''Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go'' is an animated

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

created by

Britt Allcroft Britt Allcroft (born Hilary Mary Allcroft Coote; 14 December 1943 - 25 December 2024) was an English screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actress. She adapted Wilbert Awdry's ''The Railway Series'' in the form of the children's television ...

and developed by Rick Suvalle that premiered on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

Cartoonito Cartoonito is a brand name used by Warner Bros. Discovery for a collection of television networks and Block programming, programming blocks aimed at preschool children. The name combines the "cartoon" with the Spanish language, Spanish suffix " ...

block in the United States on September 13, 2021, and on

Treehouse A tree house, tree fort or treeshed, is a platform or building constructed around, next to or among the trunk or branches of one or more mature trees while above ground level. Tree houses can be used for recreation, work space, habitation, a ha ...

in Canada on September 18, 2021. It is produced by

Mattel Television Mattel Television is the television production division of American toy and entertainment company Mattel, originally founded on March 31, 2016 as the successor to Mattel's earlier entertainment division, ''Mattel Playground Productions'', under t ...

and animated by

Nelvana Nelvana Limited (; also known as Nelvana Enterprises, Nelvana International or Nelvana Digital; commonly known as Nelvana; stylized as "nelvana") is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment production company owned by Corus Entertainment s ...

. The series serves as a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

of the original ''

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' is a British children's television series which aired from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on ''The Railway Series'' books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, the series was developed for ...

'' series that ran from 1984 until 2021. It was originally believed to be a continuation of the original series (with the two seasons labeled as series 25 and 26), but

later confirmed it to be a separate series. It introduces "an entirely new approach to ''Thomas & Friends'' content," with a new animation style and story structure. In October 2022, the series was renewed for two more seasons of 26 episodes each.

Plot

The series focuses on the adventures of a younger version of

Thomas the Tank Engine Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional, anthropomorphised tank locomotive who originated from the British children's books ''The Railway Series'', created and written by Wilbert Awdry with his son Christopher Awdry, Christopher, first publish ...

and his friends, including Percy, Nia, Kana, and Diesel. Throughout the episodes, they learn many life lessons and solve problems.

Characters

Production

In October 2020, Mattel Television formed a new co-production partnership with

Corus Entertainment Corus Entertainment Inc. (often simply known as Corus) is a Canadian mass media and television production company. The company was founded in 1987 as Shaw Radio Ltd. as a subsidiary of Shaw Communications and was spun-off from Shaw in 1999. It h ...

Nelvana Limited Nelvana Limited (; also known as Nelvana Enterprises, Nelvana International or Nelvana Digital; commonly known as Nelvana; stylized as "nelvana") is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment production company owned by Corus Entertainment s ...

and greenlit two new seasons for the ''Thomas & Friends'' series, consisting of 104 11-minute episodes and two hour-long specials. The new episodes were said to be produced using 2D animation and include more physical comedy and music than before. The new series was officially announced on February 5, 2021. Executive producer Christopher Keenan said it was, "crafted to appeal to contemporary audiences' sensibilities while maintaining Thomas' core brand ethos". On October 11, 2022, Mattel announced that the series was renewed for a third and fourth season, each consisting of 26 episodes and a special. On February 27, 2024, it was announced that Series 3 would debut on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in the United States. Unlike previous ''Thomas the Tank Engine'' media, ''All Engines Go'' was produced in North America rather than the United Kingdom.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2021–22)

Season 2 (2022–23)

Season 3 (2024)

All episodes are directed by Campbell Bryer.

Season 4 (2025)

All episodes are directed by Campbell Bryer.

Specials

All of these specials are directed by Campbell Bryer with Jason Groh co-directing "Race for the Sodor Cup".

Linear

Streaming

Release

and

have the broadcast and streaming rights to the series in the United States. The series premiered on September 13, 2021, as part of Cartoon Network's

preschool programming block. The series was made available to stream on Netflix on October 29, 2021. Channel 5 (the UK terrestrial network that Season 8 onwards of the original show aired on) acquired the UK broadcast rights to the series and began airing it on their

Milkshake! ''Milkshake!'' (stylised as milkshake!) is a British Children's television series, children's television programming block on 5 (British TV channel), 5. Originally launched in 1997, it is currently aimed at children aged 2 to 7. History Th ...

pre-school block on November 8, 2021, redubbed with British voice actors. On the same day, the first hour-long special, titled ''Race for the Sodor Cup'' was confirmed for a theatrical release on September 17, 2021, in order to introduce the series and the new look in the country. The series premiered in Canada on

on September 18, 2021. In October 2021, Mattel Television announced they had pre-sold the series to many broadcasters around the world, including

Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (sometimes disambiguated as Nick Jr. on Nickelodeon or Nick Jr. on Nick, and sometimes referred to as Nick, Jr.) is an American morning programming block that airs on Nickelodeon every weekday. It was launched on January 4, 1988. Nick ...

for British pay-TV rights,

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

in France and

WarnerMedia Warner Media, LLC (Trade name, doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational corporation, multinational mass media and show business, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 ...

for MENA and Latin American regions.

Home media

North America

On August 31, 2021, Mill Creek Entertainment and NCircle Entertainment's parent company Alliance Entertainment announced a US and Canadian distribution deal with Mattel. Such rights included the DVD rights to ''All Engines Go'', which NCircle would distribute.

United Kingdom

The ''Race for the Sodor Cup'' special was released on DVD on February 14, 2022.

Reception

''Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go'' received generally unfavorable reviews. The premiere of the series, along with trailers and other promotional material, were met with immense criticism from fans of the original series and parents, largely towards the new redesigns of the characters. Joly Herman at Common Sense Media summed up her review of the series by saying, "as cute, fun, adventurous as this series might be to young viewers, it has lost some of the character that the original show enjoyed."

, who produced the first seven series of ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'', expressed disdain with ''All Engines Go'', stating the series lacked the "magic" of the original series.

Accolades

The series won Best Preschool Series in the inaugural Collision Awards in 2024.Kidscreen » Archive » The Collision Awards crowns its inaugural winners
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Notes

References

External links