Thomas The Tank Engine the series has been going since the eighties with it only just wrapping up a few years ago and the book the series is based off of has been going the forties. With there naturally being a fandom developing over the years be it from people who loved the show the show or people who read the books with alot of those fans not only being little kids but also being adults and well one of those fans has released a documentary about the fandom as a whole and I thought i'd talk about and so then join me as I review the film that proves you don't have to be a little kid to like Thomas the Tank Engine with the film in question being called simply just "An Unlikely Fandom: The Impact Of Thomas The Tank Engine" enjoy.
With this film being a documentary there really isn't a plot to speak off outside of the fact that the films director is going around not only interviewing people involved with making both the show and also Shining Time Station but also the fans. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty not that bad. This films plot is genuinely a good idea as it would have been super easy for the plot of the film to just be about the making of the franchise as a whole but to also include things from the fans and the various aspects of the Thomas fandom from the websites to the fan made episodes and fan made models that actually is a really good idea. As the Thomas fandom is perhaps the most creative fandom out there at the very least when it comes to kids media anyway as they don't just limit themselves to drawings and fanfictions some of them will spend months creating a fully animated episode or some will spend months making models to create a full episode in the style of the early seasons of the show with the thing that lets this idea down a bit being the fact that they don't rally delve all that much into the creative process be it from the fan perspective or the perspective of those that made the show whilst this is something that would have made the films plot feel more thought out and be more in like with how creative the Thomas fandom is on the whole with the plot of this film also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this film is Abi Grant , Brandon Stone , Britt Allcroft , Daniel Coffey , Isaiah Ferguson and Jordan Neidert. Also starring in this film is Ken Friedel , Louis Cantone , Luke Ryan , Marvin Jerry , Michael White , Mike O'Donnell , Nicholas Jones , Vinnie Smith , Ricky Imparato , Rick Siggelkow , Samuel Knappett , Thomas Carter , Tom Denham , Tom Jedski , Veronica Chambers , Doug Blaine , Bradley Bledsoe , this films director , producer , editor and cinematographer Brannon Carty , Jadan DiStefano , Eric Drouin , Brandon FitzPatrick , Lachlan Kyle , Christian La Rocca , Hunter Lohse , Robert Magee , Matt Michaud , Jamil Morris , Adam Phelan , William Poletski , Vincent Sekafetz , Stephen Sheredy , Jackie Stitt , Nolan Thunder and Matthew Twillman.
The fact that the makers of this film managed to get as many key people who were involved with the creation of the show as they did is nothing short of a miracle. As they managed to get the daughter of Rev. W. Awdry to appear in the film and share the tale of of how the first book in the series essentially came to be which was something that they never had to do and yet the fact that he makers of this film got her to appear in the film does show you that they have a deep level of love for this franchise which does make sense as Brannon Carty is himself a Thomas The Tank Engine fan with hm even being on good terms with alot of the people that appear in this film with none of the crew that he interviews coming across as being stuck up which they very easily could have done. Heck he was even one of if not the last person to interview show creator Britt Allcroft before she passed away with him even dedicating the film to her that is just something that he never had to do and yet because of the fact that he loved these characters so much he did it anyway and while he of course doesn't mange to interview every single creative person that helped to make the show and the books a success as sadly alot of them are no longer with us it still would have been nice if we got interviews from some of the narrators of the show just to get there perspective on things and heck it would have been nice if as well as well as showing footage from The Magic Railroad if we got interviews from some of the cast members from that film as like it or not they apart of the franchises history now albeit in a small way but not having them in the film does work as well with allowing for more interviews with the fans and giving the fand a chance to show us why thy love this franchise and these characters as much as they do in the first place.
Even tho the films does gave alot of interviews from some of the key people that helped to make the franchise and to keep it alive. This film does feature alot more interviews with the people that share this deep unbridled love for Thomas those being the fans of the franchise and this is where the beating heart of the film does lie as without these passionate fans going against the social grain if you will and not only liking but loving something that was made with little kids in mind then there wouldn't a be a franchise to speak of and yet its due to the fact that we do have these fans that not only own the books but also watch every episode including the bad ones but also own the toys and are willing to do these creative things to show there love for these characters that we have a franchise to speak off. With all of them giving us great insight into not only what there hobby is in the Thomas fandom but for alot of them also giving us great insight into the kind of bullying that they got from kids when they found out that they liked Thomas The Tank Engine with this being something that really hasn't been explored before and it really should be as the one thing that Thomas The Tank Engine always teaches us through it's more villainous characters is that bullying is always wrong and that the bully will always end getting punished because of it with that lesson being something that whom ever those bullies were seemed to have forgotten about as there is nothing wrong with openly liking a show that was made for kids just look at all of the adults today that like Bluey as that show much like Thomas was is a really well written show and yet despite that there will be people out there who see both Bluey and Thomas as being nothing more then shows for babies and will openly mock the adults that like it when there's nothing wrong with liking a show that i actually good.
In what was a surprising move is the fact that they actually got an interview with the writer of what is technically the final the episode of Tomas And Friends Michael White. With him revealing that prior to being a writer of the show he was a fan and had to keep it a secret for almost two years that he had been given the job as a writer for the show with his friends and family only finding out when his first episode "An Engine Of Colors" back in season 22 and heck he was brought back on to write episodes of THAT animated Thomas show with him giving us some good amount of information like the fact that he himself had no idea of how The Royal Engine was going to turn out let alone who they were going to get to open the episode. With him quite frankly being more nervous about writing the anniversary special then anything else which is understandable as it was a big anniversary to celebrate and had the show still be on the air when the eightieth anniversary rolled around there more then likely would have been a special made for that as well, Michael even saying how much of a headache it was for him to write as he struggled to even came with a plot with the special and yet he still put in the work and did the special because of the fact that he was a fan of the franchise with him even saying that he put in alot of throw backs to over scenes in his episodes so that the kids watching it might be tempted to go and watch the classic episodes to see where those references previously came from which in all fairness is a good way to get little kids to watch classic TV with the only things that would have made that segment of the film even better being if he talked about some of the creative choices behind alot of the special and how he feels about it being the last Thomas And Friends episode.
Whilst the Thomas brand isn't as well known today thanks to All Engines Go which never gets mentioned in the film at all. The brand is still loved by a great many people not just here in the UK or in America altho those are the two biggest fanbases for the brand but all around the world which makes it odd that only Australian fans get showcased in this special as there are fans in Asia and in other countries that still love the show and yet they never get mentioned grated since this documentary is essentially just a fan film that was made for the fans by the fans it would've been impossible for the makers of this film to fly to Asia to get interviews with those fans and it would have been a tough ask for them to get Asian fans to fly from Asia to either her in the UK or to America and attend a Thomas themed event. Would it have ben nice if we id get to see people from other countries other then American , the UK or Australia sure it's not really needed to make the film work as the film does still work regardless of if there was Asian people but it would have been interesting to see what creative things that they came up with to help express there love for the franchise as Asian people do have different ways to express there fandom and there love of something then alot of others do as heck one of them might have come up with a Thomas which would've been cool to see and while we do get told of people who created songs and music based ff of either the show or there favorite characters it would have been cool to hear ne of the songs and if it was an Asian person that did create a song then odds are it couldn't have had a fun anime vibe to it.
As the title of film would suggest its all about fandom and what it means to be a fan of something with this film giving us a good idea of what it means to be apart of a fandom that inspires creativity alot more then say the Doctor Who or the Marvel fandom does for example. As none of those fandoms inspires people to create full length and fully cast episodes using just the toys alone and yet with the Thomas fandom that's exactly what we get and it's why the Thomas fandom is this huge creative space as we do get people being creative and expressing there love for for this little blue engine in ways that other fandoms could only dream of doing and yet because of the fact that this is a kids show this fandom will always be looked down upon when in reality it needs to be looked up to. With the film even going to great lengths to show us all of the genuine loves and friendships that people in the fandom have made over the years with alot of them making life long friends that go on holiday together and aren't afraid to just be who they are with this being being something the Thomas series has told us time and time again is an OK thing to be, with the people in this fandom even putting together events on there own not for the show or the books but for the toys with there oddly being a big enough want out there there that alot of people do turn up to the events just to show off there Thomas toys and make new friends out of it this is something that you don't see happen in any other fandom but due to how welcoming and how forward thinking the Thomas fandom is it's something that they do alot of the time in America whereas here in the UK we do get people going to meets ups on railways that helped to inspire railway sights in either the books and the show as we get people going to Thomas events all of which is still a really crazy feet in it's own right.
Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and twenty four minuets and thirty four seconds. This is pretty much the exact running time that would expect a Thomas documentary to be as alot of stuff in regards to the show was covered in a previous films called "Thomas The Tank Engine Man" with footage from that film being used in parts in this film and therefor the film really only needed to cover things from the fans perspective and what it means to them to be apart of this fandom either in a small way or in the case of Michael White in a fairly big way with the film doing a good enough job of getting across just how much this film meant to those that were making the shows and the books and what it still does mean to those that are fans of both the book and show. However tho this film doesn't really need to be this long as there several dull points in the film that don't really add anything to the film but this is something that could be chalked up to Brannon Carty being a first time film maker and therefor he is of course going to be making some mistakes when it comes to the pacing of this film as we didn't need alot of the stuff with the fans just repeating how Thomas has inspired them to be creative as that does feel like that they were included to either pad the film out or they were friends with the director with alot ot the more interesting stuff like alot of the early Thomas fan made videos not being given the time that they should have gotten. With alot of them only being given a few seconds each at best and alot of the time more shall we say darker videos just being covered in one montage when they could have been given a few more minuets as it would have been interesting to see and hear how and why the makers of those videos came up with those ideas and inspired them to make those darker videos and the first place but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a drama that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual drama that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual rama thats actually featured / presented to u in this very film was in all honesty really good. With all of the people that were being interviewed really getting across well just what it was that this franchise means to them and while none of them have these big dramatic moments the fact that we do get to find out that alot of them were being bullied by kids just for liking something that is typically seen as being for little kids does show you that they did have to struggle with coming to terms with the fact that they love this show. With the best bit of drama in the whole film being where newly filmed footage of the now late Britt Allcroft plays near the end of the film and she just talks abut the lasting impact of the Thomas franchise and how it manages to only still be relevant to this day be it in this case through the Wonders Of Sodor video game but how it will in some respects always be relevant as both the stories and the characters are timeless as they are these well written stories and character and that is something that absolutely true as Thomas right now as a fandom is still going strong with a united fandom behind it whereas alot of the other fandoms have become splintered and yet a fandom about a blue Tank Engine is still strong and is still united and is more accepting then alot of the fandoms that are meant for adults with the rest of the films drama being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall if you haven't seen this film go on to Youtube and look it up on the Stash - Free Documentaries Youtube Channel as the film really is worth watching as if your a Thomas fans you might see other fans that you know or recognise and if your weren't a fan then really might find some new respect for something you forgot abut in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and a such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then a for where I personally got all of the images that I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review ell then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.






























