Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000)

User Rating:

2.6/10   

Director:

Britt Allcroft

Writer:

Britt Allcroft (writer)

Release Date:

26 July 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Take the magic journey.

Plot:

Mr. Conductor's supply of magic gold dust, which allows him to travel between Shining Time and Thomas's island...

Plot Keywords:

Magic | Railway | Steam Locomotive | Miniature People | Train Conductor

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Alec Baldwin	...	Mr. Conductor
Cody McMains	...	Patch
Russell Means	...	Billy Twofeathers
Peter Fonda	...	Grandpa Burnett Stone
Jared Wall	...	Young Burnett
Laura Bower	...	Young Tasha
Didi Conn	...	Stacy Jones, Shining Time Station Manager
Mara Wilson	...	Lily, Burnetts Grand Daughter
Lori Hallier	...	Lily's Mother
Michael E. Rodgers	...	Mr. C. Junior
Edward Glen	...	Thomas (voice) (as Eddie Glen)
Neil Crone	...	Diesel 10 / Splatter / Gordon (voice)
Colm Feore	...	Toby (voice)
Linda Ballantyne	...	Percy (voice)
Kevin Frank	...	Dodge / Bertie / Harold / Henry (voice)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Singapore:G | Australia:G | Germany:o.Al. | New Zealand:G | UK:U | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Isle of Man

Company:

Gullane Pictures

Trivia:

George the Steamroller and Cranky the Crane were originally slated to appear, but were later cut from the film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Diesel 10 is chasing Thomas and Lady, he was on a different track from them. But when he comes to the hole at the viaduct, he is on the same track as Thomas and Lady.

Quotes:

Diesel 10: [singing] Old MacDiesel had a plan/Heh! Heh! Heh! Heh! Heh!/With a pinch pinch here/ And a pinch pinch there/ Here a pinch/ There a pinch
[laughs]
Diesel 10: I crack myself up.

Movie Connections:

Follows "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends" (1984)

Soundtrack:

Summer Sunday

Up for the "Worst Screenplay Ever Written" award

Okay, I understand that this is a kid's movie, and that it's intended to simply be fun. However, that's no excuse for the wreck of a screenplay provided by Britt Allcroft. Some day I may be compelled out of sheer obsession to document the many problems with this movie, but the most fundamental flaw is the continued use of the "Shining Time" additions to the Awdry stories. Didi Conn is the only thing shining in Shining Time, created for US TV audiences to stitch together the excellent model railroad Thomas stories. The only thing is, they didn't need to be stitched together, as they stand up just fine on their own in book and video. Worse, the Shining Time portions on TV are excruciating to watch...and now the whole premise is brought to a movie.

Now it seems there's some kind of magic railroad connecting a mythical British island railroad to Shining Time, clearly in the USA. In fact, it must be in Lancaster, PA, USA, because the Strasburg Railroad locomotive #475 makes a few appearances in the movie (in Strasburg and Harrisburg, PA) and I doubt it's ever been across the Atlantic.

Anyway, to make a long and painful story short, there's almost no motivation for any of the characters in this story to do anything at all. Somehow Mr. Conductor (not an Awdry creation) is running out of gold dust, which will somehow make his "universe" fall apart. There's no mention as to why supplies would dwindle to nothing when it's the only thing holding Sodor together - Mr. Conductor is pretty irresponsible if you ask me. He summons his idiot brother who is no help at all, and together they and the rest of the characters stumble on the answer and save the day in a completely underwhelming conclusion.

The gold dust emergency happens to coincide with the apparent return of a diesel engine intent on destroying steam engines. The whole evil-diesel and his predictable sidekick-duo are completely unnecessary and just scare the little kids (like my two-year-old). I assume that the marketing folks needed a few more new characters to work into the merchandising mix because there's no excuse for the plot damage caused by the diesel.

Your kids may enjoy the railroad scenes, but don't watch this movie unless you want your brains to leak out of your head and turn to mush. The models are great, but the acting and writing are ridiculous. Avoid at all costs!!!