|
Then, there was the Isle of Man cabbie who infamously gained
the role of Thomas, and was later never heard of again. Here, we recount what happened to John Bellis and the
original voice of Thomas in Magic Railroad.
On what he thought would be a routine pick up from Douglas
Airport on the Isle of Man, Fireman, and part time Taxi Driver, John Bellis found himself
in the company of Britt Allcroft and her associates, who had arrived on the Island to scout locations for the Magic Railroad
film. However, what was meant to be an ordinary job for Mr Bellis, instead turned out to be an extraordinary event.
Having only heard him utter a meagre few words, Britt knew that John was the right man to voice Thomas himself, turning to
tell her colleagues "I have just heard the voice of Thomas. The man is exactly
how Thomas would sound!" A few days later, she offered
John the part, and he accepted.
Speaking of his good fortune at the time to BBC News, "It's
fantastic. I'm a bit shelI-shocked
and have to keep pinching myself to remind myself that it has really happened." He continued: "All the lads at work have been really supportive, all
the management have been really supportive and they are all going round singing Thomas The Tank Engine tunes."
But despite being flown out to Toronto to begin recording with his co-stars,
John's fate was later changed a meagre few months before the film was due to go on release.
American test audiences, who viewed the Director's cut of the film, disliked
the Liverpudlian tones that John used for Thomas, and argued that he made Thomas sound too old. And so, suffering the
same fate as fellow cast-member Doug Lennox, ended up losing his part and sinking without trace, returning, as he had intended
to do so, to his own job as a Fire-Fighter on the Isle of Man. In a statement following the decision in April 2000, Mr Bellis said he was "gutted", but wished the film-makers well. "It
was supposed to be my big break," he said. "But it hasn't put me off and I am hoping something
else will come along."
The part of Thomas later went to Eddie Glen, who, despite giving Thomas
a more youthful English accent, was actually a Canadian (Toronto) voiceover who had starred in numerous other children's
productions such as Nickelodeon's Angela Aneconda.
In the end, John Bellis was acknowledged in the movie's credits as
the 'Transportation Coordinator' with the 'Isle of Man Unit'.
The faithful UK Thomas narrator from 1991 onward, Michael Angelis
also suffered at the hands of the American Test Audiences that the Magic Railroad Director's cut was subjected to.
Angelis was also accused by the audiences of sounding too old to make
the characters sound totally convincing in age to the viewer. In the UK narrative, James is particularly notorious for
his very strong and rather animated Liverpudlian accent.
For want of a set of more youthful sounding voices, the parts later went
to Canadian character actresses (albeit again, like Thomas, accordingly gained British accents). Linda
Ballantyne (Sailor Moon) took over the role of Percy; while Susan Roman,
(Sailor Moon, Care Bears, Beyblade, Tin Tin) took over the role of James.
SiF's own Truro (Christopher Sherburn) recently corresponded
with Linda Ballantyne. Read what Linda had to say in the 'Interviews' page.
OFFICIAL SOURCES
Cranky had a completely non-speaking role,
and appeared twice throughout the course of the movie - first in a cut music video (The Friendship Song) and
later in the scene where Splatter and Dodge were questioning Diesel 10 on why he let Mr Conductor escape. He ends up
dropping fruit and vegetables on top of Splatter and Dodge in this scene, which was altered in the movie to have Diesel 10
covered in coal (Refer to Bruce Simpson's artwork in the Storyboards section for a third version of this scene!).
Although it has been revealed by Dave Axford his scenes were never filmed, Cranky was definitely
briefly on the set. In this photo from this Canadian Society of Cinematographers article (see Feature Articles page), Cranky can be seen in the background. It turns out that he was in the process of being refurbished by
Dave Axford when word came down from the producers that Cranky's scenes would not be featured in the movie.
|
| Can you see Cranky? Photo: CSC |
But did Cranky still manage to be included in TATMR?
Many fans claim that Cranky's base could be seen in the movie. Watch
the scene where Diesel-10 slinks out of the engine shed at Knapford. If you compare the screencaptures from the movie
and the Series 5 episode of Cranky Bugs, you'll notice that the superstructure and rear portion of the crane match
up with 99.9% certainty.
|
| Scene from the movie (with magnified section), compared with one (mirrored) from Cranky Bugs (1998) |
Further enquiries to our movie contact Dave Asling revealed this:
"With regard to Cranky on set: we did set up the crane but it wasn't a ''character'' crane like
Cranky. It was strictly set dressing. Virtually all of the original Thomas sets and models were shipped to Toronto so that
we could assess which ones were in any way useable as ''filler'' items when we were building the shooting environments. We
had a large selection of generic train depot components that we could reposition around the sets to create visual interest
or fill in blank looking areas. That's what this crane is, static set dressing."
Our thanks go to SiF's Anime Boy for pinpointing the scene, and to
Dave Asling for the clarification.
George, however,
was a major player in the film, and a reluctant player in the plan between Diesel 10, Splatter and Dodge. He was instructed
to hit every one of the buffers on the railway to find out which ones led to the Magic Railroad, and ordered to destroy them.
His reward for doing this was to be the destruction of the Tidmouth Turntable which would instead be used as his own private
roller-rink!
George's model was never taken out of storage, and his scenes were removed altogether
from later versions of the script. We've summarized his scenes below for posterity's sake - in sequential order of appearance.
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After Mr. C's scenes with James at the sheds.
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Thomas stops at level crossing to let George by. This scene also
includes Bertie's drive-by as seen in the movie.
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Mr. C. is on top of the waterfall/mountain.
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Mr. C. looks for a bellflower to call Junior.
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George watches Gordon enviously on the turntable. Diesel promises
it to him.
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George's daydream sequence
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With D-10's prompting, George imagines himself on the turntable
now converted to his own personal roller rink.
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D-10 reveals his sinister plan
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Diesel-10 orders George to destroy all of the buffers on the island
to ensure that the Magic Railroad connection is severed, and by doing so eliminating any threat Mr. C. may pose to his plans
for diesel domination of Sodor.
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A weakening Mr. C. lies down.
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George smashes a buffer, but Diesel-10 wants him to destroy them
all no matter the consequence. George is beginning to have second doubts.
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Patch spies PT Boomer on Muffle Mountain. Lily arrives in Shining
Time Station.
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Toby eavesdrops on Diesel-10, splatter and Dodge in the scrapyards.
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George, Splatter and Dodge begin to fear Diesel-10's obsession
with destroying all links to the Magic Railroad.
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Toby's whistle causes Diesel-10 to lash his claw about and bring
the shed down upon them (as seen in the movie)
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Percy travelling at night along old siding.
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Night: Splatter and Dodge try to bully an ever-reluctant George
into destroying another set of buffers in the siding.
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Night: Campfire scene with Mr. C and Lily.
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James and Junior rematerialize after escaping Diesel-10 at the
smelter.
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George refuses to listen to Splatter and Dodge's orders to destroy
the Magic Buffer. During the ensuing confusion, they derail themselves,
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Lady materializes on Sodor through the Magic Buffers, as seen
in the movie.
|
Interestingly, an even earlier draft of the script dated @April, for
which details are very sketchy at the moment, included a scene where a now-reformed George teams up with Junior to rescue
Mr. C. who is being held under guard by Splatter and Dodge. Junior atop George cheers him on to push a large boulder
down the hill, trapping Splatter and Dodge in the dead-end siding and freeing Mr. C!
In comparison with the actual production and the unfinalised script,
Diesel 10 appears to be playing a compensatory role for PT Boomer as well as his own role.
He is introduced in the script at the same point where we meet him in
the movie, but, he is introduced as a new engine brought in by the Fat Controller to help out while he is
away.
Pinchy isn't revealed until he meets up with Splatter and Dodge
to reveal his plans. The claw is concealed in a hatch built into Diesel 10, which opens up to reveal his big snapping
claw.
The scene where Thomas was meant to be covered in dust was intended to
carry on through to the shed scene to provide a bit of comic relief.
Diesel 10 returned following his initial attack and puts some sneezing
powder down Thomas's funnel, which he has concealed in Pinchy. This causes Thomas to whistle rather strangely, and provides
the reason for the sneezing scene while at the gathering with the other engines...another reason why James believes Diesel
wants to destroy them!
We’ve been able to contact
Canadian actor and improv comedian Neil Crone, whose character-voicing talents were heard in the movie as Diesel 10, Splatter
and Gordon. What Neil shared with us is most revealing!
"Hi Jim...thanks for getting in touch. Diesel 10 was a lot of fun.
The weird thing is that my improv partner, Kevin Frank, and I first went in together to audition for the roles of the Troublesome
Trucks. We had a ball improvising dialogue and we were hired. While we were in the studio recording the troublesome
truck stuff, there was a break in recording. On the screen at the time was some footage of Diesel 10. I was just
fooling around and began to do a voice for him. I did a large, gruff, Russian dialect and it seemed to fit him perfectly.
I didn't even realize that the mic was on. All of a sudden Britt (Allcroft) who was directing the session cuts in on
her talkback mic and says 'Say that again!'. I said 'Say what again?' She asked me to do the Russian voice.
So I did. She fell in love with it for the voice of Diesel 10 and that was that. We recorded the whole movie using
that very cool (and very funny) Russian voice. Unfortunately when the print of the film went to Los Angeles, somebody
somewhere there said they were worried somebody might find it a little offensive somehow. Totally dumb, but, they ended
up by coming back to me and having me use essentially the same voice but without the accent. Unfortunate, as I (and
I am sure Britt) thought the original was so much more perfect.
Anyway, we had
a load of fun recording those voices. Our improv background came in very handy as we did a lot of the lines on the fly.
Kevin and I were actually asked to take the script and punch it up a little. My only regret about the film is that most
of the cast received beautifully embroidered jackets. We got squat. Maybe because we were behind the scenes.
Anyway, I loved doing the film, largely as I was a huge Thomas fan. My kids, at the time of the recording, were just
outgrowing their Thomas days.
As far as the
Eric Idle thing goes, I dont think it was him. I'm not sure who the original voice for Diesel 10 was.
Hope
this helps out with the site. Send me along the web url and I'll check it out.
Cheers
Neil"
(Neil Crone - 11 April, 2007)
Sodor Island Fansite would like to thank Mr. Crone for his very
insightful reply and candid glimpse into what could have been! Even without the Russian accent, Neil's characterization
of Diesel 10 is memorable.
Throughout the script, Diesel 10's appendage is always referred to as
a 'claw' and never 'Pinchy', Diesel 10 is also in total control of its movements. In the movie, "Pinchy" has
a will of its own, with Diesel 10 oftentimes addressing it. This intrigued me so I asked Neil Crone...
Neil, was the name 'Pinchy' your innovation for the movie?
"Yes, Pinchy was something I came up with in
the studio. Kevin and I improvised a whack of that dialogue." ~ Neil Crone, 11 May, 2007
As a footnote, in Calling All Engines, the rehabilitated Diesel
10's appendage is referred to as 'the giant claw'.
|
| photo used courtesy of Keith Scott to SiF |
Our research has finally identified the mystery voice behind Diesel 10 as heard in the movie's trailer and
teaser. It belongs to no one other than renowned Australian voice impresario Keith Scott!
Keith recorded his lines with the original voice talent (Michael Angelis, John Bellis, Patrick Breen) on the 1st and 2nd September,
1999 at D.A.V.E. recording studios on 49 Ontario Street, Toronto. Below is a clip from the trailer featuring Keith's voice.
We've at last heard from Keith himself who has kindly shed
some light on this mystery!
From an email received from Keith Scott dated 22 August,
2008:
James--
My involvement with the THOMAS movie came out of the blue. I was just preparing
to leave LA after finishing work on the ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE movie, when the producer of Thomas called me to a meeting saying
she was after a "new" type of voice for Diesel, and could I do a kind of Orson Welles villain interpretation. (The ladies
who had cast R&B had recommended me to her.)
After accepting me, I was as you note, quickly flown to Toronto and
recorded my lines with the cast over two days.
The voice I ended up using changed a little during the recording, almost
becoming the Billy Bletcher voice of The Big Bad Wolf (from Disney's "Three Little Pigs").
I then flew back to Sydney
but was told I would be required for further work later in the year.
A couple of weeks later my US agent informed me
that I was being replaced on the THOMAS movie but no hard feelings, etc. I was a little disappointed, but to be realistic
that sort of thing happens on a daily basis in this crazy business.
The only rumor I heard (and I don't know if this
is true) is that my characterization was a little too "heavy" and would possibly scare the youngest audience members.
That
was 1999 and I didn't hear anything more to this day.
My own gut feeling was that the rest of the cast had a bit of
a history with the THOMAS property (I think Michael had long been associated with the British TV version) and I was an outsider
with no particular passion for the enterprise. Maybe they felt I just didn't have the right THOMAS "feel"
Let me know
if you need any more from me. And good luck with your project.
Keith Scott
We'd like to personally thank Keith again for his insight
and permission to use his photo. To get an idea of his vocal range for characters, visit Keith's website Keith mentioned that his site is currently being overhauled and is expected to be online again within a month
or so, so check the link periodically. In the meantime, you can also hear samples of Keith's other voices on his agent's website:
Blah Blah Blah to whom we must also extend our many thanks to owner Melinda, for putting us in
touch with Keith.
We initially meet Splatter and Dodge in the shadows of the Scrap Yard
where they're watching Toby and Percy going in to collect materials. NOT when they meet Diesel
10 at their meeting point rendezvous.
In the actual film, these two reform their ways at the last minute with
no explanation. However, in the film script we have obtained, it's George who reforms at the last minute and
changes his mind, telling them to ram the magic buffers, just before Thomas and Lady appear. They do so, and ram into
one another, much like Bill and Ben in Double Teething Troubles.
Diesel 10 would never have been seen in Calling All Engines had the original
script been screened officially.
During the chase sequence, Thomas is still carrying Boomer, and when
Diesel 10 reaches out to grab Thomas, he instead grabs Boomer and places him on his back for the rest of the chase sequence!
When he and Boomer fall into the barge of sludge, they lie there for
a second and then either vanish or are turned into sludge themselves through a trick done by C Junior's bandana...not clear
what it is, so must be a visual thing.
In his Sodor scenes in the movie, Mr. Conductor is in-scale with his surroundings
(normal-sized). In the script, he seems to switch to his diminutive
form in a few scenes, namely...
- The Fat Controller's Office: TFC's letter and the telephone are described
as being nearly as big as he is.
- Engine shed (night): Mr. C. sleeps in a 'little hammock' instead
of a bed (as seen in the movie).
Curiously, I didn't get the impression of 'Junior' being similarly proportioned
in any of his 'Sodor' scenes.
In the movie, Mr Conductor has no means of knowing his sparkle has gone.
He makes the decision in the script to not travel with Thomas to the top of the waterfall where the clue is hidden.
In doing so, he loses the last of his gold dust, and grows noticably
weaker as the time goes on. In some scenes he doesn't have the strength to reach Thomas again, and realises he doesn't.
The scene where the engines are gathered together were intended to have
James fretting about Diesel destroying them all, Gordon blaming Thomas for losing Mr Conductor and Toby trying to provide
a voice of reason!
In the scene where Mr. C is captured by Diesel 10's claw, the script describes
him escaping.by cutting a green/blue wire instead of a hydraulic hose as seen in the movie. Instead of being
catapulted to the windmill by Diesel 10's claw, Mr. Conductor instead falls and bounces off a bush, which in turn sends him
to his destination!
C Junior was never intended initially to be played
as a Scottish character. In the script, he's written in as a "British" character, but when mentioned by Mr
Conductor to The Fat Controller - he's referred to as an "English Puppy in need of a good trainer".
In the character notes in the script, Patch is described as a 12/13 year-old
Irish boy. At the end of the story, we flash forward to the future where the now-adult Patch is married to Lily, and reside
in Indian Valley with their children (and Mutt's descendant).
In the movie's credits, the 'adult' Patch is listed as being played by actor Robert
Tinkler.
The point where Patch finds Lady and Burnett Stone in the Workshop was
initially intended to take place while Lily was returning from Sodor. NOT at the point before
Diesel 10 begins talking to Splatter and Dodge.
Lady was never intended to speak in Magic Railroad. Her only means
of communication throughout were telepathy where Thomas could somehow hear her pain and sadness while he is stood on Muffle
Mountain. He talks to her, but gets no verbal response.
Obviously, she was later written with lines to give Allcroft her part
in the movie, possibly compensation for what will be revealed further down!
These were never intended to alienate the British audience, and in some
points, were made fun of in the writing of the movie.
When Thomas is reading the sign at the beginning of the movie, he refers
to the signature at the end as being Sir Topham Hatt. In this version of the script, he is corrected by Gordon who refers
to him as "The Fat Controller".
In one scene at the sheds, Mr Conductor refers to him again as being
Sir Topham Hatt, and is corrected by James or Gordon who tell him it's "The Fat Controller".
Again, Conductor makes the faux pas of refering to the Sodor Railroad,
but corrected again by the engines who tell him it's the Sodor Railway!
Throughout the film, The Fat Controller is the a common reference
of choice for Sir Topham Hatt.
However, the phrase "Fat Hatt" is coined more than once by Diesel
10...prior to it's single use in the actual production where he finds Mr Conductor at the bridge.
The biggest surprise of all would have to be that Mr Conductor was never
intended to be the storyteller at all...
Lily, 20 years on recounting the story to her son, was. Pouring
over some old photos of the days following the events of Magic Railroad with pictures of her, Mr Conductor, Stacy, Billy Two
Feathers and The Fat Controller...!
Mutt supposedly is great grandfather to her own dog, Jeff. And
20 years on, she's married to Patch, and having came back to visit her grandfather every summer following her adventure on
the Island of Sodor, has become a railroad engineer just like her Grandpa was!
Two sets of lines were left in that I know of which were intended to
be aimed at characters who never appeared:
Diesel 10: Come in, and join the party, George!
Boomer: Now I'll get you, Burnett Stone, and that
engine too!
Burnett Stone: No you won't (Boomer),
because the magic you refuse to believe in, will get the better of you!
Surprising, but true!
I forget which one of Sir Topham Hatt's Monologues refered to The Fat
Controller as being similar to Alfred Hitchcock, but in the descriptive areas of the script, he is referred to as having a
Hitchcockian appearance on his posters...
Well done Alaric or Bean for unintentionally uncovering THAT
one prior to even seeing the script!
In one scene in the movie, Patch and Lily ride/run the horse through
the valley on the Magic Railroad's 'ley lines' (for lack of a better analogy*).
In the setup scene that was either unfilmed or cut from the movie, The
horse is energized by magic gold dust that coats its hooves as it passed through a puddle of water. This explains why the
horse is galloping to beat the band in the movie.
How did the gold get into the puddle?
- The gold dust residue drifted
onto Lily's clothes when Junior dematerializes at Shining Time Station.
- Subtly explained in the scene where Lily firsts
meets her grandfather. The gold dust falls off of her dungarees and into the puddle as she gets out of Stacy's car.
In the movie, Thomas spots the truck inside the magic railroad portal,then
reverses to retrieve and deliver it to Muffle Mountain. Later in the hideout, Lily makes the Sodor coal/Lady connection and
sends Patch to retrieve the truck from the top of the mountain.
In the draft version, Thomas realizes that it's the missing truck, but
doesn't stop to retrieve it. It's only after arriving at the top of Muffle mountain that he realizes its significance.
Lily makes the same connection in the hideout. But Patch and his horse retrieve it from inside the Magic Railroad.
The horse's hooves are permanently etched with magic gold dust, which enables it to access the Magic Railroad and retrieve
the truck.
In the scripted scene where Patch is painting the Shining Time Station sign, Billy
Twofeathers is described as being Mutt's owner. Mutt is also attributed with preternatural abilities far above and beyond
those of your typical canine.
And believe it or not, we've found 'Mutt'! 'Dita' is affiliated
with a reknown troupe of stage actors - the Royal Shakespeare Company! She's (yes, she!) was still in
the business as of March 18, 2005 in this article found on the Davidson College (NC) website:
We have circumstantial evidence from the movie that lends credence to
our claims that certain scenes were indeed filmed, but cut from the final version.
In the movie, the scene where
Billy Twofeathers sees Patch off on his horse ends with Patch's line
"So I don't think he's (Stone) a bad man, I think he's just sad."
In the script, the scene is extended to include Billy's warning to Patch to
keep an eye out for a 'stranger'.
After Patch rides off, Billy and Mutt encounter PT Boomer waiting for
them on the Shining Time Station platform. After a confrontational exchange about Burnett Stone's whereabouts and
being stonewalled by Billy, an enraged Boomer leaves, but not before taking a swing at the hanging flower basket that Mr.
Conductor had watered earlier. The script describes Billy picking up the flowers that have dropped onto the ground.
In the movie, the extended scene was replaced with a cutaway scene where
Burnett Stone enters his Muffle Mountain workshop, then picks up where the script left off with Billy entering the station to see Stacy
Jones. Notice what Billy is holding in his hand?
|
| not just flowers for a pretty lady! |
In the script as in the movie, Stacy discusses Burnett Stone's drawing
with Billy. This scene is extended is the script with Billy handing the flowers over to Stacy, and telling her how they
were knocked out of the basket.
Further to the cut
Burnett Stone/PT Boomer crossroads scene, the script makes reference to a photograph being shown by Lily
to Stacy Jones during the drive from Shining Time to Muffle Mountain to meet Lily's grandfather.
The old black-and-white photo is described earlier in the script as being of a school
dance, where Lily's then-teenaged grandparents (Burnett and Tasha) can be seen dancing. In the same photo, a sulky PT Boomer
is watching the couple.
As Stacy and Lily drive up to the crossroads, they notice the two men arguing, and
Stacy asks Lily if she can borrow the photograph.
For a split second in the movie, you can see this photograph in Stacy's hand!
|
| Spotted by SiF veteran 'Ci' in this split-second scene in the movie. |
The following scene
we are about to describe is not in the 19 May, 1999 version of the TATMR script, but added in a later revision @August.
The scene takes place a few moments after Patch's scene with Mutt at the Shining Time Station sign and we cut to Billy Twofeathers
driving the Rainbow Sun. Right after Billy waves to the two children in the field (where the scene ends in the movie),
we were to switch to Billy's point of view as he observes a motorcyclist off in the distance racing across the hillside
- our first introduction to PT Boomer. Boomer cuts in front of the train at the level crossing, startling Billy to apply
the brakes and blow the locomotive's whistle. The tense atmosphere of this shot was enhanced by Britt including
a flock of panicked birds suddenly taking flight upon hearing the whistle's shriek.
The next scene resumes to where Billy arrives at the station and goes
over to speak to Patch at the sign.
Dave Axford describes the special effects that were to be applied to this filmed scene
in the Behind the Scenes section.
We're fairly confident that the screencapture below taken from the movie is
of the same level crossing - though it's used in a later scene where Lily is about to arrive at Shining Time Station. Is
the clip is a reused artefact from the scene that was cut? We have no idea except to say that this crossing appears
to be emphasized in the movie.
UPDATE (August, 2008): Fansite visitor Mark Myers
informs us that the scene with PT Boomer cutting in front of the Rainbow Sun actually took place several hundred yards down
the line from the public crossing depicted in the photo. Rather, the scene as descrbed was shot at a farm's
private gravel crossing.
Mark's services as a cameraman were hired to shoot publicity footage in Harrisburg and Strasburg, working as the video assist operator, and as the
camera assisant on the B-camera - 2nd unit photography (uncredited) completed after Britt left. Thanks, Mark for offering
us this additional insight!
|
| The level crossing where PT Boomer cuts in front of the Rainbow Sun |
In this section, we investigate the rumors about Thomas and
the Magic Railroad that have been circulating for years in the Thomas Community...
RUMOR
One of Boomer's secondary motives
was to buy Shining Time Station and rip up the rails in order to build a freeway.
We were puzzled by this rumor, since there was no mention of this in
the May 19, 1999 version of the script. Given how scenes and storylines may change during production, we again asked actor
Doug Lennox for his insight...
Hi James
Thanks for taking the time to keep me informed ...
There was never any mention of tearing up the tracks for a freeway
that I know of but what a wonderful villainous idea ... no I was just out to make Burnett's life as miserable as possible
... our feud goes back to our childhood... he just p*sses my character off ...
Doug
Doug Lennox, 25 May, 2007
A possible explanation for the origin of this rumor may stem from
Mr. Conductor's dream sequence scene in the movie. In it, Stacy Jones laments the loss of the special magic that once
protected the valley. Shining Time Station is seen in a state of disorder and decay, and a roadway can be seen to the
left of the screen.
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| With the magic gone, Shining Time Station is a special place no more |
RUMOR
PT Boomer's name was changed to Pete Boom, because at the time of filming,
there was a criminal in the news who went by the moniker - 'PT Bomber'.
In our earlier correspondence with Doug, we asked him about 'Pete
Boom' to which Doug replied...
I only know my character as P.T Boomer not Pete Boom
Doug Lennox, 24 March, 2007
Furthermore, we could not find any mention of a 'PT
Bomber' in any of the major news media archives.
We may have a plausible explanation for how the name 'Pete
Boom' began circulating amongst fans several years ago. Bobwinkle007 discovered a reference to the character
on an archived ERTL product page from the Totally Thomas webstore. In the listing of ERTL 1/64 die-cast figures that were to be released in the spring of 2000, a 'Pete Boom'
figure is listed.
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| A screencapture from the archived Totally Thomas.com ERTL product page |
It's obvious that the news of PT Boomer's character being cut from the
film reached ERTL just prior or during production of # 34327. The corruption of the name from PT Boomer to Pete Boom might
be explained by how the name may have been pronounced e.g. PT (Petey). In any event, the figurine never
made it to retail.
RUMOR
SiF's 'Blue Train Dude' alerted us to this rumor that appeared in the Saturday 14
August, 1999 issue of the Toronto Star by reporter York Membery for an article originally published
in the Sunday Times. "Will film wreck Thomas' train?- Tank Engine gets makeover"
"Insiders say Henry and James, Thomas' chums from the Island of Sodor,
are set to become Brad and Chuck."
Aside from the sheer absurdity of the notion to the Thomas community,
we somewhat speculated that the 'insider' deliberately provided misinformation to this journalist. We tracked down
and contacted York Membery to see whether he could recall any specifics about his conversation with this insider. Here then, is York's
reply.
Hi James
You are indeed correct.. the information I was given by a previously reliable source
turned out to be incorrect, and as you are no doubt aware, getting the truth out of film company PRs (in time for a deadline)
can sometimes be a challenge, if not impossible ... in short, the story turned out not to be true, and I believed we printed
a retraction. Hope this is of help.
Best
York
The Fansite would like to extend our thanks and gratitude
to Mr. Membery for taking time from his busy schedule in order to clear this matter up for us. :)
The Director's Cut of the film has been found in a Canadian
Library - The Lloydminster Public Library!
This extravagant claim surfaced in April, 2009
stating that a YouTube member had at last discovered where the Director's Cut of Thomas and the Magic Railroad
was safely tucked away - of all places, the Lloydminster Public Library in the small city of Lloydminster that straddles
the Alberta and Saskatchewan border.
Being very skeptical of just how the DC would've ended
up in a typical Canadian library warranted an investigation. Our suspicions were confirmed upon contacting the LPL by telephone: They
had no knowledge of a Director's Cut, and in talking further with one of the Librarians - Michelle, we found that the
rumor likely began from someone reading a passage in the Library's Winter, 2006 Newsletter about upcoming movie showings at the Library. The aforementioned entry found on p.4 of the Newsletter is
reproduced below:
Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Sat, Mar 25
Eleven-year-old
Lily ends up in the scenic town of Shining Time after she takes the wrong train on a visit to see her grandpa, a once happy
railway engineer who now lives a solitary life. Lily embarks on an adventure via the Magic Railroad to the island of Sodor.
However, the Magic Railroad and the lands it connects are in jeopardy from the villainous P.T. Boomer and the bully of the
railway, Diesel 10 and his gang. Lily, together with Mr. Conductor and Thomas, must help her grandfather to once again believe
in the world of hope, for he holds the key to the magic of the Railroad.
We can see how that description alone would lead someone to believe
that they had at last found this movie's holy grail.
Michelle, who also authored the newsletter revealed that she had copied
the movie's synopsis verbatim from the Audio Cine Films Inc. (ACF) website, a Quebec-based film distribution company with whom the Library has a licence with to procure movies from.
The run-time alone for the VHS tape (85 mins) is a dead giveaway that this was never the real deal.
ACF most likely received an early synopsis from the studio
- Destination Films for the upcoming film either late 1999 or early 2000, before PT Boomer's character was removed from
the storyline. ACF obviously did not update their site entry with the updated movie description that we're all familiar with.
For the record, if the Director's Cut resides anywhere, it is in the
Sony Pictures Films archival vaults in L.A, with whom Britt Allcroft had been investigating once we established a direct
contact for her at Sony Pictures.
We wish to thank Michelle and the staff at the Lloydminster Public
Library for their assistance in clearing up this misconception :)
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