We've 4 months until the premiere of An Unlikely Fandom - and very few tickets left! If you're interested in joining us in NYC on November 27th - grab your tickets today... https://www.eventbrite.com/e/an-unlikely-fandom-documentary-screening-tickets-645356517717
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Monday, July 31, 2023
120 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
Sunday, July 30, 2023
121 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
121 days until the premiere of An Unlikely Fandom!
Saturday, July 29, 2023
122 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
122 days until the premiere of An Unlikely Fandom!
Friday, July 28, 2023
123 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
When I was a kid, the two most popular Thomas toys were the ERTL die-cast models of the characters and the Wooden Railway toys - both discontinued now, but really fantastic in their heyday. The ERTL ones were discontinued sometime around 2003, and Wooden Railway ended sometime in the past 5 years or so, but I don't remember exactly. There are hundreds of items in each line of toys, and hopefully someday I can get them all, because even though they're still relatively common on resale sites, they'll become harder to find soon enough.
Thursday, July 27, 2023
124 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
Working on growing the Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia's social media!
More on that in a future post.
124 days until the premiere of An Unlikely Fandom!
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
125 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
There are very few tickets left, but if you're able to attend the premiere in NYC on November 27th - it is gonna be a great night!
Also be sure to check out the absolutely brilliant website, put together by the director - Carty. One of the coolest websites I've ever seen! www.unlikelyfandom.com
Then there's this awesome poster, I don't think I've shared it yet!
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
126 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
When I was a kid and still in school, math wasn't my strong suit and I had a hard time getting through it - Mom & Dad would occasionally motivate me by adding to my ERTL die-cast collection. That's how I got Splatter and Dodge and several other characters.
(Pics found online)
Monday, July 24, 2023
127 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
One of the reasons I love Thomas is because of the beautiful models and scenery and the amazing amount of talent and skill that went into all the practical effects that brought the classic series to life.
Sunday, July 23, 2023
128 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
When I was a kid, there was a brief period in which I believed (or at least wanted to believe) around six years old, that the Island of Sodor was a real place and there were talking engines out there in some part of the world. I was smart enough to realize it couldn't be real, but I still pestered my mom about whether there was a real Island of Sodor and talking trains.
Saturday, July 22, 2023
129 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
A fun behind the scenes fact from Thomas and Friends! The crew of the show had to keep track of all the faces for the characters to know at a glance what they needed for production - so they had these nifty books made up, with sheets like this one, to show all the faces available for a given character.
Friday, July 21, 2023
130 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
Like Season 5 a few years earlier and Season 10 later, Season 7 of Thomas & Friends introduced a lot of new characters and even made a VHS release around those episodes - which incidentally was one of my favorites as a kid.
Thursday, July 20, 2023
131 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
Thomas is one of those properties that is difficult to translate into a feature film for general audiences - the leap from bedtime story to 5 minute episodic television is one thing, but an hour+ of a story about talking locomotives seems to be a difficult sell to the execs that make these calls (call me Mattel, I know the source material and have thoughts).
A feature film was attempted just over two decades ago, by the beloved creator of the television show, Britt Allcroft, and met mixed reactions from fans and the general public. It's plot largely revolved around the magical portals between Thomas' world and the real world, something which was never addressed before or after the movie in any other media. But despite the mixed feelings towards this movie, Thomas fans have hoped another attempt would be made. For years a new film has been promised, being stuck in early development, it has long been teased to be another story of two generations reconnecting over a visit to Thomas' world, possibly amid WWII.
Though the film has apparently been DOA for years, Mattel has promised to look at developing it if their first project out of their new film initiative is financially successful... that new film being "Barbie."
Now, while Barbie is a fascinating, humorous and surprisingly deep movie rife with social commentary and a plot about adults projecting their feelings and problems onto children's toys, it does hint at the possibility that it is possible to make a movie about a popular toy for an older audience. (I would hope that they would find a different tone and themes for a Thomas film, but you see what I mean about it being possible. Call me, Mattel; seriously.)
So we'll wait and see if the company makes any decisions about Thomas going forward!
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
132 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
So, for anyone who's missed my earliest posts in this countdown - An Unlikely Fandom is a documentary about how Thomas the Tank Engine, the world's #1 preschool brand, found an unlikely audience in adult fans and who these fans are. Directed by one of our own, it sheds light into what makes Thomas popular and why we still love him after all these years.
I'm an executive producer on the film, my first credit as such, but hopefully the first of many, (I'll have to tell you about the sci-fi film I was an associate producer on another time) and I hope to get as many people to see this as possible. We're having a premiere in NYC (hence my countdown) and we only have a few tickets left. If you're interested in being one of the first to see this film with us and participate in a Q&A with the crew... tickets are few, grab yours today!
Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
133 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
I still remember the first edit I made on the Thomas the Tank Engine Wiki all those years ago (July 2nd, 2008 - there was a missed opportunity to mark the 15th anniversary with a post on the 2nd) and it was on the page about Rosie, who was one of my favorite characters while we were going through some difficult times and living with my grandparents. Her debut episode was one of the ones I watched when it premiered on PBS Kids in 2006.
This is a screenshot of that article now, over 15 years after my first edit, the character even looks different, having had a redesign a few years back.
Monday, July 17, 2023
134 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
I want to give a shout-out to some fans who have worked tirelessly to preserve some amazing pieces of our childhoods - these guys have purchased and displayed several of the characters from the show and they made this truly awesome discovery - behind the scenes tapes from the filming of season 5.
I've not had the chance to sit down and watch them in their entirety, but what I have seen is absolutely fascinating. A lot of work went into the stop motion animation of the early series of Thomas and Friends.
If you find that interesting, check out ThomasTankMerch's YouTube for the behind the scenes videos, here: https://youtube.com/@thomastankmerch2474
Sunday, July 16, 2023
135 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
So, as a Thomas superfan, ya'll already know that I know all kinds of random stuff about the books and show, but one of my favorite facts is that the TV show changed the color of several engines to be more distinct and recognizable for the kids watching the show. As you can see in the picture, all the engines on the Skarloey Railway were red but in the TV series, they are a variety of colors. I was very surprised to find this out when I first discovered the books when I was about 10 years old.
Saturday, July 15, 2023
136 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
Another favorite VHS tape from when I was a kid, and also the first Series 5 release and the first with this style packaging - when I was a kid these tapes were my favorite, with the large photo of a character in the background and a small scene from an episode in the foreground.
Friday, July 14, 2023
137 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
A little late due to the lack of internet.
A favorite VHS release and favorite episode on it, I was completely obsessed with Toby and the Flood, a story about a locomotive who is swept away on a wooden bridge when a dam breaks in a flood (I'm not even sure if that's physically possible)
Was definitely my favorite episode for a little while and probably still one of my favorites from Season 5.
Thursday, July 13, 2023
138 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
So, no internet access for me today, so I'm a little late making this post. Just a tease tonight, of a longer future post, but...
Fun fact about me, I actually quit watching Thomas for awhile when I was 7 years old because I disliked some of the episodes on this VHS so much.
It was also this VHS release that helped inspire me to become a writer and director, something I'm actively working on pursuing now and that I have evidence of me working on as a child.
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
139 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
I've been digging through old photos and memories trying to find a few I wanted to share, but I've not found them yet...
In the meanwhile, I found this meme on my old Facebook account from 4 or 5 years ago. In the old days of Thomas & Friends with the face masks on the model engines, sometimes there would be shots in which the engine is wearing the wrong expression and we Thomas fans always have some fun with that. Someone made a meme out of this and I shared it, because if breaking down and still smiling isn't me, I don't know what is.
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
140 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
Not much time to post today, but 140 days until the premiere of An Unlikely Fandom!
For today's post, here are 2 of my favorite/ most important VHS tapes in my Thomas the Tank Engine collection.
Monday, July 10, 2023
141 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
Sunday, July 9, 2023
142 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
142 days until the premiere of An Unlikely Fandom!
It's a bit late tonight, so I don't have time to write anything lengthy, but I was taking a look back through some photo albums of mine and found these gems from those occasions where I got to see props and models from the show in person, always a wonderful time!
Saturday, July 8, 2023
143 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
143 days until the premiere of An Unlikely Fandom!
Friday, July 7, 2023
144 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
Today happens to be the birthday of the legendary Ringo Starr, who was the first person to narrate the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends TV series.
When searching for the perfect voice for Thomas and his friends, the people behind the show thought of Ringo, with his popularity in both the US and the UK as one of the Beatles.He narrated the first season of the show in both regions. Happy Birthday Ringo!
Thursday, July 6, 2023
145 Days: Countdown to the An Unlikely Fandom Premiere
I'm not feeling particularly wordy tonight (I've been working on writing and organizing all day, it tends to wear one out.)
But here's a few pictures of a few of my favorite items from my Thomas the Tank Engine collection...I used to have an even bigger collection, but even now, it's an extensive collection.