DVD + Movie Review: Big World Big Adventure: The Movie

On May 12th 2017, Exceutive Producer Christopher Keenan had announced through Kidscreen that Thomas would go through a revamp after much feedback from parents, children and carers. The details of the revamp was later revealed late last year and the new changes include two new characters, Nia and Rebecca whom are replacing Edward and Henry's berth at the sheds, Thomas narrating the stories himself and Thomas going around the world. 

This had left the older fanbase in a state of anger and the general public calling it 'PC gone mad'. Some people from the fanbase, who shall remain nameless, had used racisim and sexism to attack the new changes because they're bringing in cultural diversity and gender equality. 

Other new changes for the revamped series include the TV rights in America which had gone to Nickelodeon after 28 years of being on PBS Kids. To some this is a welcoming change but to others without cable it is not, although the show will also be on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon prime. 

So despite the new changes, will these new changes be accepted? Or will they be a blunder that many people want to expect? Let's find out! But first:

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

BIG WORLD BIG ADVENTURE: THE MOVIE

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by
David Stoten

Produced by

Micaela Winter
Ian McCue

Special Features
Meet the Characters
5 Sing-A-Long Songs

Release Date

5/09/18

Distributed by

HIT/Mattel Creations - UK/AUS
ABC Kids - AUS

PLOT

The movie opens up at Knapford station with Gordon taunting Thomas for not pushing the tanker wagons very well, despite that one of their brakes was left on. Thomas then told Gordon that he would go by seeing the world one day. Although Gordon just mocked him as Thomas bashed the oil trucks off the rails 

Meanwhile on the mainland, we see the Rev.W.Awdry riding on his bicycle until we saw Ace thundering past him. I remember when the trailer came out some users thought that this was Mattel's way of 'spitting' on Awdry's legacy. Really, it's just showing how much of a careless show off he is. Seriously, we have a production team who are least caring about Thomas' history no matter what changes Mattel wants to increase its sales.

Anyway after our fourth wall break we get from Ace, we saw him meeting up with Flying Scotsman, who was taking a passenger train to Vicarstown. As Ace asked him if he was heading to the Island of Sodor, Flying Scotsman told him; "Yes, but only if you're a railway engine!" as he was referring to the rolling river bridge and here we see Ace being more of the careless race car that he is by rolling on the tracks and had a near collision with Sidney but just manage to avoid it by doing a James Bond move.

Meanwhile back on Sodor, a delivery of fish is waiting in the yards for James. But James isn't showing up and so the Fat Controller had asked Thomas to take them for him and once again Gordon mocked him and told him to fetch his express coaches.

In the end though, Thomas shunted the fish trucks at the back of Gordon's express, after his belittling as he heads off to Vicarstown. Meanwhile in the countryside, Ace is seeing overtaking Bertie and met up with Thomas on his branch line, this is where our duo met for the first time and they have a race.

After their little race, Ace began telling Thomas that he should be the first engine to travel around the world as Thomas said, 'he wants to see the world.' I know that's a reference to the line in the second book but the line can be opened for interpretation. Some say that Thomas just wants to see more of Sodor outside the shunting yard and some are saying that he wants to see the actual world that's all I can say.

I kinda wished Flying Scotsman had a bit in on it too, considering that his real counterpart had also gone to other countries like North America and Australia during its preservation life. Have Thomas pulling it at Vicarstown later on and told him about Ace and wanting to see the world but Flying Scotsman warned him that going around the world can be quite dangerous for an engine and he told him about his ill-fated American tour. Thomas scoffed that travelling around the world won't be dangerous for him. But beggars can't be choosers. Back to the movie now and Gordon arrived at Vicarstown, with a bit of brotherly banter from Flying Scotsman, with the express and his fish train, much to his displeasure.

Back at Knapford, Thomas arrived and began asking the Fat Controller about going around the world. Although the Fat Controller found to be a good idea, he doesn't think it could be possible as the world has mountains, oceans and trees and bushes to deal with. Distracted by his phone, the Fat Controller said, 'If you could figure an actual way of doing it!' influencing Thomas to go around the world.

Later on, the engines were wondering where Thomas had gone as they hadn't seen him. The start of our first song of the movie, see the song section, Turns out he's been loaded onto a ship by Carly and was on his way to Africa. I know some might be saying, why didn't Thomas say goodbye to his friends before leaving? He did it in 'Misty Island Rescue'. Well in my opinion, the song would be a bit meaningless then plus Thomas can be over eager and can be quite forgetful, it's a part of his personality so of course he's not going to be flawless and not the greatest friend there is. Nobody is perfect.

Meanwhile at Dakar docks, Thomas and Ace had finally arrived in Africa ready for Ace's first rally along with some other racing cars to Der es Salaam. But to Thomas' surprise, there were 'no tracks!' to cross the same route as Ace in the Sahara dessert, much to Thomas' dismay. However by coincidence, some trucks were needed for Der es Salaam. However the man in charge of the small goods saw Thomas and thought he looks smaller, slower and much less useful than the engine he had been expecting when it comes to pull a goods train. Thomas was cross by his words and he was determined to get to Der es Salaam, although without his knowledge of getting more trucks.

Meanwhile on Sodor, the Fat Controller was wondering why Carly had load Thomas onto a ship bound for Africa. However Carly explained that it was a good idea of the Fat Controller's to let Thomas be the first engine to go right around the world, from what Thomas had told her. Much to the Fat Controller's dismay and I believe he knew it was his fault as he said to Thomas to figure an actual way on doing it, so it was his responsibility. I'm sure it was meant in a way of him saying it but not in a literal sense in his point of view.

The Fat Controller now needs to go on to the first ship to Dakar, while Carly was obliged to load him into the passenger ship. It's for the sake of comedy that scene and I think it shows a bit of her character, Carly is a young crane after all so she's not going to get everything right and Cranky brought her back down to earth by telling her that cranes don't load passengers onto ships.

As the Fat Controller was loaded safely onto the ship, he looked out to sea and wondered where Thomas could be. Meanwhile back in Africa, Thomas is seen crossing the dessert with his small load of trucks and going up and down on hills and thought he might get to Der es Salam at the rate he was going, that was until he was stopped in another yard for more trucks. As the journey continues, more and more trucks were added until Thomas had very long train.

This is where we meet our new character and new addition to the 'steam team', Nia laughing at Thomas' pouty face. Nia offered to help with Thomas' long train but Thomas, who was annoyed by Nia's teasing, declined and he puffed away. Nia however was apologetic.

As Thomas was making his way to Der es Salaam, they reached a hill and the strain was beginning to tell when Thomas puffed up the slope and he began to feel that the job was for a much bigger engine. Thomas' wheels slipped as he and the train ran back down the hill. Luckily, Nia was there and she pushed the train up the hill, despite Thomas not wanting help.

Nia then told Thomas that Der es Salaam is about 5,000 miles, much to Thomas' surprise and annoyance. Nia then asked the trucks if they have any music to pass the time, which introduces us to our second song of the movie. After the song, Thomas was amazed by Africa and then encountered an elephant on the track, much to his surprise despite him saying in the song he had dealt with animals on the tracks back on Sodor.

As the elephant charged towards Thomas, the trucks sang another song, a lullaby, called 'Enda Ulale', I didn't add this in the song list because it didn't receive much attention but it was a nice African lullaby and it certainly add much exposure on the difference between the trucks in Africa and the ones on Sodor.

Next day at Dakar, the Fat Controller arrived and asked some locals if they've seen Thomas earlier. Unfortunately they didn't, even with the Fat Controller mentioning racing cars for some reason, nothing. That was until a Camel driver told him that some racing cars went off into the Sahara, much to the surprise of the Fat Controller.

Meanwhile Thomas and Nia had finally at Der es Salaam harbour. As they'd reached there, Thomas told the trucks and Nia to be on the lookout for Ace. Nia was confused on why Thomas was looking for Ace despite saying earlier that he doesn't know anyone from Africa. Thomas then told Nia that they were going around the world together and it made Nia surprised and questioned why Thomas doesn't need help. But it turns out he wasn't seen anywhere, however one of Nia's friends turn up called Kwaku, a Garratt locomotive. I like that they've introduced a Garratt locomotive and I hope we see more of him when Thomas goes to Africa in the show. He told Thomas and Nia that there were racing cars at the harbour but they're all gone now and Thomas was disappointed.

Thomas was sad that Ace was gone. Nia wanted to help but Thomas didn't want any help and told Nia to go home. Thomas decided to find a ship that would take him to Rio, the second continent on his route. Later that day, Thomas was loaded onto the ship bound for Rio and to his surprise, Nia joined in as well. Nia told Thomas that she also wants to see the world, Thomas whinged that it was his idea and Nia told him that he's not the only one with ideas, shots fired!

Nia told him that there's so many things to see and discover such as China having mountains that look like rainbows. Thomas was amazed by the idea but was still annoyed and told her that Ace said that he was going to be the first engine to go around the world. Nia then asked him why Ace 'isn't' with him, which shut Thomas' arguing down.

The ship was off for Rio. As night fell, Nia fell to sleep as well and wind was beginning to pick up and the tarp in front of Thomas began to reveal, Ace. Thomas began asking him questions on why Ace was waiting for him, Ace told him that he wants him to be a free spirit and take it as it comes and not to have any 'baggage' told hold him down, by which he refers to Nia.

As the ship crosses the ocean, we now move to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in South America. A bright colourful city, which I think reflects well for Brazil as being this bright colourful country with its party lifestyle. Ace then told Thomas while he was being lifted that the next rally is a cross country race through the Amazon rainforest, or as Thomas puts it, a 'Trainforest'.

As Ace heads off to be fuelled up, Thomas then made his way to be fuelled with coal and water. However he was stopped by a railway worker and asked him where he was going and with cargo. Thomas told him that he was going through the Amazon but with no cargo as he was following the rally. But despite that the railway worker told him they only give coal and water to engines if they are doing something useful. I quite like the level of authority that he was giving to Thomas here in this scene with him telling not to waste any coal or water on something that isn't considered as useful. After all it is a railway.

Thomas told him that he can be useful and the railway worker decided to place Thomas on taking a train of coffee beans heading for San Francisco in the United States. Although I get that realism is a part of Thomas, I see this as a way for the movie progress forward despite that there isn't a railway line going right across South America to North America. So it's really not a big problem to me.

Thomas was surprised by the amount of coffee beans, but he was determined. Nia was to help as well much to Thomas' annoyance. Some people might think that Thomas was being rude to Nia for no reason but at this point there was a reason, Nia offered help and Thomas refused because he was being quite arrogant because of his small size, yeah I know it's been done before (Lost Treasure) but its better than him being rude for the sake of it (TGR). Plus she was being a bit critical of Ace and Thomas didn't like as he was blinded by how cool he is with his free and easy attitude.

So the two engines crossed Brazil, while the carnival goes by, bounding for San Francisco with the third song 'We're Friends'. The two engines then make their way through the rainforest with Thomas being impatient trying to catch up with Ace. However he wasn't thinking about water despite Nia suggesting it, even though Thomas thought it was for her.

The two engines caught up with the rally and Thomas was imagining about being part of the rally with another fantasy sequence. To me this sequence felt a bit unneeded but it would've been placed there to market for the Turbo Trackmaster set hence the streamlining shape with added windshield. This moment feels like the bridge jump from TGR, an unneeded sequence that didn't add anything to the plot, although I think it was handled better as a dream sequence and it didn't take too much of the running time, so it's a bit mixed.

Meanwhile back in Africa, the Fat Controller and the Camel driver were making their way to Der es Salaam by Camel, a short scene to showcase us that the Fat Controller is still worried about Thomas.

Back in South America, we see Thomas and Nia still crossing through the rainforest only this time there's mud and water. Just then they saw Ace laying on his rooftop on the ground out of the rally an waiting for help. Just then a noise can be heard in the rainforest and it got Ace scared, showcasing his fear of wild animals, and said that help had arrived, Thomas and Nia. The noise turns out to be a monkey however. I had a nice laugh at this scene when I first saw it.

So Ace was placed on the flatbed and they were way again, but Thomas ran out of water. This I'm finally happy to see an engine running out of water instead of running out of coal when it comes to loosing steam, it's more logical so credit to the production team for doing that.

Since there's no water tower for miles, there was another option and that is rain water by using big leaves to catch the water and place it into their tanks, all thanks to Nia. It shows another trait of her's being smart. Also nice to see a female driver for the first time, hopefully they do more that in the show, particularly Sodor!

Back at Der es Salaam harbour, the Fat Controller asked more local if they've seen Thomas, but to no avail. However a crane, who shares the basis of Big Mickey, said that he had lowered him to a ship for Rio, much to the Fat Controller's shock and he was given a new hat by the store clerk.

Back in South America, the rain was still pouring and the tracks began to give way due to the soft ground. The two engine make their way to solid ground which was a wooden bridge. They maybe safe but they weren't sound as the bridge gave way. I feel that they added this for dramatic purposes but like the scene at the end of 'King of The Railway' where Stephen was found by Thomas and the bridge gave way, I felt it was just added there for the sake of it. I guess maybe it was to showcase the dangers of world travel? I don't know.

The sun is now out and we now have our fourth song 'Free and Easy' sung by the voice actor of Ace, Peter Andre. Some fans might remember back in June that the clip was uploaded to the official Thomas YT page with an extended scene of Carlos and Ace having a chat and Carlos was talking to Ace about the Sun Aztec God with him having a circular mask and sticking his tongue out while music from 'Jarabe Tapatio' was played. Some fans think it was racist but there wasn't any backlash from the people of Mexico for from people of Mexican descent. Plus Carlos sticking his tongue is him replicating the Aztec God. I don't know what there reaction is really but we'll never know. But I saw that as something as good humour but if it did offend people of Mexican culture then it's probably for the best.

But despite being cut, which is a shame cause I would like to see more of Carlos, it didn't disrupt the song. Back in Rio, the Fat Controller held his picture of Thomas to a diesel and the diesel told him that he was taking Coffee to San Fran. This means the Fat Controller has to make a different trek to find Thomas and while he was walking away with some party goers and with a nice hat to go along with it, he saw a poster for plane.

We now arrive in North America and as Thomas and Nia trek their way through the American dessert of Arizona, they pass Sam with a goods train, more will be explained later on. They arrived at the Morenci Loop and Ace began telling them to drop him off at the Utah Salt Flats for his next rally. But Nia told him that the Coffee beans are needed for San Fransisco. Ace thought that having fun is more better than being useful or keeping promises, although Nia said she knows she can have too by rolling down the hill like she did with Thomas in Africa. Back in South America, Emerson the plane, has the Fat Controller on board as they still search for Thomas until they reach North America.

Back in the US, Ace was complaining about Thomas and Nia's foolishness, which shows his hypocritical side, until Nia called him out on his foolish acts with Ace acting like a three year old in retaliation. That was until Ace decided to let Thomas and Nia have a race and that means seperate their train. As the race progresses, Ace told Thomas to take the turn and it resulted them being seperate from Nia and heading straight to the salt flats with a wild runaway. I think Thomas and Nia were starting to get along with each other by this point but we weren't given any sort of development as Thomas wasn't being rude to Nia and Thomas felt bad for playing part of a trick on Nia for getting to Ace to the Salt Flats. However that scene does show that Ace should never be considered as a friend and you can see that Thomas was changing his perspective on the race car.

Speaking on the term on the wild runaway, I thought it was rather fun and yeah that loop-de-loop scene, it was ridiculous but I don't like, love or even hate it. Unlike the bridge jump in TGR, the scene was just there and you'll miss in a blink of an eye. Unrealistic yes but really nothing to get fussed over.

Thomas and his train were derailed after they've crashed into a boarded up tunnel. Later Beau arrived, who earlier in the film was taking some trucks of stone before his train was uncoupled by Thomas during his runaway. Thomas asked him to get a breakdown crane to lift him back up, however Beau said they don't have any cranes around where he's from but they have an alternative and he puffed away. To be honest, I kinda think it was a missed opportunity to have Beau called Walter, a nice subtle tribute to Walt Disney. The reason is because the locomotive that Beau is based on is similar to Walt Disney's Lillie Belle that was used on his 'Carolwood Pacific Railroad'. Plus the similar basis was used for the first locomotive on the Disneyland Railroad. I'm sorry that's the Disney nerd inside me.

Beau was also given buffers, obviously to make him pull the British stock. But some of these locomotives were actually fitted with buffers. The Hanko-Hyvinkaa Railway in Finland had the Baldwin built 4-4-0's fitted with buffers as well as some that were imported to Melbourne, Australia. So either if its a coincidence, it is actually realistic. But I honestly think the little fury behind all of this from some fans was a little over the top. Kerry Shale does the role as Beau and I like the prospector voice he had gave to Beau.

Back to the movie, as Thomas and Ace were waiting day and night, help had arrived. Horses and people came to help Thomas, Ace and the Coffee trucks back onto the line using people power. Showcasing that there are alternatives in life.

As Thomas and Ace make their way to the Utah Salt Flats, the Fat Controller arrived in San Francisco looking for Thomas. Natalie the diesel shunter said she did saw a tank engine but she was referring to Nia. Meanwhile at Utah, Thomas and Ace finally arrived although Thomas was more concerned about Nia but Ace was not caring about Thomas' woes. As Ace was lowered, Thomas had enough with Ace and made his way to San Francisco on his own with Ace feeling a little bit bad, hopefully we see more of him in future. Thomas arrived at San Fran and was looking for Nia. It turns out that she was in China. Thomas asked a crane to lower him to a ship that's bound for China. This is where we are introduced to our next song 'Sometimes You Make A Friend'.

As the song progress, we meet up with Yong Bao who remembers Thomas from the Great Railway Show, nice to see the specials getting a mention. Yong Bao was wondering why Thomas was in China. Thomas told him that he was looking for Nia and a passing diesel told him that she saw Nia heading towards the rainbow mountains. Thomas was pleased but Yong Bao told him that he needs a snowplough, but Thomas was out of earshot.

Thomas arrived at the rainbow mountains but he couldn't find Nia. Later on Thomas saw Nia crossing a snowy mountain. Nia was still cross with Thomas for his 'trick' but Thomas was being apologetic but his voice and whistle had caused an avalanche which pushed Nia off the tracks. Thomas came to her rescue quickly but she was too heavy to pull by himself and was being dragged down the hill. Luckily Yong Boa arrived and together they brought Nia back to safe ground.

Thomas realised that he should've been helped. But no matter what, we should always ask for help. With everyone safe, it was now time for Thomas and Nia to complete the goal of becoming the first railway engines to cross the world by heading back to the Island of Sodor. They first have to cross through west Asia and then onto Europe and finally back to Sodor. Mr. Percival, who was looking back the Fat Controller's railway, was given a call that Thomas had been found in India and his heading for home.

As soon as Thomas saw Vicarstown bridge, he knew that as soon as he cross over the bridge then that's it he's home and that mean Nia would have to go home as well. However it turns out that the shed that Nia use to stay in in Africa is now gone and she was looking for a place to stay. When you look at it, its kind of like an immigrant refugee making their way to a country to call as their new home. I think the little moment like this makes Nia a bit more relatable for children and parents who had done that.

Thomas offered Nia to stay on Sodor and as the two engines sing the reprise of 'We're Friends', Thomas was given a welcome home to all of his friends with the Rev.W.Awdry jumping up and down in happiness, a nice little moment that Jam Filled had done. Everyone was happy to see Thomas returning after so long. Thomas then asked Mr. Percival to speak to the Fat Controller about letting Nia stay. However everyone thought he would be with Thomas, but he wasn't.

He was however on a ship bounding for who knows where, probably China, showing his picture of Thomas towards Ace who remembers him, much to the astonishment of the Fat Controller and that is where the movie ends. I get when some people have been saying that the ending felt a little rushed and I do understand and agree that it was like. However I don't see it as bad but it could've been better.

THE END

CHARACTERS

I know there were other characters, but I'm sticking with the ones that were focused in the film:

NIA

Last year, rumours were going around the twittersphere that Edward and Henry were going to be replaced by two new female characters, whom were later to be revealed as Nia and Rebecca, because they weren't 'marketable enough', although I rather doubt that was the real reason as some writers within the production team had stated in SiF's blog about Edward and Henry that they were hard to write for. This was at the time when some users on twitter had done a pretty stupid prank about the Thomas Wood line. I however took this suppose rumour as a grain of salt as on the internet anyone can say anything without providing any source to back this from, which is sad because everyone really jumps the gun nowadays. 

Now that the movie is out and after months of criticism from fans about Nia based on the little info that we got about her from Mattel, here's what I think about her: 

I think she was great two dimensional character, much better than Ashima from 'The Great Race'. The problem with Ashima was that she was just there and didn't really have much of a persona which made her feel quite bland. Sure she motivated Thomas by saying just being who he is but we never see her going up against Thomas when he was being rude to her for no reason. 

With Nia, she's Ashima done better! She's sweet, kind, smart, determined and serious but she has a bit of sass and with the way Thomas was by being rude to her, she was quick to tell him off. During the movie, her dynamic with Thomas and Ace makes her feel like the shoulder angel. She tries to tell Thomas to be useful, sort of like Jiminy Cricket from Disney's Pinocchio, but Thomas blindly follows Ace.

However there are some mysteries to her. Like why is her shed gone? Does her controller know about her whereabouts? Hopefully when Thomas goes to Africa, Nia comes along and we know more of her.

Honestly it's better to wait to see how her character plays out other than unfairly criticising her out from small info. As I said before, too many people jump the gun nowadays. Hopefully we see more of her fleshed out during the series.  

Yvonne Grundy did a fantastic job on her too and I look forward to hearing more of her in the series and I look forward to seeing more of Nia too. 

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ACE

Ace is a great example to kids about not to get into a toxic friendship no matter how 'cool' they look to be. Now Ace is more of a showboating, rule breaking, reckless character and he is more of the devil advocate to the dynamic between Thomas and Nia. Telling Thomas to have fun instead of being useful because of his free and easy nature. He has other traits, which I can relate too, such as him being feared by wild animals and I fear that as well, well mostly reptiles, lizards and fish. 

To me toxicity of him definitely was shiny part of the film, we see him belittling Thomas for being 'slow', lying to him in front of the racing friends etc.  He really adds to the moral, 'Know who your real friends are.' Something where I think 'Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure' failed at with the dynamic of Sailor John and Skiff. 

I really felt in that movie we never really had anytime to know about their 'friendship'. I always think they should've gone with Ace being belittled for being small and went rouge not wanting to be friends with anyone. But Sailor John met him and was 'sympathetic' towards Skiff and Skiff being the naive sail boat that he is, fell for it. That was until Thomas came along and suffered the same fate as Skiff and while Sailor John abused him and gets cross with Skiff, Thomas treats him kindness and care and this is where Skiff's character grows and learns about what a true friend does. Have him denying the terrible friendship between him and Sailor John but have him saying that he only did that because Sailor John was the only, in his case, friend he had and then have him stand up to him, Sailor John, and knew how much of a real friend Thomas is. 

I think if Lost Treasure had the same running time as this movie, we could've seen that. 

Sure Ace was advertised as a stuck up but a softie but I think that's the fault of the marketing. Peter Andre did a good job on his first act gig and to me he made the character feel really Australian with the laidback attitude, and most Australians are like that.

SONGS & MUSIC

The songs made their debut in July when they were uploaded on YouTube, although Ace's song was uploaded on the UK YouTube channel back in June but was then quickly deleted.  Anyway I'll narrow them down individually:

WHERE IN THE WORLD IS THOMAS?

The first song of the movie and I think it's good and it shows the anxiety of the other characters who were wondering where Thomas is. The references to past stories is something I feel that was rather needed, sure some fans might scream that it's fan service, but I feel they were needed because the revived series was often referred to as a reboot and the term 'reboot' is nothing more than a dead meaning. I mean find any news report about an old movie or TV show getting a reboot, you will see a headline everywhere stating that in bold letters. Even shows like 'Hey Arnold' who had a revival last year was called a 'reboot' despite the fact that it was continuing on from an episode that had aired back in 2002!

The same is applied to 'Pokemon: I Choose You'. While the director of the movie had confirmed that it was set in an alternatie universe last year, the press and many people still called it a reboot despite the fact that Sun & Moon was still airing and is still within the original timeline, heck the comeback of Misty and Brock screams that the show is within the anime's timeline.

So yeah it's good to have those references needed. I will say the song also had some good music and some funny lyrics (e.g - Thomas having a sumo fight, in which he would've probably won by default, so to speak.)

WAKE UP

A nice road trip style song with nice Swahilli added into it to showcase the different cultures as well seeing day to day life Africa. Plus it's a nice song to tell us that we shouldn't be grumpy because if we do we'll miss the world passing by. One thing I like is that Nia's singing voice sounds almost similar to her voice actress, it doesn't make it sound distracting. Her singing is done by Patricia Kihoro and it sounds marvellous!    


WE'RE FRIENDS

The song really doesn't add much to the scene when they were in Brazil, I think they should've just kept it as an ending song like they did with 'The Most Important Thing Is Being Friends'. It feels more like a finale song as it symbolises that they get along well now after Thomas learned his lesson and knew that Nia is more like a true friend.

SOMETIMES YOU MAKE A FRIEND

Probably the best song of the whole movie. It feels like an Andrew Lloyd Webber style song with Thomas wanting to apologise to Nia for playing a part of Ace's trick on her. John Hasler has done a fantastic and although the movie's US dub isn't out yet, I heard the US dub track through the Amazon US website and I'm sorry by Joesph May is not a great singer in my opinion, his singing voice just goes everywhere and he had too much vibrato. I think they should try and find him a singer that sounds like him. They did that with Nia and they did a fantastic job as Nia sound similar to Yvonne Grundy. 

FREE AND EASY

A pretty fun song to listen too describing all Ace's ego and Peter Andre did fantastic singing here in my opinion.

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ANIMATION

Jam Filled's first full Thomas project and I think they did a bang up job with the settings and layout. I love how they've designed the little African sidings that Thomas pulled up in, they look really good. I quite like how some shots of Rio were saturated considering how bright and colourful Rio can be and it shows some good representation of it as well, though it may annoy some who can't stand saturated colours. Jam Filled had also done a remarkable job with sets like the Morenci Loop, San Fran, the rainforest etc. 

I will admit the reskins of previous characters are a bit jarring but I understand from an animators point of view, more is discussed in my overall section further down. In the end, Jam Filled had done a great job and I look forward to what else they'll bring to the table. 

SPECIAL FEATURES (DVD

The DVD's special features are only the five songs and some of the new 'Meet the Characters' videos. Some of the characters like Nia and Ace are already on the offical UK YouTube channel but there are a couple of new ones that yet to be uploaded and they were for Yong Bao and Beau. The videos are of course made to let the audience know of the characters that had featured in the movie and show. Beau's one was pretty interesting to me as they have specially made footage of him moving around and Yong Bao's video has clips from the english dub of 'Runaway Truck', which will be airing in Australia soon. But in the end they were the only bonus features on the DVD and that's pretty much it.

OVERALL

The Fat Controller still on the look out!

Some fans think that the revamped series was going to revolve around Thomas finding the Fat Controller but I think that wouldn't work considering that by the time he would get to China, Yong Bao would've told him that Thomas was heading for Sodor and that would make the Fat Controller relived. However I question how long Thomas went around the world.

How long?! 

When you look at the scene with Thomas and Nia in Rio and the carnival was on at that time, they would usually take place around Feb or March, so the early part of the film would've been set around the spring time so logically, Thomas would've been travelling around the world for about six or seven months, depending on what year it would've been set (either a leap year or not) as when Thomas and Nia arrived back on Sodor, the trees had autumn colours.

Honestly after months of waiting since the whole premise was announced, was this really something to get angry about? In my opinion, no. The special was different compare to other Thomas specials with its theming but it still feels the same with its pacing and writing and honestly it wouldn't make any difference anyway if the show was still what it was between S17-21. I don't see this being any better than the previous specials like 'The Adventure Begins', 'Tale of The Brave' and so on, but it's really not bad.

One of the positives that I have with this special is that many of voice actors for characters like Yong Bao, Kwaku, Nia, the African and Brazilian people sounding very authentic. It's much better than having the current voice cast putting on an accent and make it sound exaggerated. I remember people thought Yong Bao's voice was done by a UK voice actor but it turns out he was voiced by Dan Li and I think he did a fantastic job at giving the voice of the Chinese steam engine. It's nice to see people of other cultures and colour shining with their acting talent through their cultural roots.

I think one of the mixed opinions that I have is that despite Thomas and Nia going to five continents, we never get the chance to explore more parts of them but I think that might drag the movie on and the little subplots might be episodes string together, a bit like 'King of The Railway'.

Despite being labelled as a 'reboot' by the media and some people, the movie really didn't feel like that at all. Characters like Carly and some references to the past still showcase that the movie is still part of the Thomas canon.

They should really put warning labels on them about them not being a reboot!

Speaking of reboots, as I stated before, the term 'reboot' is a dead meaning. The dictornary refined the term as 'something, especially for a film or television programmes, that has been restarted or revised.' There had been numerous shows and movies that were called reboots but where something else in the end. For example 'Jumanji', when the movie was announced as a 'reboot' people were dreading at the thought because the film was a part of their childhood, I dreaded the idea too at the time, and a total disrespect to the late Robin Williams. But when the movie came out, it turns out to be a very good sequel and that's how the new movie was treated as, a sequel. There was no repeat of the first movie's story with the same characters that were seen once in '96 and it was brand new and totally different to the original, hence why it became such an unexpected popular movie during 2017. The term (reboot) had just lost all meaning. If this show was a reboot, we would of have no continuity from the series' past and that includes the Brenner/McCue era, Edward's story from S21 would've been pointless build up for BWBA and we would'nt have Big Mickey and Carly lining up with Cranky at Brendam docks, so it would be fair to call the show a refresh.

Realism is still in tact. 

I remember when the show was announced, some fans were assuming that realism is now going to throw itself out of the window, despite that the show hadn't been showcasing much of railway realism since the fifth season. But despite the loop-de-loop scene there is plenty of railway realism that the movie had offered. I love how Thomas and Nia had done the combination that was common in Africa. Wagons are marshaled between locos when they double head, to help spread the weight of the combined engines over bridges. So it's nice to see some railway realism is still in the show to please older fans. It's also happened in 'Trusty Trunky'. It was common railway practice back in the days of steam as elephants were used due to locomotive shortages. To me the refreshed series has some potential to showcase kids about the different practices on railways that are not common compare to their local railways.

Real World! Real Places!

There are other things that can be considered as railway realism as well. There are rails running through the Sahara dessert, there are steam train tours through the Brazilian rainforests, rails do run through the Salt Flats, the scene at San Fransisco is almost the old Belt Railroad and the Morenci Loop in Arizona, USA is a real place. So the whole fear of realism being thrown out of the window seems to be far fetched. I mean why is Sam Wilkinson, the Railway Consultant, still working on the show? Though obviously there wouldn't be rails running through the rainbow mountains in China.

Welcome Yvonne Grundy! 

When the film premiered over in London back in July we've been revealed the voice actress for Nia, Yvonne Grundy, a South African British voice actor. A great idea to have a character voiced by someone with an authentic background. However it had lead to a minority of fans who were very racist towards the idea. One infamous person, whom I sure you all know, claimed that she's stereotyping which basically makes no sense at all! Nia is from Africa so of course they are going to get someone with African heritage to voice a character in an authentic manner. Do you think they are going to get someone who is not African and put on an African voice? That's stereotyping or is that authentic to her? Just leave Yvonne alone. If you don't like that at all you can just stop watching Thomas all together, no one will miss you and I rather see the Thomas fanbase without racism unlike parts of the Star Wars fanbase that drove Kelly Marie Tran off instagram thanks to toxic people spewing abusive comments at her in 'The Last Jedi' all because they didn't get what they wanted. But this kind of toxicity had been in the Star Wars fanbase long before Disney bought the franchise. I know the majority of Star Wars fans are not like that though in the end.

Welcome Peter Andre!

Like previous specials, we now have our seventh celebrity voice role for a Thomas movie. Another voice actor to give the authentic background of the character, this time from Australia for Ace. Considering that this was his first film role, he did a pretty good job for providing the voice of Ace with the very laid back tone but big headed hotshot style of voice and he did great singing for 'Free and Easy'. I hope we hear more of him that is if Ace returns to the show and wish him the best for his acting career.

No 'Big World, Big Adventures' DVD for North America this year.

The US Thomas Facebook account said in the comments of the US trailer that the DVD won't be released this year. Some fans were up in arms about this back in July but my guess it could be part of Mattel and Nickelodeon's contract deal by having it released on TV first exclusively on Nick Jr. Some say that Viacom might be waiting for Universal's contract to be up as Nick got the rights for 'consumer electronics.' Despite the fact that Universal had re-released 'Thomas' Halloween Adventures' in the US in August. But anyway, if it's the latter, I hope it happens as Universal's quality of the DVDs had been dreadful since 2015. I don't see the Thomas team writing off a digital release for the US, but there's no announcement of one yet. The movie won't be released on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime either. However nothing has been said that the refreshed series is exclusive to Nick Jr.

V. likely tbh; Nick got the rights to "consumer electronics"; given the push they've been giving (marketing wise), they're likely working to get their name out there with Thomas (and likely waiting for Universal to give them their contract)

— The MilanTooner (@TheMilanTooner) July 21, 2018

However I do see this as potentially damaging for the show's presence in the US if this keeps up, as not many families have access to the cable channel. It's best to have the movie released on all formats (DVD, TV and streaming) so kids can at least have access to the show and be up to date with the new Thomas content. However if a DVD is released to the North American audience, I bet it'll be released sometime in the spring. Right now the movie will only make its appearance on Nick Jr. which will be on Friday, September 7th. 

Sam is now offically canon! 

SiF had said in their non-spoiler review that there's a character that had not been seen in a while and is not a returnee from the classic series. That turns out to be Sam in the scene for the US part of the movie. Sam was the exclusive new characters from the Wooden Railway toys in 2015. To me it's nice to see that his render hadn't been wasted away but one thing that annoys me, and it's quite common in many fanbases, is that fans had been hyping themselves up about this, some thought that it might've been Bear from the Railway Series books but it turn out it's a character that they don't want. You might say that SiF had done the hype for Sam and put the blame on them, but they didn't tell everyone to be excited nor to be hyped up, they just said to watch out for it. Other people who were at the world premiere back in July had said to everybody not to get too overexcited. This is an example of what self-hype can do!

Gordon's Hill, Africa.

There had been plenty of reused layouts and characters used in the movie and I can understand from an animators point of view. It was done to streamline the project so as to get it out in time and while yes I can see why it looks off to see an similar engine like Henry, Edward, Frankie, Diesel, Dart and pretty much any other Sodor based basis being reskinned in different liveries and wearing different faces, it's really not a bother to me as it is there to save time and money. Plus in my head canon I say they were imported from England, as the UK had built steam locomotives for other countries in the past, Raul's basis in Brazil is in fact British. Sure I would love to see new basis being rendered like maybe an Alco S2, Alco RS-3 or EMD SW7 used in the San Fransisco scenes. If they've used an RS-3 they could've reused that for the Brazilian scenes or an EMD SD70 used for the Morenci Loop scene but beggars can't be choosers. The sets like the hill that Thomas had conquered in Africa with the long line of trucks is obviously Gordon's Hill in the dessert and San Fransisco harbour is obviously Brendam docks reused, but they didn't really bother me as well and some sets like the Brazilian rainforest and Utah dessert didn't really feel like a reused set. Props to the animators for creating them. This isn't the first time that characters were reskinned to be a new character, we have seen that in S5 with Bertram in 'Toby's Discovery' with him using the basis of Duke.

Mark Moraghan is no longer the storyteller for the show, but he's not gone entirely. 

This is also the first Thomas special to have no narrator and to be honest when I first saw this, it felt strange but also nice that there isn't someone doing that job. Not that I'm saying that Mark Moraghan was bad or anything but the movie did so well with the show don't tell side of it and I think the series needed that since the CGI switch ten years ago as the characters now have voice actors to showcase all the emotions. So while yes it is sad that Mark is no longer the storyteller and probably had surpassed Ringo Starr as the short serving narrator, it's a nice welcoming change in my opinion. Mark won't be narrator for the show as well as that will be given to John Hasler and Joesph May who will be portraying Thomas as the storyteller. However just because he's not taking the role anymore doesn't mean he can't do other roles too. The new series had been broadcasted in Italy last month and in the credits he was actually listed for voice roles. Plus he'll be playing as Mr. Evans the Signalman for a new web series telling stories, the same way that was Mr. Perkins from 2014-16. So he's still a part of the show and he is still narrating Thomas stories, just not the TV show.

In the end, I have enjoyed the movie and I don't think it was that bad. There were plenty of morals that kids will resonate with such as friendship, always ask for help, don't make friends with toxic people and know who your real friends are. I think the cultures used in the movie were done accurately thanks to the cultural consultants that are now part of the Thomas crew. It's better than assuming that this what so and so does. There were things that I think it could've been better here and there but it didn't bother me too much.

OVERALL RATING:

9/10