Thomas the Tank Engine gets multicultural female trains in equality overhaul

[chuffinghell]

..............So who makes the new cars!

 

Well, when a mummy car and a daddy car who love each other very much............

Edited September 6, 2018 by chuffinghell

[Titan]

 

Thomas the Tank engine isn't a historical representation of the railways and so should move with the times.

 

 

It was and did when when the Rev Awdry was writing them. It was no coincidence that in books written after 1948 the Fat Director became the Fat Controller, and diesels were introduced in the books about the same time they were on the real railway, and we had the escape of 'Oliver' from the scrapyard - was not the first steam engine bought from BR for preservation a 14XX?

 

Then of course most of the stories were based on real events, I did not realise this until much later, after reading more 'Adult' railway books. There was an engine blown round on a turntable by the wind at Hawes Junction, and even engines with fish in their tanks were not unknown!

[chuffinghell]

.......after reading more 'Adult' railway books.

 

Sounds a bit steamy

[Reorte]

I'd say showing females as equals to males (rather than just something to be dragged around), and foreigners as being no different to the natives as being a good reason for improvements. Wouldn't you?

 

Thomas the Tank engine isn't a historical representation of the railways and so should move with the times.

 

Personally, having seen a couple of the latest series I'm more disappointed that the engines have been given more "character" by allowing them more movement within their frames.

That's why I said improvement is a good thing, change for the sake of change is not. I welcome improvement (often a subjective thing) and I despise change. In a fictional world I'd hope any changes make sense within the context of that fictional world. I was talking generally not about the specific changes here.

 

The original books kept up with some changes as they happened but the real railway has changed to something so different since they were written that if the fictional one was to do the same it wouldn't be the same thing that became popular in the first place. If Thomas the Tank Engine was to continually move with the times it would have to be a preserved railway, or a completely different series about a modern one.

 

I shudder at the idea of them moving within their frames.

[pete_mcfarlane]

 If Thomas the Tank Engine was to continually move with the times it would have to be a preserved railway, or a completely different series about a modern one.

The original books semi-handled this by having the Isle of Sodor's railways as separate from British Rail, and keeping their steam engines after BR got rid of theirs (I remember various grim looking illustrations of steam locos being scrapped to illustrate what was happening on the 'big railway' - I wonder how many kids these traumatised). 

 

What I don't understand is how the Fat Controller is still Thomas' boss. He's unlikely to have been under 50 when the stories started in the 1940s..... 

[phil-b259]

What I don't understand is how the Fat Controller is still Thomas' boss. He's unlikely to have been under 50 when the stories started in the 1940s.....

Presumably you also struggle with the fictional character called James Bond - Given the first novel appeared not that long after WW2 and Bond age at that time was in his late 20s / early 30s......

 

Thomas stories are written for children not adults - and by the time they hit their teens they usually have moved on. Thus it doesn’t matter that the Fat Controller appears to be stuck in a time vortex where he permanently remains around the age of 50.

 

(Note I am aware your origional comment was not meant as a serious question

Edited September 9, 2018 by phil-b259

[Spitfire2865]

The original books semi-handled this by having the Isle of Sodor's railways as separate from British Rail, and keeping their steam engines after BR got rid of theirs (I remember various grim looking illustrations of steam locos being scrapped to illustrate what was happening on the 'big railway' - I wonder how many kids these traumatised). 

I personally subscribe to the theory that the stores of the "big railways" are nothing more than fabrications to keep the sentient workforce complacent.  Sodor did at times seem more like distopia for the working "class"

[Classsix T]

Well, when a mummy car and a daddy car who love each other very much............

Don't be coy, how do a pretend nascar and a Porsche make more cars, biologically speaking?

 

C6T.

[Corbs]

Political Correctness

"the avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against."

 

Inclusivity

"an intention or policy of including people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who are handicapped or learning-disabled, or racial and sexual minorities."

[Ozexpatriate]

Cant find any other reference to this..

 

https://metro.co.uk/2018/09/01/thomas-the-tank-engine-gets-multicultural-female-trains-in-equality-overhaul-7903296/

Jim, it's actually been discussed here several times - but frankly the search facilities are not really up to snuff in finding them. (Glibly I'm reminded of "Oh, no not again", but it really is hard to dig up old threads.)

 

EDIT: Eureka! Here is the discussion I was thinking of from no less than about 2½ years ago. (I do wish we had better ways of indexing content and making it more accessible.)

 

A related thread is here from a year ago. (Perhaps we do this every year now.)

 

The large green Australian locomotive (South Australian Railways 520 class) is also referenced here. I posted the following image to Mike's thread from 2016).

 

 

It is an RMweb habit to revisit such topics (as I suspect many such forums). The re-discussion is rarely illuminating, but given that it's so difficult to find the prior conversation, there's no harm in doing it again.

 

In terms of televised content, the Rev. Awdry's well ran dry long ago. TTTE is an entertainment commercial property. Like sharks that need to keep moving to keep feeding, such entertainment properties survive by sequels and refreshing characters. Thus it ever was. Thus it ever shall be. A show like Dr. Who is no different. I have heard that a "Game of Thrones" prequel series is being mooted to further milk that dragon.

 

The Reverend's works remain unsullied, in print, with their original illustrations, for us to gather grandchildren in our laps and read to them at bedtime, as is proper. No revisions to the television show will ever change that.

Edited September 7, 2018 by Ozexpatriate

[Coryton]

 

What I don't understand is how the Fat Controller is still Thomas' boss. He's unlikely to have been under 50 when the stories started in the 1940s..... 

 

Actually, the title is hereditary, and we are now on the third generation of fat controllers.

 

I am not making this up!

 

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fat_Controller

 

(And this is not a Wikipedian flight of fancy - I have read it elsewhere, I think in Sodor: Reading Between the Lines)

 

Edited to add:

Awdry and his brother George worked out an incredible amount of detail on Sodor and its history, little of which appeared in the Railway Series.

 

They wrote "The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways", which is now out of print and very hard to get hold of.

You would think that a reprint would go down very well, but the publishers don't seem interested.

Edited September 8, 2018 by Coryton

[Coryton]

Agreed to a point sir, I was an avid fan of the original telly stuff that appeared about 1984.

This was spoiled when Thomas (or Percy?) failed and in true model railway tradition, he was dragged off but his wheels weren't rotating. That was me tipping point!

 

I'm sure you'd like the recent episode where one of the engines suffered from a fire in the firebox which required the services of the fire brigade to put out.

 

Or when James passed a signal at danger not because it had dropped to danger just in front of him, but because his brake fluid had all leaked out.

 

(Though I think they did mention his original wooden brake blocks).

 

 

For me Rev Awdry's railway knowledge was superb and it was this that was lost once it migrated to the telly, mind you what else could be expected once the family sold the rights off

 

 

I believe they still get royalties though.

 

And according to Brian Sibley's biography of Awdrey, for the first books the publishers bought all rights to them and he wasn't entitled to any royalties, though later on they did start paying him though they had no obligation to do so.

 

(Another interesting story in the biography is that the BBC attempted to make a TV version of the books using a model railway well before Britt Alcroft, back in the days when TV went out live. It wasn't a success.)

[Horsetan]

[Gibbo675]

image.jpeg

Hi Horsetan,

 

The most sensible posting so far !

 

By all means let us see what Mr Besmanov had to say about it all thirty years ago;

 

 

Cheers,

 

Gibbo.

 

PS. I am only the messenger of the above.

Edited September 9, 2018 by Gibbo675

[Junctionmad]

I’ve realized how bored I am , and you lot must be , to be reading and contributing to this thread , that’s 15 minutes of my life , I’m never getting back

[Corbs]

NEWS

 

Toy company seeks to sell more toys by making toys that relate to more people

[PatB]

[HonestTom]

To be honest, I find the whole thing a little tiresome. I can't get too worked up about changes to Thomas the Tank Engine, because I am not 5. It's pretty astonishing that the franchise is still going after three quarters of a century (if you count the two years between writing the first one and publication), and that's only possible because the series has changed with the times.

 

That being said, there are three types of stories about Thomas the Tank Engine that get repeated ad nauseam.

 

1. "Thomas is becoming more politically correct! The new series will feature more female characters!"

 

2. "I hate Thomas the Tank Engine, have you noticed how it's really authoritarian and stuff? My kids really like it and that's the only reason I've seen it, of course I don't actually watch it for myself."

 

3. "Hey did you know there's an episode where Henry gets bricked up in a tunnel forever? It's worse than any horror movie!"

 

Nobody ever produces articles along the lines of "Journalist in their thirties gets worked up over a TV series aimed at pre-schoolers! Do people have too much time on their hands?"

[Horsetan]

.....It's pretty astonishing that the franchise is still going after three quarters of a century (if you count the two years between writing the first one and publication), and that's only possible because the series has changed with the times followed the money....

 

EFA

[Sir TophamHatt]

Don't be coy, how do a pretend nascar and a Porsche make more cars, biologically speaking?

 

C6T.

 

I believe the pull out ariel is inserted into the tail pipe (American!) and some sort of lubricant is squirted in.

[luckymucklebackit]

I believe the pull out ariel is inserted into the tail pipe (American!) and some sort of lubricant is squirted in.

 

STP probably

[Junctionmad]

I find all that “ wrong line running” objectionable , so I don’t watch Thomas any more

[sp1]

I find all that “ wrong line running” objectionable , so I don’t watch Thomas any more

But at least, if my memory serves me correctly (something it does with decreasing frequency these days!) the engines had lamps during Ringos tenure.....

[caradoc]

73 posts about books and a programme that few, if any, RMWebbers actually read or watch (unless forced to by a child/grandchild) - Wow !

 

Anyway, back to more 'adult' railway books, such as 50 Shades of Blue & Grey.

[Ozexpatriate]

Curiously the US National Rifle Association has decided to weigh in on Thomas's multicultural adventures with the UN in an episode of NRA TV. CNN reporting is here.

 

Please note that I am not taking a political position here and we should refrain from politicizing this thread. I'm including it because I suspect people might be interested to see the real global impact of Thomas and Friends.

 

EDIT: More usefully, which I hadn't noticed in earlier discussion was this UN website outlining the collaboration between Thomas and Friends and the United Nations.

Edited September 13, 2018 by Ozexpatriate