First Class Train Tales (Thomas & Friends - Brave Little Engines (VHS))

Member Name: snowbunni

Product:	Thomas & Friends - Brave Little Engines (VHS)
Date:	21/03/06 (1422 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cute Little Trains, Simple Stories

Disadvantages: Highly Addictive To Toddlers

BACKGROUND: As a teenager, I financed my more costly kicks by babysitting, and eventually found myself looking after a small throng of unmanageable children, dispersed across several households. Most unmanageable of all, however, was a plump little boy of two, called Charlie.

Charlie liked nothing better than to drink red cordial neat, and to watch Thomas the Tank Engine videos. His state-of-the-art tricycle stood ignored on the patio. An imposing mound of Fisher Price plastic rested aimlessly in his playroom. Cars, trucks, and remote-controlled tractors were arranged in unfathomably untouched rows. But those Thomas videos were on almost constant rotation. Consequently, babysitting little Charlie became, for me at least, an exercise in abject tedium.

The perpetual choo-choo-ing of the little trains, the sonorous tones of Ringo Starr, and most of all, that confoundingly infectious little theme tune, all insinuated themselves into the very core of my being, and lodged there, possibly for good. Once my tenure in Charlie's household ended, I swore never to have anything to do with Thomas, ever again.

THE CURSE OF THOMAS: Fifteen years on, I find myself with a Master Two of my very own. Sure enough, with infuriating inevitability, I find my own Master Two in the throes of an irreversible, full-blown, Thomas fixation. The real damage, I suspect, was done on his first birthday, when his grandparents gave him a little Ride-on Thomas train. A year later, Ride-on Thomas is routinely kissed and fondled, and at less considerate moments, jammed into the fireplace or deliberately crashed into soft furnishing. I've looked on with a heavy heart as books, bath-toys and a train set were added to a steadily growing Thomas arsenal, and last week my husband came home with a Thomas DVD. To wit, Brave Little Engines. 'Oh! Wow!' exclaimed Master Two, clearly impressed. 'Put it on!' Resistance would have been futile.

Master Two did a little dance of triumph whilst I fiddled with the DVD, and as that dreaded music began, and we settled down to watch, something very strange happened. My long-standing prejudice against Thomas evaporated. Our little boy was entranced, and his delight was quite simply infectious. Suddenly, those grinning and grimacing little engines seemed harmless and charming. Their antiquated little errands seemed refreshingly innocent. And the micro-world of the Island of Sodor looked almost beautiful. In fairness, however, this was only the first viewing…


THE DVD: Brave Little Engines is among the latest in a long series of Thomas videos and DVDs. It includes eight 'All New Stories', featuring Thomas, Percy, James, Edward, Toby, Duck, Rheneas & Skarloey and the Fat Controller in 'action-packed brave adventures.' There are no special features of note. The DVD jacket, which features James and Thomas, is yellow and red in colour making it easily distinguishable from the rest of the Thomas range. The eight stories included are as follows:

A FRIEND IN NEED: In which Thomas is rescued by his friend Jack, a digger, after an accident under a bridge. Jack damages his arms in the incident, but is later sent away to be mended…

SCAREDY ENGINES: In which Edward tells scary ghost stories to Thomas, Percy and Duck on Halloween. Percy is frightened, and naughty Thomas teases him about it, only to find the shoe on the other foot when he is left alone in the smelter and becomes frightened himself…

PERCY AND THE HAUNTED MINE: In which a competition for 'Most Beautiful Station' is being held on the island of Sodor. Percy is sent to collect shrubbery from Maithwaite to decorate a station and becomes scared when he sees some 'Naughty Gnomes' near the old abandoned mine…

JAMES AND THE RED BALLOON: In which a hot air balloon arrives on the island, and James and Thomas fear that it will steal their passengers away. James inadvertedly helps the balloon when it gets into trouble, and it ends up bringing the engines even more passengers…

TOBY HAD A LITTLE LAMB: In which Farmer McColl's lambs are stranded on a hillside on a snowy night. Toby remembers a forgotten old branch-line and sets out on a brave and dangerous mission to rescue the little lambs…

THOMAS, PERCY AND THE SQUEAK: In which Thomas is thoroughly washed and polished to carry a very important guest. The little mouse refuses to travel with Thomas, however, because he is too clean…

EDWARD THE VERY USEFUL ENGINE: In which Gordon and the big engines complain that Edward is too old and unreliable to continue work. They see the error of their ways when Gordon becomes stuck and good old Edward comes to the rescue…

RUSTY SAVES THE DAY: In which an oddly named twosome, Rheneas & Skarloey, are given just two weeks to repair their line, with the threat of being sent to work in the quarry if they fail. Rusty and Elizabeth come to their aid and the job is completed…


Whilst both the theme tune and ambience are much as I remember them from those Thomas Videos of the late 80's and early 90's, Ringo Star has long since resigned from his post. He has been replaced (slightly cynically) by fellow-Liverpudlian and sound-alike, Michael Angelis. Angelis has big shoes to fill, and does a pretty good job, in my opinion, especially in terms of characterisation and accents. His Fat Controller is particularly humorous. Angelis seems to have a sense for the key phrases a child will instinctively pick out from the narrative, giving them especial emphasis. These aren't necessarily the phrases most critical to the storyline, but rather, those that sound nice or have a certain dramatic resonance. The narrative is gentle and re-assuring, and rather easy to listen to.

The stories themselves are nicely rounded, each has a tidy beginning, a 'dramatic' (I use the word advisedly) middle and a satisfying resolution at the end, and each contains its own simple and uncomplicated moral, which even very small children will be able to understand and identify with.

As to the quality of the production, it is somewhat unusual, and is really rather impressive, despite its lack of sophistication. The Island of Sodor is presented in a very lifelike, outdoorsy way, with realistic lawns, trees, beaches and streams. Perhaps I'm just gullible, but it certainly feels as though it has been shot outside, in a sort of miniature world, perhaps in a Legoland style set. The snowy scenes in 'Toby Had A Little Lamb' are especially realistic. The faces of the little engines do not move when they talk, but rather, remain fixed in one of a handful of set expressions, whilst Angelis does the talking for them. This sets the Thomas series apart from Bob The Builder or other contemporary films of this ilk, but I don't consider it a disadvantage, as it reinforces the sense that the children are being read a story, and the story is being played out on the miniature set, much as the child might act it out himself. In any event, I suspect a lot of the costly special effects and technological trickery employed in children's programming is probably wasted on them anyway, and they certainly aren't impressed by realism as we adults can tend to be, indeed, quite the reverse is often true.

Few sane reviewers would watch a DVD twenty odd times in a single week before committing their thoughts to print, but in this instance, I'm afraid I probably have. Make no mistake, Master Two and I now know this little DVD inside out and back to front. Having said that, we also know some of the stories a lot better than others, as little Master Two quickly isolated his favourites amongst them & insisted on watching these several times, at the exclusion of others, and often in succession. We watched it on our own, with my niece and nephews, and with a couple of Master Two's little friends. All the children, with the possible exception of my eight year-old niece, loved it. This veritable binge of Thomas viewing has certainly taken its toll, however, and Master Two actually seems to have tired of the DVD. In fact, he hasn't asked to watch it for a couple of days now, and seems more than content to play with his train set instead. Which is quite a relief.


FINALLY: Once upon a time, the fame of Thomas The Tank Engine and his friends extended no further than a rather quaint little series of wallet-sized books with the name of the rural Vicar who had written them printed discreetly across the front. I suspect the poor Reverend Awdry would probably toss in his grave at some of the merchandise spawned by his original creation, and Thomas, like Winnie the Pooh before him, has now been commercialised and over-commercialised to the point of absurdity.

Swimming rings, novelty party-poppers, and gruesome foam coat hangers number amongst the vast and tasteless array of objects that now bear Thomas' name, as well as a clumsy, two-dimensional distortion of his image. These Thomas and Friends films, however, are relatively blameless participants in the merchandising free-for-all, remaining at least faithful to the original vision. Their fixed little expressions, and the old-fashioned values they depict, are reassuringly simple and kind-hearted. One of the nicest things about having children is seeing the world afresh, through their eyes. I'm instantly biased in favour of anything that brings pleasure or delight to my little boy, and have certainly had to re-evaluate my position, vis-à-vis Thomas. Having said that, he won't be watching this every day. I don't want an addict on my hands.


Running Length: 44 minutes
Brave Little Engines is available for £9.99 on Amazon

Summary: Eight Engine Tales For Thomas Fans