Thomas & Friends: King of the Railway

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King of the Railway
Film poster
Directed by	Rob Silvestri
Written by	Andrew Brenner
Produced by	Brian Lynch Ian McCue Halim Jabbour
Starring	Teresa Gallagher Keith Wickham Matt Wilkinson Togo Igawa Ben Small Kerry Shale Jules de Jongh
Narrated by	Mark Moraghan
Music by	Robert Hartshorne Peter Hartshorne
Production companies	HIT Entertainment Arc Productions
Distributed by	HIT Entertainment Lionsgate Home Entertainment (US)
Release date	2 September 2013 (2013-09-02)
Running time	62 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$572,255[1]

Thomas & Friends: King of the Railway is a 2013 CGI-animated direct-to-DVD fantasy-comedy adventure feature-length special and film of the British television series, Thomas & Friends. The film is produced by HIT Entertainment and animated by Arc Productions, replacing Nitrogen Studios. It is the series’ first production to have CGI animation provided by Arc Productions.

Directed by Rob Silvestri and written by Andrew Brenner with additional material by Sam Wilkinson, the film stars Ben Small and Martin Sherman as Thomas the Tank Engine in the US and the UK respectively. Co-stars include Keith Wickham, Kerry Shale, William Hope and Teresa Gallagher.

Bob Golding, Mike Grady, Jonathan Forbes, Rebecca O'Mara and Miranda Raison join the cast.

Plot[]

Long ago, Sodor was a kingdom under the rule of King Godred. One day Godred’s crown was stolen by thieves. Though the thieves were caught, the crown was hidden and considered lost forever.

In the present day, Sir Topham Hatt announces to the engines that Sir Robert Norramby, the Earl of Sodor is returning from his travels around the world. Sir Robert wishes to restore the ruins of King Godred’s Castle at Ulfstead.

Thomas arrives at Ulfstead with crates of building material, where he meets an engine named Millie. Thomas remarks that he hasn’t seen her before to which she responds, explaining that she was kept in her shed when the Earl was on his travels.

Spencer returns to the island and stays at Tidmouth Sheds for the night, where he argues with Gordon about who is faster. The two engines race the next day but Spencer abruptly leaves in between the race, claiming that he has to help the Earl.

After Henry has a fault with his safety valve, Thomas, Percy and James are assigned to pull his heavy goods train to Ulfstead. Once there, Thomas meets Jack the Front-Loader who informs him of The Earl’s plans to restore the castle. The Earl tells Thomas that one of the flatbeds (containing a crate on top) should have been taken to the Steamworks. Out of curiosity, Percy and James follow Thomas as he transports the flatbed.

When the engines arrive at the Steamworks, the crate is removed from the flatbed to reveal an old and rusty engine: Stephenson’s Rocket, referred to as Stephen. The engines ask the Earl why Stephen has been brought to Sodor. The Earl claims that he has a “special job” for him but asks the engines not to tell him that. That night at Tidmouth Sheds, Thomas, Percy and James tell the other engines about Stephen.

The next morning, all the other engines visit the Steamworks to have a look at Stephen. Stephen explains that he is one of the first steam engines in the world. Back when he was built, engines were typically pulled by horses and steam engines were new and experimental. He was contested in a race against the other existing steam engines at the time, which he won.

After a while, Stephen is restored and repainted. Sir Topham Hatt informs Thomas, Percy and James of a new job at Ulfstead. On hearing this, Stephen feels disheartened at not having a job of his own, thinking that the newer engines are more useful than him. Thomas tries to cheer him up by telling him about the Earl’s special job for him.

As expected, Stephen gets very excited and starts searching the island to find out what his new job is. First, he visits Brendam Docks, then Blue Mountain Quarry and finally decides to visit a mine that is located downhill at Ulfstead.

Uphill of the mine, Thomas, Percy and James are still helping rebuild the castle when the Earl tells them that the castle will be opened to the public as a tourist attraction and that Stephen’s special job is to be their tour guide.

Meanwhile, Gordon and Spencer try having another race after their previous attempt failed. They are passed by two streamlined engines, who introduce themselves as Caitlin and Connor, who have come to Sodor to take passengers to the castle.

Stephen reaches the mine but is disappointed to see that the entrance to the mine is blocked. He begins to think that Thomas was wrong about him having a job.

Thomas and Percy get ready to push some Troublesome Trucks containing dirt away, but the Earl says that the train would be too heavy for them and that they should wait for James to return from having a wash. Thomas does not want to wait, instead he wants to tell Stephen about his job. He insists that they can take the train themselves.

When Thomas and Percy climb up the slope, they realise that there should be an engine in the front to control the trucks. However it’s too late and the trucks push themselves downhill. The trucks collide with Stephen and cause the entrance of the mine to open, sending Stephen inside and causing his funnel to fall off. The impact causes a shower of rocks to block the entrance of the mine once again - this time with Stephen stuck inside. Thomas and Percy, who were at the back of the train, did not see this.

Thomas visits the Steamworks, unaware that Stephen left, to tell him about his special job. He is shocked on finding that he isn’t there and the engines begin searching for him.

Inside the mine, Stephen tries finding his own way out. He eventually finds an old wooden chest, which he tries bumping out of the way. The chest tumbles over and opens up. Stephen is amazed by what he finds. By the next day, he is still looking for a way out when he finds himself in the same place he started.

While the engines are searching for Stephen, Thomas reaches the entrance of the mine. At first he thinks that Stephen wouldn’t be inside but notices his funnel lying on the ground. Thomas shouts Stephen’s name, who whistles in response.

Thomas brings Jack the Front-Loader to the mine, who clears the fallen rocks. With the entrance now unblocked, Thomas finds Stephen and pulls him out of the mine to safety.

Ulfestead Castle reopens and the Earl declares while delivering a speech that Stephen found King Godred’s crown while inside the mine.

As Stephen and Millie give tours of the castle, Connor, Caitlin, Spencer and Gordon all have a race.

According to concept art, Colin was originally meant to appear in this special, based at Ulfstead Castle. The concept art was done by Guru Studios rather than Arc Productions, which is likely the reason why Colin's role was cut.

Cast[]

References[]

External links[]

Thomas & Friends: King of the Railway at IMDb

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