Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go

Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go is NOT the Thomas the Tank Engine kids of the 80s and 90s (or 00s) grew up with; this poorly done 'cartoon' is an overly bendy and cheap-looking nightmare that is a disgrace to Reverend Wilbert Awdry's Railway Series, and it looks even worse than old Flash animations.

The thing that worked with the original series (the seasons with models), is that the earlier ones had a sense of grounded yet simple stories and morales that weren't condescending to kids, and they were like visual storybooks. So why is this show brimming with condescension and leaning into the fact that there's nothing really transcendent or endearing here? I guess Mattel emphasised the toys moreso than the once endearing charm and character of the Steam Engines of Sodor.

I'm all for kids entertainment; sometimes it can appeal to ANYONE in ceaselessly easy ways, like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dexter's Lab, Gravity Falls, Ducktales (the 1980s one and/or the 2010s reboot), and even the early days of Doctor Who count; point being, regardless of medium, entertainment can STILL entertain and be genuinely appealing despite demographic limitations. All Engines Go wishes it could say the same thing for itself.

Basically, watch the original Ringo Starr and Michael Angelis narrated shows instead of this travesty. You'll thank me later.

Pretty bad I have not seen anything Tomas related before and this was not a good introduction. It looks like every other show on the market nowadays. I will not be showing this to my kids and I will try to show them something of quality.

What is the point of this cartoon? You have the characters and the brand, but seeing as the heart, soul and point of Thomas have been so ripped out, it looks like they are merely used cynically to have an automatic audience. It would've been more appropriate for Mattel to create entirely new characters, given the radical gear shift, and created a new Mighty Express or Chuggington.

Some of us care about Reverend Awdry's legacy and the world he created. It has endured for of all the reasons the creators of this series feels it can so easily jettison. The realism of the trains, their personalities which match their class and usage. Showing how railways actually work and how engines and other machinery work together.

Generations of children understand this and respond to this and even the more creative CGI series of late have these values at their heart. Thomas directly inspires my son's interest with steam railways and I'm sure Thomas boosts visitor tickets to these places. Legions of autistic children and adults who have a special interest in railways are loyal to this show, just look at the fan videos on YouTube.

This show and the characters are not Thomas and Friends. They were never meant to be children and never meant to leap about track to track, or for the stories to be fast paced or even cartoonised. If the creators think that Thomas is no longer relevant then they needed to do the decent thing and shelve or cancel it. This stinks of cynicism and has no respect for the show, it's history or it's creator. My hope is that Thomas will eventually be restored to his former glory. Oh, and John Hasler was an awesome Thomas, what a waste.

No, just no. This is a just terrible reboot. The worst I've ever seen. Too childish.

As a child growing up in the 90's Thomas introduced me to so many mechanical and historically important steam train related facts that as an adult to two young children would like to see them educated similarly.

Watched this garbage the other day with them and was horrified. From the awful Children choir introduction sing along, to the flexy/leaning on 3 wheels round a bend nonsense to the excruciatingly annoying narrator on the Thomas voice especially.

I still relate 30 years on to Edward gradually picking his coaches up one by one in order to pull the heavy train, Thomas fitting his snow plow and Henry being punished and bricked up in the tunnel for being mardy.

All the above contributed to me as a child having a good basic understanding of the railway, steam engines and array of vehicles used within it. Helicopters, tractors, traction engines, buses etc.. but also how to deal with situations in general life as a youngster. The characters were so strong it helped me understand what was good, bad, fair and honest.

Seems silly writing this as it shouldn't matter, but can't hide the fact it does. My Mrs thinks i'm nuts. Thankfully I can show them the original Rev Awdrey design via you tube. I bet he would be angered to see his legacy destroyed.

Shame, totally spoiled. Scrap this before kids and adults alike ditch it!