Since the announcement that Mattel and Hit Entertainment would be ending the CGI era of its long-running Thomas & Friends TV series which has been used since 2009 and will be tranforming into 2D Adobe Flash animation, a whole crew of Thomas fans didn't seem too happy and we can understand why.
This past month, new details have spread around the upcoming Season 25 which will consist of 26 episodes with 52 storylines and a hour-long movie. The showrunner and director spoke up about what fans can expect from the new season.
For the first time in the franchise's 76-year history, the TV series adaptation will not include any narration (although Joseph May and John Hassler as the title charcter have narrated the past three seasons) and will also get rid of their drivers and firefighters.
However, fear not, because a majority of the old faces are here to stay, including the Steam Team Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby, Emily, Nia and Rebecca, the non-rail vehicles Cranky, Bertie, Harold and Terrence, the mischevious Troublesome Trucks and Devious Diesel (although the trailer accidentally mistakes Diesel as one of Thomas' friends) and the lovable man in charge of the railway Sir Toham Hatt (or the "Fat Controller" if you live outside US/Canada)
A majority of the fans are still not happy about this refresh. The series original creator Britt Allcroft opened up her thoughts about the new season which is scheduled to air in the Halloween month of October on her social media accounts.
"Hello everyone and Happy New Years 2021. I have recently been reading your concerns and complaints about the Season 25 REIMAGINING of Thomas & Friends,
produced in association with Nelvana Limited in Toronto, Canada.
Sadly, Mattel now has ownership of the property and there is NOTHING I can do about it and you're just gonna have to deal with it. I totally understand your feelings. Even if Mattel takes the franchise downhill, keep watching and loving the Thomas TV series that I brought to life for you and we are faithful and true to the REAL Really Useful Thomas as we know him and love him and all of his friends."
Many people are still disapointed about this, but unfortunately change is something we cant do about. This is just what happens with long-running preschool properties like this. However, the new seasons will still be faithful to the franchise as it is. It will still get the job done as being a hit for today's kids and the franchise will keep thriving and not cause any confusion and delay and continue to make tracks to great destinations and entertain audiences for many generations to come.
For any of you who are disapointed about Thomas' future, why don't you watch the first episode of the new season and then judge your own opinion.
The new seasons (Seasons 25 and 26, two seasons of 26 half-hour episodes with 2 11-minute stories each and 2 hour-long movies) is slated to start broadcasting around Halloween beginning in October 2021.
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