DVD Review: Marvellous Machinery

I know I said once that I was waiting for Australia's release but since ABC went with 'A Colourful World' instead this year, I bought the UK copy back in September 2020. But here is my DVD review, but first: 

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

MARVELLOUS MACHINERY

Written by

Paul Larson & Laura Beaumont

Episodes

A New Arrival

World of Tomorrow

Sonny's Second Chance

Kenji On The Rails

Directed by

Joey So:

A New Arrival

World of Tomorrow

Directed by

Ian Cherry:

Sonny's Second Chance

Kenji On The Rails

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)

Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Special Features

Meet the Characters - Sonny

Song - How Does It Work

Release Date

28/09/20 - UK

Distributed by

HIT/Mattel Creations - UK

HIT/Mattel Creations/ABC Kids - AUS

EPISODES

One thing different about the DVD is that they had merged the episodes together to make it as a movie, and I seem to remember on a Village Cinema website in Australia earlier this year in March that there was going to be a screening of this special, this was before the COVID-19 epidemic was turned into a global pandemic. So maybe this is what we were going to get if there weren't any pandemic. I can tell that the editing felt a little awkward in some transitions, perhaps they could've extend some of the scenes to give it some better flow. The only transition that I find smooth was from the end of 'Sonny's Second Chance' and then onto 'Kenji on The Rails Again'. I also think it was a little odd to have Thomas say the title of the first part of the two parter special, they could've deleted that like they did with the other ones, perhaps maybe they forgot to edit it out but those are just nitpicks. However the way it was set kinda reminds me of the day of the movies from 2005-2018 where they had a full story and a song at the end.

Looking back at the two part special, I still liked it despite its over the topness. It was far more entertaining and a tad more memorable than 'Digs and Discoveries' & 'Steam Team to the Rescue', despite the use of the fear of replacement story, but it never really felt hammered down unlike some episodes. The stories were entertaining as well as its message that just because something better was made doesn't mean that the things in the past aren't useful. Plus I liked the retrofuturistic style they went with and it was a pretty common thing in the 60's, which is visually implied in the show. I understand that not many people like it because it wasn't what Awdry had envisioned but neither was S5, Magic Railroad etc. even if people have the nostalgia goggles for those things. I will say this in regards to the upcoming 25th season next year, I hope they do take Thomas to Japan, as implied by Hiro in Kenji's episode, but I find it to be a long shot. But the information about the new season is a bit scarce. To read more of my views, please click the links provided above. 

SPECIAL FEATURES

Honestly, the special features have become bare bones in the last few years. All we got were a song and a video about Sonny and that's it. You think with this being Ruth's first apperance in the special they added her video too along with Kenji? Heck Kenji had one episode to himself and it was apart of this special! Perhaps they'll be in a future release next year. I wish the special features have more variety like they were between 2013-2016. 

OVERALL

I think the DVD is worth it for kids who enjoy the fast pace nature and over the top actions, however I don't think it would be suitable for children on the autistic spectrum and I don't how they feel of the new changes to the show from 2018. Sadly I don't think Mattel would know either because they'd donated money to the infamous 'Autistic Speak' organisation where they treat autisum as a disease rather than spreading awareness, and to think they had a character from the show who had autistic traits. But I digress. We know now that this would be the last DVD for 2020 and it's strange that we hadn't got the S21 collection this year whereas the last few years we had them on DVD. I have a feeling that more people would rather stream them than buy a physical copy since kids would have the episodes already from the other releases, hence why they were released on Amazon Prime in the UK and US and Stan here in Australia this year instead. But I could be wrong and maybe we might get a release next year instead. We know certaintly that it isn't COVID delaying it since we had other DVDs released in this past year. 

OVERALL RATING

7/10

With 2020 finally coming to an end and with no new DVDs coming out until early next year, look out for my yearly retrospective post of the DVDs that were released in 2020 on December 31st. In the mean time, my S18 reviews are still in the works and I would bring more reviews between S19-21 soon after that.

Movie Reviews Revisited P.II - Tale Of The Brave (2014)

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

TALE OF THE BRAVE (2014)

Written by

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

DVD Review: Steam Team to the Rescue

Welcome to the new year and the newest decade of 2020. As we prepare for the 75th anniversary year of the Railway Series books, we got our first DVD from the UK of the 2019 Sodor special 'Steam Team to the Rescue'. So here are my views on the contents that this DVD provides. But first:

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

STEAM TEAM TO THE RESCUE

Episodes Written by

Davey Moore
Micheal White
Davey Moore
Becky Overton
Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson

Directed by

Joey So
Dianna Basso

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)

Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Special Features
Meet the Characters

Release Date

13/01/20

Distributed by

HIT/Mattel Creations 

EPISODES
Here are my views on the episodes 
that are featured in this DVD:

STEAM TEAM TO THE RESCUE
- FREE THE ROADS
- CHUCKLESOME TRUCKS
- GORDON GETS THE GIGGLES
- THOMAS MAKES A MISTAKE
- LAID BACK SHANE
- WISH YOU WERE HERE

SPECIAL FEATURES

Pretty basic features really, all they are are just the usual 'Meet the Characters' videos of the Brazillian engines. There were some info about the characters and as usual they were nice. But that was it really. You think maybe they might've added the song from the Steam Team special as well as a karaoke video but I guess for whatever they decided against it. 

OVERALL

In the end, the DVD was alright. The episodes are not too bad in my opinion but I find it a little sad that their special feature was lacking in variety. 

Rating: 6/10

Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails Exhibit

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

THOMAS & FRIENDS:

EXPLORE THE RAILS EXHIBIT 

On Saturday, June 17th 2017, I went to the San Jose Children's Discovery Museum at San Jose, California, USA. I went there with my dad while my sister, mum and brother in law went to some shops down town. The Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails exhibition was created by the Minnesota Children's Museum in 2014 and it's an interactive and STEM exhibition for young children.

The activities include climbing on Thomas and pulling his whistle, fix Percy's 'wobbly wheels' at the Steamworks, be a ticket collector and plenty of other things. The highlight for me though was 'The Evolution of Thomas' exhibit that showcases the history of Thomas from the Railway Series books to the multi-million pound brand that it is today.

One of the biggest attractions to see, if you had grown up with the models that were used in the show before the CGI switch, was the Thomas and Emily models that were used on the show in their respective display cases although with a bit of wear and tear, although not as bad as Drayton Manor's treatment. But despite that they were kept in the best of their condition and it was amazing to see them up close and personal after seeing them on the screen for so many years.

Other things in the exhibits they had were clips from the model era with episodes from 'Thomas & Gordon' or 'Thomas Gets Tricked' as known in the United States, 'Henry and the Elephant' and 'Emily and the Rubbish' which is also known as 'Emily and the Garbage' in the US. They even played clips from the CGI episodes which are the Brenner and McCue era episodes such as 'Not So Slow Coaches' and 'Thomas' Shortcut' and they even played a clip from 'Shining Time Station' the show that started Thomas' success in the USA with Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor. Other videos include Mattel creating toys for Thomas & Friends, which was for the revamped Trackmaster line, this exhibition was created in 2014 so it's not all updated to the recent years. It also has a small audio story narrated by Keith Wickham, although it was quite hard to hear due to the crowd.

The exhibition had other little things for kids to play with, such as the large wooden railway play table and a little play area for younger kids. There was even one part of the exhibition that I played with for a bit, which was this little play table and you release a wooden railway toy down this small roller coaster thing. I thought it was fun as it reminded me of exhibits at another place like this I use to go to back in my home country, Australia. It's called 'Questacon' which is a science and technology centre which is also in the same guise as this museum that I went to. The place is centred in Australia's capital Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (A.C.T) and it's still running to this day. 

They also have a small Knapford station and one of them have small posters that were used for promotions for the show in the style of British Railway posters. There was even one for a weekend getaway to Misty Island, now who wants that? *crickets chirp*, no surprise.

It's a small exhibition, but just right for any young child. After the exhibition, we take a look around the museum and I thought it was quite fun even for an adult who is young at heart. One of my favourites was this air suction tube, you place a little soft felt ball and you see it being sucked around the tubes and fall into a basket. That thing had also reminded me of things that were at another museum that I go to in Sydney, my home city, called the Powerhouse Museum. In the 90's there were many fun things to play there as a kid and I still have fond memories ever since. 

After an hours worth at the museum, we stopped by the shop. The shop has things aimed what they have at the museum and they even have Thomas merchandise such as DVDs, Wooden Railways, Books etc. I manage to buy quite a lot in the end. One thing to make your visit interesting is that there is an exclusive Wooden Railway toy that you can only get at the museums that hold the exhibition and that is called 'The Sodor Mint Car'. 

It's a small wagon with plastic coins inside with the exhibition logo on the side and you can switch it around as it was shown on the box. I ended up getting two, one for display and one to open. I also bought two books which are 'Trains, Cranes and Troublesome Trucks' and 'Goodnight Thomas' both published by Random House and a 'Day Out With Thomas' cap for my little nephew and I bought the DVD 'Tales on the Rails'. 

In the end, the exhibition and the museum are great to visit. If you have children or young at heart, I recommend going to the museum it's great fun for everyone. The Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails Exhibition will be at the San Jose Children Discovery Museum until September 10th and will be travelling around the United States as far as 2021 according to the schedule provided by HIT Entertainment. Check it out to see if there's one heading to a museum near you.

US DVD Complete Series Petition

Since 2004, America was given 'The Early Years' on DVD all restored for the first time, but with the UK narration of Ringo Starr and not with the American narration of George Carlin, who had recorded all episodes of Thomas & Friends for four seasons. After the release of the DVD there were no follow up and the UK and Australia were given series compilation DVDs since 1998 in the UK and 2006 in Australia, though S13-14 have yet to be released in Australia. The only way America were given classic episodes, and new series episodes too, all remastered was in compilation DVDs of various episodes such as 'Engine Friends' from 2012. The United States have classic series DVDs, but only with various episodes on such titles like 'Thomas and His Friends Help Out and other Stories' or 'James Learns a Lesson and Other Stories' or '10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine' etc. and, with Lionsgate and Anchor Bay, the episodes were from VHS transfers and have such low quality. Plus episodes between S6-17 (Prior to 'Spills and Thrills') have been released in full screen rather then widescreen and every episode in the UK of those series have been released widescreen. Now with Universal being the new distributor of Thomas DVDs starting October this year, fans who've started the petition such as TheUnknownThomasFan1, TheFattHatt1943 and Tug97 have set one up on change.org persuading HIT and Universal to give the United States all series compilation episodes of one of Britain's beloved children's characters. Old fans can look back at their childhoods and younger fans will experience what Thomas was like in the past, most people today would share the experience as young fans' parents have grew up with Thomas as well. If you're interested in the petition, please click the link below. Fans in the UK have been fussing about the remastered classic series episodes not being released and the DVDs that featured them are now released since 2012. Hopefully the same can be for the American audience of Thomas the Tank Engine:

change.org

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