Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go

Pretty bad I have not seen anything Tomas related before and this was not a good introduction. It looks like every other show on the market nowadays. I will not be showing this to my kids and I will try to show them something of quality.

Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go is NOT the Thomas the Tank Engine kids of the 80s and 90s (or 00s) grew up with; this poorly done 'cartoon' is an overly bendy and cheap-looking nightmare that is a disgrace to Reverend Wilbert Awdry's Railway Series, and it looks even worse than old Flash animations.

The thing that worked with the original series (the seasons with models), is that the earlier ones had a sense of grounded yet simple stories and morales that weren't condescending to kids, and they were like visual storybooks. So why is this show brimming with condescension and leaning into the fact that there's nothing really transcendent or endearing here? I guess Mattel emphasised the toys moreso than the once endearing charm and character of the Steam Engines of Sodor.

I'm all for kids entertainment; sometimes it can appeal to ANYONE in ceaselessly easy ways, like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dexter's Lab, Gravity Falls, Ducktales (the 1980s one and/or the 2010s reboot), and even the early days of Doctor Who count; point being, regardless of medium, entertainment can STILL entertain and be genuinely appealing despite demographic limitations. All Engines Go wishes it could say the same thing for itself.

Basically, watch the original Ringo Starr and Michael Angelis narrated shows instead of this travesty. You'll thank me later.

Well, Where do I start with this horrible inclusion to the Thomas The Tank Engine franchise? Firstly HOW CAN YOU MESS UP THOMAS THAT BAD!? It looks nothing like the previous engine, EVEN The CGI stories got Thomas's design RIGHT. This feels like one of those bad knock offs you see in a cheap store. The "lion guard" style they used for this show is an insult to my sons favourite series. He loves Thomas the Tank Engine (and lion guard as a matter of fact) BUT THIS JUST DOES NOT WORK! THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS WRONG WITH THIS SHOW! The child like attitude makes them feel all out of place! EVEN in BWBA the engines at LEAST looked like their older selves and had great energy. This just flushes it down the drain completely! MY SON IS VERY ANNOYED And he is throwing fits due to his favourite engine being destroyed! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!? HOW IS THIS OKAY!? Do you not care about how children feel about your dumb attempt on thomas!? MY GOD, I seriously wanted to be in the writers room and say SORRY BUT WHOEVER WROTE THIS RUBBISH, YOUR FIRED!

PLEASE PUT THE SHOW OUT OF IT'S MISSARY.

I love both the model and CGI versions of Thomas. I didn't hate BWBA that much either, but this is a whole new level. Even magic railroad is a great compared to this. This has tons and TONS of problems. First of all, why are the voice actors mostly all kids? The voice acting is simply terrible. Next, it's unrealistic. A lot of why Thomas was so good was because of how realistic it was. Now the engines are basically using their wheels as hands. There is no physics at all, and it is no longer as fun to watch crashes. The animation is obviously budget, and it is way to cartoony for Thomas. The sound effects are horrible too. Did I mention that there is no James, Edward, and Toby? And Gordon is basically the new fat controller. And diesel is now friends with Thomas. Oh, and Carly has wheels now? I don't get it. And also, the new theme song is also terrible. Like previously, Thomas had such good music. I think the CGI era had as good or maybe even better music than the model era. But this? The songs are just bad. Also, WHAT IN THE WORLD IS TRAIN SCHOOL?? Watch the old Thomas, don't waste your time with this garbage. This is a disgrace.

What is the point of this cartoon? You have the characters and the brand, but seeing as the heart, soul and point of Thomas have been so ripped out, it looks like they are merely used cynically to have an automatic audience. It would've been more appropriate for Mattel to create entirely new characters, given the radical gear shift, and created a new Mighty Express or Chuggington.

Some of us care about Reverend Awdry's legacy and the world he created. It has endured for of all the reasons the creators of this series feels it can so easily jettison. The realism of the trains, their personalities which match their class and usage. Showing how railways actually work and how engines and other machinery work together.

Generations of children understand this and respond to this and even the more creative CGI series of late have these values at their heart. Thomas directly inspires my son's interest with steam railways and I'm sure Thomas boosts visitor tickets to these places. Legions of autistic children and adults who have a special interest in railways are loyal to this show, just look at the fan videos on YouTube.

This show and the characters are not Thomas and Friends. They were never meant to be children and never meant to leap about track to track, or for the stories to be fast paced or even cartoonised. If the creators think that Thomas is no longer relevant then they needed to do the decent thing and shelve or cancel it. This stinks of cynicism and has no respect for the show, it's history or it's creator. My hope is that Thomas will eventually be restored to his former glory. Oh, and John Hasler was an awesome Thomas, what a waste.