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Thomas & Friends - Hero of the Rails [DVD] [2009]

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Nitrogen Studios released the "Patchwork Hiro" chase sequence to the public in their Studio Animation Pipeline collection illustrating the three various stages of animation the film went through before the final cut. In the Korean trailer, the video subtitles says that this special will be released on theatrical 17th June first and the subtitles was changed as 10th June lately but this special was released on 10th June on theatrical. I watched this with my daughter and she loved the whole show. Seeing as its newly transition there wasn't a bombardment of loads of characters old and new this strictly focuses on the main cast as the heroes, Spencer as the baddie and Hiro as the plot. The visuals are beautiful, but it doesn't have the stand out magic and physical, reach out and touch feeling of the old model environments. The trains also seem less realistic which has always been a corner stone of Thomas and his creator Rev W Awdry. This is to be expected though, the hardest part for me was the new voices for the trains. Before we could all visualise what each characters voice was like but now we've had it done for us and frankly some of them are a little disappointed. Toby sounds like a fat guy heavy smoking, Percy sounds like child with speech issues talking through his nose, Henry sounds like whining coward and Thomas is a bland, emotionless child. But I suppose each to ones own, others may like the voices. Gordons and Spencers is ok. Thomas and the U.K. Trip | Hello Thomas and James | Thomas and Connie's Wonderful American Journey | Thomas the Tank Engine Movie - All Star Parade

In the first trailer, there is a scene where Victor says, "You've come to the right place, my friend." This was not present in the special; it is from the thirteenth series episode, Creaky Cranky. Victor's assistant Kevin then drives clumsily over to Thomas and Victor. Victor scolds him for rushing around, while Thomas notices some engine parts on a flatbed. Thomas finishes his day's work and then comes by later to see if the parts are still there. Victor says it is only taking up space anyway, so Thomas rushes off with it. Thomas and Percy are missing their teeth while they were talking at the shunting yards. Also in the same scene, Thomas is missing his number and red lining.

Side guide

This movie does not dissappoint. Initially, I was not a fan of the CGI. After watching what seemed like endless hours of Thomas minatures and voiced-over character dolls in the older shows, it seemed that was the only proper way to watch Thomas. The CGI would simply cause "confusion and delay". Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails is a 2009 British animated adventure film and feature-length special of the British television series, Thomas & Friends. The film is produced by HIT Entertainment with animation from Nitrogen Studios. It introduces full CGI animation replacing live-action models, and the addition of a voice cast for the characters alongside the narration to the TV series. [2] A strong story, great characters and beautiful visuals. But... the teething troubles are easily spotted in Thomas first fully animated outing. The transition from models to animation was done cleverly by having a mix of the two in series 12. So the kids and nostalgic adults should be ready and accepting instead off sulky and angry like I was when I first heard about the transition. In the film, Thomas discovers an old, dilapidated engine in the woods, and tries to repair him in secret, without the villainous Spencer finding out. Thomas is taking on water when an engine rushes past. The rest of the Steam Team soon have similar experiences and gather at Knapford to figure out what is going on. Halfway through their conversation, Spencer arrives. It turns out that he is staying for the summer to help the Duke and Duchess build their summer house. Needless to say, nobody is pleased with the news, especially when Spencer rushes around with his work, teasing the other engines. That night, all of the engines are tired and cross because they have all been teased by Spencer.

I don't suppose there could be anyone unfamiliar with Thomas The tank engine, but there are probably some who may not be aware that since the days of Ringo Stars narratives, Thomas has moved on and the stories have gained new engines, and a lovely island paradise for steam train story lovers. The only CGI special that does not mention the name of the writer in the opening credits (Sharon Miller is credited in the end). When Mavis rolls towards Spencer, she is puffing steam, but she is a diesel. She also makes steam in the Steamworks. One summer on the Island of Sodor, Spencer arrives to help the Duke and Duchess of Boxford with the construction of their new summer house. After being an absolute nuisance to all of the other engines by teasing and bossing them around, Thomas accepts Spencer's challenge to a contest of strength, taking heavy cargo around the island. Thomas' brakes fail after climbing a tall hill, and he runs out of control through an overgrown, abandoned line. There, Thomas finds an old abandoned Japanese tender engine named Hiro, said to be one of Sodor's first engines. Hiro does not want Sir Topham Hatt to find out, fearing he will be scrapped, so Thomas promises to keep his secret and work to make Hiro "Master of the Railway" once again. Later, he's taken to the Sodor Steamworks for repairs, where he finds old parts for Hiro. He takes them with permission from Victor (the Steamworks engine), only to discover that Hiro's hiding place is dangerously close to the Duke and Duchess's new summer house. When Hiro pulls Spencer to the Steamworks, Hiro's number stops moving whilst Hiro keeps moving, so it appears to be sliding off.This tale sees Thomas at work with his friends on Sodor, whereupon he finds a new engine, Hiro whom Thomas decides to help return to his former glory, from his distant, deserted siding. The next day, Thomas and Percy head to the quarry to search for the mail coaches. Spencer has secretly followed them there. But before he can do anything, Mavis appears and offers to show him around, but she is really shooing him away from Thomas and Percy while James sneaks away with more parts for Hiro. Spencer ends up under a chute and his funnel gets filled with slate. This special entered pre-production in September 2008, was produced alongside the thirteenth series starting with January 2009 and was delivered in May 2009. [1] Development Tim Whitnall narrated the first UK trailer; he would later join the voice cast in 2014, five years later. The next morning, Thomas is taking machines to Farmer McColl, but he wants to help Hiro. Percy shows up and Thomas tells him everything. He asks Percy to deliver the machines for him while he goes to help Hiro. Percy does so, shunting his mail coaches into a siding in the meantime.

On some copies of the US DVD releases, they state that the special is in fullscreen, but it is really in widescreen. A video game adaptation of the film was also released to the Nintendo Wii and the DS [6] in Europe on 29 June 2010. It was to be released in North America, but it has appeared to be cancelled indefinitely. [6] The characters are great! Some of the voices are bit overboard, such as Gordon's "High & Mighty", and Henry's whine. Spencer's voice is perfect, as are Hiro's and Emily's. Personally, I don't care for Thomas's voice. It seems a bit too youngish, but considering who this DVD is aimed at, it works for kids. As was mentioned in an earlier post, Victor and Kevin are a match made in Heaven: the seasoned veteran and the new kid in the shop. Perfect!Hiro, now in a very "patchwork" design, is feeling much better. Hiro mentions that James will be coming tomorrow, Percy comments on how he feels about James, sending Hiro laughing for the first time in years. When Thomas visits Hiro after he leaves the summerhouse, Hiro has his dome, but it fell off during the chase he had with Spencer. The first special to have its own stylised opening sequence instead of using the Thomas & Friends opening. The next day, Thomas is hard at work but Spencer is not; he is spying on Thomas to see what he is up to. At the same time, Gordon sneaks along and delivers more parts for Hiro. Thomas is beyond grateful and rushes to the steamworks. There, Percy has been fixed, but the Fat Controller is still cross about the missing mail coaches. Victor tells Thomas he will have something for him later and the two engines rush off. Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge.

The first to have a full voice cast in the UK and US versions, while being the first production with a voice cast since Thomas and the Magic Railroad in 2000, nine years before the CGI usage. In the scene where Spencer is staring at Emily, Thomas and Percy pass on the bridge with nothing behind them. In the trailers, however, the same scene is shown, but Thomas and Percy are pulling flatbeds full of engine parts. It can be assumed that the trailer showed an altered version of the scene. The Sodor Oil Tankers' logo of the word OIL was replaced with a picture of an oil rig with oil coming out of it starting from this special onwards.

To cut costs and maximise profits (because of government tax breaks for UK animation in 2007), HiT Entertainment decided to retire the models and have the show be turned into a CGI product. They enlisted Nitrogen Studios to provide the visuals. Nitrogen had already created CGI elements for the twelfth series. Christopher Skala added that it was to also include more emotion and flexibility through the stories. Previously Skala claimed that, of his focus group, even those who felt that Thomas, as an institution, should not be changed in this way but ultimately responded positively to the demonstration of the new animation techniques. Hero of the Rails also sees the installation of a permanent voice cast, which would continue throughout the franchise. An early prototype cover for the DVD included Percy and James on the top layer, taking Spencer's place (who was moved behind Victor). Spencer and the Duke and Duchess of Boxford's first appearances in a special as well as their first appearances since the eleventh series episode, Dream On. Only the Japanese trailer mentions that Hiro is from Japan. The UK trailer merely mentioned he is "from a far-off place." Hiro would confirm he is from Japan in the twenty-fourth series episode Kenji on the Rails Again, over ten years later.

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