Customer Reviews

Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends - The Early Years (3-Disc Set)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Before I begin, let me just say that Cloudy Harpe's review is wrong. This DVD is NOT a compilation of the first five Thomas tapes released in America, but is actually a compilation of all twenty-six episodes from Series 1. "Whistles and Sneezes," "Gordon Takes a Dip," "Down the Mine" and "Thomas's Christmas Party are on this DVD; "Double Trouble," "A Cow on the Line," "Old Iron" and "Thomas Comes to Breakfast" are not.

But anyway...if you don't already own this, go out and buy it now. It is, quite simply, the best Thomas DVD available. This episodes are from the good old days when Thomas was about trains and railways instead of friendships and morals.

What's even better is that the episodes are all narrated by the one and only Ringo Starr, and are in their original British format. Words and phrases like "trucks," "guard" and "Fat Controller are all intact (though the latter phrase might prove offensive to some over-protective parents).

The special features are not so good, however. They're rather poor-quality, and are narrated by the dreadful Robin Smith, who gives his characters awful voices and always sounds far too cheerful. But don't be put off by this; the rest of the DVD is fantastic, and something that every Thomas fan will love.

Buy it.

First off, Ringo is the best narrator hands down. Alec and George aren't bad, but I can't stand the new episodes because of the new narrator. Getting 26 episodes for this price is well worth it. And its really nice have 13 episodes per disc IN THE CORRECT ORDER. I'm fairly new to the Thomas world but I would guess they re-did the voice on some of the older episodes was to make them a little more pc as the trains used to refer to Topham Hat as the Fat Controller. Who cares.

The only reason I didn't give five stars is I would have liked to have some Thomas songs on the bonus disc. My son is about to turn two and while he likes to watch Thomas and knows the characters, he doesn't follow the stories that well yet. He LOVES the songs on the Best of James and Best of Thomas DVDs. We currently have about 11 different Thomas DVDs but I'll buy more complete seasons if they ever come out with them.

To sum up, I enjoy watching the stories as much (if not more) than my son. It's a very refreshing change from Barney and The Wiggles. If you haven't purchased any Thomas videos I would suggest trying one that has some songs as a bonus feature. And be patient. My son didn't go nuts for Thomas the first time he watched it (too young) but now he just loves it. Also, I am biased because his Thomas Wooden train set is the first set of toys I like to play with as well, so its nice to have that to do with him.

I already own every episode form the Ringo Starr era on the old videos but I plan on purchasing this DVD. The really funny thing is out of the five Ringo Starr videos made the three that were the best were all stopped being made. Tenders & Turntables is my favorite Thomas video but Thomas Breaks The Rules and Better Late then Never were my other too favorites. I'm really happy this is being made because I know there all a lot of you who never got copies of these great movies and now you are able to see the pure goodness Thomas used to be. I gurantee if you buy this set or the old videos you will want Thomas back to the way it was. If you think the new Thomas movies are good be prepared to be blown away.

We just got this set today and have already watched the whole thing. We were so pleased with these DVDs!
Years ago, when Thomas was new and before we had any children, we used to see it on TV and think how cute it was. But by the time we had children, it had changed considerably. We still like the newer Thomas stories, of course, but nothing compares to the old ones. My favorite in this set is The Sad Story of Henry because it is just so funny.
I highly recommend this set to anyone who is a new or old fan of Thomas. You will be so glad you have it!

Finally, all the Thomas and Friends early episodes all on one DVD and theyre ALL TOLD BY RINGO STARR, the original and best storyteller of the Thomas adventures. Here are the episodes:

Disc One

Thomas & Gordon (US: Thomas Gets Tricked)
Edward & Gordon (Edward Helps Out)
The Sad Story of Henry (Come Out Henry!)
Edward, Gordon, & Henry (Henry to the Rescue)
Thomas' Train (A Big Day for Thomas)
Thomas & the Trucks (Trouble for Thomas)
Thomas & the Breakdown Train (Thomas Saves the Day)
James & the Coaches (James Learns a Lesson)
Troublesome Trucks (Foolish Freightcars)
James & the Express (A Proud Day for James)
Thomas & the Guard (Thomas & the Conductor)
Thomas Goes Fishing
Thomas, Terence, and the Snow (Terence the Tractor)

Disc Two

Thomas & Bertie (Thomas & Bertie's Great Race)
Tenders & Turntables
Trouble in the Shed
Percy Runs Away
Coal (Henry's Special Coal)
The Flying Kipper
Whistles & Sneezes
Toby & the Stout Gentleman (Toby the Tram Engine)
Thomas in Trouble (Thomas Breaks the Rules)
Dirty Objects (James in a Mess)
Off the Rails (Gordon Takes a Dip)
Down the Mine
Thomas' Christmas Party

Disc Three-Special Features
Sodor Memories
Sir Topham Hatt's Commentary
Read-Along Story: Thomas & The Naughty Diesel
Build an Engine
Who Am I? Game

For all the serious Thomas and Friends collectors.

These episodes were the golden age of "Thomas and Friends". The stories in this pack are actually based on the Railway Series written by Rev. W Awdry and Christopher Awdry. The current Thomas series has neglected the characters' roles and is milking all the money they can out of Thomas. Each new episode has at least one appearance by Thomas in it. Buy this set. IT IS GREAT. They are the REAL Thomas stories. The models look real too.

At first I was disappointed with how short the episodes were but then after watching a bit I was most pleased. The stories are right out of the storybook we read every night. Ringo Starr does a fabulous narrating job. But more important than any of that, my 3 year old loves them. End of review. :-)

Hello. Here is some info about The Early Years!
Story Stops
Thomas and Gordon
Edward and Gordon
The Sad Story of Henry
Edward Gordon and Henry
Thomas' train
Thomas and the Trucks
Thomas and the Breakdown train
James and the Coaches
Troublesome Trucks
James and the Express
Thomas and the Guard
Thomas goes Fishing
Thomas Terrence and the Snow
Thomas and Bertie
Tenders and Turntables
Trouble in the Shed
Percy Runs Away
Coal
The Flying Kipper
Whistles and Snezzes
Toby and the Stout Gentlman
Thomas in Trouble
Dirty Objects
Off the Rails
Down the Mine
Thomas' Christmas Party
Bonus Features
Sodor Memmories
Sir Tophem Hats Commentary
Read Along: Thomas and the Naughty Diesel
Build an Engine
Who am I
Note: This is NOT the U.S.A verson.

I just purchased this set for my son who loves Thomas. I am looking forward to watching some with him. I don't think we will be disappointed as all I have read is how great the original Thomas episodes with Ringo Starr are.
DISC 1
1 Thomas & Gordon
2 Edward & Gordon
3 The Sad Story of Henry
4 Edward, Gordon & Henry
5 Thomas' Train
6 Thomas & the Trucks
7 Thomas & the Breakdown Train
8 James & the Coaches
9 Troublesome Trucks
10 James & the Express
11 Thomas & the Guard
12 Thomas Goes Fishing
13 Thomas, Terrence & the Snow
DISC 2
1 Thomas & Bertie
2 Tenders & Turntables
3 Trouble in the Shed
4 Percy Runs Away
5 Coal
6 The Flying Kipper
7 Whistles & Sneezes
8 Toby & the Stout Gentleman
9 Thomas in Trouble
10 Dirty Objects
11 Off the Rails
12 Down the Mine
13 Thomas' Christmas Party
DISC 3
Fun & Games

This is,good but it's misleading,which is why I gave it four stars.It seems like it has all of the first season narrarted by Ringo Starr,but its actully the first season UK VERSION.The postive things are that this has wide screen mode and has special features.This is really good,but if just want the episodes,get the UK boxset,which has all of Series 1-5.A funny thing is that since this has widescreen version,you can see some goofs from some episodes.