Thomas the Tank Engine turns 70!
No one’s more excited than us about seven decades of Thomas! Created in 1945 by Wilbert Vere Awdry, a story about three anthropomorphic trains with chubby hairless faces titled ‘The Three Railway Engines’ was to become the legendary British franchise Thomas the Tank Engine. Let’s take a look back at the man behind the machines to find out why exactly the lovable locomotive is so popular.
Born 15th June 1911, Awdry grew up in Wiltshire by the Great Western Railway mainline. He describes as a child how the sounds of the coded whistling signals and locomotive exhausts sounded as if the trains were talking to each other: ‘There was no doubt in my mind that steam engines all had definite personalities’. After having children of his own, Awdry invented stories inspired by his childhood imaginings to entertain his son while he had the measles. After further encouragement from his wife Margaret and son Christopher, Awdry wrote his first book ‘The Three Railway Engines’ featuring Edward, Gordon, and Henry, within months 45,000 copies had been sold. By 1972 when he stopped writing, he had published 26 books in total and a further 14 have been written by his son.
The first consumer products released were a series of coloured cardboard model kits of Thomas and his 3 friends; Annie the Coach, Percy with Clarabel the Coach, Gordon the Big Engine and his Tender and James the Red Engine and his Tender. In 1984 the TV adaptation for pre-schoolers made its broadcast debut with Ringo Starr as the narrator, and was an instant success. The first two series used stories directly from the books but diverted in the third as the producers wanted more stories involving the main character, Thomas the Tank Engine. There were no brakes on the train to success as before we knew it, Thomas was on Broadway. Toy manufacturers found this incredibly lucrative as the expected cavalcade of toy train sets hit the market, especially with the introduction of Thomas in America and Japan.
In March 2008 the Thomas Land theme park opened in Drayton Manor UK featuring 17 rides themed after the shows hit characters and popular episodes. Children from around the world can now have their photos taken with life sized models of Thomas and his friends. Shortly after in 2009 the first feature length Thomas the Tank Engine film was produced in a CGI animation style, as opposed to the previous real life model technique. This opened up a world of opportunity in terms of storytelling as there were no limitations in design. Although the series has diverted from the source material, the books are still being written by Christopher Awdry and Thomas the Tank Engine is as popular as ever and growing.
Over the past 70 years he’s been a book, a TV series, a theme park, he’s even been a Beetle, now you can purchase a Thomas pretty much anything. You can get Thomas the Tank Engine, bedding, duvet cover, blankets, stationary, and Pyjamas!
