The Thomas & Friends Movie

The Thomas & Friends Movie is a 2015 3D computer-animated children's fantasy adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and HiT Movies for Walt Disney Pictures. The film is produced, written and directed by Pete Docter and Britt Allcroft, written and produced by Ronnie del Carmen, and written by Andrew Brenner and Bob Peterson based on a screenplay by Pete Docter and Josh Cooley.

It is the first theatrically-released Thomas & Friends film since the release of Thomas and the Magic Railroad in 2000, and is based on the children's television series of the same name by Britt Allcroft. It stars the voice talents of Tom Holland as the title character, with Tom Hanks, Neil Crone, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Amy Poehler, and Dan Castellaneta, Michelle Gomez, Phyllis Smith, Anthony Hopkins, Carey Mulligan, Frank Welker, James McAvoy, Pete Docter, Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, and Chris Hemsworth, with Michael Angelis as the narrator.

The film follows Thomas, a blue anthropomorphized tank engine from the Island of Sodor, as he discovers an old, abandoned part of the island while doing a routine freight delivery from Brendam to Vicarstown. A theatrical Thomas & Friends film was originally conceived in 2008, with the film titled The Adventures of Thomas, set for release in 2010. However, it was cancelled in 2012 due to the Mattel buyout. In Spring 2012, Pixar announced that it would be collaborating with Britt Allcroft, the creator of the original television series, to produce a feature-length film. The film was dedicated to narrator George Carlin, who died in 2008. It is the first and only film produced by HiT Movies before HiT Entertainment was absorbed into Mattel Creations, now Mattel Television.

The Thomas & Friends Movie premiered in Ampfield, Wilbert Awdry's birthplace, on July 10, 2015, before theatrically releasing in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2015, and in the United States in RealD 3D, IMAX and Dolby Vision formats on August 7, 2015, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Upon release, the film received universally positive reviews, with praise for the animation, visual effects, voice cast (particularly Holland), musical score by Christophe Beck, faithfulness to the source material, its plot, and its craftsmanship. It was a box office hit, grossing $895.1 million worldwide against its production budget of $185 million.

A sequel was announced at the D23 Expo, with a release date of September 20, 2024.

Plot
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Cast
"Main article: List of Thomas & Friends characters"


 * Tom Holland
 * Tom Hanks
 * Neil Crone
 * Will Arnett
 * Seth Rogen
 * Amy Poehler
 * Dan Castellaneta
 * Michelle Gomez
 * Phyllis Smith
 * Anthony Hopkins
 * Carey Mulligan
 * Frank Welker
 * James McAvoy
 * Pete Docter
 * Vin Diesel
 * Dwayne Johnson
 * Chris Hemsworth

Development
In 2009, HiT Entertainment announced a theatrical Thomas & Friends film to be made, with Shane Acker as director and animation by Nitrogen Studios (now Cinesite Vancouver), with a release of late 2010. However, due to production issues, the release was slated back further. First to Spring 2011, and then to 2012. On February 1, 2012, amidst Mattel acquiring HiT Entertainment for $680 million (£550.7 million), The Adventures of Thomas was cancelled abruptly.

In April 2012, Walt Disney Pictures was interested in doing a feature film adaptation to Thomas & Friends, after they've been in talks with HiT about an adaptation in 2011. With the acquisition complete by Mattel, Disney and the latter company struck a deal. Pete Docter, a long-time Pixar employee, was announced to direct the film, with its title yet to be announced. Britt Allcroft, the former CEO of her company The Britt Allcroft Company (later Gullane Entertainment after she stepped down as CEO), was announced to be the director, producer, and writer for the film. In an interview with BBC News, she stated that she was "excited that a movie based on my famous work would be given another shot".

Writing
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Casting
Coming soon!

Animation
The Thomas & Friends Movie was animated in Pixar's proprietary animation system, Presto. The animation was a blend of the model series' aesthetics, and made improved computer-animated faces for the characters themselves. Characters were given changes of their appearance. Their paintwork shined more, reflected by the sunlight, with noticeable wear and tear on their paint, a more detailed cab interior, with metal framing and textures for the valves and systems. The trains' undercarriage was animated similar to the type used in the CGI series in 2009.

Director Britt Allcroft stated that she wanted the animation to be "more advanced", while "keeping it faithful to the show". Pete Docter established that the animation was to be more clean and somewhat bouncy, though not too much, to try and not break the pattern of the show's style. The animation was later rendered with RenderMan, Pixar's proprietary photorealistic 3D rendering software, which gave a realistic look to the engines, the model itself, the scenery, rails, freight cars/coaches, and backgrounds.

More coming soon!

Design and cinematography
Coming soon!

Music
Canadian composer Christophe Beck composed the score, with original songs and samples by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell.

Marketing and release
Disney and HiT Entertainment (under Mattel) engaged a marketing campaign for the film in mid-2014. This included a teaser trailer, which debuted onto Disney and Mattel's YouTube channels on October 12, 2014, a teaser poster, excessive social media publications, and an exclusive promotion by actor Tom Holland, who portrayed Thomas in the film. The Thomas & Friends Movie was screened early on for children who enjoyed the TV show, with writer, director and producer Britt Allcroft concerned that, even though it was meant for kids, if it would appeal to the young audience.

The Thomas & Friends Movie debuted at Ampfield in England on July 10, 2015, following by its release in the United Kingdom on August 2, 2015. The Thomas & Friends Movie was originally scheduled for its release on November 14, 2014, but it was pushed back to August 7, 2015. It was later released in RealD 3D, IMAX and Dolby Vision, one of the earliest films to adopt the format, along with Pixar's Inside Out. In theatres, The Thomas & Friends Movie was accompanied by a short film, Coal Delivery Mishaps (2014).

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Mattel released The Thomas & Friends Movie for digital download on October 27, 2015, and on Blu-ray and DVD on November 22. Physical copies contained behind-the-scenes featurettes, audio commentary with co-director Britt Allcroft and Thomas voice Tom Holland, deleted and unused scenes, and two short films: Coal Delivery Mishaps and Thomas & Friends Presents: Mischievous Trucks (2015). In 2019, The Thomas & Friends Movie was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.

Box office
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Critical response
The Thomas & Friends Movie holds an approval rating of 94% based on 312 profession reviews on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 8.5/10. Its critical consensus reads, "Fulfilled with adventure, music, and wit, The Thomas & Friends Movie delivers its story so clever, it feels unimaginable." On Metacritic (which uses a weighted average), has a score of 89 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore assigned the film a rare average grade "A+" on its A+ to F scale.

More coming soon!

Accolades
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Legacy
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Other media
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Sequel
"Main article: Untitled Thomas & Friends sequel"

Trivia
"Main article: The Thomas & Friends Movie/Trivia"

Transcript
"Main article: The Thomas & Friends Movie/Transcript"

Credits
"Main article: The Thomas & Friends Movie/Credits"