Large Scale Central

Thomas and Friends-Misty Island Rescue

General Discussion
#1

An utter wasted effort…Didn’t know it could get worse.

Here is my review from Amazon.

Quote:
. . . 1.0 out of 5 stars Nothing but a Commercial, just in time for Christmas!, September 19, 2010

This review is from: Thomas & Friends: Misty Island Rescue (DVD)

If you are looking to painfully entertain your children while promoting the latest and upcoming Hit Entertainment Thomas and Friends toys for Christmas, then this film is for you! A true waste of time for anyone looking to share moral and ethics lessons with their favorite blue engine. The story is as deep as a mud puddle. I’d go as far to say it not only insults the Awdry/Thomas legacy, but our kids intelligence as well!

Hero of the Rails was bad enough, but Hit has slumped to a new Low with this pitiful outing. It makes me glad I spent so much years back on Thomas DVD’s for our first round of kids, now the little ones can enjoy the “better” stories of Sodor, and this garbage can be forgotten on the shelf.

The one star is for Ferdinand, the 3-Truck Climax locomotive, one of our favorite prototypes.

Pass on this DVD, you’ll be glad you did-for the kids sake…

and while I have you.

Who comes up with these titles? New Thomas Christmas film-Thomas & Friends: Merry Winter Wish…Have you ever wished someone “Merry Winter”? the audacity.
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#2

Cale, this show “Jumped The Shark” a few years ago when they started doing non-Awdry based “original stories”. The Sodor location stopped having anything to do with historical English railways and just became another kids cartoon show, but it fell of the cliff when they went to CGI for everything, gave each character there own voice and concetrated on selling toys instead of telling stories that had values. I saw the preview for this particular movie at my local Target while perusing DVDs and I thought “Wow that show went offensively stupid!” Sad what was once a great kids show is now just another oversaturated marketing tool aimed at kids.

#3

Maybe they are getting away from the Communistic undertone and ideals of the earlier stories?

#4

I didn’t like the direction Hit Entertainment was going from the first ‘toon’ DVD my son purchased for my grandson. Like Cale, I have most if not all the old ‘O’ scale Thomas movies from when they had real value.

Hit Entertainment has lost me as a customer for their products, as they have lost the educational value they once contained.

Bob C.

#5

Bob - there was an article in the British magazine ‘Railway modeller’ a few years back in which they showed how the original ‘Thomas’ series was made. Interestingly, they did not use 0 scale models, but Maerklin Gauge 1 models instead and scratch-built 99.99% of them. The ‘steam’ coming from around the stationary locos was actually pumped uped up from small tubes hidden under the loco, and Seuther smoke units were used on the locos themselves. R/C took care of the moving eyes and other features.

The long-shots’ - Thomas and co. moving over a long viaduct in the distance and so on - were made by using 00 scale models and selective compression principals. The entire layout occupied an area of about 80 by 20 feet in a pretty run-down-looking shed.

…and most of the conversion work was done by one very skilled lady model-maker.

tac
www.ovgrs.org
Supporter of the Cape Meares Lighthouse Restoration Fund

#6

If someone today wanted to buy videos of the show when it was still good, which ones should they get? Are they still available?

#7

tac,

Thanks for the correction. I seem to remember reading somewhere they were ‘O’ scale. I guess memory fades as time passes :).

Bob C.

#8

Ray…pretty much anything before the GCI was done very well-though some of the later ones would skew from what one would think the Good Reverend would write…

read this it may help:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_and_Friends

Target has gotten some of the older episodes repackaged and re-named via DVD for $5.00 each-a bargain! Ebay comes thru with some truly great early shows on VHS!

This is my favorite!!!

http://www.target.com/Thomas-Friends-Surprise-Alec-Baldwin/dp/B002GBJHRS/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&searchView=list&keywords=thomas%20and%20friends&fromGsearch=true&sr=1-27&qid=1285010440&rh=subjectbin%3A1259488011&searchRank=target104545&id=Thomas%20Friends%20Surprise%20Alec%20Baldwin&node=1038576|1287991011&searchSize=30&searchPage=2&searchNodeID=1038576|1287991011&searchBinNameList=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Ctarget_com_primary_color-bin%2Ctarget_com_size-bin%2Ctarget_com_brand-bin&frombrowse=0

Anything before the CGI is pretty good, but like wine, the older…the better!

cale