DVD Review: Hop on Board - Songs and Stories

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

HOP ON BOARD - SONGS AND STORIES

Originally Written by

The Rev.W.Awdry

Adapted for Television by

Britt Allcroft & David Mitton

Episodes

Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady

Bulldog

Songs

Thomas' Anthem

Let's Have A Race

Gone Fishing 

Toby

Don't Judge a Book By Its Cover

The Island Song

Really Useful Engine

It's Great To Be An Engine (DVD only)

Bonus CD

Engine Roll Call

Let's Have a Race

 Toby

The Island Song

Really Useful Engine

Written and Composed by

Mike O' Donnell & Junior Campbell

Bonus Features

Really Useful Engines game

Sodor Superstars Hall of Fame

Release Date

16/06/09

Distributed by

Anchor Bay Entertainment (2006)

Lionsgate/HIT Entertainment (2009)

Who remembers the songs by the original composers of the television series, Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell? They've written many memorable tunes for the characters and moments in the series as well the classic theme song that was played during S1-7 of the classic series. In 1994 there songs were composed for the CD 'Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends', perhaps known to fans as 'Thomas and the Best Kept Station Competition' with stories in between narrated by long term narrator Michael Angelis. There first music video was released in 1995 in the UK VHS tape 'Your Favourite Story Collection' which was 'Really Useful Engine'. More videos were released on the tape 'Story and Song Collection' in 1996 in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. America were given the release of music videos in 1997 on the VHS 'Sing-Along and Stories', which was re-released on DVD in 2006 and then again in 2009 with this title.

EPISODES & SONGS

Very much like the VHS release back in 1997 and the DVD in 2006, it features two stories and seven songs, though 'It's Great To Be An Engine' was released only on DVD. It was a good release, though I have to admit the quality of the US DVDs are really poor as they're of course VHS transfers. Plus 'It's Great To Be An Engine' is the only best quality music video on DVD. My guess that the reason why they don't re-release the classic series to its restored format is maybe the language settings. There are families who are latino's or french canadians who buy these DVDs and the latest Thomas DVDs have those features too. I know that there are DVDs like 'Engine Friends' that have restored versions of the classic episodes with no language features but there are Thomas fans who don't speak english or prefer their original language. 

As of the episodes, you can read my opinions about them by clicking on the episode titles.

BONUS FEATURES

Anchor Bay's special features seem to be very bland and very childlike, though Thomas the Tank Engine is of course a kids show. But the thing is, the special features are nothing but character bios, which is good for young viewers to know characters like Duck (this was a 2006 DVD release that was re-released three years later so the DVD was actually released when S10 was on air and the classic series were still being sold on VHS and DVD at the time, e.g - Percy Saves the Day) but the character bios feature 'Did you know!' facts that are pointless like Thomas being rewarded Annie and Clarabel and Thomas and Bertie having a race, though these facts would get kids to watch the episodes, though when your a long time purist you already know those facts. 

The DVD also comes with a CD featuring five songs, it's something for kids to have to listen to in the car or in their room, though I believe they should've added more tracks then five.

OVERALL

The DVD is fine, the songs would keep young ones entertained as well as the stories. Bare in mind the stories and songs are not from the CGI era of the show, their are parents who buy these but think it's from the CGI era despite the models being showcased on the front implying a different era. The special features are a bit bland, but they might be entertaining for the younger audience. I do have to admit it was a poor choice of Lionsgate to re-release classic series DVDs from the previous VHS release. When you look at the classic series collection released in the UK in 2012, the quality of the footage is so crisp and clear and fresh, much better then their VHS transfers the UK had on their DVDs released in the early 2000's. But however Lionsgate have released 'Spills and Thrills' in widescreen format this month so who knows?

Rating: 3.5/5

Spills and Thrills DVD Ep.6:The Afternoon Tea Express + Overall

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

THE AFTERNOON TEA EXPRESS

Written by

Laura Beaumont and Paul Larson 

Directed by

David Baas

Produced by

Kallan Kagan (Arc)

Ian McCue and Halim Jabbour (HIT)

Plot

Stephen becomes very excited when the Earl gives him the special job of collecting the ingredients for the afternoon teas at the Castle. But Spencer teases him about being too old and slow.

PRO:
- Moral: Speed isn't everything 

- 'His driver and fireman put on the brakes'

CON:

- Stephen's black funnel
- How is Stephen out of character?

To be honest, I find this very underrated. There many people saying that 'Stephen's out of character!', 'It's unrealistic' etc. Although I do believe it's unrealistic, but I'm letting it slide. There bounds to be some rule bending in Thomas nowadays to make the episode a bit more entertaining, look at S5 for example, over the top crashes etc. despite that I'm never a fan of S5 as I considered it to be the most overrated season in the classical era. But Stephen being out of character? I've watched the episode and he's nowhere near out of character. He's the Rocket and he was built for races, in the TVS and KOTR. I do like it how it implies moral is that speed isn't everything, haven't heard that since 'Thomas the Jet Engine'. But I do understand the error of using the black funnel, as his crest is missing from his tender, so this is his KOTR render. I also like it that they've mentioned his crew putting on the brakes, it seems they're slowly bringing the crew's interactions towards the engines. I do hope they bring that back one day in the series. In the end, I don't really see this as a Sharon Miller script. If it were one the three strikes would've dragged out the whole episode, pointless rhyming and alliteration, poor character development, morals that'll be ignored the next season or episode etc. the three strikes in this episode (Stephen being pushed by Thomas, James and Emily) were over in about over ten seconds and then we near the conclusion of the episodes. This is not the usual five minute stories from the classic series, the show goes about 8 minutes now so things like that have to fill the gap. In the end, I see this as a very underrated episode.

Rating: 4/5

OVERALL

After seeing this episodes during 2013 and early in the new year, there's no doubt that the 17th series had brought a major upgrade in the writing of the show. Andrew Brenner and his writing staff had treated Thomas with great respect that Rev.W.Awdry and his son had created, despite a few bumpy flaws here and there (Steamie Stafford). It's also great how old favourites are brought back such as Duck, Bill and Ben, characters that the current generation will grow up with in their childhood and with their personas being respected by the writer, knowing how Awdry had potrayed them in the series (i.e Bill and Ben being cheeky and Duck being wise about 'The Great Western way.') Plus characters, like Sidney, were giving special treatment, giving them a speaking role as well as bringing back old trains like 'The Flying Kipper'. 

The animation is great, Arc Productions' render had captured what Nitrogen Studios had made from 2009-2012, along with a few added elements themselves on the engines such as lamps on the running board, tail lamps behind the engines etc. despite the many errors that've been faced over the series, but Nitrogen had its fair share of mistakes. 

S17 would have to be the best season since the S8 aired ten years ago in 2004. It's writing is great, the characters are fantastic and the animation is stunning. I'm looking forward to S18 and 'Tale of the Brave' this year and I'm glad that with the writing staff, Thomas is in the right hands. 

RATING:

100 /100

The real rating I give to this season is 107.5, that is the highest rating I gave to a CGI season of Thomas & Friends. Hope that S18 may go beyond S17? 

Spills and Thrills DVD Ep.5: Thomas' Shortcut

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

THOMAS' SHORTCUT

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by

David Baas

Produced by

Robert Anderson (Arc)

Ian McCue & Halim Jabbour (HIT)

Air Date
19/10/13 - (AUS)

Plot

Thomas and Bertie love racing, but Thomas got annoyed that Bertie is winning all the time. When he discovered that Bertie has been rerouted and takes a shortcut, he decided to do the same as well! 

PRO:

- Reminiscent of 'Thomas and Bertie'
- Road vs. Rail rivalry
- Harvey's comeback 

- A good three strikes formula 

CON:

- N/A

I love this episode, it brings back the memories of 'Thomas and Bertie', such as the shots of Thomas at Dryaw station. Finally we also have a road vs. rail rivalry plot, much better then the overused Steam Vs. Diesel plot, even though there are good ones in the series. It was a surprise to see Harvey making a comeback and he looks amazing in CGI and his minor role is actually needed, unlike Duck's in 'Henry's Hero' as that role could've gone to anyone or Rocky, he maybe Sodor's only (or one of's) crane, but he was overused much between S13-16 when the show was converted into CGI. Plus there is a three strikes formula, even though there are people who despise this formula, I think it was used well, it doesn't feel repetitive nor annoying as the ones from the Sharon Miller era and it felt like it was needed for this episode. I'll call this one an all time favourite, it's just so good and it feels like an Andrew Brenner magazine story from the 80's or 90's.  

Rating: 5/5

Spills and Thrills DVD Ep.4:Gone Fishing

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

GONE FISHING

Written by

Andrew Brenner 

Directed by

David Baas

Produced by

Robert Anderson (Arc)

Ian McCue & Haliam Jabbour (HIT)

Air Date

21/10/13 - (AUS)

Plot

Bill and Ben saw Harvey the crane engine at Brendam Docks. They teased him saying that he's going fishing with his hook. Porter helps him to see the positive side of being a crane engine. 

PRO:
- Moral: You're special for who you are
- Harvey's scottish accent

CON:
-N/A

I actually enjoyed this episode, it's nice to see Harvey having a full on role, since S6 as far as I can remember. I love the fact that they given him a scottish accent as his basis, Dubs Crane Engine Engine No.4101, are built in Glasgow, Scotland. Andrew Brenner have done more research then just the Railway Series books, TTTE Wikia and the classic TV series by his side. It especially have a nice moral that brings me back to 'Harvey to The Rescue' when the Fat Controller said this quote: "Different is what makes you special!" it shows kids that teasing should never bother you, you're just more special then they are. That is a great moral to hear in a modern day Thomas episode, particularly that kids these days can be 'trolled' on the internet via social network sites or anywhere inside or outside the internet and sadly they can be underaged, I have seen a few people who argued with young kids, some who are at the age in their 20's. But I don't want to get into too much detail about the issue, but the episode shows that teasing is noting, you're special. But the episode was nice and enjoyable. 

Rating: 4/5

Spills and Thrills DVD Ep.3: No More Mr. Nice Engine

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

NO MORE MR. NICE ENGINE

Written by

Laura Beaumont and Paul Larson 

Directed by

David Baas

Produced by

Robert Anderson (Arc)

Ian McCue and Halim Jabbour (HIT)

Air Date:

19/10/13 - (AUS)

Plot:

Hiro is one of the strongest engines on Sodor, and he is also very polite and gentle. Diesel tells Hiro that the only way to get the trucks to do what you want is to give them a biff and a bash, but Hiro is not convinced.

PRO:
- The trucks being their usual selves
- Moral: Be polite and kind 
- The hill goes straight towards Wellsworth, like in the RWS

CON:
- The trucks wobbling 

Of all the Hiro episodes that I've seen, this one is my favourite, even better then 'The Biggest Present of All!' and probably Laura Beaumont and Paul Larson's best in the 17th series. I love it how the trucks are in their usual troublesome selves, something that the TV series had been lacking for years under the first two years of the CGI series, despite that they've made a comeback in 16th series in 2012 visually even though they weren't troublesome. There is a very important moral for kids that they can learn from Hiro and that is of course being polite and kind to everyone and only punish them if they do something wrong. Plus it amazes me they're following the RWS route well. We have Hiro and Diesel going towards Gordon's Hill and as they went down they went right through Wellsworth station. They did the same with 'Day of The Diesels' in 2011 when Percy, in his stupid self, lead the diesels towards the Steamworks through Henry's Tunnel, since that the Dieselworks is based in Vicarstown and the Steamworks is based at Crovans Gate. If there is one thing I don't like and that is the truck's wobbling, I know a few people who like it and I respect their views on them and I do have to agree it brings a bit of life in them, but they just look too springy when they wobble that it looks a bit toyetic for the younger viewers. But still this episode beats the other Hiro episodes from the past episodes he's been in and includes 'Happy Hiro' for obvious reasons.    

Rating: 4/5

Spills and Thrills DVD Ep.2:The Smelly Kipper

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

THE SMELLY KIPPER

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by

David Baas

Produced by

Robert Anderson (Arc)

Ian McCue and Haliam Jabbour (HIT)

Plot

One evening at Tidmouth Sheds, James was teasing Percy about being afraid in the dark. So Henry challenges him to pull the Flying Kipper for tonight.

PRO:
- The fish accident
- It has the plot like No Joke For James and the RWS story 'Sliding Scales'
- Moral: A promise is a promise

CON:
- The open wagons were missing the first time James was at the docks
- There was no bravery or ghost in the story for James to deal with.
- Henry being a bit dimwitted about James' promise. 

By no means it's terrible but this story seems to be a bit weak by Andrew Brenner. It has that classic feeling towards itself and it has that feeling of 'No Joke For James' and 'Sliding Scales' fused together. It also has a nice plot towards it about making promises. Though I would go through Arc's spot the goof nitpick, but they're all the same and we're humans, we make mistakes. Plus with the ghost story that James was talking about, there was no ghost or bravery to deal with at first, although it could be that James wasn't brave enough to haul the Flying Kipper. Plus Henry wouldn't be that dimwitted about James' promise, he was right there in the shed talking to him about it. The episode is not terrible, but it wasn't great it was good and there are few tweaks need to be done.

Rating: 4.5/5

Spills and Thrills DVD Ep.1: Away From The Sea

Despite that these episodes had aired its run on Australian and Japanese television in 2013, these episodes have not appeared yet on UK television and so with the release of Spills and Thrills here in Australia as soon to be in the UK, here are my views of the episodes from the 17th series. Please note that the air dates are from Australian television run: 

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

AWAY FROM THE SEA

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by

David Baas

Produced by

Robert Anderson (Arc)

Ian McCue & Haliam Jabbour 

Air Date:

18/10/13 - (AUS)

Plot

When Salty the dockside diesel develops engine troubles, he's worried about being sent away from the docks. A new engine named Porter arrived to help out and Salty feared he was brought to the docks to replace him!

PRO:
- Season 6 reference
- Sandboxes references 
- Porter 

CON:
- N/A

Another great episode by Andrew Brenner, the first time in ten years we see Salty having an episode to himself. It's great how they referenced 'Salty's Secret' at the beginning of the episode and I appreciate it that much. It's also great to see the references of sandboxes, a sandbox is used for a locomotive to have extra grip incase of slippage. Great to see that Andrew Brenner could turn young viewers into possible railway enthusiasts, especially the differences of where sandboxes are placed, such as Porter and Roise having three domes. Speaking of Porter, he turns out to be a great character and of course, like the characters from KOTR, have a reason to be on the Island of Sodor, by helping out Salty at the docks. Even though Porter hasn't have a big role in this episode, I can tell he will have more episodes to come in future. His character is good, like in other episodes, he has the persona of a hard worker down to earth persona.

Rating: 5/5

DVD Review: Spills and Thrills

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

SPILLS AND THRILLS

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Laura Beaumont and Paul Larson
Sharon Miller

Directed by

David Baas
Greg Tiernan 

Produced by

Robert Anderson and Halim Jabbour
Nicole Stinn

Episodes

- The Smelly Kipper

- The Afternoon Tea Express

- Away From The Sea

- No More Mr. Nice Engine 

- Gone Fishing 
- Jitter and Japes (AUS)
- Thomas' Shortcut (UK/US)
- The Thomas Way (iTunes Australia release)

Distributed by
ABC/HIT Entertainment

Release Date
5/3/14

EPISODES

First off I don't know why ABC had replaced 'Thomas' Shorcut', probably one of the best episodes of the 17th season, with a generic and bland episode like 'Jitter and Japes' the episode is OK but it's not great, but that's no excuse for such a move to replace it against an episode that is regarded as a 'modern classic'. The iTunes release here in Australia had released 'The Thomas Way' and I would've gladly accept that as the replacement episode for the DVD instead of that S14 episode. However I'm glad that the five episodes from the 17th season were there and some are worth watching. Incase you're wondering no 'Jitter and Japes' wasn't narrated by Mark Moraghan, even if that happened it would never improve anything as the script is still the same from 2010. But I don't approve the deletion of the segments that were shown at the cinemas two months ago and it gives the words 'false advertising' towards there customers. My views on these episodes will be released later, in the meantime you can have a look at my views on the S14 episode and the iTunes released episode.  

OVERALL

In January 2014, ABC and Hoyts had played a different version of the DVD to the Australian audience. Hoyts had played the one with Mr. Perkins, Who's that Engine etc. that UK and American audience get. I thought Australia would finally get those after three years of having CGI releases being individual episode with no special segments. Unfortunately this the same as the rest of the DVD releases that Australia had gotten. ABC had tampered with the DVD with the new and improved segments being cut out and the replacement of 'Thomas' Shorcut' with a generic and bland S14 episode that it left me disappointed. But on the plus side, the five S17 episodes were worth it and iTunes had replaced 'Thomas' Shortcut' with 'The Thomas Way', another great S17 episode, which I would gladly accept as the replacement episode instead of 'Jitter and Japes' on the DVD. In the end the ABC had false advertised their customers with the special preview of the DVD at the cinemas in January and if they are reading this I think next time when they release Thomas DVDs they should stick with what the UK had released with the segments and no replacement of the sixth episode. The UK and US DVDs have released the episodes in the same way and they have never tampered with theirs, minus America having their CGI releases in 4:3 screen ratio, though they are improving now with 16:9 widescreen. 

Rating: 3.5/5