THOMAS & FRIENDS 75 YEARS TIMELINE A chronological look at 75 years of Thomas & Friends, from its inception through to the modern day. • 1945 - The first Thomas & Friends book is published - The Three Railway Engines • 1946 - We meet Thomas! The most famous of Wilbert’s engines arrives in the 2nd book of the series – Thomas the Tank Engine. • 1950 - This Island of Sodor is “discovered” after Awdry visits the Isle of Man and takes inspiration from the island’s history. • 1957 - Model cardboard kits are released alongside the book series and allow fans to make realistic models of the engines. • 1965 - Meccano releases a train set featuring a clockwork model of Percy with some trucks and blue plastic track. • 1979 - While filming a documentary on a preserved railway, Britt Allcroft rediscovers the tales of Thomas & Friends and is inspired to bring the stories to TV. • 1984 - Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, a new animated series, makes its broadcast debut on ITV in the UK and enjoys instant success, attracting an audience of 8.5 million children and adults. • 1984 - A special voice hops aboard as former Beatle, Ringo Starr, joins the TV series – the first of many famous storytellers. • 1989 - Next stop, America! Thomas pulls in to the USA and debuts on PBS as a part of the program, Shining Time Station. • 1990 – The first Friends of Thomas live event is held in the UK. • 1991 – George Carlin the five-time Grammy-winning American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor, producer, writer and author was chosen to voice the series of the US version of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends on Shining Time Station. • 1991 - Japan is the next international stop for Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. • 1995 – Thomas & Friends celebrates a 50-year anniversary with a special collection of stamps and a golden engine by ERTL. • 1996 - The first Day Out With Thomas family events take place in Wisconsin, USA. • 1996 - Thomas launches his very own website – thomasthetankengine.com, which is now thomasandfriends.com. • 1998 - The first Thomas & Friends theme park, Thomas Land, opens at Fuji-Q Highland Theme Park in Japan. • 1998 – Actor, Alec Baldwin, lends his voice to the US series. • 2000 - The first feature- length film rolls into movie theatres worldwide with “Thomas and the Magic Railroad”. • 2002 - Thomas & Friends The Big Live Tour, the first of many stage shows, visits cities around the UK and then the world. • 2003 - ‘Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends’ series becomes ‘Thomas & Friends’ and a new theme tune was introduced the following series. • 2003 – American actor Michael Brandon becomes the narrator of Thomas & Friends in the US. • 2005 – Thomas & Friends celebrates its 60th Anniversary. • 2007 - Thomas Town, the first US theme park attraction, opens at Six Flags in both San Francisco and New England. Thomas Land, a brand-new theme park featuring 12-themed rides, opens at Drayton Manor in the UK. • 2008 –Actor Pierce Bronson lends his voice as guest narrator for “Thomas & Friends: The Great Discovery”. • 2009 – The production of Thomas & Friends content switches to full CGI animation. • 2010 - The next generation of Thomas & Friends toys are revealed by new toy partners Fisher-Price and Mega Blocks. Thomas & Friends comes to mobile devices with the first app launch. The first Thomas & Friends e-books are developed by Random House. • 2010 Thomas & friends celebrates its 65th Anniversary. • 2012 - Thomas & Friends is acquired by Mattel, Inc. • 2014 - BAFTA and Oscar winner Oliva Colman lends her voice to Thomas & Friends special “Thomas & Friends: Tale of The Brave”. • 2015 - Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne and English actors Jamie Campbell Bower and Sir John Hurt are other famous voices to appear in Thomas & Friends. They appear in the movie “Thomas & Friend: Sodor’s Legend of the Lost Treasure”. • 2016 - Indian actress and model Tina Desai lends her voice to the movie “Thomas & Friend: The Great Race” as the engine ‘Ashima of India’. The first time Thomas had been paired with a strong female lead character. There was also an expansion of international engines in this film including – ‘Raul of Brazil’ and ‘Gina of Italy’. • 2018 – Thomas & Friends undergoes the biggest transformation in its history, including a new theme tune and refreshed Steam Team! • 2018 - In the movie and TV series “Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures” Thomas travels further than ever before across five continents, visiting countries including Tanzania, Australia, Brazil, USA and China. • 2018 – Thomas & Friends partners with the United Nations, incorporating five of the Sustainable Development Goals into content in a preschool way, inspiring the next generation of global citizens. • 2020 - It is the 75th Anniversary of Thomas & Friends with celebrations including a new Thomas & Friends birthday album, a birthday tour in the US and lots of exciting new content! .