Thomas and Friends: The Adventure Begins

"The Adventure Begins" is the first 2015 Thomas & Friends special running for approximately forty-five minutes and is an adaptation of the first two books of The Railway Series, which were previously adapted for the first season in 1984. It was made to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the franchise in 2015. The special was originally released as a Walmart exclusive in the USA and Canada, and later as an ASDA exclusive in the UK before becoming widely available in both countries.

It received positive reviews among fans and critics.

Adaptation
The Adventure Begins is a computer-animated retelling of the first seven episodes of the first series of the television series, which were based on the first two Railway Series books (The Three Railway Engines and Thomas the Tank Engine). It contains elements from both the original stories and their previous adaptations, along with three new characters, new arrangements of two songs from the live-action model era (Really Useful Engine and Troublesome Trucks), and a completely different narrative.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Great storytelling as it retells the events in a faithful way to celebrate the 70th anniversary and pays such homage to the first two books. It tells the story of how Thomas came to Sodor and it is not only nostalgic for older fans, but it's also a great way to introduce younger fans to the franchise.
 * 2) This is one of those remakes that adds something different to the source material in a good way.
 * 3) The writing is also splendid as it shows Andrew Brenner, former head writer, had fun with adapting Railway Series stories into one Thomas special, showing he knew the source material to the books after all not just the TV show.
 * 4) Beautiful CGI animation that is a big step up from that of Seasons 17-18. While Seasons 17-18's animation is still great and is a step up from that of Seasons 13-16, it didn't have the best lighting, which this special improves on.
 * 5) Thomas' teal green livery looks amazing on him. Plus, his personality in this special made him really likable.
 * 6) We finally see a black livery colored James as originally shown in the second book of the Railway Series, Thomas the Tank Engine (1946).
 * 7) There are fascinating sweet scenes such as Thomas meeting Annie and Clarabel for the first time.
 * 8) Annie and Clarabel are also likable as they mentor Thomas in his days as station pilot such as him being told why by them that Judy and Jerome are cranes that he mustn't touch unless if it's an emergency.
 * 9) The songs "Really Useful Engine" and "Troublesome Trucks" bring out a really nostalgic Classic era feel to the special.
 * 10) Sir Topham Hatt now finally uses both his UK voice in both English dubs as both him and Gordon sounded mostly the same voice in the US versions of Seasons 13-18.
 * 11) Thomas and Edward share a great friendship for each other as Edward cared about Thomas more than Gordon or James.
 * 12) The scene where Thomas helps Henry overcome his fear of the rain is very heartwarming.
 * 13) The ending is great. Especially with Thomas getting his own branch line and Glynn appearing in the end, where we see him only once until in Season 20.
 * 14) Mark Moraghan's narration is spectacular as always.
 * 15) It was the first time since Season 4 that a Thomas production for TV would adapt RWS based episodes (not counting the loosely adapted "Faulty Whistles" from Season 6).
 * 16) Excellent music from Peter Hartshorne as it replicated a lot of the themes from the Classic Series such as Thomas' theme for an example. The music used in one scene during the events of "Thomas' Train" mixed both Edward and Thomas' themes as it shows that there is a good sign of mixing in the original music source.
 * 17) The Breakdown Train now has names and personalities for both two cranes, Judy and Jerome.
 * 18) The voice acting is also excellent in both the UK and the US. Joseph May's voice for Thomas suits him, John Hasler's voice for Thomas is the best voice out of both the respective voices for Thomas, and Rob Rackstraw's voice for James in the US is also a better fit for him.
 * 19) James' crash is considered to be one of the most iconic crashes in the entire franchise. It wasn't shown on-screen in "Thomas and the Breakdown Train", but here we finally get to see it, and it is glorious.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) It's pretty short compared to the other Thomas films, only clocking in at '45 minutes', which doesn't make sense to call it a Thomas "movie" because a movie has to be at least 60 minutes or longer to make it a movie. "Journey Beyond Sodor" went on for more than 60 minutes, and that itself showed how to make a Thomas movie run longer in terms of a movie's runtime.
 * 2) Whilst faithful to the source material. Henry is not in his old shape, which is the same inconsistent problem with "Blue Mountain Mystery" in the CGI flashbacks of "The Sad Story of Henry", another good Thomas film that has this inconsistency.
 * 3) There are a few continuity changes made that retcon Season 1 and the first two RWS books, which makes this special feel somewhat non-canon to the classic era.
 * 4) *Salty appears, despite not being introduced until Season 6, as well as the special being set before his basis was built. Even though you can only barely see the top of his cab, and this was an animation error, his presence is still a bit jarring.
 * 5) No dubs in German, Polish, Italian, Korean, Hebrew, Castilian Spanish, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, or any other languages other than English (both American and British), Mexican Spanish, Japanese, French, or even Chinese.
 * 6) While the engine crews are more active in this special, such as telling Gordon that he isn't trying to get up the hill, they still don't hold much influence over the engines as in the books or the first 7 seasons of the show to an extent, much of their speaking lines went to the other characters. Annie and Clarabel tell Thomas about the Breakdown train, Sir Topham Hatt tells him not to be impatient, and Edward himself says that he came to push Gordon up the hill, rather than his driver going up to do so.
 * 7) Thomas and Henry are somewhat mischaracterized in this. Henry, unlike himself in the original, acts really afraid of the rain rather than being vain and not wanting to get his paint wet like he was in the original story, the 1984 episode, and the 2012 flashback from "Blue Mountain Mystery". And Thomas, unlike in the original book, was portrayed as a clear nice guy from the very start rather than being a cheeky, impatient engine who thought he was better than others when yet he is not as experienced as them like in the original book (thought he did show his cheekiness by waking Gordon up from his nap). Though unlike Henry, Thomas' portrayal in "The Adventure Begins" is rather a minor issue.

The Full Movie
>https://youtu.be/t47pR7Tvg5o

Reviews
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