My 3 year old is into Thomas big time. I’ve been picking up videos at the library and noticed there seem to be two lines. There’s “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”, which contain about 6-7 stories, narrated by Ringo Starr, George Carlin, or Alec Baldwin. There’s also “Shining Time Station”, which initially ran on PBS, stars Ringo as a conductor, has a bunch of weird stuff with a few Thomas shorts (“story stops”) dropped in. The official site doesn’t provide much information.
My questions: Can anyone provide a brief chronology? Which came first? Which one is the cut-and-paste of the other? Why do the Thomas videos have separate copyright dates for the video vs. the soundtrack?
I’m sure I’ve seen the same story (Thomas and Bertie’s race) narrated by both Ringo and Carlin. What’s up with that? Why re-record narration for an already produced show? Also, I’ve noticed the narration uses American terminology (i.e. “freight car” instead of “truck”, “truck” instead of “lorry”) despite being produced in the UK. Are there separate soundtracks by region?
Finally, are they still making new ones? The official site implies both yes and no.
These are the weird things that pop into my head while I’m watching kids videos with my sons. Thanks for any help.
Ringo was the original STS conductor from 1990 to 1991. George Carlin took over from 91-93, when they stopped making original US episodes. Baldwin only played Mr. Conductor in the 2000 theatrical film.
In addition, Ringo narrated the “Thomas” videos from 1984 to 1991.
Three. Alec Baldwin is a Mr. Conductor now, too - since the feature film. There are new video tapes with him narrating (Percy’ Chocolate Crunch and Salty’s Secret) which is why I counter Guy Propski.
Here’s my analogy:
Thomas is to Shining Time, as
The Land of Make-Believe is to Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.
Except, you can’t buy VHS tapes or DVDs of just “The Land of Make-Believe”.
Thomas the Tank Engine was a well-beloved children’s book series in the UK. Eventually, in 1984, they made a series of sort-of animated* films of it, which also were well-received.
PBS decided to pick them up, but didn’t want to just run the films. So they created “Shining-Time Station” to fill out the half-hour Ringo played “Mr. Conductor” and narrated the Thomas the Tank Engine episodes (there was a different narrator in the original British episodes, but since the sound was nearly all narration, it wasn’t hard to change the actor). Ringo eventually left (as did Didi “Frenchie” Conn, the other name star in the original STS) and was replaced by Carlin. Baldwin followed.
*Nothing was actually animated. In fact, you rare see any motion other than the electric trains moving on the track and a wisp or smoke or two. Still, the effect was quite charming.
Reality Chuck: Thanks for the info. That explains the differing copyright dates for the film vs. the soundtrack. It looks like the “Thomas and Friends” tapes released in the US are compiling the Starkey/Carlin/Baldwin versions. That also explains the American vernacular. I have the original W.A. Awdry books, and when I read to my son, I’m always having to mentally translate the specific terms. I noticed American printings substitute “freight car” for “truck”, “car” for “brake van”, and “botulism” for “steak and kidney pie” [/random Simpsons reference]
As far as the limited animation goes, don’t forget all the debris and dirt that flies at the camera whenever there is a crash! And the running water and turning windmills. One show did feature hand-drawn animation of the bee that stung James on the nose. Looked like a psychotic version of the Cheerios bee.
