The Railway Series

[easternstreak]

Oh god the movie's screwed,
just read the article
http://magazine.ucla.edu/depts/quicktak ... nt-tracks/
My hopes for this movie have gone down, dramatically, maybe even into the negatives.
i know the article is old, but still...

[LNER Fan 60008]

What a shame, the promotional photo looked so promising.

I don't dare think what Awdry would say if he were still around. Allcroft's "minor" changes in the third season upset him greatly, one can only wonder how he'd have reacted to HiT and now Mattel's meddling.

[WOOTANG]

before everyone starts saying
ALL IS DOOOOOOOMED
just think this guys worked with tim burton
also T&TMRR was a theatrical flop so it can only get better

[easternstreak]

before everyone starts saying
ALL IS DOOOOOOOMED
just think this guys worked with tim burton
also T&TMRR was a theatrical flop so it can only get better

Okay, I will freely admit my original reaction was a bit over the top, it was meant to be slightly jokey anyway.

But I can't help but feel that the plot is too similar to TATMR. It feels like the engines are being pushed to secondary characters, and these human characters are taking the lead. There's also the idea of Sodor being a mystical island of magic talking train. This is just wrong, Sodor is always meant to represent a real railway, the North Western Railway. The thing that really gets to me is that there are tons of fan movies of youtube, both Thomas and non-thomas, which show that a really good and quality movie can be made from a working railway.
It feels like they are going back to square one, with the TATMR formula, and that was shown to not work.
Also remember, big Hollywood director/actors aren't always good news. All we need is someone who does their reasearch and has a real passion for what they're writing/acting/animating for. cough*Greg Tiernan*cough*Nitrogen Studios*cough
Sorry rant over.

It you want to see some brilliant fan movies on youtube I recommend:
When The Engines Split (Thomas)
Flight of the Phoenix (Non-thomas but still railways).

[LNER Fan 60008]

I'll admit the movie should have a fair chance once it comes out, but I'm still not completely convinced on the plot.

As for TATMR, I can't help but view it as a total disaster - completely killing off Awdry's vision of Sodor. Awdry's Sodor initially started as a 'No Where Railway' although heavily owing to real-life influence (especially the LNER, going by the initial designs for the engines). Later he developed it into a Tolkien-like universe that interconnected with the 'real' world via Barrow-In-Furness.

Allcroft revamped Sodor as early as the third season of the TV series with the 'Other Railway' (British Rail in the books) becoming 'a faraway part of the island where only the diesels work'. Some time around the 4th season, a mass scrapyard was shown on Sodor itself (infamously showing the rusting hulks of City of Truro, Gordon's pilot model, and other bits and pieces), another contradiction to what was shown in Awdry's Sodor and the first two series.
The movie simply made it worse with Sodor now being a magical realm only reachable under certain circumstances involving (sooner or later) Shining Time Station - a far cry from Awdry's work.

I have no idea where HiT took the continuity but I presume it's still largely on it's own (no real British connections, bar locomotive classes perhaps). In both HiT's and Allcroft's quests to appeal to 'broader' markets, I feel Thomas as a whole has largely left behind what made it 'Thomas' in the first place.

Yes, I know I should make a longer write-up on this all.

[WOOTANG]

well series 4 was when railway preservation was in full swing the fact that engines such as
City Of Truro
Flying Scotsman
Stepney

started to get involved

as well as thomas and the great railway show when the NRM got involved

thats a special id like to see get created actually

[easternstreak]

Or a special based on the Culdee Fell Railway, or Very Old Engines

[WOOTANG]

well culdee fell only got mentioned in the stories
so it would be nice

skarloey's 100th with tallynn railway added

[easternstreak]

I've started a new series on youtube, about the Ffarquhar Branch line, with stories either based on or written in the same style as the railways series.
Hope you enjoy the pilot episode: Lost in the Snow
Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMdWKTB2 ... -5zj7y8sPY
Hope you enjoy it