Customer Reviews

Thomas The Tank Engine and Friends - It's Great to Be an Engine

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a parent who has to watch what his kid is watching, I grew fond of the original stories narrated by Ringo Starr and George Carlin. Their readings and characterizations, the technical content of the stories, and the distinct characters of the engines make TV-time bearable. These new stories lack the charm of the old, the narrator is bland, and the blatant moralising is annoying. It's Barney on Rails. I can just hear the marketing executives wondering how they can make the Thomas franchise more palatable for as wide an audience as possible. Some of the engines also act differently from their established personae--Thomas has never shown much of an interest in transporting children (unlike Trevor the Traction Engine), but in the first story he suffers great anxiety because the other engines get to take children to the beach, but he is stuck transporting ice cream components. Gone also is the old Thomas theme, replaced with a new bubble-gummy piece of music.
That said, my two-year-old likes this DVD. He's not as critical as his parents, I guess. The trains have been rendered more three dimensional using computer effects, which is much easier on the eye then the old tapes. It takes a good two minutes to finally get to the story menu and select a story.

After "Steamies Vs Diesels" I was a bit apprehensive about approaching this DVD, but I really enjoyed it. On "Steamies Vs Diesels," the new camera work made everything look plain weird, but on this DVD it gives the series a more realistic look. The new composer's music has improved, and the score for the DVD is lovely.

As for the episodes themselves, "You Can Do It Toby" and "Edward the Great" are probably the best of the lot. "Too Hot for Thomas," "Percy and the Magic Carpet" and "Gordon Takes Charge" are pretty good too. "Emily's Adventure" and "James Goes Too Far," however, are let down by the obvious "ask politely" and "help your friends" morals rampaging through them.

As far as the narration goes, Michael Brandon does an excellent job as usual. One complaint though is that Mr Brandon is rather inconsistent with his voices. Some of his characters sound different with every line they speak, and others sound different from episode to episode. I suppose the other elements of the narration overlook this, but what's the point of giving individual voices if you aren't going to be consistent with them?

Overall, a very good DVD. Still lacking something, but a vast improvement on the previous batch of HIT-produced episodes.

I got "Percy's Chocolate Crunch" on video for my little boy (now 20 months) and he seems to really like it. The result of that purchase was that we have watched that video countless times. Personally, my favourite line from it is "YOU HAVE CAUSED CONFUSION AND DELAY" in that booming voice after Percy gets tipped over. Anyhow, having grown up myself on Sesame Street, I have to say that this whole series/concept is very different for me and takes some getting used to...I usually don't find the stories particularly "funny" or anything else as so other Thomas fans.

That being said... I then purchased "It's great to be an engine" with a toy on DVD. I have to say that I miss the catchy soundtrack from "Percy's chocolate Crunch" and that funky voice that Alec Baldwin offers us. Brandon's voice on this edition seems rather bland and heartless (not much modulation in tone and volume). The first viewing for my little guy resulted in him walking away in the middle (but this may have been because the DVD is quite long) but, after that, he seemed to warm up to it and calls it his "Toot-Toot".

I'd like to get editions with better narration and maybe more imaginative stories but don't really know what to get and the "technical information" offered on Amazon pages doesn't indicate who is narrating the particular edition.

Of course, I also want to get ones which offer the toys (how do you know which toy is going to come with the DVD/video?...what if you get a duplicate?) because the genuine Thomas toys here in Cyprus cost an average of 25+ dollars (for one train car!).

Another question I have is if the toys that are offered for free with the videos/DVDs are the same size/type/style as those offered in the Thomas train sets (I want to get my little boy started on that).

All in all, I am pleased with my purchases in the Thomas area and will continue to develop our collection.

I thought I was going to hate this video, but, reluctantly, I loved it. I picked it up at walmart the other day, and sixty minutes of thomas... its awesome. I was glad that there was only three stupid transitions, and there were seven stories. Even though the music changed, I have like 12 years of other videos with the old music. And, I moaned and groaned about the change on 'Steamies", but, the change is kind of nice. BTW, Michael Brandon did an excellent job at narrating on this video.

Too Hot For Thomas:

Thomas feels sad when he misses out on the opportunity to help deliver ingredients to the ice cream factory but later feels much happier thanks to a nice little surprise job...

Emily's Adventure:

Emily finds that being unkind to others is the wrong thing to do when in need of help with a big job.

You Can Do It Toby:

When Gordon becomes stuck on the hill, Toby comes to help and push but will he have enough confidence in himself after Gordon saying earlier on to him that he's not a proper engine?

Edward The Great:

Edward is chosen to compete against Spencer in a race, but is soon left eating Spencer's dust due to his much larger amount of power. Far out in the lead, Spencer grows overconfident and decides to have a little snooze...

James Goes Too Far

When the other engines ask James for help with some hard jobs, he says he's much too busy with his assigned task of exporting loads of coal around the island. However, when James breaks down, his attitude soon changes...

Percy & The Magic Carpet

Percy collects a special carpet to deliver, but suddenly the windy weather starts to blow it around. Percy, though, thinks that it's not the wind...

ratid:8/10

My 2 year-old doesn't know anything about any previous narrators, music or whatever. She loves these new episodes, loves the games in between and LOVES the Thomas song! Unfortunately, on the VHS version you don't get the children singing it like they do when it airs on TV, you just get the instrumental version at the beginning and end. But she sings and dances along without their help anyway!

Despite the return of the infamous activites, It's Great to Be an Engine has managed to put a smile on my face. There were seven stories on this video instead of the usual six stories and they each focused on a different character. Even Edward makes his comeback in this one. The Stories are:

Too Hot for Thomas A:
Sir Topham Hatt sends Thomas to the Ice Cream factory to pick up some ice cream to take to the beach. But Thomas would much rather take children to the beach instead. Soon enough, Thomas will find out that taking Ice Cream is also a fun job.

Emily's Adventure B:
A big storm hits the Island of Sodor and blows the roof off of Farmer McColl's barn. Emily must get the timber to farmer McColl before dark so he can fix the roof for the baby cattle. But Emily will find out that asking kindly is much better than being a "Bossy Boiler."

You Can Do It, Toby A:
Gordon brings Toby down by saying he's not a "proper steam engine." But when Gordon needs a back engine to help him up the hill, will Toby, after what Gordon has told him, be able to help?

Gordon Takes Charge A:
It is the Holiday season on the Island of Sodor and more passengers are coming, so Sir Topham Hatt needs Percy to pull coaches and askes Gordon to teach him. But instead of teaching Percy, Gordon uses this as a chance to show off all afternoon of how great he is.

Edward the Great A:
The Duke and Dutchess come to the Island of Sodor and Spencer, their private engine boasts about how he's more splended than all the engines combined. When Sir Topham Hatt needs an engine to take the Duke & Dutchess' furniture to there summer house, all the engines find this as a chance to get back at Spencer by racing him. But when Edward is chosen, all the engines feel that he will make the railway look bad. But with a little efort, and some stalls by the Duke & Dutchess, Edward just might be able to win the race.

James Goes Too Far A:
James wants to feel important as well as feeling really useful so when Sir Topham Hatt gives him an important job, James uses this as his big chance. But when he gets impatient in the line and the water station and refuses to help an overworked Edward, it will all come back to haunt him and he will learn that being really useful is more important than feeling important.

Percy and the Magic carpet B:
Percy is sent to collect a special for the best dressed station show. When Percy comes to find a red carpet, he thinks his job isn't really important. But with the strong wind, the carpet begins to fly. Although it is only being blown by the wind, Percy thinks it is a magic carpet.

Again, I really liked this Thomas video, but I did not like how Michael Brandon did the voices. He made James, Toby, and Edward sound retarded. I think it takes away their dignity. But other than that minor flaw, this is a great Thomas video overall and I'd recommend it.

All aboard for all new adventures with Thomas, the blue engine that has big adventures on Sodor. Featuring Six episodes from Season 8.

Too Hot For Thomas
Emily's Adventure
You Can Do It Toby
Edward The Great
James Goes Too Far
Percy And The Magic Carpet

Sounds like I won't like it. I'LL LOVE IT! The stories sound good and they have the only episodes I have not seen yet this year. 5/5.

I purchased this item as a replacement for one that was broken. It is a favorite of my grandson, and he especially enjoyed the toy train that came with it, as the original was just the DVD. (We got Percy!)

We had used this DVD in the car on vacation trips to Tucson and San Diego and it was a tragic moment went it was found to be broken. I'm glad it was still in stock!

I was really suprised about how much people liked this movie considering Steamies vs. Diesels was a lot like it. First of all I miss the theme song and I hate the activities that are between the stories. I enjoy the stories themselves all though I think they need work. It's been almost ten years since Shining Time Station and now there's a new show on TV here in the states which isn't all that bad. I know that the people who reviwed this haven't been fans since the beginning which I have so your opinion is different then mine. I thought Thomas and the Jet Engine as I quoted was a step in the right direction so by my standards this would be a step in the wrong direction. This is only the second Thomas movie of its type and I own every Thomas tape and dvd there is so this isn't going to make me stop watching. Thomas has been through a lot of different companies and a lot of changes have been made. So for the people out there who work in those companies and have heard what I have said, the show still has some of it's original fanbase and we still love the show so please don't change it to the point where we stop watching. For all of you who read this I am a dedicated Thomas fan who has been trying to make a point and I thank you for reading and I hope you keep watching this great show.