Clearwater Features Ltd. was a British film production company (based first in Battersea and then at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused ...

) that produced the first two series of the children's television series ''

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

'' from 1984 to 1986. Clearwater is also known for creating the short lived children's TV series ''

TUGS A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

''.

History

The company was founded in the early 1970s by Gerry Anderson alumni Ken Turner and David Mitton, and produced television commercials as well as miniature effects for films and TV shows. Turner left the company in 1979, to be replaced by American-born director and producer Robert D. Cardona. The production logo of Clearwater Features was a pink

Buick Y-Job The Buick Y-Job, produced by Buick in 1938, was the auto industry's first concept car (a model intended to show new technology or designs but not be mass-produced for sale to consumers). Designed by Harley J. Earl, the car had power-operated hi ...

parked at a film studio with palm trees, based on Clearwater, Florida, and it appeared on every ending of every episode of ''Thomas the Tank Engine'' from series 1 and 2, and also appeared on a flag of a barge in the ''TUGS'' episode

4th of July Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. The company closed down on New Year's Eve 1990 because of ''TUGS''' conclusion. When the studio closed, David Mitton became part of The Britt Allcroft Company, and Robert D. Cardona went to live in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. Britt Allcroft, returning home from the US, purchased the models and sets which were used for ''TUGS'', and the show ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' remained in production by The Britt Allcroft Company (later Gullane Entertainment) from 1984 until 2003, when it was produced by HIT Entertainment.

Key people

* Ken Turner, David Mitton – co-founder * Robert D. Cardona – co-CEO (1979–1990) * Terry Permane – lighting, cameraman, director of photography * Bob Gauld-Galliers – art director * Mike O'Donnell, Junior Campbell – composers * John Attwell – cameraman * Nigel Parkes – editor

Produced

TV series

/ 1984-1986 - created by Wilbert Awdry; developed by Britt Allcroft *

/ 1989 - created by David Mitton and Robert D. Cardona

Others

*Various British TV Adverts *

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

(Idents with Train)

Periscope lens system

The Clearwater Periscope lens system was a type of

television camera A professional video camera (often called a television camera even though its use has spread beyond television) is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images (as opposed to a movie camera, that earlier recorded the images on film). ...

developed in 1983 by Clearwater Features for use on the

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

'' and ''

Tugs A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

''. The cameras were used together with live action model animation, to produce the image of character movements at eye level. Only two of these camera systems were ever made. The system used for ''TUGS'' was later shipped off to Canada and modified for the filming of '' Theodore Tugboat''.

References

Defunct film and television production companies of the United Kingdom Television production companies of the United Kingdom Film production companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1979 Mass media companies established in 1979 Mass media companies disestablished in 1990 1979 establishments in England 1990 disestablishments in England {{UK-media-company-stub