Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!

Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!
Directed by	David Stoten
Written by	Andrew Brenner
Based on	Thomas & Friends by Britt Allcroft
Produced by	Micaela Winter Tracy Blagdon
Starring	John Hasler Joseph May Peter Andre Yvonne Grundy Keith Wickham
Music by	Chris Renshaw
Production company	Jam Filled Entertainment
Distributed by	Mattel Creations
Release date	20 July 2018 (2018-07-20) (UK)
Running time	85 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Box office	$3.2 million

Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! is a 2018 animated children's musical adventure film in the Thomas & Friends franchise. The fourteenth and final feature-length special in the Thomas & Friends television series, it follows Thomas the Tank Engine as he aims to become the first steam locomotive to go all the way around the world. John Hasler and Joseph May reprise their roles as Thomas in the American English and British English dubs respectively, while Peter Andre and Yvonne Grundy join the cast.

The film was announced in 2017 as part of Mattel's planned "big makeover" of the series, with the aforementioned company partnering with the United Nations to incorporate their Sustainable Development Goals into the film.

Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! saw a limited theatrical release in the United Kingdom on July 20, 2018, receiving negative critic reviews and grossing US$3.2 million at the box office.

Plot

Rally car Ace passes through Sodor on his way to a multi-continental race starting in Africa. He meets Thomas on his way through, and convinces him to tag along. Thomas consults Sir Topham Hatt, whom invertedly agrees when distracted by a telephone, and goes to the docks to be loaded onto Ace's ship.

They arrive in Senegal and head to the first race in the Sahara desert, only for Ace to abandon Thomas due to the lack of railway tracks. Thomas encounters a group of rolling stock who are hoping to be taken to Dar es Salaam. Thomas accepts to take them, only for his train to become increasingly longer throughout the journey. Stopping at another train yard, Thomas meets Nia, who offers to help him. Thomas refuses, only for Nia to join him regardless. Meanwhile, Hatt arrives in Senegal in search of Thomas, ultimately travelling through the desert by camel.

Thomas and Nia arrive in Dar es Salaam and board a ship with Ace heading to Rio de Janeiro, with Hatt arriving in Dar es Salaam after they leave. The engines follow Ace through the Amazon rainforest with a train headed for San Francisco, with Thomas denying Nia's request to refuel on water. They find Ace having crashed and load him onto their train, only for Thomas to later run out of water. Nia suggests making a funnel out of leaves to refill Thomas' boiler with rain, which succeeds. Hatt arrives in Rio, learning from a diesel locomotive that Thomas is headed for San Francisco, ultimately searching for him by plane.

Reaching the United States, Thomas, Nia, and Ace head to Arizona. Ace convinces the two engines to race with two halves of the train, later additionally convincing Thomas to play a trick on Nia by diverging onto another track heading to his next race. They accidentally enter an abandoned mine and derail upon exiting, with an American steam engine named Beau arriving the following morning with numerous cowboys, cowgirls, and horses to help them back on the rails. Thomas thanks Beau and later arrives at the salt flats, dropping off Ace angrily and heading off to search for Nia. He finds out she is in China and is loaded onto a ship headed to the same location, feeling guilty and regretful on his way there.

In China, Thomas learns that Nia is headed to the Rainbow Mountains. He spots Nia atop a snowy cliff and tries to get her attention, only for Nia to ignore him. As Thomas apologises, Nia gets derailed by an avalanche. Thomas attempts to rescue her alone, but almost fails until Yong Bao, a friend of Thomas from China, rescues them. After Nia is helped back onto the tracks, she and Thomas agree on heading back to Sodor through Asia and Europe.

At the Vicarstown Bridge, between Sodor and the mainland, Nia explains that she has no shed at home to go back to. Thomas invites Nia to come back to Sodor with him, which she accepts. They are welcomed by all of the engines and Mr. Percival; the latter had been running Sodor in Hatt's absence. However, they are confused as to why Hatt is not with them, with Thomas having been completely unaware he went to look for him. Meanwhile, an exhausted Sir Topham Hatt meets Ace on a ship headed to China.

Voice cast

United Kingdom

• John Hasler as Thomas
• Rob Rackstraw as Toby
• Nigel Pilkington as Percy
• Teresa Gallagher as Emily, an unnamed American diesel engine, Annie, and Clarabel
• Matt Wilkinson as Cranky

United States

• Joseph May as Thomas
• William Hope as Edward and Toby
• Kerry Shale as Henry, Gordon, Harold and Mr. Percival
• Rob Rackstraw as Donald, Sam, and Big Mickey
• Christopher Ragland as Percy, an unnamed rally car, and the cowboys
• Jules de Jongh as Emily
• Glenn Wrage as Cranky
• Keith Wickham as Bertie and Captain

Both

• Peter Andre as Ace, an Australian rally car
• Yvonne Grundy as Nia, an orange tank engine from Kenya
• Keith Wickham as the Fat Controller
• Rufus Jones as the Flying Scotsman, Gordon's brother from the United Kingdom
• Rob Rackstraw as James and the Senegal race announcer
• Bob Golding as Sidney
• Steven Kynman as Duck and Paxton
• Nicola Stapleton as Rosie
• Kerry Shale as Beau and Diesel

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 20% of 10 critics' reviews are positive. Cath Clarke, writing for The Guardian, gave the film two out of five stars, stating that "the whole thing has a straight-to-DVD quality, or perhaps a TV episode padded out with a few limp songs", later adding that "the overhaul here seems sincere if a little strained, and the franchise deserves some points for unshackling Thomas from the yesteryear universe of creator the Rev Wilbert Awdry, a vicar and railway enthusiast. But the lazy gender stereotypes need to go." Ed Potten, writing for The Times, wrote that "the animation, story and dialogue all feel so pedestrian and, despite the globetrotting theme, parochial."

External links

• Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! at IMDb