A Retrospective of Thomas & Friends DVDs of 2015

As we end another year, let's take a look at all the previous releases that we've witnessed in the Thomas & Friends brand that had been released in the US, UK and Australia during the 70th anniversary of the Railway Series books, 2015:

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

A RETROSPECTIVE OF 
THOMAS & FRIENDS DVDS OF 2015

DINOS AND DISCOVERIES

Review Date: 19/01/15

DVD Rating: 7/10

Looking back at this DVD, I think it was good. The stories were fun and comical such as 'Emily Saves the World' and it was great seeing stories like 'Marion and the Dinosaur' linking in with the first few minutes of 'Samson at Your Service'. I like the episode 'Timothy and the Rainbow Truck' as I see it as a S13-16 story done right, it doesn't feel forced and its simplicity is nice and the ending was executed well in my opinion. Fans say that this was overhyped, but I wasn't hyped to see these episodes despite that S18 was a great season. I think it was hyped up because of 'The Adventure Begins' trailer that was on it.

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

Review Date: 19/03/15

DVD Rating: 10/10

In celebration of the Railway Series' 70th anniversary, the production team of Thomas & Friends have compiled this special special, yeah I said a S13-16 term but to me it is a special special. A retelling of the first two books, I like that as they're finally giving recognition of the 1st book that Thomas didn't appear in. Sure there are a few hiccups that would be despised by the purists and characters like Jerome, Judy and Glynn weren't playing a big role but they had purpose, it was still an amazing tribute to the timeless stories. Sure it's different towards the classic era but fans need to know that if the special was just a carbon copy of S1 or the second Railway Series book, it wouldn't be interesting. Plus to the people who thinks this 'ruined' continuity or the classic series, look back at the ten years that Thomas had suffered through. We had a special (extended episode) known as 'Calling All Engines!', I find it (CAE) underrated but there are better specials out there. Plus in 2010 we got Misty Island Rescue for the 65th anniversary. Those two anniversary years had two specials that ruined continuity. I will say that the advertising for the DVD was rather poor in both countries (US/UK) but the UK had the worst until the actual release when it was advertised on TV, although it did gain No.1 on the DVD listing beating the likes of Dreamworks at ASDA. In future if HIT Entertainment should release the sequel, if there's ever going to be one, they should give it to all stores like they did in Australia and Japan and considering this was a last minute attempt, it was well done.

TROUBLE ON THE TRACKS

Review Date: 4/05/15

DVD Rating: 8/10

The UK release of the Wal*Mart exclusive of 2014, except it was released to all stores. However it was given two episodes which certainly fitted the theme of them well. The intervals were great too, not only we get one but two segments from the 'Mr. Perkins' Storytime' segments. 

THE COMPLETE SERIES 16

Review Date: 12/06/15

DVD Rating: 4/10

Back in 2012 I said that the 16th season was a good season. But looking back at it with this DVD, it's terrible and it's no surprise really, the stories are bland, Michael Angelis' narration was bland etc. the only saving grace was Nitrogen's animation, although I do see they have a set of limitations during that time with camera angles and all compare to Arc Productions. Do I hate Nitrogen? No. 

RAILWAY MISCHIEF

Review Date: 9/07/15

DVD Rating: 8/10

This DVD took two years to be released in the UK since its release over at Wal*Mart stores across the US. It feels strange to see just how much improvement Arc Productions had made since S17 but in a good way.

WHALE OF A TALE 

& OTHER SODOR ADVENTURES

Review Date: 23/07/15

DVD Rating: 8/10

The S19 Wal*Mart exclusive with five selected episodes. They are good episodes providing us with good morals and relatable episodes (e.g - Henry Spots Trouble) the special features are nice too such as Mr. Perkins' Railway, with wonderfully shot footage of steam and diesel locomotives.

1ST CLASS STORIES

Review Date: 4/09/15

DVD Rating: 5/10

This release was not perfect nor great with its choice of episode. But it's not bad either. I still think they should've chosen better episodes such as 'Edward's Exploit' and 'The Deputation' but the choice of classic episodes are fine with me as it could bring kids to understand the continuity references that were made from various specials and S18.

SODOR'S LEGEND OF THE 

LOST TREASURE

Review Date: 28/09/15

DVD Rating: 8/10

Probably the best Thomas centric special to date but when it comes to the yearly specials. I prefer TOTB because of its emotional storyline and was more invested to Percy's storyline. The performance made by John Hurt, Jamie Campbell Bower and Eddie Redmayne for the new character were brilliant and fun, especially John Hurt's performance as Sailor John. Although I think Sailor John is overrated, I don't hate the character and I love his voice work but he was more your most of his characterisation is a typical cliched pirate villain, wanting the treasure because...because. I think it would've been better if he were related to Captain Callis it would've made some good character development. Again, I don't hate Sailor John, I think he's not the best villain the series had. Plus Ryan didn't add much to the story. Yes he had a reason to be on Sodor, but he lacked the conflict between him and Thomas. I did say he and Stanley are different, but Ryan being a goody goody character isn't that original either. Skiff was good but I think he would've been better if he were a villain at first and then turned into a good guy later on.

THOMAS' CHRISTMAS CAROL

Review Date: 3/11/15

DVD Rating: 7.5/10

I like the episodes on this year's Christmas DVD and the new segments such as 'Landmarks of Sodor'.  By the time I reviewed this DVD however I find the quality of DVDs released by Universal to be very poor with the interlacing. It's distracting to the viewer and rather strange that a division of a well-known company had released films like 'Back to the Future'. I'm sticking with the iTunes releases as they have the best quality when it comes to HD, especially in 1080p.

TALE ON THE RAILS

Review Date: 10/11/15

DVD Rating: 7/10

This DVD is alright as well. I love the three selected S19 episodes, they were interesting and well written and the two S18 episodes were fine choices, especially 'Duck and the Slip Coaches'. The intervals though I find are bit of a disappointment. They've only released Thomas and Gordon's 'Calling All Engines!' segments that were released previously in 2013 on 'Santa's Little Engine' and a new segment was made with just the Fat Controller's voice talking about Millie which felt like 'Calling All Engines!' and 'Who's that Engine' morphed together with him talking about the episode 'Luke's New Friend'. It was good though that Mr. Perkins wasn't ignored as part of the extras, but you think that Universal or HIT would know that they've used the UK dubbing of the story time and Postcard from the 'Railway Mischief' DVD that was released back in July?

And so we now end the 70th anniversary year of the Railway Series. So what's next for 2016? Well of course the 20th season of the TV series and the new special 'The Great Race' with 12 new characters whom are international engines. But first the UK will get there version of 'Signals Crossed' and we will await for the last few S19 episode in the exclusive Thomas DVD 'Start Your Engines!' with the new character called Phillip who was revealed in a Japanese character guide book back in September 2015 with episodes that had aired in Japan earlier. So to conclude this post I wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope you have a bright future ahead. 

NWR1991.

S19 Ep.10: The Beast of Sodor

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

THE BEAST OF SODOR

Written by

Becky Overton

Directed by

Don Spencer

Air Date

31/12/15

Plot:

The Vicarstown Bridge is blocked and so Spencer is to stay on Sodor for the time being. He told the other engines his 'story' of the abominable snowman. Henry is scared by and Spencer thought it'll be finny to tease him. Until they've encountered one or so they thought.

PRO:

- Henry upping himself during the snowman scene

- The Fat Controller's comedy moment

- Henry's wimpy attitude isn't cringe this season

- Lots of funny moments
- Moral: Don't be up yourself 

CON:

- Spencer being on a single line with Henry

I really how the team handled Henry's wimpy behaviour this season. Sure episodes like 'Henry Spots Trouble' was a bit over the top but it showed something relatable about being scared of the unknown and this episode wasn't as cringe worthy as I thought. I love the scene when Henry was upping himself against the abominable snowman, which turns out to be the Fat Controller this whole time, it definitely adds some character development in him. Sure people like to see him in his old persona and that's fine, even though I don't find it to be standing out from the rest of the crowd as we have arrogant engines like Gordon and James and Samson. I also love the comedic moments of the Fat Controller, especially the bull chasing him was funny but there are also other great comedic moment like the Fat Controller's face zooming in with the dramatic music and the record scratching of the dramatic music. I will say that being a show that brings out the railway realism, it quite illogical of Spencer and Henry being on one single track with two seperate trains. I think the best idea if they do these types of episodes with two characters sharing the lead role, it'll be better if they double head the train. I don't think they've ever shown that in the television series at all?

The concept of this episode reminds me of 'Ghost Train' with Spencer being all uppity and teased one of the engines about the abominable snowman. Same as how Thomas is all uppity about not being scared of a ghost. It brings in the moral to kids about not to be up themselves over things that never happened to them.

Sure people will say 'it's trains with faces, that's not realistic'. Sure, that's true but Rev.W.Awdry created the Island of Sodor's railway system authentically and set within real life, a bit like Harry Potter and that is what made the series unique as the NWR is trying to be like a real working railway rather then a fantasy magical island. But with that out of the way, I like this episode and I'm glad that the new team are handling Henry well.

Rating: 9/10

Episode Rating:

Who's Geoffrey - 9/10

The Truth About Toby - 6.5/10

Lost Property - 9/10

Henry Spots Trouble - 7/10

Snow Place Like Home - 7/10

A Cranky Christmas - 6/10

Diesel's Ghostly Christmas - 9.5/10

Toad and The Whale - 9/10

Very Important Sheep - 9/10

The Beast of Sodor - 9/10

Series Rating (So far):

81/100

S19 Ep.9: Very Important Sheep

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

VERY IMPORTANT SHEEP

Written by

Helen Farrell 

Directed by

Don Spencer

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Jennifer Hill (Arc)

Plot:

Percy was late after his mail run and so was rushing to take some sheep to the spring fair for Farmer McColl. However the van was broken and the very important sheep had escaped from the broken hole!

Air Date:

30/12/15 - AUS

PRO:

-Moral: Don't overcompensate or don't rush & 
make sacrifices to help those in need 
- The music
- The humour

CON:

Many people I know thought this episode was going to be bad due to that some sheep were being used in the episode. While the episode is simple, it was nice and you would call it a S13-16 episode done better, like 'Timothy and the Rainbow Truck'. Percy was in character and he doesn't act dumbed down like he did in the past as he was showing the moral that we shouldn't rush about or overcompensate. 

With that now out of the way, I love the music that was used for the countryside, the nice guitar work brings in the lovely and simple countryside feeling. It gave that very early classic series vibe, the episode overall. Percy and Gordon's part brought up 'Percy and the Signal' and I hope we see an episode with those two in future, even though I wish the writer flesh out Gordon's good hearted side, as I think his pompous attitude is starting to get annoying. The CGI for the countryside was lovely too so credits to Arc Productions on that and the humour was good as well when it comes to the sheep. In the end it was a fine episode and it's good to see some simpleness in the series still. It's a nice slice of life story.

Rating: 9/10

Episode Rating:

Who's Geoffrey - 9/10

The Truth About Toby - 6.5/10

Lost Property - 9/10

Henry Spots Trouble - 7/10

Snow Place Like Home - 7/10

A Cranky Christmas - 6/10

Diesel's Ghostly Christmas - 9.5/10

Toad and The Whale - 9/10

Very Important Sheep - 9/10

Series Rating (So far):

72/90

S19 Ep.8: Toad and The Whale

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

TOAD AND THE WHALE

Written by

Helen Farrall

Directed by

Don Spencer

Air Date

29/12/15 - AUS

Plot

Toad spots a stranded whale at Bluffs Cove

PRO:

- Moral: Help animals in need 

CON:

- Flynn's voice

So Toad is given another episode but although I do like him, I think there should be more episodes based around Duck and Oliver. I'm not one of those fans who think giving a character is three episode is too much, seriously that was a big deal. I just think Duck and Oliver should have more episodes to themselves, especially Oliver. I think his arrogance of his escape would bring a potential storyline to teach kids about not to make up the truth. But aside from that, I like this episode. It has a good moral about help animals in need. It's good to see Toad's personality being fleshed out to show a caring side of him when it comes to other living beings. But if there's one flaw I have to point out, it's Flynn's voice. Rob Rackstraw is a good voice actor for characters such as Toby in the UK dub but some of his voices lacked much continuity that it sounds almost like Kerry Shale. It would've been better if HIT Entertainment had told Ben Small that he won't be voicing Thomas and stay on voicing the other ones he had done previously, they did that with Keith Wickham and Kerry Shale in their own respective dubs because his Flynn voice sounds almost like Rupert Degas' one.

But aside from that, this episode is nice and sweet and it definitely shines more personality in Toad.

Rating: 9/10

Episode Rating:
Who's Geoffrey - 9/10
The Truth About Toby - 6.5/10
Lost Property - 9/10
Henry Spots Trouble - 7/10
Snow Place Like Home - 7/10
A Cranky Christmas - 6/10
Diesel 's Ghostly Christmas - 9.5/10
Toad and The Whale - 9/10

Series Rating (So far):
63/70

S19 Ep.7: Diesel's Ghostly Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2015!!

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

DIESEL'S GHOSTLY CHRISTMAS 

Written by
Becky Overton

Based on 'A Christmas Carol' by
Charles Dickens

Directed by
Don Spencer

Produced by
Jennifer Hill (Arc)
Ian McCue (HIT)

Air Date
25/12/15 - P1 & P2: AUS

Plot
Diesel is not a helpful engine on Christmas. He didn't help Thomas with his jobs, didn't push the flatbed for Salty and not helping Paxton back on the rails. So he was visited by three 'ghosts'.

PRO
-Moral: Be helpful
- The little detail 
- The references to 'A Christmas Carol'
- Classic series reference: Diesel Does it Again

CON:
- Kerry Shale's scream for Diesel almost sounds like Henry

For the first time we see a double length episode and a story based on the famous Charles Dickens classic, 'A Christmas Carol' which had endless amount of adaptations from the books to stage and film. This episode is really good and has a good teaching moral for kids about you can't be selfish during this time of the year and be helpful to others. I love the little detail Arc Productions had put in the episode such as Diesel's future with his eyebrows going grey. I like how we are seeing Diesel's character being more dimensional and not just being devious, sure he's the villain but as I said many times before, he's more of a boastful and selfish character rather then villain. Even if he were he would've wanted steam engines to be scrapped in the first place. If there's one con I have and that is Kerry Shale, I'm not a big fan of his voice work but I do love his Diesel voice but his scream for it sounds almost like Henry and at times his voice kind of switches to his voice too. There's not much else I can say about this episode. Although I did have the thought of the episode being based on my video I did in 2012, but I thought of it later as a coincidence.

Rating: 9.5/10

Episode Rating:
Who's Geoffrey - 9/10
The Truth About Toby - 6.5/10
Lost Property - 9/10
Henry Spots Trouble - 7/10
Snow Place Like Home - 7/10
A Cranky Christmas - 6/10
Diesel's Ghostly Christmas - 9.5/10

Series Rating (So far):

54/70

S19 Ep.6: A Cranky Christmas

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

A CRANKY CHRISTMAS

Written by

Mark Huckerby & Nick Olster

Directed by

Don Spencer

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Jennifer Hill (Arc)

Air Date
24/12/15 - AUS 

Plot:

While unloading a Christmas crate for the Fat Controller, Cranky dropped it by accident and thought the load was damaged badly. He hid the crate from Thomas. However once the crate was found, it was something else.

PRO:

- Showing kids the importances of sandboxes in snowy and iced weather 
- Moral: Admit your mistakes

CON:
- The episode shares the similarity of 'Who's Geoffrey'. 

I think the episode is simple and simplicity is good. I like how sandboxes are now a common thing to see now in the show and they let kids understand the importance of sandboxes for such conditions like the snow in this episode, much better then 'Keeping Up with James' where it was a missed opportunity to all kids about the use of sandboxes. The moral is what we've seen in 'Who's Geoffrey', admit your mistakes and it shares the similarity of the episode with Cranky hiding his mistake which caused some problems, sort of not anything new here. I don't really have a problem with Thomas being in many episodes this season and I believe he added purpose to be the star of the episode, a young tank engine who is rushing about not thinking about the important things when it comes to snowy weather is something kids can learn from as snow can be a very dangerous thing to deal with. I do love the Thomas and Edward chemistry here, it's nice to see a wise old engine helping out a young tank engine, yes I know Thomas' basis is as old as the Queen herself but considering that Thomas is a children's show, kids need to see these engines as something relatable. It's not a great episode but it's good to watch.

Rating: 6/10

Episode Rating:
Who's Geoffrey - 9/10
The Truth About Toby - 6.5/10
Lost Property - 9/10
Henry Spots Trouble - 7/10
Snow Place Like Home - 7/10
A Cranky Christmas - 6/10

Series Rating (So far): 
44.5/60

S19 Ep.5: Snow Place Like Home

After months and months and months of waiting, despite a few DVD releases in the US and some episodes airing in Japan with the UK dub, S19 is back on TV once more after a long...unexplained hiatus by Channel 5 in the UK, despite that they're still airing S13-16 Christmas/Winter holiday stories. But despite that, S19 had started its run in Australia and are airing the Christmas episodes during the Christmas week on ABC Australia. So here are more views on the S19 episodes. 

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

SNOW PLACE LIKE HOME

Written by

Lee Pressman

Directed by 

Don Spencer

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Jennifer Hill (Arc)

Plot:

The snow is causing all sorts of trouble to the engines and Emily's new piston rods are stranded at the depot. Victor hates snow but Kevin loves it until it had caused trouble.

Air Date:

21/12/15 - AUS

PRO:

- Kevin's body language

- Victor's determined attitude 

- Victor's parental attitude

CON:

- Kevin's US voice
- Victor being narrow gauge on standard gauge track
- Percy and Henry's purpose
- Emily's purpose would be given more reasoning

This was a nice episode and can be relatable to children and parents when it comes to the snow. Kevin is the bubbly and naive child while Victor is the strict parent not wanting someone he knows to get hurt. Victor may have been exaggerating his hatred of snow saying that he'll get Emily's new piston rods until all the snow had been melted but you get his hatred of the white stuff as it can be a very difficult thing. But I also love his determined attitude, snow or not he's looking for someone's safety and was determined to do it even if he hates the snow. The improved animation really worked well for Kevin's body language, he moves like something from a Pixar film so fluently. In the end it was a nice episode and telling kids about the bad side of snow, sort of like what the classic series did.

But there are a few flaws that I would pick out. Looking at the US dub of this episode, I'm never much a fan of Kevin's US voice as it sounds exactly like Henry's voice done by Kerry Shale. Granted I'm not a Kerry Shale fan minus his Gordon and James voice but some of his characters sound similar. Since that HIT Entertainment had been changing voice during the course of 2015, I think they should use Kevin's UK voice for the US dub as that has more charm and character to Kevin's character and basis. I was wondering, have the animators thought that Victor is, as always, a narrow gauge engine? Sure this issue had been an mess during the Barlow era, but you think they would know with the existence of 'Don't Bother Victor' and I'm talking about Victor interacting with Thomas over Kevin nearing the end of the episode. Victor was travelling up the same line as Thomas, like he did (Thomas) in the earlier part of the episode. Plus at the beginning of the episode, Henry and Percy's part adds no impact, sure it's an example that the engines don't like snow but if it were say it's them getting stuck in the snow along with Emily's piston rod broken, it would've given enough reason why she needs new ones, and it would add a much more better reason to show Kevin that snow can be dangerous.

Rating: 7/10

Episode Rating:

Who's Geoffrey - 9/10
The Truth About Toby - 6.5/10
Lost Property - 9/10
Henry Spots Trouble - 7/10
Snow Place Like Home - 7/10 

Series Rating (So far):
38.5/50

NWR Editorial: The Poor Scheduling of S19 In the UK

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

NWR EDITORIAL:

THE POOR SCHEDULING OF S19 IN THE UK

With 'The Adventure Begins' and 'Sodor's Legend of The Lost Treasure' now out of the way, S19 is now being aired in countries like Japan and soon Australia. I don't know when the US will be airing there's, but I do think they'll be playing the Christmas episodes this year as well. But the UK has been hit by poor planning by Channel 5's parent company 'Viacom' who owns other networking companies like Nickelodeon. 

S19 have been shown on four DVDs in the US, about six episode had aired in Japan and Australia will be starting its run as well. The UK had been given four episodes starting September then for some unknown reason had started airing 'The Afternoon Tea Express' and then revert back to S13 episodes. Recently it's been announced by SiF that S19 would start its share of Christmas/Winter episodes in January 2016 and despite not living in the UK, I still think it's really poor on Viacom's part. They had written an email, Channel 5, to SteamTeam3211 back in September that they will play the Christmas episodes this month, initially. Some say the hold up was because of the recently revived 'Bob the Builder' series. I haven't seen the series yet so I won't be making any judgemental view on it, despite not being a huge Bob fan, although I did like it as a child when it was in stop motion animation. But they're both on the same time and I don't think one would be better then the other as both brands are owned by HIT Entertainment and are very popular with kids.

Instead of showing the recent episodes, Channel 5 will be airing episodes like 'The Christmas Tree Express', which is rather a very poor episode in comparison with the more recent ones like 'Last Train for Christmas' which I'm glad that they are playing. But looking at what the UK was given this year when it comes to S19, I think the question is this. Is it time for Thomas & Friends have a new provider for the episode to avoid this hiccup? Maybe not now, but I hope HIT Entertainment might give it a think one day. Sure they have held back 'The Christmas Tree Express' and had randomised S17 but they have release many episodes throughout the year. Heck they aired S13 and S14 in the same year, 2010.

Some might say it's not a big deal and yes they have a right to say this and despite that I've said in the past that people need to be patient, I don't think a country waiting an entire year for brand new episodes when in the end the UK had only got four episodes so far this year and have to wait sometime in the new year for more S19 episodes because after the Christmas episodes there, it's back to S13 again. It may as well be a kids show, but UK fans of Thomas & Friends both young and old don't deserve this.