons 1-5. I even still find 6 and 7 ok. But I wasn't a huge fan of season 8 and onwards because of the character inconsistencies. Seasons 17 to 20 were ok though
I am glad that I got into Thomas during the era that I did, I am probably among the last generation who remembers the model era with clarity (I was born in 2004).
I also watched older episodes on Nick Jr and grew to love the series, I lost interest when the Merchandise fell down in quality, now the fan content is that I remember the fondest.
I have a nephew for whom his grandparents bought him Thomas CD's, of the model era, I plan on getting him a massive Motor Road and Rail Thomas trainset, I don't want him to grow up with the modern crap.
In my opinion, Thomas was at his peak in Season 5. Since 1998, things have never been anywhere near as good. And with the existence of the diabolical AEG reboot, the franchise is pretty much dead to me.
Hats off to the fans who are keeping the franchise alive by making their own episodes (either with their own models or in the Trainz games). They do an excellent job, especially when compared to the hacks at Mattel.
12:25
This is so true, I miss the days of Walmart and target having whole aisles dedicated to Thomas
And for me I disconnected from Thomas at a young age, but came back to it very late
I remember late 2021 i was at Walmart and they had this bargain clearance bin and it was Thomas trackmaster push alongs
I was like “sure why not” so I bought one
I just wish I was aware why they were on clearance
I went into a store once seeing lots of TTTE toys, but I never knew who "Big City Engine" was until I found out about Gordon Goes Foreign.
thomas has been a part of me since my life started, but the current state of the show makes it hard for me to enjoy the classics(S1-5)
This is such a great discussion to have with any Thomas fan.
It's a disgrace on how Mattel is treating the franchise nowadays, but for us fans who have been with Thomas since the beginning we know what the franchise is and what it's supposed to be. AEG is giving the new generation something they'll like and while I can't blame them for that, but it really doesn't have a basic identity for what hard core from decades past went through. If I ever had my own child someday, I would definitely prefer letting them experience what I went through growing up. Cause each of those early stories felt very real. They're something to dream about but you wish you could actually go to Sodor, meet Thomas and his friends and most of all to just be a kid. That's the impact the classic series left older fans with but AEG clearly doesn't have the same impact for kids today.
Had Season 21 been a longer season (like 30 episodes) the series could have ended there and perhaps AEG could have been an original train show. Also was thinking that BWBA could have worked as an original show if Thomas was removed from the international episodes and was just focused on the international characters or if Nia was the engine traveling around the world instead of Thomas.
The only the stuff that I personally consider as “good” Thomas content are the following
- Japanese merchandise in general
- Wooden Railway 2022 (though they will be taking them out of physical stores (not counting Day Out with Thomas) and there are theories that they might even flat out discontinue them)
- Storytime Podcast
- the rip/knock off brand merchandise
The motorized talking range is what I’d say is “mid”
Although Thomas may be dead franchise, I'll always remember the Andrew Brenner era and classic era, they're actual the best times for thomas,(excluding the products)
It’s not dead. It has nearly 80 years of content with millions of loyal fans, but because BWBA led to All Engines Go, we have lost a predominantly main show. There are still the memories.
I'm going to buy it
But the show is being treated like the railway series
@gablit-gt8kk The TV series is an adoption of that
But it doesn't work to being passionate or to the railway series anymore as it must
@@gablit-gt8kk The TV show does it's own thing from the books despite adapting book stories. Never meant to be one hundred percent like the RWS.
I absolutely agree with you of what your saying. It’s kind of like something I had in mind too. I love Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends as much as you do. I like the classics from Season 1-8 only and do I happen to like Season 17-24. I felt the same way about the Hit Era and the terrible CGI Series from Season 13-16 in between the best ones. I didn’t like the last movie “Big World, Big Adventures the Movie” as it wasn’t the kind of movie I thought it was compared to other good Thomas Movies. Looks like you and I have a lot in common about these series. Especially about the company Mattel when it made a big disgrace on the reboot series. I don’t plan to watch them but something like that has never stopped me from watching the real Thomas series from Season 1-7 & 8 and the best CGI series, Season 17-24. I only like some of the episodes that’s set on Sodor only in the Season 22-24 era. The other episodes set in different countries can be a bit boring and way too much from the latest Season 22-24 episodes. But it’s great that the last Season 24 episode ended with “The Royal Engine” which was definitely the best and greatest episode in the whole franchise of all time! I don’t need to watch the Hit Era from Season 9-11 or Season 13-16 or even the Reboot Era Series if it’s not my type. Except for Series 12 though, Series 12 dose seem much better than the terrible ones in between. Not as bad as I thought. The real Thomas & Friends Series ended in 2020 which was fine though, but I don't know why Mattel just went on and created a terrible babiest reboot series era. I don't get it! Why did it have to be like that? Why couldn't they have just left at that until the real tv show was over? I just ignore them. But I don’t let anything stop me from watching the best type which is something I can always stick to from Series 1-7 & 8 and 12 and Series 17-24. To me, I think it would of been best if "The Great Discovery" would of been made shortly after "Calling all Engines" instead of those other three terrible series in the HIT era. And I think it would of been best if "King of the Railway" was next after Series 12 in 5 years time. Instead of those garbage and terrible CGI Series 13-16 epsidoes. I wouldn't of minded. If the Series were changed to different numbers on. But that's just my opinion on the ones that I like best. But nevertheless, Thomas will always be my favourite childhood tv show forever that I grew up with the most.
They never gave the railway series a chance
The show is dead but it will live on for eternity in my heart 🙂
Just as someone who grew up with the model series in vhs and loving that, but not fawning over it in my adult years, still acknowledging it’s existence though, I can’t say Thomas is a franchise that can die that easily when it’s not like it had a “Tank Engine Mania” phase in history. It’s a popular kids show but one that doesn’t hold importance to be considered “dead”.
The same can be said about Paw Patrol. Yeah, it’s popular and got a few movies, but it’s not important enough to be cared on this level, but it’s iconic and timeless enough that it kinda will just keep going.
Although that being said, I’ve heard Extremely little about Barney the Dinosaur (as far as kids shows go), but I suppose Barney has less depth than Thomas and Paw Patrol. It’s a song, a dance, a kinda story, and it’s over, while Thomas and Paw Patrol is a little more engaging.
Although I’m not a fan of the new Thomas shows aesthetic. I still think that’ll be popular though
We should gather up and start making a live action Thomas spin off while pointing a huge middle finger to Matel
Just like Greta Gerwig!
@@ThatCoalSoul exactly
This video speaks to me in a very Personal way. I agree and have the same emotions and feelings towards Thomas & friends, I remember going with my mom to the local supermarket to buy me just one more Train to play with and now when i go there on my own because i'm an adult and i just see the racks that were full of Thomas merch being filled with Legos and Barbie.
I loved this video. I usually hate Thomas review videos because of how they all just regurgitate the same opinions as each other, but this one was so great. Everything said here is what I’ve been feeling since BWBA came out. I was born in 2007, and even if it’s undeniable that the Hit Era was bad, the toys were amazing. I was basically born into Thomas because I have an older brother, but I still remember how happy I always felt whenever I got a new toy. I just don’t really feel that anymore. In fact, I haven’t really felt that since Mattel got their hands on the show. All of the sets and specials always felt gimmicky. Say what you will about MIR or DOTD but the last thing they felt was gimmicky. I firmly believe Thomas should’ve ended at either TGD of BMM, and it’s a shame we’ve gotten to the point we have.
If ended at BMM, no Brenner era to make the show better and get the characters right (most of them) as well as returning old faces like Duck and Daisy so it's good that Thomas goes on and on for us to see more adventures.
That’s why Blue Mountain Mystery is the best movie. It was during the greatest season of the Miller Era before Mattel bought out the show.
2 days ago, I went to Target and I can’t find a Thomas toy anywhere
I saw the mattle building after a doctor appointment if i knew it was there I'd want the executives to listen to the fans. Fans are the customers and the customers always right. I have a little friend who is a thomas fan he grows on all engines go but for our bday (he and i have a day a part bday i gave him a wooden railway snow ploug thomas as a piece of my childhood to him. I hope to get my own again and more. He has modern merch but he also has a classic thomas amv as his bday gift i won't post because it'll revea our names online I'm keeping online safety.
I will always loved Thomas when I was a kid. And to me, yes it is.
Same.
"After all this time?"
"Always."
The movies are world building.
I don't think Thomas and friends isn't a dead franchise to me I remember this show when I was a kid just like other shows at the time And it is a good show teaching good life lessons in just being their own things And I don't mind if something's on different for the most part And I have kept up with the show since twenty fifteen or twenty sixteen And I still like the show even the Big world big adventures era whenever I watch it on the milkshake arrings online Or watch the episodes on Nick Jr
but it's pretty sad that it did not last for too long because I enjoyed the episodes and the songs even the longer credits of the song itself and I absolutely dance whenever I hear that number.
And for the merchandise themselves. I have been collecting them for the most part And have some creative spins on them, making layouts or anything that I could do Even some of the AEG models No matter if there was a character or a set that I'm interested to get and I don't know that things had gone worse when AEG came along And it absolutely brakes the realism because of these cartoon bendy physics that is literally not of how Thomas was supposed to be. Also, I don't mind the bouncing in seasons 21 and 24 but come on, this is way too much It's way too cartoony If there was another Renaissance of Thomas for the 80th anniversary Then he would've deserved it But as for now I still love Thomas no matter what.
If your in Australia there's been a mass shortage of merchandise. Like we have gone from two sides of a 15m aisle to at most 2m on one shelf. In a lot of cases it's a single 1m shelfs with a hand full of products. I can concur Mattel hasn't figured out that a train set isn't the same thing as a Hotwheels play set. Which is partly why Hotwheels Railroad failed so hard in the 80ies.
not in Japan; I think there is an urbanism element as to why stuff like Thomas Plarail still has large dedicated sections in department stores.
The fandom is what keeps it alive, Peter Sam was here in New Jersey at the Greenbergs Show in Edison
I will always love Thomas. And I will always be his #1 fan. Thomas is dead right now, but if we get the best special for the 80th Anniversary, Thomas could come back one last time and could forever. It's sad that the Thomas we knew and loved will probably be gone forever, but I will always appreciate the fandom and team for bringing this engine and his friends to life. Especially Awdry. 😢😢😢 He will forever be in my heart.
I personally feel that Mattel is deliberately trying to send Thomas to the scrapyard, and has been since late 2017. They've done things like pull the TV show from PBS, pull Edward and Henry from the Steam Team in favor of Nia and Rebecca, decrease the quality of Thomas' merchandise lines, make DVD releases more scarce, make a spin-off that they knew the Rev. W. Awdry would never have approved of, disassociate themselves from the very community that watches Thomas' show and buys his merchandise, disrespect Britt Allcroft's wishes to keep the spirit of the classic series alive by blocking uploads of classic Thomas and Shining Time Station episodes from UA-cam, and not release any new models for the Thomas Wooden Railway revival line other than the Day Out With Thomas model in 2023. I personally feel that Mattel's days with Thomas are numbered and that the franchise's quality can only improve if another company, like Orbrium, acquires the license. I've jumped ship to Orbrium specifically because they make their products with Thomas Wooden Railway in mind. Some of Orbrium's best-sellers are their express coaches (since the official Thomas Wooden Railway express coaches are discontinued, rare, and expensive) and their unpainted engines and rolling stock for the fans to customize as they please. Not only that, but they released several promising new products this year; new unpainted engines, train sets involving a medieval castle and a national park with a spiral mountain, and a track maintenance crew (which I did a wooden railway discussion on). Said discussion also includes links to two petitions I started to get Thomas back on the right track; Orbrium to acquire the Thomas license, and Mattel to stop blocking uploads of classic Thomas and Shining Time Station episodes on UA-cam.
Claiming that 100% of the blockages are Mattel?
@@louisholmes6961100% of the blockages ARE Mattel
@@fanofeverything30465 not even a minority of them not being Mattel?
Who on earth thought it was a good idea to air Thomas on PBS at 6 in the morning, only too remove it later on and move it to a PAID PLATFORM!?
@@louisholmes6961 No ALL of them are Mattel
I would feel embarrassed whenever anyone mentioned about Thomas and Friends in front of me, but then again, I am proud that I grew up with a kids show that introduced me to trains, had a long and proud history and origin, all the while it is not some flashy cartoon animation show that is specifically for kids
I’m getting depressed about it because Thomas represents the best parts of my childhood memories. I remember when I was a kid, there was a hobby store that sold most of my favorite Thomas toys. To me, it was the best place in the world. It closed down back around 2005 not long after ERTL discontinued making their die-cast Thomas toys. I missed it so much because I have been having dreams about it this year. I went to a HobbyTown store yesterday that I thought was very much like the one I used to go to, but when I looked around, I saw that they don’t even sell the wooden railway toys anymore. Between this video and what I found yesterday, I realized that the very best part of my childhood was like my paternal grandparents and the home that I remembered, they are all truly dead. I don’t even have a photograph of the hobby store for me to hold on to. I always wanted to have a son that I could pass on my old Thomas collection to and share with him the wonderful moments that Thomas gave me, but now even if I did have a son, Thomas & Friends are not going to be around for the next generation and that I think is the real tragedy. It feels like I’m mourning a childhood friend.
Dead? in terms of what AEG is doing yes and no?
But We Still Have The Marc Forster Movie In The Works After The Barbie Movie Came Out Not Too Long Ago, Marc Has Stated That Thomas Has Been His Personal Favorite Since His Childhood And I Can't Say For Sure He'll Save The Franchise. But The Movie Could Either Be Mid Or Very Lackluster, Or We Could Be Surprised By The End Result Of His Work On Said Theatrical Movie
In my opinion, the great Discovery, what’s the real end of Thomas
I would love to see Thomas and Friends return but it'll never be back in the form of the model train layout we loved. I think if Disney were to be bought by Apple and Apple invests in making Pixar great again, then I would be happy to see Thomas in the hands of Pixar. It would be so awesome to see Thomas done in the Pixar style of the 90s and 2000s. Especially since the classic Pixar tone fits that of the Railway Series so well.
I think the only thing that can revive the Thomas franchise is the marc foster movie and as much as I love Tatmr they shouldn't do anything like that they should make the movie about trains in a realistic world just like our's the only change from our world is the trains can talk.
The early live action seasons I loved and still watch with my kids. Wish George Carlin (RIP) voiced more seasons.
R.I.P George Carlin
8:24 YES! THANK YOU JAKEY! TATMR may have misunderstood the appeal of the franchise for the magic element that screwed up everything, but at least Thomas still does train things.
my real reason of thomas and friends is still alive is the fandom because the people are making their own thomas in youtube by reviewing toys,making trainzs videos and even rewriting the franchise in their own headcanon like characters from railway series and model era are still around making their own version of the steam team like numbers 1-12(emily) along with rosie,molly,nia,and rebecca and that more of better than what mattel made.
I can never truly say that it’s dead, because of how the fandom keeps it alive.
We love, appreciate and respect the good, and we scorn and dismiss the bad. In terms of quality, it is dead, but in terms of the fact of how much integrity and love it will always have in the hearts of others, because of what came before it will live on forever.
Although, I don’t think Matel should try to touch anything else beyond what they’ve done with the reboot because the damage they have done is irreversible and irreparable.
This series means a lot to me because it saved me when I needed it the most. I would be perfectly OK if nothing else was done to the original besides fan Content because I really do feel that enough damage has been done already, and that way as fans we can still keep it alive for ourselves and for each other.
Thomas the tank engine will always remain in my heart no matter how stupid or ridiculous Mattel will make the franchise in the future I’ll always keep coming back to this franchise whether it’s the iconic stories and realism of the railway series, the incredibly adapted and great episodes of the classic series and the amazing and fleshed out seasons of the brenner era that gave the series a second chance and here’s the thing we know little to nothing of what the future holds whether if the Marc Forster Thomas movie is actually good like if it’s either an adaptation of one of the railways series books or if it’s just as stupid as BWBA or all engines go but i will always keep coming back to this franchise because those world and these characters have so much potential
The story of what Thomas has become mirrors what happened to so many other IPs. Just to name a few off the cuff, Star Wars, Halo, MARVEL, DC, Star Trek.... I could go on.