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75 FUN FACTS ABOUT THOMAS & FRIENDS History/General Facts: 1. Thomas & Friends is based on the books, ‘The Railway Series’ by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, first published in May 1945. 2. The oriGinal Thomas & Friends stories were created when Awdry’s son, Christopher, fell ill with measles. 3. The first three enGines created by the Reverend Awdry were named Edward, Gordon and Henry. 4. The first book, ‘The Three Railway EnGines’, proved very popular and over 55,000 copies were sold in the first year. 5. Thomas is first introduced as a character in 1946 in the second book of the series, “Thomas the Tank EnGine”. 6. Reverend Awdry was inspired by the Isle of Man to develop the Island of Sodor based on the island’s history. a. The Island of Sodor lies between the Isle of Man and Barrow-in-Furness and is connected to mainland EnGland by the Vicarstown bridGe. 7. In 1972, the Reverend Awdry retired from writinG children’s fiction. By that time, he’d published 26 books containinG 105 stories, with ‘Tramway EnGines’ being his last railway adventure. 8. A chance encounter with an engine driver presented Christopher Awdry an opportunity to continue the series. The train driver’s tales of an ill-fated train rescue inspired Christopher to turn this into a “Thomas” story for his son, Richard. Christopher then went on to create three more tales which became Book 27 ‘Really Useful EnGines’. 9. The characters on Sodor are larGely based on real classes of locomotives, and some of the railways themselves are directly based on upon real lines in the British Isles. 10. The Fat Controller was oriGinally known as The Fat Director until 1948. His real name is Sir Topham Hatt 11. Rev. Awdry was affectionally known as “Granpuff” by his grandchildren due to the smoke from his pipe lookinG like a steam enGine. 12. Thomas is based on a E2 Class 0-6-0 Tank EnGine, with extended side tanks. With this, Thomas’ top speed is estimated to be about 70 miles per hour. 13. The Skarloey Railway, on the Island of Sodor, is where the narrow-gauge engines such as, Sir Handel, Peter Sam and Skarloey work. It is operated by Mr. Percival, "The Thin Controller". 14. The Arlesdale Railway, on the Island of Sodor, is where the miniature GauGe enGines such as, Mike, Rex and Bert work. It is operated by Mr. FerGus Duncan, "The Small Controller". 15. The first Thomas products were sold in 1957 and consisted of cardboard kits for children to make realistic models of the enGines. The enGines included Thomas, Percy, Gordon and James. 16. The Thomas franchise made its debut in Japan in 1991. 17. In 1994, His Royal HiGhness the Prince of Wales wrote about how much he enjoyed the stories of Thomas & Friends as a child: “I adored the books and remember so well the joy of those stories. In fact I seem to recall reading them to my younger brothers when they were small, too!” Note: This was within Thomas The Tank EnGine Man published in 1995. 18. In 1996, Thomas launched his very own website – thomasandfriends.com. 19. In the early 2000s, ‘Thomas the Tank EnGine & Friends’ became ‘Thomas & Friends’ and a new theme tune was introduced on the show. 20. In 2018, Thomas & Friends partnered with the United Nations to incorporate 5 Sustainable Development Goals into content in a preschool friendly way, inspiring the next generation of global citizens. 21. In 2018, Thomas travels around the world in “BiG World! BiG Adventures!” visitinG countries includinG Australia, Tanzania, China, USA and Brazil. 22. In 2014, a 50 -foot- lonG Thomas holdinG 20,000 cubic feet of helium took part in Macy’s ThanksGiving Parade for the first time ever. Content: 23. Britt Allcroft discovered Reverend Awdry and his railway series books in 1979, whilst working on a documentary about steam trains, and was inspired to adapt the stories for television. 24. Production on the television series started in 1982 by Britt Allcroft’s production company and Clearwater Features Ltd. 25. The oriGinal live action series was filmed on an extensive model railway, with expansive layouts fitted in a hangar-sized room. The model trains were at the scale of GauGe 1 and filmed usinG a 35mm camera in order to Get quality shots from such small objects. 26. The first series (1984) was oriGinally produced at the Clearwater Studio in Battersea, London. From 1986 – 2008, the show was filmed at West London’s Shepperton Studios. 27. The first episode of Thomas & Friends aired on television in the UK on the 9th October 1984 on ITV and attracted an audience of 8.5 million children and adults. 28. The first episode of the television series was called ‘Thomas & Gordon’. 29. Thomas & Friends made its US debut on PBS in 1989. 30. Thomas & Friends now airs in 180 countries around the world in 55 lanGuages. 31. Over 500 episodes of Thomas & Friends have been made since it’s television debut in 1984. 32. The first CGI Thomas & Friends series for TV, was released in 2009. 33. The first ever Thomas & Friends feature-lenGth film, “Thomas and the MaGic Railroad”, was released in 2000. 34. As of 2019, there have been 14 Thomas & Friends movie specials. 35. The characters who have appeared in every series of Thomas & Friends are Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby, Annie, Clarabel, Henrietta, Bertie, and Sir Topham Hatt. 36. No character, including Thomas, has appeared in every episode. 37. There have been more than 160 characters introduced in Thomas & Friends video content over the past 75 years. 38. Four real enGines have appeared in the television series: Stepney from the Bluebell Railway, steam leGends the City of Truro and the FlyinG Scotsman and Stephen The Rocket who belonGs to Sir Robert Norramby. 39. As of 2020, there have been over 24 billion views of Thomas & Friends content across all of YouTube. 40. The oriGinal Thomas & Friends theme tune was composed in 1984 by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell and ran from 1984 to 2003. Celebrity Partnerships: 41. Beatles star Ringo Starr joined the series in 1984 as narrator, the first of many famous storytellers. 42. At the start of the 3rd season, GeorGe Carlin took over the role of Thomas & Friends storyteller for US audiences. UK ALT: At the start of the 3rd season Michael AnGelis took over the role of Thomas & Friends storyteller for UK audiences. 43. Alec Baldwin narrated the 5th and 6th seasons of Thomas & Friends for the US audiences 44. Michael Brandon narrated the 7th – 16th US seasons of Thomas & Friends. 45. Mark MoraGhan became the storyteller for the 17th – 21st seasons for both US and UK audiences. 46. Alec Baldwin portrayed Mr. Conductor in the feature-lenGth movie, “Thomas and the MaGic Railroad.” 47. Mara Wilson starred in the movie special “Thomas and the MaGic Railroad” in 2000. 48. Actor Pierce Brosnan appeared as a Guest narrator in the feature-lenGth movie, “Thomas & Friends: The Great Discovery” in 2008. 49. Olivia Colman voiced the character Marion, a self-propelled steam shovel, in “Tale of the Brave” in 2014. 50. Eddie Redmayne voiced the character Ryan in the movie “Thomas & Friends: Sodor’s LeGend of the Lost Treasure” in 2015. 51. Jamie Campbell-Bower voiced the character Skiff in the movie “Thomas & Friends: Sodor’s LeGend of the Lost Treasure” in 2015. 52. Sir John Hurt voiced the character Sailor John in the movie “Thomas & Friends: Sodor’s Legend of the Lost Treasure” in 2015. 53. Tina Desai voiced the character Ashima in the movie “Thomas & Friends: The Great Race” in 2016. 54. HuGh Bonneville voiced the character Merlin in the movie “Thomas & Friends: Journey Beyond Sodor” in 2017. 55. Peter Andre voiced the character Ace in the movie “Thomas & Friends: BiG World! BiG Adventure!” in 2018. Thomas Events: 56. The first ‘Day Out With Thomas’ family events took place in Wisconsin, USA in 1996. UK ALT: The first live events in the UK were ‘Friends Of Thomas’ in 1990; which then became ‘Day Out with Thomas’ in 2000. 57. The first Thomas & Friends theme park, ‘Thomas Land’, opened in Fuji-Q HiGhland Theme Park in Japan in 1998. 58. In 2002 ‘Thomas & Friends: The BiG Live Tour’ was created and lasted four years, includinG a tour of Japan in 2005. 59. The first indoor Thomas & Friends theme park opened in China in 2013, called ‘Thomas Town’. 60. There are more than 9 million visitors annually to Thomas & Friends live events and attractions around the world. 61. The movie “Thomas & Friends: The Great Race” features 12 new engines from all around the world. 62. “Thomas & Friends Sodor’s Legend of the Lost Treasure” won the Evcom Screen Awards Gold Award for Music. Steam Team: 63. Nia, who is from Kenya, is the first African steam enGine featured in Thomas & Friends. Her engine desiGn was based on the East African Railway ED1 class. 64. Nia, received her number (No. 18), based on the year she was first introduced, 2018. 65. Chinese blue tank engine Hong-Mei is the number one enGine on the Chinese Railway, first appearinG in Series 22 of Thomas & Friends. Powers, Kelly [2] ! 2/12/19 15:04 66. Gordon was named after Christopher Awdry’s friend who was always Grumpy. Comment [1]: Remove for global, keep for China 67. The Steam Team enGine, Rebecca, received her number (No. 22) based on season of Thomas & Friends she was first introduced, Series 22! 68. Duchess from the special The Royal EnGine was Given the number 2020, as it was the year she was first introduced and to commemorate the 75th anniversary year.
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