July 9, 2000 (Odeon Leicester Square)
July 14, 2000 (United Kingdom)
July 26, 2000 (United States and Canada)
October 26, 2000 (Germany)
December 14, 2000 (Australia)
April 7, 2001 (New Zealand)
May 19, 2001 (Japan)
Thomas and the Magic Railroad is a 2000 children's fantasy adventure film written and directed by Britt Allcroft and produced by Allcroft and Phil Fehrle. It is the first and only theatrical live-action/animated Thomas & Friends film in the franchise. The film stars Alec Baldwin as Mr. Conductor, Peter Fonda, Mara Wilson, Didi Conn, Russell Means, Cody McMains, Michael E. Rodgers, and the voices of Eddie Glen and Neil Crone. The film is based on the British children's book series The Railway Series by the Reverend W. Awdry, its televised adaptation Thomas & Friends by Allcroft, and the American television series Shining Time Station by Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow. The film tells the story of Lily Stone (Wilson), the granddaughter of the caretaker (Fonda) of an enchanted steam engine who is lacking an appropriate supply of coal, and Mr. Conductor (Baldwin) of Shining Time Station, whose provisions of magical gold dust are at a critical low. To ameliorate these problems, Lily and Mr. Conductor enlist the help of Thomas the Tank Engine (Glen), who confronts the ruthless, steam engine-hating Diesel 10 (Crone) along the way.
Plans for an original Thomas & Friends film started with Paramount Pictures, but were not carried through. Shortly afterward, Destination Films began funding the project and production started in 1998. Filming took place at the Strasburg Rail Road, in Pennsylvania, in Toronto, Canada, and on the Isle of Man. The film underwent extensive editing following poor test screenings, resulting in the removal of the majority of scenes featuring Doug Lennox's character P.T. Boomer — who was originally intended to be the story's primary antagonist — and the recasting of several voice actors.
Thomas and the Magic Railroad premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in the United Kingdom on July 9, 2000. It received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics upon release, mainly from the UK where Shining Time Station had not been broadcast, with criticism of the acting, plot, special effects, and lack of fidelity to its source material. The film was a box office bomb, grossing $19.7 million worldwide against a production budget of $19 million; Allcroft resigned from her company in September 2000 due to the film's poor performance. HiT Entertainment acquired the company two years later, including the television rights to Thomas. As of October 2020, a second theatrical live-action/animated Thomas & Friends film is in development at Mattel Films, a division of Mattel, the current owner of HiT Entertainment, with Marc Forster serving as director.
Storyline[]
Mr. Conductor is called to help out on the Island of Sodor, while Sir Topham Hatt is on holiday. His supply of magic gold dust, which allows him to travel between Shining Time and Thomas's island where talking trains and vehicles can talk, is critically low. Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to get more but finds a clue. Meanwhile, the evil, devious Diesel 10 along with his bumbling followers, arrive on Sodor with unfinished business, to find and destroy a lost railway and the lost steam engine that helps keep the two worlds together peacefully and destroy all the steam engines on Sodor. It's up to brave little Thomas The Tank Engine, to team up with Mr. Conductor, Burnett Stone, Lily, James The Red Engine, and their friends to solve these mysteries and save the magical universe before Diesel 10 finds the lost engine first.
Also See[]
- Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000) (TV Spots)
Movie Trailers[]
Sound Effects Used[]
- Freesound, train whistle toy with contact mic.wav (Either this or a nearly identical sound can be heard in a slightly higher pitch being used for off-screen background engines' whistles.)
- Hollywoodedge, Air Brake Hiss Truck PE079201
- Hollywoodedge, Body Falls Water Spla PE106801 (Heard once when part of the viaduct falls into the river off-screen during the chase sequence.)
- Hollywoodedge, Children Sml Grp Laug PE954803/Hollywoodedge, Small Group Kids Laug PE143601
- Hollywoodedge, Children Sml Grp Yell PE954901/Hollywoodedge, Small Group Kids Chee PE142801
- Hollywoodedge, Commuter Train Bys 1 SS014401
- Hollywoodedge, Crash Metal Glass PE110901
- Hollywoodedge, Creaks Slow Wooden TE023401
- Hollywoodedge, Doppler Horn By LeftT PE079801 (Highway traffic only.)
- Hollywoodedge, Eagle Bald Chirps Cal AT082601 (Heard once in the Gullane Pictures logo.)
- Hollywoodedge, Gusts Heavy Cold Wind PE031601/Hollywoodedge, Whistling Wind Stead PE033301 (Only heard in the semi-final workprint: gusts of wind pushing P.T. Boomer towards Diesel 10 from the Magic Buffers.)
- Hollywoodedge, High Pitched Desk Bel PE192001
- Hollywoodedge, Large Splash Or DiveW PE127201
- Hollywoodedge, Metal Creaks Machine FS015801 (Lower pitched; used for the engines brakes squeaking/squealing.)
- Hollywoodedge, Metal Creaks Machine FS015802 (Extremely low volume; heard once when the Rainbow Sun comes to a stop at Shining Time Station before Lily gets off.)
- Hollywoodedge, Metal Latch Clicks 2 PE183201 (1st squeak only.)
- Hollywoodedge, Sheep Baa Medium Pers PE027001 (Very low volume; can be heard thrice times in the background.)
- Hollywoodedge, Telephone Rings Bell PE170901
- Hollywoodedge, Telephone Rings Bell PE171501 (Used for Sir Topham Hatt's office phone ringing.)
- Hollywoodedge, Truck Brakes Brake Sq TE047902
- Punch With Bell Ding
- SKYWALKER, TRAIN - FAST HEAVY CHUGGING (An edited sped up variant is used a few times for the chugging sound that emits from Lady.)
- SoundDogs, Metal: Metal - Scrape Rubbing Screw - Metal Strain - CU - Large, Various Movements, Creaks & Bangs 01
- SoundDogs, Train, Steam, Ride, Engine 1 (An edited variant sped up in tempo is used a few times for the chugging sound that emits from Toby.)
- SoundDogs, Train, Steam, Ride, Fast, Bumps (An edited higher pitched and sped up variant is used multiple times for the chugging sound that emits from Thomas.)
- Sound Ideas, BELL, RAILROAD - RAILROAD CROSSING SIGNAL BELL: RINGING
- Sound Ideas, BIRD, LOON - COMMON LOON: SINGLE CALL, ANIMAL 01 (Can be heard in a different pitch.)
- Sound Ideas, BIRD, OWL - CALLING, ANIMAL 01
- Sound Ideas, BIRD, OWL - SINGLE OWL HOOTING, ANIMAL
- Sound Ideas, COMEDY, ACCENT - KITCHEN BAND, MUSIC, PERCUSSION (Used as the ringing/ringtone that emits from the bell flowers.)
- Sound Ideas, COUPLING - FREIGHT CARS COUPLING IMPACT, TRAIN (Sped up in tempo; heard once when Thomas bounces after sneezing during the meeting the engines have.)
- Sound Ideas, CREAK, SHIP - SHIP CREAKS INSIDE CARGO HOLD (A small portion of the first half can be heard twice in a low volume for the sound of the buffers at the smelter's yard creaking out of their base when James is being pushed up against them from Diesel 10 making him back up into them.)
- Sound Ideas, ELECTRICITY, SPARK - HIGH VOLTAGE SPARK, ELECTRICAL 01
- Sound Ideas, ELECTRICITY, SPARK - HIGH VOLTAGE SPARK, ELECTRICAL 03
- Sound Ideas, FLY - SINGLE FLY BUZZING AROUND, ANIMAL, INSECT 01 (Used for the buzzing of the fly that doesn't leave James alone before Thomas arrives at Tidmouth Sheds.)
- Sound Ideas, FOX, RED FOX - RED FOX VULPES VULPES, ANIMAL, DIGIFFECTS
- Sound Ideas, HORSE - EXTERIOR: LOW WHINNY, ANIMAL
- Sound Ideas, LEAVES - LEAVES: RUSTLING 01
- Sound Ideas, LEVERS - LEVER, LARGE: RAILROAD COUPLER LIFT BAR, SINGLE THROW, SLACK, CLOSE, OPEN, THEN OPEN, THEN CLOSE
- Sound Ideas, METAL, HIT - SHARP METAL HIT AND RATTLE, FOLEY
- Sound Ideas, MOTORCYCLE - START AND PULL AWAY
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN - PASSES BY: OVER WOODEN BRIDGE, SUBWAY (Used several times throughout the film, for the wheels of both engines and rolling stock clattering.)
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN DIESEL, APPROACH, PASS BY, HORN (Engine and wheels only; used for the Amtrak trains in the Big City Station.)
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, STEAM - EXTERNAL: APPROACH, PASS BY LEFT TO RIGHT, SLOW SPEED (Clattering element near end only; used as the clattering sound the wheels on rolling stock make.)
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, STEAM - EXTERNAL: IDLE, PULL AWAY FROM SIDE (Heard once when Indian Valley #475 departs the Big City Station with Lily and Mutt onboard.)
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, STEAM - START IN MOTION 02 (Used for Henry & Gordon's puffing in its normal pitch, and at a higher pitch and speed for puffing sounds that can be heard in the background.)
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, STEAM - STEAM TRAIN: APPROACH, PASS BY WITH BELL AND WHISTLE DOPPLER 02 (Doppler whistle only; used for the Magic Buffers.)
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, STEAM - WHISTLE, DISTANT, LONG BLAST 02 (Can be heard in a lower pitch.)
- Sound Ideas, TRAIN, STEAM - WHISTLE, MANY BLASTS, CLOSE UP (Used as the whistle on Indian Valley Railroad #475.)
- Sound Ideas, TRAINS - STEAM TRAIN - WHISTLE 01 (Debut; used as Lady's whistle.)
- Sound Ideas, TRAINS - STEAM TRAIN - WHISTLE 02 (The 1st whistle is used once with a reverb effect added to it as Lady's distant whistle.)
- Sound Ideas, TRUCK, DIESEL - START, IDLE, STOP (Used as Splatter and Dodge's engine sounds.)
- Sound Ideas, WHISTLE, TRAIN - STEAM TRAIN WHISTLE, SEVERAL BLASTS (Heard in the Original Storyboard Opening.)
- SoundJay - Steam Locomotive Train Whistle 02 (Used as Lady's whistle.)
- SoundJay - Steam Locomotive Train Whistle 03 (Debut; used as Lady's whistle.)
- Thomas Whistle (Robot tone added, normal, lower and higher pitches; used as Thomas, Gordon, Henry, and Percy's whistles.)