Underground Ernie

This is a charming, classic piece of British story telling: one of the first wholly CGI animated series to be produced for children.

The episodes are warm and funny with uplifting themes and great plots. Unlike Thomas the tank Engine the Underground Trains travel to many locations - the beach, the fairground - and Ernie and Millie, who look after the trains, get into terrific adventures and great exploits.

An international element is brought to the episodes with trains from Sydney, Australia and even Japan calling in to visit the British trains.

Some of the animation is raw but the overall feeling of the series is safe and happy. It has all the elements of a long lasting and memorable television series. Well done BBC for continuing to broadcast it!

Underground Ernie is a pretty charming show. Although the animation looks like a PS2 game, it makes up for it by having charming writing and likeable characters.

I don't get why people see it as a Thomas knockoff as it's not that similar to Thomas besides the trains talking.

Do check this out if you like underground trains.

This show is a major ripoff of Thomas and friends which is my #2 Most Favorite show of all time screw this donkey piece of garbage called UNDERGROUND ERNIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Underground Ernie hits the Thomas and Tank Engine tracks with the everyday adventure of Ernie (voiced by ex footballer and celebrity crisp eater, Gary Lineker) the human underground supervisor with his fellow team members set in an international train station presumably set in London.

The locomotives under Ernie all have characters of their own. There is Bakerloo, Victoria, Circle, Jubilee and the twins, Hammersmith and City. Sometimes trains from across the world including Paris, Brooklyn, Moscow, Sydney join them.

The show is aimed at younger children and my own son enjoyed the series when it was first shown when he was a toddler. However as it features anthropomorphic locomotives the show is compared to both Thomas the Tank Engine and Chuggington.

However Underground Ernie is a CGI animated series but the animation is rather crude which harks back to the early 1990s rather than 2006 and the crudeness is off putting but the target audience does not seem to mind.

Perfect 10 is not a phrase I throw around often. However, this magnum opus of the anime genre is certainly deserving of it. Gary Lineker gives a subtle and nuanced performance in the lead role of Ernie, a man who loves his job and the people he works with. Working with him are Millie, the computer operator and Ernie's love interest who he struggles to tell his feelings for, and Mr Rails, the maintenance man who has been around since the beginning of time. The trains also have characters of their own. Hammersmith and City are the twins who harbour a secret incestuous relationship; Victoria, an old lady on the verge of death; Circle, a stoner; Bakerloo, a grumpy old man with a black and white outlook on the world and the sadly deceased Jubilee, murdered at the hands of Colin Wilson in retaliation for taking him to the wrong station. John Deery and Sid Rainey, the creators of this anime should give themselves a pat on the back for giving the world such a fantastic experience that will be treasured by friends and family for generations to come. 10/10, 100/100 best anime best anime.