THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE
TALE OF THE BRAVE (2014)
Andrew Brenner
Directed by
Rob Silvestri
Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT)
Robert Anderson & Brian Lynch (Arc)
Release Date
1/09/14 - UK
16/09/14- US
1/10/14 - AUS
Distributed by
HIT Entertainment
MY VIEWS
Honestly, this was a major improvement compare to 'King of the Railway' because there was focus on the narrative. Sure there were subplots but they all feel connected compare to the 2013 special, Thomas was curiorus about the mysterious footprint, Percy was scared by the idea of a monster and James was trying to hide his scaredy side to make himself look bigger. I will say Percy being the scaredy engine does seem to be a big depature to how the way Awdry made him but to be honest, the lead role for him feels like something for him. Percy, in the classic series, has traits similar to Thomas (cheeky, arrogant and boastful) but he had some traits that are different and they are his naiveness and scaredy trait. This is the same engine that once believed in 'backing signals', this is the same engine who got scared of a paper dragon, naughty gnomes etc in the non-Awdry stories. It seems right for him to take the lead, Percy was being naive about the idea of a monster and was scared by the idea too. Plus a role like this can be really relatable among younger kids who go through that phase of things in the dark looking scarey by the weird shape of shadows. Heck even adults can get scared of things sometimes and its natural.
I do like how Thomas was handeled in this special particulary with Percy. After Percy had dealt with James' 'scrap monster', he (Thomas) wants to believe him but he had his own doubts and Thomas has the right to have some of it because the moment he saw during that thunderstorm was just a blink of the eye and he doesn't know if it was real or if he was seeing things. Percy really didn't need to be angry with him but of course he doesn't how Thomas was thinking. I also, if I digress here, remember talking to someone years ago about the idea of the footprints, they said that it was super obvivous what it is, BUT do the characters in the film know? Had they ever seen a dinosuar before? Yes we know about Christopher Awdry's book about Thomas and the dinosuar but hardly any of his books get acknowledgement at all compare to his father's and his stand alone books from the 90's aren't canon since they were never referenced in any of his Railway Series books. When we see a movie, we don't watch through our presepective we're suppose to see it through the character's prespective. So the idea of Thomas not knowing what those footprints are makes a so much sense in them making it a mystery.
With James, I like how he was the bully to Percy, but he only did it out of fun for himself. This is James that I see from the classic series and he was like this with the likes of Edward, Gordon and the other engines with his teasing. However he learnt, although visually, that he can be scared himself and they do say that all bullies are cowards from the inside. Percy is very opened about being a coward and very vulnerable as shown in the movie and of course James sees that as an opportunity to bully him but of course he's a coward on the inside and didn't want to show it.
As with Gator, I do like the wisdom and advise he gave to Percy. But yeah why was he on Sodor? I mean sure Connor and Caitlin were on Sodor because they were on time trials but Gator was here because he was. After reading SiF's viewpoint on the movie from 2014, his reason for storytelling purposes was to be a strange looking engine that looks unusual and uncanny compare to the other engines that we normally see on Sodor. A bit like a monster. His fear of height was intriguing but we also learn from him that we have to brave even though we are scared and it's hard for somebody to get over something fearful too but we mustn't let fear enslave us in the end. Clive Mantle's voice was nice, soothing and clam.
Marion and neither Timothy had anything major to play in the film but there characters shine like Marion's talkative attitude and Timothy's gullibility. I will say Oliva Colman really shined with Marion and I can tell she was having lots of fun voicing her. She really had brought alot of warmth to her too and it amazes me on how far she had come since voicing Marion, I mean sure she had a successful acting career before Thomas but she's now an acamedy award winner now and that is something. I would love to see her again in the show. I think the only character that could've been cut and introduce later would've been Reg. He was there and that was it. I will also point out, Cranky's scene of stopping the ship was still tensed and sure while it's unrealistic, the show had never been focused with reality for quite sometime. I think I had just come to the point with it being the new norm. I also remembered someone saying they should've referenced 'Cranky Bugs' despite some complain about 'fan service' because they'd referened 'Up, Up and Away', how this is that fan service when the older fanbase despise it I will never know. But to me it wouldn't be useful and would feel shoehorned in just to please some older fans.
I do understand that the structure of the story have been a bit all over the place but I managed to follow the story despite that.In the end, this special is great. I loved it back in 2014 and I still think it holds up. I find it a bit weird to hear Ben Small after years hearing John Hasler and while I think Hasler has done a bit better than Small, Ben had done good work into bringing Thomas' voice to life over the years, although I think HIT and Mattel could've let him stayed on as the other characters he was voicing but he wouldn't have done much given how the character he had voiced don't have much episodes or roles as they use to.
OVERALL RATING
9/10
Honestly, this was a major improvement compare to 'King of the Railway' because there was focus on the narrative. Sure there were subplots but they all feel connected compare to the 2013 special, Thomas was curiorus about the mysterious footprint, Percy was scared by the idea of a monster and James was trying to hide his scaredy side to make himself look bigger. I will say Percy being the scaredy engine does seem to be a big depature to how the way Awdry made him but to be honest, the lead role for him feels like something for him. Percy, in the classic series, has traits similar to Thomas (cheeky, arrogant and boastful) but he had some traits that are different and they are his naiveness and scaredy trait. This is the same engine that once believed in 'backing signals', this is the same engine who got scared of a paper dragon, naughty gnomes etc in the non-Awdry stories. It seems right for him to take the lead, Percy was being naive about the idea of a monster and was scared by the idea too. Plus a role like this can be really relatable among younger kids who go through that phase of things in the dark looking scarey by the weird shape of shadows. Heck even adults can get scared of things sometimes and its natural.
I do like how Thomas was handeled in this special particulary with Percy. After Percy had dealt with James' 'scrap monster', he (Thomas) wants to believe him but he had his own doubts and Thomas has the right to have some of it because the moment he saw during that thunderstorm was just a blink of the eye and he doesn't know if it was real or if he was seeing things. Percy really didn't need to be angry with him but of course he doesn't how Thomas was thinking. I also, if I digress here, remember talking to someone years ago about the idea of the footprints, they said that it was super obvivous what it is, BUT do the characters in the film know? Had they ever seen a dinosuar before? Yes we know about Christopher Awdry's book about Thomas and the dinosuar but hardly any of his books get acknowledgement at all compare to his father's and his stand alone books from the 90's aren't canon since they were never referenced in any of his Railway Series books. When we see a movie, we don't watch through our presepective we're suppose to see it through the character's prespective. So the idea of Thomas not knowing what those footprints are makes a so much sense in them making it a mystery.
With James, I like how he was the bully to Percy, but he only did it out of fun for himself. This is James that I see from the classic series and he was like this with the likes of Edward, Gordon and the other engines with his teasing. However he learnt, although visually, that he can be scared himself and they do say that all bullies are cowards from the inside. Percy is very opened about being a coward and very vulnerable as shown in the movie and of course James sees that as an opportunity to bully him but of course he's a coward on the inside and didn't want to show it.
As with Gator, I do like the wisdom and advise he gave to Percy. But yeah why was he on Sodor? I mean sure Connor and Caitlin were on Sodor because they were on time trials but Gator was here because he was. After reading SiF's viewpoint on the movie from 2014, his reason for storytelling purposes was to be a strange looking engine that looks unusual and uncanny compare to the other engines that we normally see on Sodor. A bit like a monster. His fear of height was intriguing but we also learn from him that we have to brave even though we are scared and it's hard for somebody to get over something fearful too but we mustn't let fear enslave us in the end. Clive Mantle's voice was nice, soothing and clam.
Marion and neither Timothy had anything major to play in the film but there characters shine like Marion's talkative attitude and Timothy's gullibility. I will say Oliva Colman really shined with Marion and I can tell she was having lots of fun voicing her. She really had brought alot of warmth to her too and it amazes me on how far she had come since voicing Marion, I mean sure she had a successful acting career before Thomas but she's now an acamedy award winner now and that is something. I would love to see her again in the show. I think the only character that could've been cut and introduce later would've been Reg. He was there and that was it. I will also point out, Cranky's scene of stopping the ship was still tensed and sure while it's unrealistic, the show had never been focused with reality for quite sometime. I think I had just come to the point with it being the new norm. I also remembered someone saying they should've referenced 'Cranky Bugs' despite some complain about 'fan service' because they'd referened 'Up, Up and Away', how this is that fan service when the older fanbase despise it I will never know. But to me it wouldn't be useful and would feel shoehorned in just to please some older fans.
I do understand that the structure of the story have been a bit all over the place but I managed to follow the story despite that.In the end, this special is great. I loved it back in 2014 and I still think it holds up. I find it a bit weird to hear Ben Small after years hearing John Hasler and while I think Hasler has done a bit better than Small, Ben had done good work into bringing Thomas' voice to life over the years, although I think HIT and Mattel could've let him stayed on as the other characters he was voicing but he wouldn't have done much given how the character he had voiced don't have much episodes or roles as they use to.
OVERALL RATING
9/10
