Thomas & Friends: The Adventure Begins

"The Adventure Begins" redirects here. For other uses, see The Adventure Begins (disambiguation).

Thomas & Friends: The Adventure Begins is a 2015 British animated adventure comedy film and the eighth feature-length special in the British television series Thomas & Friends. The film was produced and distributed by HIT Entertainment with animation production by Canadian-based Arc Productions. The film functions as a prequel to the show,^[1] and a retelling of the first two books of The Railway Series; The Three Railway Engines and Thomas the Tank Engine. It was made to commemorate the 70th anniversary of The Railway Series, and was the first installment to officially adapt a story from The Railway Series since series 4. The film also saw John Hasler and Joseph May take over the voice role of Thomas the Tank Engine in the United Kingdom and the United States respectively.

Thomas & Friends: The Adventure Begins
Directed by	Don Spencer
Screenplay by	Andrew Brenner[a]
Based on	The Railway Series by Wilbert Awdry
Produced by	Ian McCue Jennifer Hill
Starring	John Hasler (UK) Joseph May (US) Rob Rackstraw (US) William Hope (US) Kerry Shale (US) Christopher Ragland Teresa Gallagher Tim Whitnall Keith Wickham
Narrated by	Mark Moraghan
Edited by	Gavin Ebedes Adam Garner
Music by	Peter Hartshorne[b]
Production company	HIT Entertainment
Distributed by	HIT Entertainment
Release date	27 July 2015 (2015-07-27) (UK)
Running time	45 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

The film was first released direct-to-video on DVD in the United States on 3 March 2015^[2] and in the United Kingdom on 27 July.

Plot

See also: Thomas & Friends series 1

On the North Western, a railway on the Island of Sodor, a mixed-traffic steam engine named Edward works in the shunting yard beside Knapford Station. Express passenger engine Gordon informs Edward that Sir Topham Hatt—the controller of the railway—has bought a new engine to arrange rolling stock in the yard. After helping Gordon up a steep hill, Edward meets the new engine, who is a tank engine named Thomas. Under Edward's mentorship, Thomas grapples with a slow brake response and crossing into the others' tracks. In addition, he cheekily whistles at Gordon whenever the latter naps, thus waking Gordon up much to his chagrin. That night at Tidmouth Sheds, Thomas meets Henry, whom Edward tells the story about when he hid in a tunnel to avoid the rain, fearing it would ruin his green paintwork.

Thomas is sent to the Sodor Steamworks where he is repainted blue and assigned the number one. When Gordon orders Thomas to fetch his express coaches, Thomas nearly takes two branch line coaches named Annie and Clarabel. The two belong to James, but take a swift liking to Thomas.

The following day, Thomas takes longer to start than usual and arrives late at Knapford with Gordon's coaches. Still cross with Thomas for waking him up, Gordon starts sooner than expected, disallowing Thomas from being uncoupled. A worn out Thomas is uncoupled from the train at the next station. The next day, Thomas accidentally disturbs two breakdown cranes named Judy and Jerome, who are used for emergencies only.

The next morning, Henry falls ill. Being the only engine available, Thomas is asked to pull his passenger train instead. He starts too soon and leaves the coaches behind, much to Sir Topham Hatt and the passengers' dismay. Thomas solemnly returns to station and retries successfully, but the other engines mock him at Tidmouth Sheds that night. Edward offers to let Thomas take his freight train the next morning. Thomas ignores Edward's advice about the trucks' mischievousness, and ends up going too fast and almost crashing because of them. Not approving of the swap, Hatt orders Thomas and Edward to stay in the yard until Thomas is educated on trucks. During this time, Thomas helps Henry overcome his fear of rain.

Sometime later, Thomas witnesses a runaway James speeding through the yard with a freight train; his brake blocks are on fire and he cannot stop. Thomas pursues James and attempts to stop him, but James crashes into a field. Thomas hurryingly brings Judy and Jerome to the crash site and helps to rescue James. As Thomas is congratulated that night, Hatt rewards him with his own branch line. Later on, James returns to the yard, painted red and fitted with new brakes, before Thomas begins his first branch line passenger journey with Annie and Clarabel.

Voice cast

• Teresa Gallagher as Annie, Clarabel, and Judy
• Tim Whitnall as Jerome
• Keith Wickham as Glynn and Sir Topham Hatt
• Christopher Ragland as the Troublesome Trucks

United Kingdom

• John Hasler as Thomas
• Keith Wickham as Edward, Henry, Gordon, and James

United States

• Joseph May as Thomas
• William Hope as Edward
• Kerry Shale as Henry and Gordon
• Rob Rackstraw as James

Reception

The film received generally positive reviews; Common Sense Media gave the film a 4/5, stating: "Expect infighting among some of the engines as personalities clash and a few fretful moments, but ultimately there are happy resolutions and increasingly strong friendships as a result."^[3]

Notes

1. David Mitton and Britt Allcroft adapted the stories present in this film to television.
2. Songs originally composed by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell are used.