A Retrospective of Thomas & Friends DVD 2014

As we near the end of 2014, let's all take a retrospective view on the Thomas DVDs that were released during the show's 30th year. Some were great and others were not so great, but first:

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND 

ARE NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE 

THE THOMAS WAY

Review Date:

31/1/14

The UK's first DVD release of 2014 and it's really enjoyable. There is a good selection of episodes from the 17th series and the segments between episodes such as Mr. Perkins and the quizzes are very fun. Especially the RWS stories that were read by Mr. Perkins as well, showcasing the Awdry's work to an entire new generation. 

Rating:

9/10

SPILLS AND THRILLS

Review Date:

5/3/14

In January 2014, ABC and Hoyts cinema had showcased this DVD at various Hoyts cinemas around Australia and it was entirely different compare to this one released on DVD two months later. Instead of the intervals like in the UK and US DVDs, we were given individual episodes and one bad and bland S14 episode, 'Jitter and Japes' replacing a great S17 episode 'Thomas' Shortcut'. ABC, the distributors of the Thomas DVDs for Australia for nearly 30 years, had false advertised their customers of the DVD cinema screening which made me very disappointed with this release. Though the five S17 episodes are worth it but it would've been better with how it was shown in the cinema screening. 

Rating: 

6/10

HOP ON BOARD - SONGS AND STORIES

Review Date:
22/3/14

The DVD is fine and entertaining. But all of the Anchor Bay re-releases have bland quality from the VHS transfers and the only good quality video is 'It's Great To Be An Engine'. The special features were bland but good enough for the young viewers of the show to know characters like Duck. Despite the quality it's a fine DVD, as I said before. Though it's unlikely America will see crisp quality restored footage of the classic series that the UK got back in 2012 but LG had released Spills and Thrills in widescreen so you never know, but don't get your hopes up too much though.

Rating:
5/10

TROUBLE ON THE TRACKS

Review Date:

8/4/14

Of course like 'Railway Mischief' back in 2013, Wal*Mart had released another DVD exclusive with five selected episodes from S18. The DVD has beaten 'Railway Mischief' out of the water. The episodes are good and entertaining too, plus the intervals were entertaining as well.

Rating:
10/10

TALE OF THE BRAVE

Review Date:

16/09/14

Definitely better then any previous Thomas special as of yet. The story can be focused to children who can deal with scary things in real life situations and shows brilliant morality of bravery. Although some parents say this is 'too scary' for kids, granted I understand what they're saying, but parents need to know the special needs to show the morality of bravery somehow and it can't be sugarcoated. The UK dub is better then the US one in my opinion. The UK dub has more emotion and feeling into the dialogue. The US dub is okay but it just lacks so much emotion, especially at the two climatic scenes, and feeling into the dialogue, generic and some of the voices sound like something from a cheesy 80's or 90's sitcom.

Rating:

9/10

ENGINES TO THE RESCUE

Review Date:

24/10/14 

The DVD showcased many episodes that fit well with the rescue theme and morals too. Though I personally wasn't a fan of the special features menu with music videos being rehashed to probably fill up the disc space. The DVD menu wasn't great either. But it's still a great DVD.

Rating:

9/10

  

THE CHRISTMAS ENGINES

Review Date:

7/11/14

Five brand new unaired Christmas episodes (in the United States at the time of its release) from the 18th series. Episodes like 'Last Train for Christmas' and 'Duncan the Humbug' were the episodes to me that stood out. 'Long Lost Friend' was good and 'Duck in The Water' and 'The Perfect Gift' were OK. The music video gave a nice festive feeling and the lyrics were good. I was even surprised that Andrew Brenner had used the television series adaptation of 'Percy and the Trousers' instead of the Railway Series one, though it was understandable.

Rating:

9/10

SIGNAL'S CROSSED

Review Date:

10/12/14

The DVD is good and it has a nice selection of episodes. However the strange thing about the DVD was that Universal's press release had announced that the Roll Call video is extended but all it turns out to be was the same song but was strangely cut from the end of the DVD. Many people have thought it's going to be remixed by EggPlant but on the plus side the new theme from EggPlant may as well be for the series, which was announced on their website months ago, which it could a remix of the original S1-7 theme or S8-18 theme.

Rating:

8/10

Though there is one DVD was going to review but decided to delete it as I've already done the American version and that was 'Santa's Little Engine'. Though I'm very happy with its release here in Australia. After seeing their version of 'Spills and Thrills' back in March I've written some criticism towards the ABC of how the way they've treated the DVD despite showing the one that the UK have released that month at various Hoyts cinemas in Australia, showing false advertisement to there costumers. Thankfully ABC had listened and released the UK version of 'Santa's Little Engine' to the Australian audience, many of the previous Thomas DVDs and videos prior to the CGI releases are UK copies. So if anyone from ABC is listening, I am thankful that it happened and I hope you continue on with them in future releases. 

2014 had brought us many surprises in their DVDs but now the time comes to end the year and bring in the new year of 2015 were we now celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Railway Series books, the one that started the popularity of Thomas the Tank Engine. Many things have been planned for the upcoming 70th celebrations and one to be a game changer according to Melad Morishi. More DVDs will be coming as we will be entreating the 31st year of the blue engine and his friends' long television run. Hope everyone has a Happy and safe New Year and hope that 2015 brings you something good.

DINOS AND DISCOVERIES REVIEW 

COMING SOON EARLY 2015

S18 Ep.20:The Perfect Gift

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

THE PERFECT GIFT

Written by

Davey Moore 

Directed by
Don Spencer

Produced by

Robert Anderson (Arc)
Ian McCue (HIT) 

Air Date

26/12/14

Plot

The whole island is celebrating Christmas and there are decorations everywhere. But it doesn't look very Christmas-y at the scrap yard. Percy starts to worry that Reg is missing out and he tries to find something to give Reg to cheer him up. But Reg only seems happy about scrap. Percy discovers that Reg is celebrating Christmas in his own way and has been making decorations from the scrap‏.

PRO:

- Reg's personality
- Moral: Every gift is perfect in any shape or form

CON:

- It feels a bit like previous 'special gift' episodes

I think this wasn't the best, but was an OK episode. It has a lovely moral to kids that any gift can be perfect in any shape or form, like Reg's Christmas tree. Despite that Reg hasn't have any sarcasm in this episode but he has a strong personality about who he is, like loving scrap metal. However the story is just like 'The Biggest Present of All' and 'Salty's Surprise', so the concept wasn't that original and the story was too simple, I like simple stories like you see in the classic era of the first two as they tend to have some special moments but they tend to make the stories a bit interesting. But it was OK from Davey Moore.

Rating: 5.5/10

S18 Ep.19:Duncan the Humbug

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

DUNCAN THE HUMBUG

Written by

Davey Moore

Directed by
Don Spencer

Produced by
Robert Anderson (Arc)
Ian McCue (HIT)

Plot

Everyone is happy at Christmas time except for Duncan, the Scottish narrow gauge engine, who seems to be grumbling even more than usual. Victor offers Duncan a new coat of paint if he can refrain from grumbling for one whole day. Duncan rises to the challenge, but it is not so easy for an engine who likes to grumble to give up a lifetime habit.

Air Date

25/12/14

PRO:

- Moral: Don't be a scrooge on Christmas/You shouldn't force anyone to be cheery
- The viaduct 

CON:

- Thomas giving the interaction between the SG and NG engines

I think we'll see many Duncan episodes written by Davey Moore. He captures Duncan's personality very well, though I would love to see other writers taking on Duncan. What I love about this episode is that the moral of the story is that you shouldn't be a scrooge during Christmas, it pretty much sucks the fun out of the festivities and on Mr. Percival's side, you shouldn't force someone to be cheery as well. When I first saw these episodes on my iPad, I have a US account on iTunes by purchasing items with an iTunes gift card I buy from iTunes card delivery, great website, seeing the viaduct in pure 1080 HD was just fantastic, this is the viaduct that SiF had put on their poll from HIT Entertainment's Thomas production team, this makes me respect Arc even more, although I like Nitrogen, Arc did a fantastic job more then its predecssor. I think one downside to me is the use of Thomas for the interaction between the SG and NG engines, we all know he's the title character, but now that the show is in CGI we should be seeing more engines interacting with the narrow gauge engines, last time we saw that was in S16 in....'The Christmas Tree Express', one of the worst S16 episodes period. It's not a sign of grumbling from me, it's just there are more engines to use for interaction. There is a reason why the show is called 'Thomas & Friends'. But all in all, it's a good episode.

Rating: 8/10

S18 Ep.18:Last Train for Christmas

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

LAST TRAIN FOR CHRISTMAS

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by
Don Spencer

Produced by
Robert Anderson (Arc)
Ian McCue (HIT)

Air Date

24/12/14 - UK & AUS

Plot
It's Christmas Eve and a lot of passengers are coming home to Sodor for the holiday. Connor can't carry all the passengers who are trying to get on his train. He promises to come back and pick them up, but the snow keeps falling and the engines are struggling to keep the tracks clear. It becomes a race against time, and the engines have to work together to clear the tracks and get the passengers home in time for Christmas.

PRO:

- Moral: Be home for Christmas/Christmas is effort
- The heartwarming storyline
- Definitely captures the Sodor Railway 

CON:

- Crovans Gate being the mainland station

Definitely one of Andrew Brenner's best episodes, yet. For those wondering about the Christmas is effort moral, if you've seen Doug Walker's message at the end about what Christmas means to him, as the Nostalgia Critic, then I suggest watching his review on 'The Christmas Tree' from last year. Christmas is effort, people put the effort into that kindness and sharing and I kept that message with me ever since 2013 and this episode clearly shows the value of that moral as we see Connor putting effort into getting the people home and as well as the engines putting the effort to clear the tracks for Connor at the end. The storyline is very heartwarming and strong and the scene with the father hugging his daughter on the platform actually gave me a smile. Plus I love the determination that Thomas has, that is excellent characterisation for the main character. The episode also gives out what the North Western Railway is, or Sodor Railway as it's called in the TV series, that it serves the public whatever the weather, like all railways in the real world.

Though it's not a big deal to me, but I do hope Arc Productions make a mainland station rather then reuse Crovans Gate station, but I don't mind it really. The render of the station looks good enough to be a station on the mainland.

Rating: 10/10

S18 Ep.17:Long Lost Friend

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

LONG LOST FRIEND

Written by

Mark Huckerby and Nick Olster 

Directed by

Don Spencer 

Produced by

Robert Anderson (Arc)
Ian McCue (HIT) 

Air Date:

18/10/14 - AUS
23/12/14 - UK 

Plot

Gator returns to the Island of Sodor after being away for a long time. He is looking forward to seeing his old friend Percy. When Percy hears that Gator is back, he is very excited and immediately heads off to see him. But the two engines keep missing each other. They both have doubts they will see each other, but finally they connect and have a wonderful reunion.

PRO:

- Crew interaction between Gator and his driver
- The new crossroad turntable at the steamworks
- Percy and Gator's reunion was nice

CON:

- Gator knowing Owen
- Narrow gauge engines hauling standard gauge trucks
- The plot was a bit repetitive 
- What was the point of the rock salt?

This episode is alright, but not the best in my opinion. The plot was repetitive, but not as annoying as S13-16's episodes. Plus there was an unexplained moments of Gator knowing Owen at the BMQ, though that is just a nitpick. Plus the purpose of the rock salt, it was delivered to the Island of Sodor along with Gator and was sent back to the docks later, what was the purpose of it all? Is it a plot device to keep the story going? Plus there's the usual Arc error's which Peter Sam hauling standard gauge trucks, I like Arc but they need to solve these errors. But there is a positive aspect in this episode. I love it how they're bringing back the crew interaction between the driver and engine, we haven't seen that since S8's 'Too Hot For Thomas' ten years ago! Or another episode I've missed, but most episodes during the new series era weren't memorable. Plus the new crossroad turntable at the steamworks was a nice feature as well as Percy and Gator's reunion, was nice and warm and shows the same moral as 'Last Train for Christmas' that friends and family should be home for Christmas. It's an alright episode, but not the best. Even the duded episodes of this new era are watchable from time to time.

Rating: 6/10

DVD Review: Signals Crossed

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

SIGNALS CROSSED

Episodes

Marion and the Pipe
No Steam Without Coal
Signals Crossed
Duncan and the Grumpy Passenger
Thomas and the Emergency Cable

Written by

Mark Huckerby & Nick Olster
Davey Moore
Andrew Brenner

Special Features
Calling All Engines! - Duck and James
Mr. Perkins' Storytime - Thomas Goes Fishing
The Earl's Quiz - Emily Saves the World & Express Coming Through
Mr. Perkins' Postcard - Bridges

Engine Roll Call music video

Searching Everywhere music video

Guess Who? puzzles

Trailers

Directed by

David Stoten 

Don Spencer

Produced by

Robert Anderson (Arc)

Ian McCue (HIT)

Distributed by

HIT Entertainment/Universal 

Release Date

11/11/14 - Digital Download 
2/12/14 - DVD

Well we've come to the last DVD of Thomas & Friends for 2014. Another batch of Season 18 episodes. A blog post about all the DVD's that I've reviewed during 2014 will be published around later on in the month, possibly about New Years Eve. Anyway here's my views on the final DVD release from the United States for 2014.

EPISODES

My views of these are provided under the 'Episodes' title under the DVD cover as they've aired in the UK. I'll give my own word on the Ferdinand cameo, the people who may've downgrade the episode because of that, it was just a one second cameo so don't make it into such a big deal. MIR as well as S14-16 were terrible but even if the writers bring back the logging locos they may come to be likeable as the writers care about character development, this is why the fan base is in such total disgrace to the rest of the fans who love the show, people downgrade episode for the littlest thing possible, a bit like 'Emily Saves the World' despite that's not even out yet. Though the episodes that stood out to me on this DVD are 'Thomas and the Emergency Cable', 'Duncan and the Grumpy Passenger' and 'No Steam Without Coal'. All episodes though have great morals and stories despite some problems here and there, only little ones though.

SPECIAL FEATURES

The 'Calling All Engines!' segments on this release are Duck and James, it's pretty much the same like every other character for kids to understand there personalities. Mr. Perkins returns again with a Railway Series story of 'Thomas Goes Fishing', despite that there aren't any of Lorraine Marshall's illustrations, Dalby's work is still remarkable to look out and even on HD, yes I bought the digital download by having an iTunes US account. We are given another postcard about bridges and how they are important to the railway as well as the road. The Earl's Quiz provided us an unseen S18 episode from the upcoming DVD 'Dinos and Discoveries' in January in the UK, the episode is the somehow 'infamous' 'Emily Saves the World', I'll my two cents on the episode next month as well as a S16 episode 'Express Coming Through'. The quiz is good for kids to learn from about the engine or animal, as provided in the questions in the segments.

The strange thing though is that the DVD advertise 'Engine Roll Call' as extended in the press release by Universal. When it was first revealed some fans were thinking that the song is either remixed by EggPlant considering that there website had announced that they are going to revamp the classic theme, before you get started on that the classic theme is the one from S1-7, many could consider that the recent theme is classic as it has been ten years since its introduction in 2004. But on the DVD release it's nothing more then the music video strangely cut off from the DVD and was used as a special feature with no extension possible. The only thing that's extensive is that the song was longer like in the S8 videos and DVDs back in 2004.

OVERALL

The DVD was good. There's a nice selection of episodes for kids to watch with morals and good story lines and segments for kids to be entertained with. But despite that, if you're looking for a Christmas gift for your child I suggest 'Tale of The Brave' for Christmas as that DVD has a much more bigger and brilliant story. Well that is all the Thomas DVDs I have reviewed during 2014. DVD reviews will be back sometime in January 2015. Next post will be the Christmas episodes of S18 as we are the month of Christmas.

Rating: 8/10

DINOS AND DISCOVERIES REVIEW
COMING SOON JANUARY 2015