Thomas & Friends (franchise)

creator	Britt Allcroft
based on	The Railway Series by Wilbert Awdry
owner	The Britt Allcroft Company / Gullane Entertainment (1984–2002) HIT Entertainment (2002–2012) Mattel (2012–present)
tv series	Thomas & Friends (1984–2021) Shining Time Station (1989-1995)‡R1R‡ Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go (2021–2025) Thomas & Friends (2026)
films	Thomas and 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) Race For the Sodor Cup (2021) The Mystery of Lookout Mountain (2022) The Great Bubbly Build (2023) The Christmas Letter Express (2024) Sodor Sings Together (2025) Thomas & Friends (TBA)‡R2R‡
vgs	List of video games
years	1984–present
toys	List of merchandise
attractions	Day Out with Thomas Thomas Land (Drayton Manor) Thomas Land (Fuji-Q Highland)

Thomas & Friends (formerly known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends) is a children's media franchise based on the Railway Series books by Wilbert Awdry and created by Britt Allcroft in 1984 and owned by Mattel since 2012. The franchise revolves around an ensemble cast of anthropomorphic steam locomotives, including the titular protagonist, Thomas the Tank Engine, as well as other vehicles, who work on the Island of Sodor.

In 1984, The Railway Series books were adapted into a television series initially titled Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. This ran for 24 series and had several feature-length specials produced during its run. A film adaptation, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, was released theatrically in 2000. After the television series ended in 2021, a reboot titled Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go began in the same year and concluded in 2025. Another reboot simply called "Thomas & Friends" will begin airing its first season on YouTube and Netflix along with a new special in autumn 2026, and a second theatrical film is in development at Mattel Films.

History

Background

Early attempts at adaptation

Multiple attempts to create a show based on The Railway Series happened since 1953, when Eric Marriott was approached by the BBC to adapt two stories based on the Railway Series stories. During the broadcast of The Sad Story of Henry, the engine used in the broadcast fell and was picked up by a hand seconds later. Models moved jerkily, and all effects, music and sound had to be superimposed.[4][5][6]

Later, in 1973, Andrew Lloyd Webber, who had read The Railway Series as a child, approached publisher Kaye & Ward with a proposal for his own musical television series, with songs from himself and lyricist Peter Reeves. However, the publishers and the author refused to give Lloyd Webber's company "control of almost everything", which Lloyd Webber's lawyers argued was necessary in order to "secure the investment money from America which would be needed to pay for the animation and the film-making."

The status of the project seemed uncertain, and while Stanley Pickard, Kaye & Ward's managing director at the time, told Awdry that he was "maintaining personal contact with Andrew and still had a slight hope that there might be a way out", Wilbert remained apprehensive, saying that "Once the Americans get hold of it the whole series would be vulgarised and ruined."

Eventually, an agreement was reached and Awdry received an advanced payment of £500. A pilot episode was commissioned from Granada, which would feature 2D cutouts of the engines moving along a background in a style reminiscent of Ivor the Engine, with involvement from animator Brian Cosgrove. The cutouts and backgrounds would be based upon illustrations from The Railway Series. The pilot episode was completed by early 1976, but Granada ultimately decided not to produce a full series, as they feared that at the time Awdry's stories were not popular enough outside the UK to justify investing the time and money needed to make the series.[7] Andrew Lloyd Webber later established the Really Useful Group in 1977, a name derived from the phrase "Really Useful Engine".

Thomas & Friends (franchise)

History

Background

Early attempts at adaptation

Early years and the series' success

Reboot

Second reboot

Films and specials

Theatrical films

Direct-to-video films and specials

All Engines Go television specials

Commercialisation

Amusement parks

Merchandise

Heritage railways

Popularity with autistic audience

External links

References