Thomas & Friends (formerly known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends) is a famous long-running British television series and media franchise created by Britt Allcroft, based on The Railway Series by the Rev W Awdry. It follows the adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine as the main protagonist, and his fellow steam locomotives including Gordon, James, and Percy, working on the fictional Island of Sodor for The North Western & finding new and exciting adventures.
In the United States, it was first broadcast along with the spin-off series Shining Time Station on PBS' PTV Park block in 1989.
The TV-show is owned and produced by HiT Entertainment (a subsidiary of Mattel). There have been several references to it in Bob the Builder.
History with Bob the Builder[]
When Keith Chapman was creating Bob the Builder, he looked at other children's media such as Thomas the Tank Engine. However, he felt that it looked very old fashioned, as The Railway Series, the book series of which the Thomas the Tank Engine television series was based off, was written back in the 1940s. Despite this, it was still one of the most succesful British preschool television series, and so Chapman thought that surely a construction concept could be as big as Thomas. HiT was not too sure if it would, but for a few years, Bob the Builder would actually become more popular than Thomas, before Thomas would become more popular than Bob the Builder again years later.[1]
During Bob the Builder's success, HiT was planning on purchasing Gullane Entertainment, owner of Thomas the Tank Engine. The two sides were unable to agree on a price, however, and the merger fell through.[2]
In 2002, the board of Gullane Entertainment agreed that their company be purchased by HIT for £139million,[3] both Thomas & Friends and Bob the Builder were owned by the same company.
Appearances[]
Both Thomas & Friends and Bob the Builder characters appeared together in The Official BBC Children in Need Medley from 2009.
Bob the Builder References in Thomas & Friends[]
- A child in a Bob the Builder costume is seen at a Halloween party in the books Halloween in Anopha and A Ghost on the Track.
- The Thomas & Friends Minis toy range produced a Construction Toby toy which featured the 2015 design of Bob the Builder in his cab, as well as his new 'B' logo all over Toby's paintwork. This makes it the first variant to feature a trademarked character that is not part of a crossover theme. Both franchises are owned by Mattel, meaning no license was required. The Bob the Builder toy promo was also featured on the US checklist, showing four die-cast models.
Thomas & Friends References in Bob the Builder[]
- In the special Scrambler to the Rescue, a toy train engine with a face on the front resembles Thomas which can be seen in the toy factory. It also uses Thomas' whistle sound effect and the coaches are painted like the Green Express Coaches. The face used was taken from an illustration by Clive Spong in The Railway Series.
Films and Specials
•Thomas & The Magic Railroad (2000)
•Calling All Engines (2005)
•The Great Discovery (2008)
•Hero of the Rails (2009)
•Misty Island Rescue (2010)
•Day Of The Diesels (2011)
•Blue Mountain Mystery (2012)
•King of the Railway (2013)
•Tale Of The Brave (2014)
•The Adventure Begins (2015)
•Sodor’s Legend of the Lost Treasure (2015)
•The Great Race (2016)
•Journey Beyond Sodor (2017)
•Big World! Big Adventures! (2018)
All Engines Go! Movies:
•Race For the Sodor Cup (2021)
•The Mystery of Lookout Mountain (2022)
•The Christmas Letter Express (2024)
•Sodor Sings Together (2025)
Spin Offs
• Shining Time Station
•Tugs
• Jack and the Sodor Construction Company
•Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go!
Cancelled Projects
•The Adventures of Thomas (planned film)
•The Secrets of Mudslide Mountain (2013/14)
• Thomas the Tank Engine (1976 TV Series)
• Season 25
Connections[]
- Rupert Degas provided the voices for many characters in the fifteenth and sixteenth series.
- Teresa Gallagher provided voices for many characters between Hero of the Rails and the twenty-fourth series.
- Eberhard Haar
- Holly Hazelton
- Mia Hope Gaywood provided voices.
- Steven Kynman provided voices for many characters between the sixteenth series and the twenty-fourth series.
- Rob Rackstraw provided the voices for many characters between The Adventure Begins and the twenty-fourth series.
- Colin McFarlane
- David Menkin
- Lucy Montgomery
- Neil Morrissey
- Achim Schülke
- Juha Varis
- Jukka Voutilainen
- María Fernanda Morales
- Ricardo Silva
- Gabriel Gama
- Víctor Ugarte
- Ernesto Lezama
- Francisco Colmenero
Trivia[]
- Thomas & Friends has appeared in various VHS, DVD and digital download compilation releases with Bob the Builder and other properties owned by HiT Entertainment. These include HiT Favorites, HiT Children's Favourites, The Little Big Club, Awesome Adventures and ABC For Kids Favourites.
- Certain Thomas & Friends DVDs include Bob the Builder episodes as bonus episodes.
- Some sound effects used in both franchises:
- Spencer's whistle can be heard in a Bob the Builder special called "The Big Dino Dig" and in the episode Muck's Train to Trouble.
- Sir Handel's whistle from the US dub and early UK version of Sleeping Beauty can be heard in the Bob the Builder special called "The Knights of Can-a-Lot."
- Lady's and Millie's whistle can be heard in the Bob the Builder special called "Built to be Wild."
- The siren at The Coal Mines from Put Upon Percy can be heard in the episode Lofty the Lifeguard.
- Both franchises have a merchandise line known as Take Along produced by Learning Curve.
- In "Trains and Treehouses" the coaches on Mr. Bentley’s old train set are very similar in colour to the Red Express Coaches.
- Neil Morrissey - the voice of Bob, Roley, Lofty, and others in the UK - narrated the UK trailers of Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
- It has been suggested that plans for the Thomas & Friends spin-off series Jack and the Sodor Construction Company may have been scrapped since HiT Entertainment considered it too similar to Bob the Builder.
- The post-2018 Steam Team liveries match the core five machines of Bob the Builder (red, orange, yellow, green and blue).
Gallery[]
References[]
External Links[]
- Thomas & Friends on Wikipedia
- Thomas the Tank Engine Wiki
- Thomas & Friends on the Thomas the Tank Engine Wiki
- Bob the Builder on the Thomas the Tank Engine Wiki
|