Movie Review: Day of The Diesels

So now we come to final review of Thomas movies as Australia will start the world premiere of 'Blue Mountain Mystery' in two days, in Australia. A review of that movie will be published in September as I'm seeing it in the UK at  Startford's VUE cinema on September 1st with other YouTube Thomas members. So, after 'Misty Island Rescue' and the dreaded Season 15 episodes, we now come to Thomas' sixth movie and that is 'Day of The Diesels' released in 2011 which was also the year Rev.W.Awdry would've celebrated his 100th birthday. This movie has more new characters and a new location and the return of an old character. Plus this was the first DVD to have a Blu-Ray release in the UK. So sit back and enjoy, 'Day of The Diesels.' and the usual:

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OWN OPINIONS AND NOT

THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

DAY OF THE DIESELS

Written by

Sharon Miller

Directed by

Greg Tiernan

Produced by

Nicole Stinn

Release Date:

1/09/11 (AUS)

VIEWS:

My expectations for this movie weren't very high after seeing the Season 15 episodes when the UK first broadcast the series, you can see my review about the season 15 episodes on my blog. But after seeing this, I'm glad they played this after Season 15. This movie has great action, music and better yet, this movie wasn't focused entirely on Thomas, which is a big step for a Thomas movie, as the movie is focused on Percy and no rhyming from the characters. But there are a few flaws

Why would Diesel 10 ask Percy to ask Thomas to ask the Fat Controller for a new diesel works? Percy could easily do it himself, heck he is one of the Fat Controller's engines and why did Diesel 10 says 'But the Fat Controller doesn't listen to diesels. He only listens to steamies.' when really the Fat Controller talked to Diesel in Season 14's 'Diesel's Special Delivery' and even with others like Mavis, 'Arry, Bert, Den, Dart etc. in other episodes? 

The character introductions weren't that great too. First off is Belle, we never knew why she came to the island in the first place. Is she here to help the engines with extra work? Did the Fat Controller bought or hire her for some reason? Why? Well that happens to the other characters that were introduced from Season 9 and then their's Den and Dart, they are good characters, but they also have no explanation as why are they here? They just work at the Dieselworks and yet we have more discriminations and pointing out the obvious from Thomas saying to Belle that the Diesel works is full of diesels and that diesels can be devious. As I said in my 'Misty Island Rescue' review, I know they have a rivalry, but Thomas is now an educating show and they need a moral about respecting others no matter what you are, heck they spread that message in 'Calling All Engines!'

There is also Percy's new persona, he's not cheeky anymore, he's just a naive little engine and it shows. When Diesel was at the docks telling Percy that Thomas is spending more time with Belle and Flynn, Percy should know by now that he should not trust Diesel and his devious antics. There is also Sidney. During the promotions of 'Day of The Diesels', they gave him his name, his persona, his take-n-play and wooden railway toy and yet we get a three second appearance from him and that's it. No voice and no mention, just him laughing over Percy's 'joke'. 

There was also the invasion of the steamworks. Why invade the Steam works when its just the diesel playing around on the turntable and why did Victor leave the steamworks to tell the Fat Controller earlier about Kevin's disappearance, he's narrow gauge, he can't run on the standard gauge track.  

But I do have a few pros for this movie. I'm actually glad that they focused the special entirely on Percy instead of Thomas it gives a breath of fresh air for once. Diesel is back in his S2 persona during the first act of the special, being devious, Wellsworth made a comeback in full CGI, the comeback of Diesel 10 and the perfect moral of 'Everyone must wait their turn'. But, in my opinion, the best part was when Diesel 10 says 'It's been a very long time.' When he and Percy met at the Dieselworks and it made me wonder, did the writer did that by accident or did she watch 'Thomas and The Magic Railroad', despite that Percy and Diesel 10 never had a scene together? I'm glad they did that instead of meeting each other as two completely different engines that haven't met before.   

There was also the route from the Dieselworks to the Steamworks. According to the Sodor map, if you want to travel to Crovans Gate, which is where the Steamworks is set at. You have to go to Vicarstown, which is where the Dieselworks is set, head straight into Henry's tunnel and then you reach the destination. Which so happens in this movie. And to be honest, I love the scene when the steam engines race to the steamworks, the music made the scene great, but it can be unrealistic with the engines speed limit.

In my opinion, this is a good Thomas movie. It learn't from the mistakes of 'Misty Island Rescue' and I do hope that 'Blue Mountain Mystery' would be the same.

Rating: 4/5

And that is it everyone, I do hope you all enjoyed my reviews on all the Thomas movies and now its time for 'Blue Mountain Mystery'. As I said earlier, a review will be up on September 2012. Watch for my Series 1 review on July 31st, I'll be reviewing all the episodes everyday. Since I'll be away to Europe from August 11th - September 16th, all of the reviews will be scheduled and I could be on the internet from time to time. So look for those. 

Movie Review: Misty Island Rescue

After the success of 'Hero Of The Rails', HIT Entertainment were celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Railway Series, or in their eyes, Thomas & Friends in 2010 and in celebration, another DVD special is made, only this is made for the first time on Blu-Ray for Australia and America and that is 'Misty Island Rescue'. With the usual voice actors, great music and more new characters, the Logging Locos, Captain and a new location, the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre. So let's sit back at this DVD special, but first:

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OWN OPINIONS 

AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

MISTY ISLAND RESCUE

Written by 

Sharon Miller

Directed by

Greg Tiernan

Produced by

Nicole Stinn

Release Date:

11/10/10 (UK)

VIEWS:

The special was first announced on the official Thomas and Friends website's 65th anniversary mini-site's 'Little Blue Book'. When movie finally came out, I liked it at first. It had great action and perfect animation and brilliant music. But later on, it began to be one of my least favourites. Yes, I get it, the overuse of rhyming and alliteration unsafe measures of Misty Island and of course Thomas' arrogance that he makes good decisions because the Fat Controller says so. Not only those, but the logging locos too. 

They were good to begin with, but after re-watching some Season 14-15 episodes with them in it, they're really bland and one dimensional and mainly that is Ferdinand saying 'That's right' about seventeen times! and we only get one line from that has nothing to do then his catchphrase and that's 'I can feel, air on my funnel.' and also the mention of his name. And since that the logging locos are based on american locomotives, why can't they keep the US accents for the UK/AUS audience? Though I do like Ferdinand's UK voice. 

But there is one scene that many fans don't like and that is when Thomas says, 'No Diesel, I'm sure the Fat Controller wants a really useful steamie, you'll never be that.' I know, steam engines and diesel engines have a rivalry together but since that Thomas is an educating show for pre-schoolers, they need to have the show to learn respect. This is considered as racial way of steam and diesel engines. Rev.W.Awdry shows this kind of rival in his books, but not in that kind of term, but as time went on with Christopher Awdry as the writer, many of the engines have accepted Diesels and James was the last one of the engines to accept and know that they are really useful. But also, the speed Diesel is just unrealistic when Thomas was chasing him down the line. I know Thomas is a kids show, but when Rev.W.Awdry wrote the Railway Series, he stuck with realism and when you see Diesel's basis, 08 class shunter, the top speed is either 15 or 20mph. When Whiff, Percy, Thomas and the three logging locos head to Sodor, how did Percy and Whiff turn around? I don't know.

Plus there was Thomas on a raft. Why is Thomas put on a raft? It looked unsafe and why can't the workmen told Thomas 'no'? It's that easy. But I guess if that happens we have no plot. And Captain's appearance. He was just there at the rescue centre with no reason why he's there, just there for toys and play sets. 

I don't hate this movie, but I don't like it now as much as I use too back when it first came out. But their are a few positives with the movie. First off is the theme song, which to many of the fans sound like 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. At first when I saw the movie I thought I was watching Pirates. The intro's animation was very well done and the best of all, the music. Robert Hartshrone did wonders with the music, makes it sound theatrical mainly the music when Thomas and the Logging Locos were heading to Sodor through the tunnel. I'm also glad, Whiff had got a bigger role in this movie too. The animation of Misty Island, there's no denying it, Nitrogen was spot on and giving the island a scottish highland and canadian look with the waterfall and trees and I do like it how they set an era for the movie, 1960, like 'The Great Discovery' which was set in 1955 and there was the song at the end and I do enjoy listening to it. And there was also the comeback of Diesel 10 at the end of the credits.

I was very surprised that this movie is popular  here in Australia due to the amount of DVD sales and it ended up having 'Day of The Diesels' and the recent 'Blue Mountain Mystery' having early cinema releases as America and the UK have it later. The movie is not a big watch for me, but I'll give it a little watch when I'm into it. But its certainly not the best Thomas movie made, but I think kids would like it, but they shouldn't learn from that scene of Thomas telling Diesel he can't be useful be he's a diesel or learning from Thomas from being arrogant about making good decisions. 

Rating: 2.5/5

Movie Review: Hero of The Rails

2009 saw a new change in the Thomas world. After Season 12 that had a CGI/Model hybrid, 'Thomas & Friends' have gone full CGI as HIT Entertainment went through some budget cuts. To start off the new era, the first movie came out, entitled, 'Hero of The Rails' and for the first time since 2000, there is voices for the characters that in my opinion give more character. It even shows another character from a different country, Hiro, from Japan, the first was Hank from the USA. But now, let's get through, 'Hero of The Rails'. But, you know, the usual:

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OWN OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

HERO OF THE RAILS

Written by

Sharon Miller

Directed by

Greg Tiernan

Release Date:

12/10/09

VIEWS:

In 2008, Sodor Island have announced that HIT Entertainment will turn Thomas into a CGI show due to budget cuts. Now at first I was angry, excited and worried at the thought, why would you turn such a classic TV series into CGI? But by the time I watched Season 12 on ABC and seeing Nitrogen's Thomas on their website, I thought it was actually great work and it turned out that Greg Tiernan, who is now former director of the show, knows about the show's history and that he's a fan of the Railway Series and is a railway person himself.

The movie provided a jazzed up theme of 'Engine Roll Call' and shows a bit of Disney Pixar kind of 2D animation. I like the intro's now from the Nitrogen era, it makes it more like a movie then a TV episode with the original intro.

The story just shows Thomas restoring Hiro to his natural state as he was abandoned due to his parts not arriving from his home country, Japan. Spencer, who is spending the summer on Sodor with the Duke and Duchess of Boxford and working their new summer house, was wondering what Thomas is up to and decided to track him down. So Thomas had asked his friends to do his jobs while he's away. Hiro was also worried that the Fat Controller would scrap him as he felt he's beyond repaired. As Hiro started to work again, Spencer was near and as the two engines were running away from him, Hiro began to fall apart and he was sure he was to be scrapped.

Thomas told the Fat Controller about Hiro and to his surprise, the Fat Controller and the Duke and Duchess knew who he was and the Fat Controller had told Thomas that he will be restored at the Sodor Steamworks, home of the other two characters, Victor and Kevin. Spencer had made amends with Thomas and Hiro and the three engines worked on the summer house until it was finally done. But Hiro was homesick and in the end, the engine farewelled him and hope he would come back someday (until Season 13 starts the next year.)

The movie is OK, but it has some flaws, mainly the big one is, why is Thomas worried that the Fat Controller would scrap Hiro? Really? The Fat Controller runs a steam railway, why would he scrap a steam engine? I don't know. The speed of James and Toby and the other engines are just unrealistic and the scene were Thomas, James and Toby trapped Spencer with Percy's mail vans would end up being an accident and when Hiro wanted to get away from Spencer, why can't he slow down so he won't be caught? Another thing is the ages of Thomas and Hiro as they claimed Hiro is one of the oldest engines. Thomas was built in 1915 and Hiro's basis the D51 is made in 1936. Which means Hiro is a young engine.

But despite the flaws this movie had excellent CGI and it was a great start for Nitrogen Studio. The story is OK, but it has its flaws.

Rating: 3/5

Movie Review: The Great Discovery

2008 was a bitter year in and out of the Thomas & Friends world. The world had entered an economic recession, The original director of the Thomas and TUGS series, David Mitton have passed away, US narrator George Carlin have passed away as well and also it was the announcement that this DVD special is the last of the full model animation. In 2007, HIT Entertainment had undergone some financial trouble and decided that their shows like 'Bob the Builder', 'Angelina Ballerina' and of course 'Thomas and Friends' would turn into CGI. Thomas would be making its way to Canada's Nitrogen Studios being taken care by Greg Tiernan, who is now former director of the show, who knows about the world of Thomas and the Railway Series. This special also marked the debut of a guest storyteller who is former James Bond actor, Pierce Borsnan, who has a little history with Thomas as he read the stories to his kids at bed time.

Originally, Brosnan was going to be the new narrator of the show for both the UK and US, but for some reason unknown, Michael Angelis and Brandon had the role. You can hear Brosnan's narration bits from Season 12 on the US DVD of 'The Great Discovery' in the 'behind the scenes' feature and on YouTube with the episode, 'Gordon Takes A Shortcut'. But now, let's take a look at 'The Great Discovery', but first:

THESE ARE SOLEY UNDER MY OWN OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

THE GREAT DISCOVERY

Written by

Sharon Miller

Directed by 

Steve Asquith

Narrated by

Pierce Brosnan

Release Date:

6/10/08

VIEWS:

Around the time when this was announced, YouTube was only two years old, the layout was very different in those days before what it is today. The announcement for this DVD came when I first saw an article on Google news that Pierce Brosnan was going to be the narrator of the show. At first, I thought it was just for the US, but it turns out he'll be narrating the UK version as well, this was the first that happened when Ringo Starr took the job. I would say Michael Angelis, but I believe he not that well-known in the US, but he's still a great narrator.

Out of all the specials, this one is my personal favourite. The special makes you feel sorry for Thomas and Stanley, as Stanley is getting neglected by Thomas because everyone likes him more then Thomas, but the special shows the true value of friendship as in the end, you can see that the many engines and Jack and his pack were happy that Stanley had found Thomas.

The setting of Great Waterton looking lost and abandon was just perfect model making and even when its new was perfect. Now I bet there are some people, who have saw this, wondered, what is Sodor Day? Well, just a celebration for the movie with no explanation unfortunately, but in real life, there is a celebration called Yorkshire Day to celebrate the history of Yorkshire in the UK. Even on January 26th, we have a celebration called Australia Day were we celebrate the first fleet coming into the country from England.

The movie even has a great moral towards it. 'Friends are important'. You can friends who can be jerks to you, but, if life gets you hard, your friends are there for you and that is something the TV series is lacking.

Though there are some flaws with the movie. With Thomas landing on the raft, he could've sunk due to his heavy weight as well as running on a rickety bridge, Misty Island Rescue wasn't the first to show this, Thomas flying over a cliff to the other side, how can that happen? There were a few rhyming and pointless dialogue like 'Huffing and puffing' and there was one rhyme in the movie, but at least its not 'Misty Island Rescue'. There was no explanation of rolling river bridge being mended and what was Diesel 10 suppose to be at the quarry and why was he happy with Thomas being found? If Thomas's boiler is filled with water, the crown stays would be broken and why did he whistle after Stanley broke before he had Stanley's coal in his firebox? And why did Arthur tell Emily the news that Thomas was found? She already knew it happened when she was at Great Waterton when Thomas pushed Stanley into the station.

Though this special actually brings many characters that have never been seen in the series for a long time, like Bill and Ben, Molly, Trevor, Terrence, Arthur so on and so fourth, makes a shame that neither Duck or Oliver didn't get a part, but at least they were in Season 12. But the best part of the whole movie is the ending song, 'Thomas You're The Leader'. It was a great send off to the models and their twenty-four years of service, well the show didn't turn 25 until 2009. Yeah the song has a steam team reference, but it shows other characters too, that the recent TV series songs are lacking.

With Pierce Brosnan, I like his narration, it was breathe of fresh air, I like Michael Angelis, but around the time of the new series, he sounds like he was going to sleep to any minute. In my opinion, Pierce Brosnan provided a bed time storybook like narration as he said himself it was very different to him reading from script, instead of reading it to a child. He has some chuckles as he it shows he was having a fun time. But if since this was a send-off to the models, how great would it be if HIT got Ringo Starr to do the narration as he was first. I guess, since he was in the making of his album 'Y Not' at the time, he's a very busy man, but Brosnan did some good work, there are sometimes he can speak in a quiet voice. There are people are not interested in his narration and that's fine, but I like it.

And yes, I know Season 12 used models as well, but this special ended the full model animation and with such great action and story line, this is a personal favourite of mine and is one of Sharon Miller's best work.

Rating: 4/5

Movie Review: Calling All Engines!

Five years have passed since the flop of 'Thomas and The Magic Railroad'. Britt Allcroft stand down her position as chairman and director and the company renamed into 'Gullane Entertainment' and were in production of Series six under the new label. By 2002, HIT Entertainment, the owners of Bob the Builder, Angelina Ballerina and Barney, have successfully bought the rights to the show. In 2005, it was the year of celebration for the Railway Series as the books have turned sixty years old and in celebration, a special DVD feature have been produced entitled, 'Calling All Engines!' which has the return of Diesel 10 and Lady, but not focused from the first film. But first, the usual:

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OWN OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

CALLING ALL ENGINES!

Written by 

Paul Larson

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Narrated by

Michael Angelis

Release Date:

3/10/05

VIEW:

2005, I was in my second year of high school at the time and the only news source to know about new Thomas things was Sodor Island and a little site called 'TV Tome', which is now 'TV.com'. I remember first hearing about this back in late 2004 when they said a new feature length special is in the works and by October 2005, I got myself a copy of this movie from 'EzyDVD', which came with free Thomas cards and it was the first Thomas DVD to have the new handle cases. 

When HIT took over Thomas, many DVDs with separate episodes were never sold in Australia and the only S8 DVD that came out with episodes was 'All Aboard With The Steam Team' which came out earlier the same year. To me, 'Calling All Engines!' seems like an extended Thomas episode a little, I don't hate it though, but it just seem that way. But it is still an OK special. Its great to see Diesel 10 and Lady again and yes I know about Diesel 10 being nice at the end, but over the years many people can change their personality, I know a few people outside the internet who are pain to me in my younger years, but with many years passing by, I begin to be friends with them and I see them as nice people. In the RWS, you don't see Gordon bragging on about trucks all the time, minus in his own book, as he has been matured about it and as well him being OK with Pip and Emma taking his usual express in the recent RWS book 'Thomas and His Friends'.

It was also good to see Lady and the Season 4 model of Rusty, even though the narrator says that they were shunting trucks. How could they be shunting trucks? They both run on different gauges. I also like the dream sequence that the engines had, it was heartbroken to think what will happen to them if they aren't really useful, but these things can happen to an engine, minus Percy being a roller-coaster. There was also the return cameo of Derek and Daisy, its a shame that Daisy hasn't got a role, but at least she was mentioned in the learning segment.

But there are some downsides towards this special. Not the story, it's great, it shows a great moral about working together no matter what the differences are, something that many of the recent Thomas episodes are missing out on or repeating over and over again, depends on what you choose really. But the downside is the learning segments. I know they're just for kids, but they're just a complete waste of time and sometimes, they could be obvious and the songs being put into the movie. There were some goods songs actually and some were quite catchy, the 'Busy' and 'Try To Do Things Better' songs are my favourites, but I'm glad they decided to leave them out (the learning segments) out of the next special DVD. Why was Daisy annoyed when they met up with the steam engines? Daisy is one of the diesels that like them. Heck, she works with Thomas, Percy and Toby on the Ffarquahr branch line in the RWS and the early years of the Thomas TV series. Its lucky that the recents writer didn't put her in the recent, imagine her new persona if they did.

The movie has a great story, moral and characters that older and younger fans would enjoy. But the learning segments are OK for kids, but they can be a waste of time and it has a bit of a feeling as an extended Thomas episode, I don't watch the special that much now, but it is certainly enjoyable. 

Rating: 3/5

Movie Review: Thomas & The Magic Railroad

As Australia will begin the world premiere of 'Blue Mountain Mystery', I will be reviewing every Thomas movie this week from 15th - 19th. To start off we begin with Thomas' first feature length film, 'Thomas and The Magic Railroad', but I'm not going Nostalgic Critic style ;) But first:

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OWN OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

THOMAS & THE MAGIC RAILROAD

Release Date: 

July 14th 2000 (UK)

July 28th 2000 (US)

Starring:

Thomas the Tank Engine (Eddie Glen)

Alec Baldwin (Mr. Conductor)

Mara Wilsion (Lily)

Peter Fonda (Burnett Stone)

Directed by 

Britt Allcroft

Produced by 

Britt Allcroft

Phil Ferhle

The year was 2000, the new millennium. The year were people feared of the Y2K rumours, the year when Sydney was the first city in the world to host the Olympic Games in the 21st century and Thomas the Tank Engine had brought out his first feature length, which was sadly a box office failure. 

VIEWS:

(Please be advise that I'm not here to offend anyone as I'm a fan 

of the British version of the show, please try and understand my

opinions to this movie.)

It's a dead giveaway that this movie is focused to an American audience, look at the title 'Thomas and the Magic Railroad', here in Australia and in England it is referred to as 'railway'. Many of the voice actors have come from the US and Canada, due to the fact the US test audience have rejected the UK and Australian voices because they sound old and scary, though in the teser and theatrical trailer, Thomas and Diesel 10 still have the original voices. 

Thomas is suppose to be voiced by John Bellies, a fire-fighter and part time taxi driver from the Isle of Man, who had got his big break. But was rejected because of the test audience not liking the Liverpudlian accent and making Thomas sounding too old. Michael Angelis was given role as Percy and James and also suffered the hands of the test audience in America, as they say he made them sound old and unconvincing. Diesel 10 was to be voiced by Keith Scott, who plays in other kids films such as 'Blinky Bill: The Mischievous Koala' (1992). But was said that he sound gruff and could scare the young audience. 

What else gives away that this movie is focused to the American audience is also 'Shining Time Station', the show that started Thomas' success in the United States in 1989. Many fans of the US would remember the show, but many fans in the UK and Australia at the time would never even heard of the show, minus Ireland, as they have aired the show in promotion of the movie. 

There's some flaws in the movie, first off, their were no drivers and fireman's in the cabs of the engines and I knew that when I was a kid. The only model figurine we get to see in the movie at the time was Bertie's driver and Edward was never shown in the movie, as his model was never finished in time, which was a shame as he is one of the major characters of the show. But it's also a shame that other characters didn't get to the big screen like Duck, Donald and Douglas, Diesel, Oliver, Toad etc. at the time. The only character that did get a cameo role is Butch during the 'Really Useful Engine' song scene. They could be good to be background characters or having a little minor role. Plus, according to many Thomas fan, there is so much more focus towards the humans instead of the engines. Plus there was also the canning of P.T Boomer (Doug Lennox) thinking that he's too scary for kids and also George the Steamroller, who is to be part of Diesel 10's plans, and Cranky the Crane. Plus so many edits were made thanks to the test audience, one example is Splatter and Dodge meeting up with Diesel 10 at a rocky cliff with his face engraved in it, with no explanation why are they here. But it turns out in the Directors Cut that they work at the smelters yard and they eye at Percy and Toby. Sadly, the edits made no sense for the final cut of the movie and that a Director's Cut is around in the Hollywood valut, for information about it, click on the link below to SiF's mini-site about the movie:

TATMRR Revealed

I liked this movie back when I was a kid, because it was Thomas the Tank Engine and I knew about the existence of Shining Time Station, the show, thanks to the internet when it first came to the world on the US shopping site 'Totally Thomas', but I haven't seen any of the episodes until 2006 when YouTube was around. Looking at this movie now, I don't like it as much and I can see why. I'll watch this movie for nostalgic reasons. But to be honest I have some positive things for this movie. The soundtrack, Humane Mann really out did himself and have made a good rendition of the original Thomas theme in parts of the movie and even though I don't like this movie very much, I do have a favourite scene and that is the chase scene with Thomas, Lady and Diesel. Highly unrealistic for two tank engines going at such speed, but it add great suspense and fear with the wonderful soundtrack. But sadly, this movie is not worth of a watch, but it will be OK for a nostalgic view if you want to reminisce, but kids who watch Thomas now could enjoy it.

Rating: 1/5

Tomorrow: Calling All Engines! (2005) 

Happy 72nd Birthday to Ringo Starr

'Thomas is a tank engine, who lives at a big station on the Island of Sodor.

He's a cheeky little engine with six small wheels, short stumpy funnel, short stumpy

boiler and a short stumpy dome.'

- Ringo Starr (1984)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO 

RINGO STARR

Former drummer of The Beatles, 

Narrator of 'Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends' 

The first Mr. Conductor for 'Shining Time Station'


PEACE AND LOVE!!

Ringo Starr had just released his 16th solo album 'Ringo 2012' which is out now in music stores. 

Now on tour with his 'All Starr Band' in the US. 

In other news, sorry for the lack of posting, but I got something planned for July, August and September. 

JULY

- Thomas Movie Reviews: With Australia nearing the world premiere of 'Blue Mountain Mystery', I will be reviewing the previous Thomas movies from 2000 - 2011. 

AUGUST

- Series 1 - 12 Reviews: Since I'm done with my Season 13 - 15 reviews, I thought to share my views on the episodes from Season 1 - 12. Now this can take up for a few months, so expect those soon. 

SEPTEMBER

- Blue Mountain Mystery Review: Since I'll be attending the new movie with other YouTube Thomas fans in the UK, the review of the latest Thomas movie will come out  around September when the DVD is out as I will be on holidays with my family.