Thomas & Friends-Engines to the Rescue (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Menu Animation & Audio Quiz-Know Your Engines Trailer-Preview - Days Out With Thomas Bonus Episode-'Train Driver Tubb' From Rubbadubbers
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	44:16 (Case: 55)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	David Mitton
Studio Distributor	Hit Entertainment Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Ringo Starr Michael Angelis George Carlin Alec Baldwin Michael Brandon
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$19.95	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	Unknown	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Thomas The Tank Engine is an institution. No-one who has had anything to do with young children will not have heard of Thomas - certainly every toddler knows who Thomas is.

    Even as an adult it's hard not to be impressed by the Thomas TV series. These short stories are so well told and so charmingly filmed that even I find that I am drawn to watch if they are on. The model work alone is worth watching. For a five minute or so children's story, the work put into the models is most impressive.

    Unlike many children's TV shows, Thomas does not irritate adults. Sure, when little Johnny is watching the same Thomas DVD for the two hundredth time today, Mum may get a bit frustrated, but at least Thomas doesn't annoy from the first viewing as many children's shows tend to.

    Thomas and Friends - Engines to the Rescue is a collection of eight episodes all with the theme of the engines saving the day. They are simple stories that are well filmed and often provide a little bit of learning for children of all ages.

Gordon and Spencer (5:32)
    A Duke and Duchess are visiting the island and they bring their own engine, Spencer.

Harold and the Flying Horse (5:33)
    It's time for the Vicar's fair and Harold the Helicopter feels left out because he is on rescue duty and can't go.

The Grand Opening (5:32)
    A new line is opening on the island and all the engines are excited.

It's Only Snow (5:32)
    It's winter and Thomas has to deliver the village Yule tree but breaks his snow plough.

The Refreshment Lady's Tea Shop (5:32)
    The refreshment lady has to open another tea shop and Peter Sam must help her find another location.

Trusty Rusty (5:31)
    Rusty the diesel has to help a steam engine that is stranded on a collapsing bridge.

Salty's Stormy Tale (5:32)
    The island's lighthouse breaks down during a storm and the dockside engine Salty has to help repair it.

Something Fishy (5:32)
    Thomas is unhappy about having to work on a new line that runs to the fishing village.

Video

    This is a very nice 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced transfer. Colours are bright and vibrant and the images are crisp. The only artefact I could find was some very minor MPEG blocking in large areas of colour such as the sky. I can't see too many toddlers complaining about that though. Aside from this the transfer is excellent, although a slight lack of sharpness sometimes suggests the source material was video.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Audio is Dolby Digital 2.0. While nothing spectacular, it is a good, clean audio transfer with the dialogue clear and easy to follow. There's not much else to say - this is not a disc that will test out your surround system and impress your friends with ground-shaking base. It is a basic soundtrack that does its job well.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu
    An animated menu with audio is provided after an ad for ABC children's videos. The menu features nice big selection icons in keeping with the age of its target audience.

Know You Engines Quiz
    A series of multiple choice questions about each episode. The answer is selected by the remote control. The voice over is supposed to say "well done" when a correct answer is elected, but on my system the audio was badly clipped.

Days Out With Thomas
    A brief ad for live Thomas events in the UK.

Train Driver Tubb - Story From the Rubbadubbers (10:13)
    An animated story from another children's series that, quite frankly, isn't in Thomas's league.

    I could not locate this collection in Region 1. There is a Region 2 version that appears to be identical.

    If you have a child who is a Thomas fan, they will love these eight episodes. If you haven't introduced you child to Thomas, do so. They will be entranced by this series and you will have 44 minutes of peace and quiet.

    Video is excellent.

    Audio is good.

    Extras are few, but the kids will probably enjoy them.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall