Thomas The Tank Engine : The WWII Movie

So, the WWII movie. With release dates continually shifting (ranging from late 2010 to October 2015) and the unsteady status of the movie, what will it be like? 

Well for starters, although only one poster has been released, we can already see that Thomas looks like a proper E2. That said, this photo was originally made by nitrogen, so Thomas may look different by the time the movie comes around. Although the wheels may be black I quite like this take on Thomas already. He even has rivets! One problem would be that, this being set in WWII, Thomas should technically be painted black. The LMS, LNER, SR and even the GWR painted all their locomotives black during this time, however navy blue could work for Thomas. Hopefully, all the other engines will have prototypically accurate shapes as well (e.g. Edward = Furness K2, Gordon = LNER A3 etc.)

Another feature of the movie is the new characters. It has been teased that a "very 'devious' diesel" will be introduced and that we can "look forward to some returns". First off, the 'devious' diesel. I really hope that this does not just mean 'diesel', as his prototype was not introduced until 1952, a long time after the end of the war. The statement 'devious diesel' instantly brings up the 'revolutionary' class 08 we all know. If anything, I hope he is an LMS prototype or even a maunsell diesel shunter. Secondly, the returning charcters. Hopefully this does not mean Duck. Or Oliver. Or Donald, Douglas Bill or Ben. Why? These characters did not arrive on Sodor until after the war. Not even Percy or Toby were there before the war. If anything, I hope they mean 'the red engine', or possibly even Duke or the Culdee Fell Railway!

Third off, the storyline. This storyline does seem like a sequel to the movie 'Thomas & the magic railroad'. Hopefully this is not the case. So far, all we have is that a pre-teen boy goes to Sodor (which hopefully means he was 'evacuated' there, not 'he got there via the magic railroad') and that there is a bonding experience between him & his father and a steam engine vs. diesel engine confrontation. Only 1/3 of that is Thomas-related. Hopefully by the time the movie is released more Thomas-related content is added. Or else this will turn out to be one of those awful 'family movies' which tries to aim the movie to be for the whole family, but fails miserably in the process. They also said it would be for 'older' people. Assumingly this means teenagers. The market for this is limited. The only people who I think would buy it would be older Thomas fans, or parents who assume that because it's got Thomas it must be totally safe for their children to watch even though it's rated pegi-13. Totally doesn't have Tidmouth station being blown to smithereens by Nazi warplanes. Although if people do tell their friends about how epic the movie is (if it actually is) people might take more notice of it, possibly even adding to the amount of Thomas fans, especially good because there is perfect timing here, as Andrew Brenner, the new head writer, is doing a superb job on it at the minute.

Finally, the merchandise. The film is said to be distributing merchandise for the 'older audience'. Assumingly this does not mean a TOMY Thomas with machine guns sticking out of his side-tanks. This hopefully means a super-detail version of the HORNBY Thomas based on his appearance in the film. This should also mean that Edward should get re-done, probably as a K2 this time, Henry, Gordon and James should also be re-done along with this, as well as any of the new characters. By 'super-detail' I mean still with the faces but with features like sprung buffers, safety valves, high prototypical accuracy and possibly even weathering! If that happened I would definatley buy them.

In conclusion, this movie had better be good for the amount of time we've been waiting and not just in graphics either. In every aspect. From storyline to merchandise. Hopefully, Shane Acker will make this movie a World War II based movie, not a TATMR2 movie as has currently been teased. I also hope that he does his research, and that the diesel was built during the 1930s and that only Sodor's nos 1-5 appear. I also feel that more posters/trailers should be produced. That way we will be kept interested in the current development of the movie.