Thomas and the Magic Railroad


Thomas and the Magic Railroad is a 2000 children's fantasy adventure film written and directed by Britt Allcroft and produced by Allcroft and Phil Fehrle; the cast includes Alec Baldwin, Peter Fonda, Mara Wilson, Didi Conn, Russell Means, Cody McMains, Michael E. Rodgers, and the voices of Eddie Glen and Neil Crone. The film is based on the British children's book series The Railway Series by the Reverend W. Awdry, its televised adaptation Thomas & Friends by Allcroft, and the American television series Shining Time Station by Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow; it is the only theatrical live-action/animated film in the Thomas & Friends franchise.
The plot is centred on Lily Stone, the granddaughter of the caretaker of an enchanted steam engine who is lacking an appropriate supply of coal, and Mr. Conductor of Shining Time Station, whose provisions of magical gold dust are at a critical low. Lily and Mr. Conductor enlist the help of Thomas the Tank Engine, who confronts the ruthless, steam engine-hating Diesel 10 along the way.
Thomas and the Magic Railroad premiered on 9 July 2000. It received negative reviews from critics for the acting, plot, special effects, and lack of fidelity to the source material, and was a box-office bomb, grossing $19.7 million worldwide against a production budget of $19 million; as a result of the film's poor performance, Allcroft resigned from her company, The Britt Allcroft Company, in September 2000. HIT Entertainment acquired the company two years later, including the television rights to Thomas. As of October 2020, a second theatrical live-action animated Thomas & Friends film is in development at Mattel Films, a division of Mattel, the current owner of HiT Entertainment, with Marc Forster serving as director.

Plot

and his family have left the Island of Sodor on holiday, leaving Mr. Conductor from Shining Time in charge of the railway. Thomas the Tank Engine informs Gordon of Mr. Conductor's arrival at a station just as Diesel 10—a diesel locomotive with a hydraulic claw—returns to Sodor. Diesel 10 plans to rid Sodor of steam engines by destroying Lady, the lost engine who can produce magic by travelling on a magic railroad that connects Sodor to Shining Time. Lady had been hidden in a workshop on Muffle Mountain by her driver, Burnett Stone, after he failed to protect her from Diesel 10's previous attempt to destroy her. Lady is unable to steam despite trying all of the coals in Indian Valley. That night, when Diesel 10 attacks Tidmouth Sheds, Mr. Conductor realises his supply of magic gold dust, which allows him to teleport between Sodor and Shining Time, is running low.
The following day, Mr. Conductor runs out of gold dust whilst searching for its source. He calls his cousin, C. Junior, to help him with the gold dust crisis. That night, Diesel 10 spies on Percy and Thomas, who conclude there is a secret railway between Sodor and Shining Time. Diesel 10 tells his henchmen, Splatter and Dodge, of his plans to destroy Lady. Toby overhears and distracts Diesel 10, who accidentally knocks one of the shed supports with his claw, which collapses the roof on top of them. The next morning, Thomas collects coal trucks and unknowingly pushes one through the buffers that lead to the magic railroad. Mr. Conductor is abducted by Diesel 10, who threatens to drop him off a loose viaduct unless he divulges the location of the buffers; Mr. Conductor cuts one of the claw's hydraulic pipes and is thrown free. He lands at the Sodor windmill, where he finds a clue to the source of the gold dust.
Burnett's granddaughter Lily meets Patch, who takes her to Shining Time where she meets Junior. Junior takes her through the magic railroad to Sodor, where they meet Thomas. Thomas takes them to the windmill, where they find Mr. Conductor. That night, Percy discovers that Splatter and Dodge have found the Sodor entrance to the magic railroad and goes to warn Thomas. While traveling through the magic railroad to take Lily home, Thomas discovers the missing coal truck. Lily goes to find Burnett, reluctantly leaving Thomas stranded. Thomas uncontrollably rolls down a cliffside and re-enters the magic railroad through another secret portal.
Burnett explains to Lily the problem of getting Lady to steam. Lily suggests using a special coal from Sodor, and Burnett uses it to successfully start Lady. Lady takes them along the magic railroad and returns to Sodor. Diesel 10 arrives with Splatter and Dodge, who decide to stop helping him. Diesel 10 then chases Thomas and Lady and tries to cross the viaduct, but it collapses under his weight and he falls into a sludge-filled barge. Lily combines water from a wishing well and shavings from the magic railroad to make more gold dust. Mr. Conductor passes his position as conductor to Junior before they depart. Lily, Burnett, Patch, and Mutt return to Shining Time, Lady returns to the magic railroad, and Thomas travels home into the sunset.

Cast

Live-action cast

  • Alec Baldwin as Mr. Conductor, the railway conductor of Shining Time Station. Baldwin succeeds Ringo Starr and George Carlin, both of whom had played the character on Shining Time Station.
  • Peter Fonda as Burnett Stone, Lily's grandfather and Lady's caretaker and driver
  • * Jared Wall as young Burnett
  • Mara Wilson as Lily Stone, Burnett's granddaughter
  • Michael E. Rodgers as Mr. C. Junior, Mr. Conductor's hard-partying cousin
  • Cody McMains as Patch, a young teenage boy who works with Burnett Stone
  • Didi Conn as Stacy Jones, the manager of Shining Time Station
  • Russell Means as Billy Twofeathers, the engineer of the Rainbow Sun, Shining Time Station's flagship locomotive. He was previously played by Tom Jackson on Shining Time Station.
In the original version of the film, Doug Lennox portrayed Burnett Stone's rival P.T. Boomer, who served as the story's original antagonist. The character was cut from the film prior to its release.

Voice cast

  • Eddie Glen as Thomas, a blue tank engine who runs his own branch line. John Bellis provided the voice of Thomas in the original cut of the film, before being replaced prior to the film's release.
  • Linda Ballantyne as Percy, a small green tank engine who is Thomas' best friend and works on Thomas' branch line. Michael Angelis provided the voice of Percy in the original cut of the film, before being replaced prior to the film's release.
  • Susan Roman as James, a red mixed-traffic tender engine who works on the main line. Angelis also provided the voice of James in the original cut of the film, before being replaced prior to the film's release.
  • Colm Feore as Toby, a brown steam tram engine who works on Thomas' branch line
  • Britt Allcroft as Lady, a small Victorian-styled tank engine owned by Burnett Stone, who runs the Magic Railroad
  • Shelley-Elizabeth Skinner as Annie and Clarabel, Thomas' passenger coaches
  • Kevin Frank as
  • *Henry, a green tender engine who works on the main line
  • *Dodge, a bumbling diesel, one of Diesel 10's cronies, and Splatter's twin
  • *Bertie, a bus whose services run on the roads along Thomas' branch line
  • *Harold, a helicopter that works on the Island of Sodor
  • *Sir Topham Hatt, the railway controller of the Island of Sodor
  • Neil Crone as
  • * Gordon, the blue tender engine who pulls the main line express
  • * Diesel 10, an evil diesel engine with a hydraulic claw he affectionately calls "Pinchy", who hates steam engines and wants to destroy them, especially the magic engine Lady. Keith Scott provided the voice of Diesel 10 in the original cut of the film, before being replaced prior to the film's release.
  • * Splatter, a bumbling diesel, one of Diesel 10's cronies, and Dodge's twin
  • * A tumbleweed with a Southern-American accent

    Production

Development

In the early 1990s, the character of Thomas the Tank Engine was at the height of his popularity following three successful series. At the same time, Shining Time Station was made, and also successful. As early as 1994, prior to the launch of Thomass fourth series, Britt Allcroft had plans to make a feature film based on both of these series, and would make use of the model trains from Thomas and the live-action aesthetic of Shining Time Station.
In mid to late 1995, Britt Allcroft was approached by Barry London, then vice-chairman of Paramount Pictures, with an idea for the Thomas film. In February 1996, Britt signed a contract to write the script for the film with the working title Thomas and the Magic Railroad. London's interest is thought to have stemmed from his three-year-old daughter, who was enthralled by Thomas. According to a press release, filming was to take place at Shepperton Studios, in the United Kingdom and the United States, with the theatrical release date set for 1997. However, later that year, after London left the company, Paramount shelved the plans for the film. This left Allcroft to seek other sources of funding. Discussions with PolyGram about the film were held, but not for long, because of the company being in the middle of a corporate restructuring and sale.
In the summer of 1998, during series 5 of Thomass production, Allcroft saw an Isle of Man Film Commission advert. They were offering tax incentives to companies wanting to film on the island. Allcroft visited and felt that the location was perfect. During that year, Barry London became chairman of the newly founded Destination Films. He renewed his interest in the project, and Destination Films became the main financial backer and studio for the film.

Distribution

In addition to being a major studio and financial backer, Destination announced in February 1999 that they would distribute the film in the United States while handling a possible sales exchange in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Gullane Pictures would handle international sales rights in all other territories. In June 1999, Icon Film Distribution acquired the British distribution rights to the film from Destination.