Thomas and the Magic Railroad
| Thomas and the Magic Railroad | |
|---|---|
| File:ThomasMR.jpg DVD Cover for Thomas and the Magic Railroad | |
| Directed by | Britt Allcroft |
| Written by | Britt Allcroft |
| Starring | Alec Baldwin Peter Fonda Mara Wilson |
| Distributed by | Destination Films |
Release dates | July 26, 2000 (USA) |
Running time | 85 min. |
| Language | English |
Template:Infobox movie certificates Thomas and the Magic Railroad was a movie made in 2000 based on the well known TV Series and its American spinoff.
Story
There is trouble on the Island of Sodor. An evil diesel locomotive by the name of Diesel 10 has arrived, with the intention of destroying the steam locomotives that live on the railway. Specifically, he has a plan to locate a magical lost engine and destroy her in order to remove the magic from the Island. The Fat Controller, normally in charge of the railways on Sodor, is on holiday and has left Mr Conductor in charge.
Mr Conductor has problems of his own. The mysterious gold dust that allows him to magically transport from place to place is running out, and without it there will be no way for anyone to travel to Sodor. The lost engine is able to travel between Sodor and Muffle Mountain via the Magic Railroad, but nobody knows where she is.
An old man named Burnett Stone lives on Muffle Mountain, near Shining Time. Unknown to everyone, he is the guardian of the lost engine. The engine crashed after an earlier encounter with Diesel 10, and ever since then he has been trying to bring her back to life, so far without success.
His granddaughter Lily comes to visit him. She meets C. Junior, Mr. Conductor's cousin, who takes her to Sodor and introduces her to the talking engines who live there, including Thomas the Tank Engine. Later, Thomas is assigned to take Lily back, having discovered the start of the long-abandoned Magic Railroad by an old grotto. He finds a truck of special Island of Sodor coal and takes it with him. He arrives on the side of Muffle Mountain for he is, and Lily goes to her grandfather's house.
While there, Burnett shows her Lady, the lost engine, and explains his problem getting it to steam. Lily suggests using Island of Sodor coal from the truck Thomas brought. This proves to be exactly what was needed, and the engine comes to life. For the first time in years, Burnett smiles. Lily and Burnett take her along the Magic Railroad, which regenerates beneath her wheels. They are followed by Thomas, who has somehow found his way back to the line. They find their way back to Sodor, where Diesel 10 finds them and gives chase. He is foiled by a damaged viaduct, which collapses beneath him.
Thomas, Lady, Burnett and Lily meet Mr Conductor and Junior. They use the water from a wishing well and shavings from the rails of the Magic Railroad to make more gold dust, and the Island of Sodor is saved.
Reception
The film proved popular among the young children at whom it was aimed, but it was a critical and box office failure. Indeed, the scale of the failure was so great that Britt Allcroft, who produced, directed, wrote and appeared in the movie (as the voice of Lady) was asked to step down from her production company.
Among the criticisms were complaints of poor acting, bad direction and an incoherent plot, as well as complaints from fans of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends that the film was not true to the original stories and, despite the title, featured relatively little of Thomas. British fans complained that the film Americanised the setting and featured characters from Shining Time Station, which was never broadcast in the United Kingdom.
Many fans consider the film not to be canon, despite Britt Allcroft's involvement.
The animation technique used for the engine characters was the same as that in the television series, and a number of critics complained that this looked shoddy and low-budget on the big screen.
Problems and Changes
A major reason for the perceived incoherence and laziness of the plot was that some very severe edits were made in post-production. A major character, Pete Boom, was entirely cut out of the film before its release, and so the plot elements that had been driven by him went unexplained. So close to release was this change that trailers for the film actually still featured him.
The same trailers also depicted Diesel 10 with an upper class English accent rather than the American one he had in the release. The reason for this change is either that there was a different actor playing Diesel 10 in the trailer (an English one instead of an American one) or that that was the voice of Pete Boom.
Prior to filming, it had been announced that Thomas' voice would be provided by an Isle of Man taxi driver named John Bellis (who also worked as a fireman on the Isle of Man Steam Railway), but at some point the part went to Eddie Glen instead. The reasons for this are unknown.
Filming
The movie was filmed in Pennsylvania, Ontario and on the Isle of Man. Castletown railway station on the Isle of Man Railway formed part of Shining Time Station and the goods shed at Port St Mary railway station became Burnett Stone's workshop. The Strasburg Railroad was used for shots of the full-sized Indian Valley railroad.
Sodor was realised using models and green screen. The models were animated using live action remote control, as on the television series.
The Magic Railroad was created using models and CGI.
Characters
A number of characters are seen or mentioned in this film who previously appeared in the television series. These characters are:
- Thomas the Tank Engine
- Toby the Tram Engine
- Henry the Green Engine
- Gordon the Big Engine
- James the Red Engine
- Percy the Small Engine
- Annie and Clarabel
- Henrietta
- Harold the Helicopter
- Bertie the Bus
Other characters included:
Mr Conductor
Played by Alec Baldwin, Mr. Conductor is a 8" conductor who steps in to manage Sodor while Sir Topham Hatt is on holiday. The part was previously played by Ringo Starr (Season 1) and George Carlin (Seasons 2-3) of Shining Time Station.
Diesel 10 (voiced by Neil Crone) is a true villainous diesel. He tried to destroy the Golden Engine (Lady) the last time he visited the Island of Sodor, and he returned in the film, albeit failing again. He has a gigantic, fully working and moving claw he affectionately calls "Pinchy."
These two were Diesel 10's sidekicks during the film. They are not quite as smart as they like to believe, and D10 calls them "Splodge" because he claims he doesn't have time to say both their names. They defect from Diesel 10 at the end of the film, and to this day their whereabouts are unknown.
Lily
A resourceful and adventurous young girl who lives in a big city. She visits Muffle Mountain, Shining Time and Sodor.
Lady is a magical golden engine who lives on Muffle Mountain with her owner Burnett Stone. After being damaged by Diesel 10 many years ago, Burnett Stone kept her in hiding while trying to find a way to repair her.
Burnett Stone
Once the driver and guardian of Lady, he has been depressed ever since the accident that damaged her. He is also Lily's grandfather.
C Junior
The cousin of Mr Conductor, who likes nothing better than surfing and lying on the beach. Mr Conductor requires his help to replenish the supply of gold dust.
Patch
A boy who enjoys horse riding and helping Burnett Stone. He is one of the few people who understands that Burnett is not unfriendly, just sad.
Stacey Jones
The kind mistress of Shining Time Station, who helps Lily out when she ends up at Shining Time by mistake.
Mutt
An intelligent dog who realises that Lily can help, and so sends her to Shining Time.
Billy Twofeathers
A wise Native American engineer who understands the magic of the valley better than anyone.
Sequels
The semi-sequel to this film, Calling All Engines was released on video and DVD in Autumn 2005. Despite featuring Diesel 10 and Lady, no direct reference was made to the earlier film and therefore it is debatable whether it should be classed as a true sequel. Some believe it may really be a prequel,taking place before Deasil 10 was evil or has nothing to do with the film.
Notes
- First time we see the non polished models of the engines. They are used in Season 6 onwards.
- Only appearance of Splatter and Dodge (to date).
- This film features appearances of the Yard, Tidmouth sheds, The Red Coaches, The Breakdown Train, the Smelters Yard, Knapford Station, Sodor Fuel Tankers, The Express Coaches, the Sodor Mail Coaches, Brake Vans, Wellsworth, and the Viaduct.
- Unlike in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, the engines are able to drive themselves in this film.