Thomas & Friends - Hero of the Rails [DVD] [2009]

Product Information

Entertainment to Grow Up With* | Two Thomas Adventures* | Thomas' Sodor Stories* | Fun with Thomas | Thomas' Trainyard Adventures* | Starting This Fall on PBS* | Thomas to the Rescue | Quarry Adventures on Sodor | The Story of Thomas and the Jet Engine | Thomas Tries His Best | Thomas' Birthday Sampler | Thomas & Friends 2008 Sampler DVD | Go, Go Thomas! | Thomas' Railway Adventures! | Disappearing Diesels This is one of the two US releases to be captioned by CaptionMax until The Thomas Way; the other being Best of James.

Race for the Sodor Cup | Thomas the Tank Engine Series 25 Vol. 1 ( coming soon) | Thomas the Tank Engine Series 25 Vol. 2 ( coming soon)

Side guide

The first time that a location outside of the United Kingdom is shown in the television series, in this case, the location shown is Hiro's homeland, Japan. Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails is a 2009 British animated adventure film and feature-length special of the British television series, Thomas & Friends. The film is produced by HIT Entertainment with animation from Nitrogen Studios. It introduces full CGI animation replacing live-action models, and the addition of a voice cast for the characters alongside the narration to the TV series. [2] This special states that Hiro was the first engine on the Island of Sodor, despite The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways stating that other engines were there long before. Gordon and Spencer race to the station. Spencer is exhausted, having been running around all day. Gordon wins the race and who should step out of the coaches is the Fat Controller and the Duke and Duchess. While they scold Spencer, Thomas arrives, saying he will help Spencer finish the summer house. The Duke and Duchess are pleased, but Spencer's pride is shattered. From the chase with Spencer until Hiro's overhaul at the Steamworks, the golden stripes on Hiro's boiler disappear.

The storyline is very believable: a broken-down and forgotten engine is made new again. This seems to be a recurring theme in many Thomas episodes: Something old is made new. Or, something old is worth keeping around, e.g., steam engines in the age of diesel. Edward and Gordon | Thomas and the Breakdown Train | Thomas and Bertie | Thomas in Trouble | Thomas, Percy and the Coal | Percy Takes the Plunge | A Close Shave | Edward's Exploit The only CGI special that does not mention the name of the writer in the opening credits (Sharon Miller is credited in the end). Thomas is taking on water when an engine rushes past. The rest of the Steam Team soon have similar experiences and gather at Knapford to figure out what is going on. Halfway through their conversation, Spencer arrives. It turns out that he is staying for the summer to help the Duke and Duchess build their summer house. Needless to say, nobody is pleased with the news, especially when Spencer rushes around with his work, teasing the other engines. That night, all of the engines are tired and cross because they have all been teased by Spencer. Calling All Engines! | The Great Discovery | Cancelled 2009 Special | Hero of the Rails | Misty Island Rescue | Day of the Diesels | Blue Mountain Mystery | King of the Railway | Tale of the Brave | The Adventure Begins | Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure | The Great Race | Journey Beyond Sodor | Big World! Big Adventures!Gordon Takes a Tumble | Henry and the Elephant | Percy Takes a Plunge | Thomas and the Special Letter | James and the Trouble with Trees | Spic and Span | Diesel from Thomas to the Rescue | Emily's Adventure The film features the voice of Ben Small and Martin Sherman as Thomas the Tank Engine for the UK and US respectively. It was first released on DVD and on iTunes on 12 January 2010. To promote the film a " Day Out with Thomas 2010: The Hero of the Rails Tour" was held at locations such as the Illinois Railway Museum, where guests could participate in activities such as arts and crafts or ride on a 15-ton replica of Thomas the Tank Engine. [3] Was I wrong! CGI breathes new life into this series. The characters have lost that "homey" feel of the minatures, but this is more than made up for by the quality of the graphics. The scenes flow very well, and I must admit, they hold your attention better than "The Great Discovery". Spencer has his first two accidents (first getting covered in slate at the quarry, then landing cab first in a marsh). Thomas heads over to Hiro to tell him the wonderful news and the two engines are overjoyed. Thomas and Percy bring him to the Sodor Steamworks the next day. The Fat Controller and Victor promise to have him running like new again.

A strong story, great characters and beautiful visuals. But... the teething troubles are easily spotted in Thomas first fully animated outing. The transition from models to animation was done cleverly by having a mix of the two in series 12. So the kids and nostalgic adults should be ready and accepting instead off sulky and angry like I was when I first heard about the transition. Spencer and the Duke and Duchess of Boxford's first appearances in a special as well as their first appearances since the eleventh series episode, Dream On. When Hiro pulls Spencer to the Steamworks, Hiro's number stops moving whilst Hiro keeps moving, so it appears to be sliding off.The characters are great! Some of the voices are bit overboard, such as Gordon's "High & Mighty", and Henry's whine. Spencer's voice is perfect, as are Hiro's and Emily's. Personally, I don't care for Thomas's voice. It seems a bit too youngish, but considering who this DVD is aimed at, it works for kids. As was mentioned in an earlier post, Victor and Kevin are a match made in Heaven: the seasoned veteran and the new kid in the shop. Perfect! I don't suppose there could be anyone unfamiliar with Thomas The tank engine, but there are probably some who may not be aware that since the days of Ringo Stars narratives, Thomas has moved on and the stories have gained new engines, and a lovely island paradise for steam train story lovers. Hiro, now in a very "patchwork" design, is feeling much better. Hiro mentions that James will be coming tomorrow, Percy comments on how he feels about James, sending Hiro laughing for the first time in years.