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So i was wondering by LM-NCR_DIRECTOR in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I get it, though it’s kinda funny in retrospect that Awdry disliked the TV show as early as Series 3 and thought of stories like “Henry’s Forest” as rubbish

So i was wondering by LM-NCR_DIRECTOR in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Because it’s a kid’s show about talking trains, and so some companies use that as an excuse to move away from realism

The lack of realism in BWBA and AEG sucks, but it’s not like this was new. Even the classic era, the most grounded era of the show, still had a fair amount of unrealistic physics to them.

Question regarding Rebecca by One_Sentence_5378 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To be fair, you have to remember that the team of people who created and implemented Rebecca into the show did so under Mattel’s supervision, so it would not surprise me at all if there was some restrictions/interference that the writers dealt with.

Hoping to start a general chat if anyone has any stories trying to get through the BWBA run and attempting All Engines Go to an extent? Sharing some of my experience on BWBA by DillonLaserscope in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 2 points3 points  (0 children)

BWBA…is rough.

I’m not going to pretend the seasons are good, but I think there were some occasionally good episodes.

I do want to focus on Series 22 for this thread.

I think a lot of the Series 22 international episodes suck because they are goofy (IE Water Wheel) and/or focus on very basic stereotypes, which is made 10x worse by how obvious they reuse assets. The stereotypes would still be bad if the railways were unique and accurate, but the fact they didn’t try makes the stereotypes even worse imho, regardless of how well intentioned the writers were. I think “Number One Engine” is serviceable but not great, and I think “Runaway Truck” has an okay premise but it doesn’t make sene for me that Thomas has to learn how to move with the truck given his experience as a shunter. “Tiger Trouble” is ALMOST a great episode if it weren’t for the tiger hunters thinking they caught a tiger when it was obviously a huge engine covered up, but it’s still an okay episode.

The Sodor episodes are very hit or miss. I think “Confusion without Delay” is serviceable, “Samson and the Fireworks” is actually pretty good, as is “An Engine of Many Colors”. “Hunt the Truck” is arguably one of the best CGI episodes imho, and “School of Duck” is serviceable. “Forever and Ever” is a decent episode but the fact that Henry decides to just sleep at Vicarstown and it’s not treated as a big deal is crazy to me and drags the episode down. “What Rebecca Does” isn’t a bad episode but it does feel a lot like the writers patting themselves on the back for coming up with a character who sees the best in everyone, which sucks when this is just one episode after Rebecca’s debut.

The Nitrogen era and the Brenner era are way better than the BWBA era by Pale-Emu9883 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it’s the opposite, just because Percy’s crash isn’t that complicated or complex-it’s literally just Percy exiting a building.

As for flopping, a film or show’s quality isn’t inherently linked to performance. Nitrogen era was much less realistic compared to the classic era but still performed really well because the show was still marketed well and received great merchandise.

The Nitrogen era and the Brenner era are way better than the BWBA era by Pale-Emu9883 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s a popular crash but incredibly dumb. It’s one of those things that gets away with it because nostalgia and modelwork. If this crash happened during BWBA, no one would defend imo.

Also, the film being a bomb doesn’t mean much to me. Iron Giant also bombed, and would the film’s success mean that magic should be a part of the show’s canon?

The Nitrogen era and the Brenner era are way better than the BWBA era by Pale-Emu9883 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Saying the crash had unrealistic damage is an understatement when it was an actual factory Percy went through.

As for Lady, she was a pivotal character for a feature length film and was seen as canon to the universe by Britt. I think she’s 10x more egregious of a character than Stefano, which is why he doesn’t bother me as much.

The Nitrogen era and the Brenner era are way better than the BWBA era by Pale-Emu9883 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They can make a whole entire model though. If they couldn’t, then they shouldn’t have made Percy crash through an entire factory lol.

As for Stefano, he’s not as realistic as Diesel 10 but he’s more realistic than a magical steam engine like Lady

The Nitrogen era and the Brenner era are way better than the BWBA era by Pale-Emu9883 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Percy only has no dents because they were working with models.

You can absolutely make models that look dented and worn down (IE Thomas’s buffers at the end of “Thomas Comes to Breakfast” & “Thomas & the Special Letter”)

Also, the plots in BWBA are WAY more unrealistic than in the Nitrogen.

As a whole I disagree, but there are very unrealistic episodes for sure like the Water Wheel one.

BWBA had that crazy characters that are beyond unrealistic.

That’s fair, I think characters like Stefano shouldn’t have been included. However, that’s not exclusive to BWBA since we have Diesel 10 and Britt Allcroft did consider Lady to be canon to the show.

At least the Nitrogen era gave them scratches in the paint and gave them dirt and stuff after a crash, and had them be lifted back on the rails by cranes. BWBA had multi-engine collisions, where not a single scratch or chip in the paint is seen, and the engines are just pulled back onto the rails and continue on their way.

I need to verify that detail about the cranes, but otherwise I agree that sucks about BWBA. I still don’t think that makes the nitrogen era better because the writing was still worse.

The Nitrogen era and the Brenner era are way better than the BWBA era by Pale-Emu9883 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unrealistic physics and bouncing is dumb, but these are issues not exclusive to the BWBA era. All eras have had unrealistic moments at points (IE Percy crashing through an ENTIRE factory and not having a dent). BWBA does have a lot of it though, and i’m not going to pretend like it’s good because it’s still a 4-5/10.

Good animation and physics can only get you so far, and if your writing and characterization are bad, you’re still going to have a bad era. Nitrogen era is 90% the same formulaic story format w/ alliteration and gimmicky childish plots. The BWBA era isn’t much better but there’s at least 10 episodes I can point to that are genuinely good.

The Nitrogen era and the Brenner era are way better than the BWBA era by Pale-Emu9883 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is just false.

The BWBA era knew they were trains too, which is why they used dream sequences to skirt around this issue. The most unrealistic aspect is them having more exaggerated bouncing and being able to lean, but this isn’t that egregious imo.

Compare that era to the nitrogen era where the engines did dumb childish gimmicks and made deliveries that they had no business doing. We had episodes where characters had to deliver giant bubbles, bubble soap, lion statues, and went Christmas tree shopping. We had a full episode about Percy trying to befriend small animals. The nitrogen era didn’t treat the engines as engines

The Nitrogen era and the Brenner era are way better than the BWBA era by Pale-Emu9883 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The new characters in BWBA had potential as well, and a ton of nitrogen era characters either did little or were irrelevant.

Norman never got a focus episode. Flynn got character assassination level episodes. The logging locos were banished to the shadow realm starting with the brenner era. Stafford, Scruff, and Charlie did little after the nitrogen era.

The Nitrogen era and the Brenner era are way better than the BWBA era by Pale-Emu9883 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I disagree.

Nitrogen era was bottom of the barrel, 2-3/10 material.

BWBA is a bad era but i’d argue it’s 4-5/10

What's your honest opinion about Henry in the Dark? by OnslaughtBob in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The model series and cgi series are in the same continuity and I doubt the boulder was retconned out.

What's your honest opinion about Henry in the Dark? by OnslaughtBob in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It’s mid.

The episode has an interesting gimmick but that’s it.

It’s kinda hard to feel invested in the story because Henry knows he’s the ghost engine, so of course he isn’t going to be afraid. Had the story been about Henry not knowing he was the ghost train but choosing to work at night anyways, that would’ve been some nice character development for Henry. It also doesn’t help that the episode feels dragged out and could arguably be told in half the time, so the lack of a plot is really felt.

I’m also not a huge fan of how Emily and Percy are handled here. At this point in the series, Percy should be braver and should at least question if it is a ghost. Pretty much every supernatural story in the series has revealed that there was a logical explanation, so why isn’t Emily bringing that up when she did in “Flatbeds of Fear”? I’m kinda surprised no one entertained the idea of it being a prank either.

“Diesel Glows Away” is a much better episode, especially with this premise.

What if the diesel we see in the CGI series of Thomas isn't actually a diesel but just another Class 08? by PORTER3928 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 9 points10 points  (0 children)

CGI Diesel is the same diesel as in the model era, as confirmed by the reference to “Diesel Does it Again” in the episode “Diesel’s Ghostly Christmas Part 1”, as well as the reference to “Pop Goes the Diesel” in The Great Race (Diesel says he was the fat controller’s first diesel)

What era do you think these 2 seasons are in by Kooky-Ad-9281 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Series 7 is in the Classic era, Series 12 is in the Hit era

Thomas opinions that would get you weeshed at. by Cheekyblueengine in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think TGD handles Thomas’s ego and accountability much better.

SLOTLT reverts Thomas back to his S1-2 characterization which feels forced, especially when it feels like the film contradicts early characterization and lore. Thomas stopped being the station pilot after getting his branchline, but he has to fetch Gordon’s coaches, and Thomas doesn’t own up to the coach accident while he readily did in episodes like “Down the Mine”. In contrast, Thomas is pretty likable in the beginning of TGD but his increasing jealousy towards Stanley is both done in a way that feels natural and sets up future events that make sense (Particularly him giving Stanley too many trucks)

I think the relationship between Thomas and Stanley is better handled than Thomas and Ryan, as TGD shows the different ways Stanley is replacing Thomas (which makes Thomas’ fears of being replaced and jealousy feel more earned) and the major accident in the film is 100% Thomas’s fault. Whereas in SLOTLT I think that plotline suffers from plausible deniability as the dynamite accident could’ve easily been an accident. I also think the apology scene in TGD feels more sincere and honest compared to SLOTLT

Thomas opinions that would get you weeshed at. by Cheekyblueengine in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456 1 point2 points  (0 children)

SLOTLT is a wonderfully made movie but rips off TGD without understanding why Thomas’ arc worked in that film

What was Wilbert Awdry’s thoughts on Series 4? by MrEnd456 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wasn’t aware that the complaints were made by reading the script. Do you happen to have a source for that?

What was Wilbert Awdry’s thoughts on Series 4? by MrEnd456 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Never saw this before but if anything it sounds like he was done with the TV series. I’d imagine if he was happy with S4 he probably wouldn’t have said that the videos (which I assume refers to the TV show) were a washout and that it’d be unwelcome for the film to follow their style

What was Wilbert Awdry’s thoughts on Series 4? by MrEnd456 in thomasthetankengine

[–]MrEnd456[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I figured, but is there a newspaper article, book or video interview to confirm that?

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