[.ca] Thomas the Tank Engine: New Friends for Thomas

Thomas PLC:
I'm a bit torn on this one. The narrator does a very good job with the accents (remember, Sodor was supposed to be between the Isle of Man and NW England); much better than Baldwin. And the new engines look good (Spencer is an A4, and would be a younger cousin of Gordon's; Murdoch is a fine-looking Class 9F, like "Evening Star," the last steam engine built by BR). But the stories just aren't as good as the original Awdry ones. There are plenty of stories left from the originals that have never been produced (see "Thomas the Tank Engine: The Complete Collection) -- HIT Entertainment should drink from the well, not the puddle. The games are also mediocre, and the voices that accompany the games are just dreadful.

Not bad, not bad at all:
First off, let's discuss the "new" narrator. Michael Angelis has narrated the British version of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends since 1991 (and he still does) , when Carlin was new to the American version. He does a good job with characters like James, Thomas, Gordon, Spencer, and in fact most of his characters but his Sir Topham voice can best be described as sounding like Sean Connery after having too much to drink. Some of the episodes are slightly dull, like Peace and Quiet, and the Jack and Co. episodes introduce tons of characters in 2 episodes and hardly feature Sir Topham Hatt's engines at all! The Spotless Record has an unexplicable accident and a corny friendship ending, and the Awdrys who created the stories the show was originally based on were much better writers. Perhaps HIT will do something to honor them for the 60th anniversary of Edward, Gordon, and Henry: the oldest 'Thomas' characters.

I would give it 2 stars, myself: BUT...:
My 4 year old Thomas addict LOVES this video and begs to watch it over and over: so, it DOESN'T MATTER that I (the adult) find it derivative of Bob the Builder, and dislike the "new" narrator (he doesn't even TRY and distinguish between the character's voices!). Sure, "Ms. Jenny" is a doppelganger for Bob's "Wendy": but at least she's a woman in charge - not a demanding shrew (Lady Hatt), a screaming shrew (Alicia Batti), or a damsel in distress (the ever-rescued Mrs. Kindly). I have spent the last 3 years watching the same 20 or so tapes over and over and over again, til I've started dreaming about trains... so ANY new Thomas videos are welcome, in my house.

For starters.:
To start out a review on a Thomas & Friends volume lets get up to speed shall we. To start it's now volume 36 (maybe wrong but sure) and Alec Baldwin is not the storyteller in this one. IT'S MICHAEL ANGELIS! Also it's just not directed by David Mitton, it's also directed by Steve Asquith who sucks as the director of the next one "Steamies vs. Diesels." All the rest is mostly the same. Gordon and Spencer: The Duke and Dutches came for a visit and Gordon wants to take the train until Spencer the Duke and Dutches private engine was asked to take them. Gordon told and reminded whenever he see him don't forget to take on water, but Spencer would just say, "Who cares!"' and when Spencer came to the hill he ran out of steam, so Gordon was sent to rescue Spencer. Gordon pulled Spencer and his train the rest of the way and Gordon made it. Spencer was imberossed and Sir Topham Hatt said to Gordon, "You are the fastest engine on Sordor," and Gordon replied "I know that." I 'll write another review soon on "Emily's New Coaches."

"Five New Engines In The Shed" is a good song!!:
I don't like the narrations, but my 3-year-old thinks it's funny that the engines talk differently from other videos. The best feature is the music video. It's very catchy. My son demands to watch it again and again, and we sing it all the time. (I can't wait for a CD that includes this song.)