Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2019 film)

Thomas and the Magic Railroad (also known as Thomas the Tank Engine: The Magic Railroad in the United Kingdom and Germany) is a 2019 American 3D live-action/CGI animated family comedy adventure fantasy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and Britt Allcroft based on three titled The Railway Series by Rev. W. Awdry, on the television series of the character from the same name and Shining Time Station by Britt Allcroft.

The film is a remake of the 2000 original film of the same name by the same director who created the film named Britt Allcroft, but it was a box-office bomb and a critical failure from critics and the fandom of the book and the show for the plot that was changed from the original cut, terrible acting, and the editing which had made the editor shortened the time of the main character and removed the true villain when it released on 2000, which in the 2019 version, it has all the characters like P.T. Boomer, Tasha and even George from the film and not been edited from before along with the help of Robert Zemeckis.

It was produced by ImageMovers, Legendary Pictures, and HiT Entertainment, presented in association with the Isle of Man Film Commission, and distributed by Universal Pictures in US prints and along with Sony Pictures Entertainment (who originally known as Destination Films also created the 2000 film) in US and international prints.

The film was a box office success and it received critical acclaim, with critics praising the faithfulness to the 2000 film's original director's cut, the visual effects, the CGI animation on the trains, splendid acting, well-developed characters, and the plot along with the performance of Nicolas Cage as P.T. Boomer. The film also become the fourth highest grossing film and won eight Academy Awards and received eight Academy Award nominations. At the UK, the film had won three BAFTA Film Awards and also got one BAFTA nomination.

Synopsis
[When the synopsis is done development]

Plot
The film begins with a female narrator telling the story on the Island of Sodor, where it was populated by talking trains, which the only one here was Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas is a really useful engine who is very kind to his friends. A few seconds later, Thomas met Gordon at Wellsworth Station. Gordon complains to Thomas, who is late. Thomas retorts that Gordon is being bossy and says that he has to find Mr. Conductor, who is looking after the North Western Railway while, Sir Topham Hatt was gone for a holiday. Gordon claims Mr. Conductor isn't needed, but then, Diesel 10 rudely pass both Thomas and Gordon, which means that Diesel 10 was sent to the Island of Sodor by Sir Topham Hatt for helping, but he was acting like he was bullying any engines.

Thomas is later talking to James at Tidmouth Sheds when Diesel 10 shows up and voices his plan to destroy a lost engine and thus the remaining steam engines. James is confused, but Thomas is worried and goes to find Mr. Conductor.

After seeing Billy Twofeathers' map and noticing some strange lines on it, Patch heads off to Muffle Mountain to see Burnett Stone.

There's something on Muffle Mountain, a secret that Burnett only shared with his childhood friend and future wife Tasha: he promised he would drive an engine and take her with him. When Patch sees the engine, Burnett reveals the engine's past - her name is Lady, and she has been sealed inside Muffle Mountain since Diesel 10 nearly destroyed her long ago. Burnett has fixed her up, but still needs coal.

Diesel 10 tells his cronies Splatter, Dodge, Arry and Bert of his plan. The four bumbling diesels report that Mr. Conductor is coming to Sodor, so Diesel 10 decides to destroy him too.

Mr. Conductor prepares to leave Shining Time. Despite difficulty with his gold dust, he soon meets Thomas on Sodor. Thomas reports on Diesel 10; Mr. Conductor decides to use his gold dust to keep Diesel 10 in order.

Burnett looks at a painting of Lady and starts to have doubts in his belief of magic due to his failure to guard her. Meanwhile, far away, Burnett's granddaughter Lily prepares to visit him.

Thomas, James and Gordon begin arguing about who should have taken Mr. Conductor, unaware Splatter and Dodge are spying on them. Henry and Edward tells them about the lost engine. So Percy and James go and find her. Splatter, Dodge, Arry and Bert tease Thomas, until Harold flies by, spreading dust over all five.

At Knapford, Mr. Conductor reads the note Sir Topham Hatt left him. After trying on his top hat (and returning it after he notices the portrait of the Controller appears angry) he receives a phone call from Sir Topham Hatt and receives his instructions.

That night, Diesel 10 creeps up and demolishes the side of the Tidmouth Sheds with his powerful claw. Mr. Conductor reprimands Diesel 10, but then he discovers that he has run out of gold dust. Diesel 10, delighted, tries to convince Mr. Conductor of the lost engine's whereabouts, but Mr. Conductor frightens Diesel 10 away with a bag of sugar. Mr. Conductor voices his concern about his gold dust, but tells the engines to go back to sleep.

Mr. Conductor later has a nightmare of Shining Time in ruins, and realizes that his universe is in danger and that he needs more gold dust.

The next morning, Mutt goes to Lily's hometown with Billy, as he knows that Lily can help Mr. Conductor, but only if she meets someone special at Shining Time first. To reach that end, he directs her onto the wrong train.

Mr. Conductor goes to the windmill in search of more gold dust, but gets lost. Meanwhile, the engines gather for a meeting. Bertie passes by and tells them to smile, but all have their individual concerns. Thomas heads off to look for Mr. Conductor.

Mr. Conductor tries a carrot and a stick of celery to make him think properly, and has the idea of calling his beach-loving cousin Junior, who has used up most of his gold dust too. He tells Junior to go to Shining Time and get his emergency whistle, then go to Sodor, and warns him not to talk to anyone about the buffers. Before he can say anything else, the line goes dead.

Lily arrives at Shining Time and Mutt barks at her to get off the train. Lily finds the station empty and meets Junior. After a talk, Lily picks up the gold dust Junior leaves behind.

At Sodor, Edward speaks to George about Diesel 10 using him. George just ignores him and carries on.

Mr. Conductor is sleeping by a bush when he has another nightmare, and wakes up hearing Thomas calling his name. Mr. Conductor tries to reply, but Thomas can't hear him.

Lily meets Stacy, who takes her to Burnett. That night, Burnett and Lily hear Lady's whistle coming from the mountains; Patch, who is outside with his horse, hears it too.

Thomas, Edward and Percy talk about Mr. Conductor and conclude that he travels to Sodor on a magic railroad. Diesel 10 overhears them and goes to the scrapyards to tell Splatter and Dodge his plan. Toby interrupts them by ringing his bell; Diesel 10, trying to catch him, causes the shed to crash down on him, Splatter, Dodge, Arry and Bert.

Thomas finds Henry with a bad cold and offers to get some Welsh coal to make him better, but while collecting them fails to notice the sixth truck bouncing away into some magic buffers. Elizebeth passes and greets Thomas and his five trucks; Thomas is confused.

Thomas tells Percy about the missing truck, and they realize that the buffers where the truck disappeared are the buffers leading to the Magic Railroad. Thomas tells Percy to guard the buffers while he goes to find Mr. Conductor.

Meanwhile, Mr. Conductor is wandering aimlessly when Diesel 10 appears. Mr Conductor is captured by Diesel 10's claw and is dangled over the Cronk viaduct. Diesel 10 reveals he knows about the buffers, and threatens to drop Mr. Conductor if he doesn't reveal their whereabouts. Mr. Conductor cuts a tube to Diesel 10's claw, catapulting him to the windmill. There, he sees the words "Stoke up the magic in the mountain and the Lady will smile, then watch the swirls that spin so well".

As for Diesel 10, he uses his claw to hit the coal hopper, which lots of coal falls on him. Harvey comes to clean up the mess.

Lily is introduced to Patch, who offers her a horse ride to Shining Time. There she meets Junior again, who takes her to Sodor via the magic buffers. They meet Thomas, who agrees to help, and together they find Mr. Conductor at the windmill. Mr. Conductor tells Junior about his clue to the gold dust, and Lily is introduced to Mr. Conductor. Junior then climbs onto the sail, and is flung onto Diesel 10.

That night, Percy finds Splatter, Dodge, Arry, Bert and George at the magic buffers and races to warn Thomas.

Mr. Conductor and Lily camp out with Thomas. After a conversation, they realize that Burnett may hold the key to the clue of the gold dust.

Burnett reveals to Patch that Lady is magic and they realise that the railroad is vanishing.

Thomas and Percy decide they must get Lily back to Muffle Mountain before Diesel 10 destroys the magic railroad, and Thomas and Lily set off. While journeying through the magic railroad, they discover the missing truck. Lily, realising the connection between the truck and the clue, asks Thomas to collect the truck. They soon arrive on Muffle Mountain. Lily leaves to find Burnett, but a gust of wind blows Thomas down the hill and back into the magic railroad through a mysterious portal at the bottom.

Lily finds Patch, who takes her to Burnett's workshop. Lily figures out only Welsh coal can make Lady steam, so she sends Patch to collect the coal from the truck.

Diesel 10, with Junior still on his back, races into the Smelters where he encounters James. Junior tries to whistle both of them out, only to discover that he, too, is out of gold dust. Diesel 10 tries to force the two into a melting pit, but Junior uses the last of his extra gold dust to teleport himself and James away. The two arrive near the buffers, where Mr. Conductor is there waiting. Mr. Conductor and Junior, both out of gold dust, refuse to give up hope.

By now Burnett Stone has finally got Lady to steam, and along with Lily, Patch and Mutt, they set off into the magic railroad. The magic railroad, receiving energy from Lady, comes back to life, while Lady's face appears. The team encounter Thomas before appearing on Sodor, where they reunite with the two conductors.

Diesel 10 starts to give chase, but Splatter and Dodge, fed up with Diesel 10's ways, abandon him. Thomas offers to help Lady, with Burnett driving Lady. Mr. Conductor warns them about the collapsing viaduct. Just as the engines run away, the conductors realize that Lady is part of the clue to the gold dust.

The chase finally approaches the viaduct. As Lady and Burnett pass the viaduct begins to collapse. Thomas manages to jump through the gap, but Diesel 10 can't stop in time and falls off into a sludge barge (he looks on the bright side by saying it's a nice time of the year for a cruise).

Thomas, Lady and Burnett return, where they and the rest of the team work out on the answer to the riddle. Lily mixes water from the well with golden shavings from the magic railroad, and tosses them into the air, where they form into gold dust. The conductors, delighted, re-supply their whistles, while Thomas thanks Lady.

Patch and Mutt go to look around, while Junior gives Lily some gold dust. Junior tells Mr. Conductor that he wants to work now, so Mr. Conductor gives him his hat and sends him to a railroad with "palm trees and sunny spells". After Junior leaves, Sir Topham Hatt calls and says that he is on his way back, so Mr. Conductor sets off to welcome him. Lily offers her gold dust to Burnett, who sprinkles it on her bluebird toy and whispers that they will "always remember their Shining Time together".

With Lady and the Magic Railroad back to life, Shining Time is restored to its former glory. Thomas happily puffs into the sunset, and the end credits roll.

Live-action actors
the main protagonist and the granddaughter of Burnett Stone. She lives in the city with her mother. With the help of her grandpa, Patch and Thomas, they helped restore Lady to her former glory and returned the magic to the Magic Railroad. the tetartagonist who is Lady's caretaker on his workshop at Muffle Mountain. Long ago, he only shared the secret of Lady with Tasha, his childhood friend. Mr. Conductor's cousin. Like his cousin, he is at a regular height on Sodor and the Magic Railroad - anywhere else, he shrinks to a height of 24 centimetres (ten inches). Pete Tiberius Boomer is the main antagonist who wants to get revenge on Burnett Stone for marrying Tasha. Boomer wants to destroy Lady along with Diesel 10, so they can take over the whole Thomas & Friends universe.
 * Ariel Winter as Lily Stone,
 * Anne Hathaway as Adult Lily, the narrator of the film.
 * Owen Wilson as Burnett Stone,
 * Josh Hutcherson as Teenage Burnett
 * Max Charles as Young Burnett
 * Alec Baldwin as Mr. Conductor, the deuteragonist of the film and a 20-centimetre tall conductor who narrated the television series episodes that appeared in Shining Time Station.
 * David Tennant as Mr. Conductor, Junior,
 * AnnaSophia Robb as Tasha
 * Scarlett Estevez as Young Tasha
 * Nicolas Cage as P.T. Boomer,
 * Scott McCord as Young Boomer
 * Owen Wilder as Patch
 * Ewan McGregor as Adult Patch
 * Jennifer Lawrence as Stacy Jones
 * Jeff Bridges as Billy Twofeathers
 * Drew Barrymore as Mrs. Bethany Stone
 * George Clooney as Sir Topham Hatt
 * Hayden Rolence as Burnett Stone, Jr.
 * Don Stanton and Dan Stanton as Thomas's Fireman and Driver

There are some cameo appearances in the film like:

as Himself (He appears in a mid-credits scene along with Britt Allcroft to tell the audience that he and Britt hoped the audience enjoyed the movie) as Herself (She appears in a mid-credits scene along with Robert Zemeckis to tell the audience that she and Zemeckis hoped the audience enjoyed the movie) as Storyteller (He appears in a scene where he tell stories about Thomas and his friends in the Island of Sodor to the children)
 * Alexander Gould as Newspaper Delivery Boy
 * John Bellis as Shining Time Firefighter
 * Robert Zemeckis
 * Britt Allcroft
 * Ringo Starr
 * Keith Scott as Australian Passenger
 * Doug Walker as Himself (He makes a cameo appearance when he was late for his train)

UK/AUS

 * Michael J. Fox as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Percy, Skarloey and Sir Handel
 * Britt Allcroft as Lady
 * Jim Broadbent as Toby
 * Ringo Starr as Gordon
 * Hugh Laurie as Henry
 * Rob Rackstraw as James
 * Grey DeLisle as Rosie
 * Kath Soucie as Emily
 * Rowan Atkinson as Edward
 * John Hasler as Rheneas
 * Steven Kynman as Duck and Peter Sam
 * Tom Stourton as Duke

US

 * Joseph May as Thomas
 * Keith Wickham as Percy
 * Idina Menzel as Lady
 * Jim Broadbent as Toby
 * Ringo Starr as Gordon
 * Hugh Laurie as Henry
 * Rob Rackstraw as James
 * Grey DeLisle as Rosie
 * Tara Strong as Emily
 * Rowan Atkinson as Edward
 * Keith Wickham as Skarloey and Sir Handel
 * Joseph May as Rheneas
 * Steven Kynman as Peter Sam
 * Tom Stourton as Duncan

UK/AUS

 * Arnold Schwarzengger as Diesel 10
 * Steven Kynman as Paxton and Dart
 * Keith Wickham as Den, Salty and Norman
 * Bob Golding as Sidney
 * Michael J. Fox as Splatter
 * Seth MacFarlane as Dodge
 * Tim Curry as Diesel
 * Joe Pesci as 'Arry
 * Daniel Stern as Bert
 * Matt Wilkinson as Rusty
 * Helena Bonham Carter as Daisy
 * Emma Watson as Mavis
 * James May as BoCo

US

 * Matt Wilkinson as Diesel 10 and Rusty,
 * Steven Kynman as Paxton
 * Rob Rackstraw as Den and Dart
 * Keith Wickham as Norman, Salty and Sidney

Diesel 10 is the secondary antagonist who was been hired by Sir Topham Hatt but he have an aggressive behavior and he was going to destroy Lady, (Rusty, Mavis, Salty, Den, Dart, Paxton, Norman, Sidney and BoCo are friends of Thomas), he was being a bully of Thomas and his friends. Diesel, Daisy, 'Arry and Bert like to get into trouble, but they always did so, until they Diesel 10's henchmen.
 * Thomas F. Wilson as Splatter
 * Kevin Frank as Dodge and 'Arry
 * Kerry Shale as Diesel and Bert
 * Teresa Gallagher as Mavis and Daisy
 * Michael Brandon as BoCo

UK/AUS
as The Bluebird, Lily's inanimate toy bluebird who came to life as a CGI animated talking bluebird by Burnett Stone and Lily Stone using the magical gold dust on that bluebird
 * Rob Rackstraw as Bertie
 * Thomas F. Wilson as Harold
 * Lindsay Lohan as Annie and Clarabel
 * Michael J. Fox as George
 * Edward Glen as Cranky
 * Christopher Ragland, Tom Kenny, Nathan Lane, Jack Black, and Will Ferrell as Troublesome Trucks
 * Tom Kenny

US
as The Bluebird
 * Keith Wickham as Bertie
 * Kerry Shale as Harold
 * Teresa Gallagher as Annie and Clarabel
 * Tom Hanks as George
 * Glenn Wrage as Cranky
 * Christopher Ragland, Tom Kenny, Nathan Lane, Jack Black, and Michael Anglies as Troublesome Trucks
 * Tom Kenny

Development
In 2003, 3 years after the original film became a box-office failure, Britt Allcroft, creator of Thomas & Friends, has been resigned from her original company which was now known as "Gullane Entertainment". After HiT Entertainment took control on Thomas & Friends, HiT revealed that its theatrical division would be piloted by a "Thomas" film. Originally targeted for late-2010 release, in September 2009 this was revised to "Spring 2011".

As of January 2011, the release date had been pushed back further to 2012 and the name of the production had still not been announced. The initial draft of the script was written by Josh Klausner who has also said that the film will be set around the times of World War II, Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi also helped write the script. On 8 June 2011, Deadline announced that 9 director Shane Acker will direct the live-action adaptation of Thomas the Tank Engine, with Weta Digital designing the film's visual effects.

Since then, no actual production has been announced, until Robert Zemeckis came in and remake the original "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" film, along with Britt Allcroft, to bring in new actors to play the characters from the original "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" film (except Alec Baldwin, in which he will reprise his role as Mr. Conductor), new voice actors to play the animated Thomas & Friends characters, video editing and restoration, audio mastering, mixing, recording, and editing, CGI animation for the "Island of Sodor" segments, blue-screen and green-screen effects for the "Island of Sodor" segments, new visual effects, and some brand new music, along with the original music from the original "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" film.

Casting
While the film is on development, Robert Zemeckis hired Alec Baldwin who previously played as Mr. Conductor in the original 2000 film, so Baldwin agreed to reprise his role.

[More coming soon!]

Filming
[When the film is done development]

Animation
[When the film is done development]

Visual Effects
[When the film is done development]

Post Production
[When the film is done development]

Music
[When the film is done development]

Release
Thomas and the Magic Railroad is set to release into theaters on February 12, 2019 in America.

Thomas and the Magic Railroad will also be releasing on DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray 3D on the late 2019 with a new DVD and Blu-ray release for the director's cut version of the original 2000 film. Along with the 2019 film and the 2000 film's director's cut version is the Shining Time Station Volumes 1, 2, and 3 on DVD and Blu-ray. 2099

Animated shorts
The 2019 remake of "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" has four computer-animated shorts which was the recreation of well-known episodes from the original television series like Thomas and Bertie, Thomas Goes Fishing, Thomas and Gordon and Down the Mine by HiT Entertainment in theatrical releases and on DVD and Blu-ray.

Marketing
About a few weeks later after the film's release, Bachmann Industries released a model of Shining Time Station and even the Island of Sodor along with train models of Thomas, Lady, and Diesel 10 and some human models of Burnett Stone, Lily, Mr. Conductor, and P.T. Boomer.

Home media
[When the film is done development]

Soundtrack

 * Main article: Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2019 film)/Soundtrack

Broadway musical
One year after the movie's release, the film will be adapted into a Broadway musical based on the movie titled Thomas and the Magic Railroad: The Musical.


 * Main article: Thomas and the Magic Railroad: The Musical

DVD or Blu-Ray Main Menu
Here's is the sections from the DVD and Blu-Ray main menus.


 * Play Movie
 * Scene Selection
 * Opening Titles/Meet Thomas
 * Lily in the Big City
 * Boomer's Return
 * Diesel 10 Bothers the Steam Engines
 * Splatter & Dodge
 * Mr. Conductor
 * Lily
 * The Legend
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Orders
 * Sugar in a Diesel Tank
 * Burnett meets Boomer
 * "I Know How the Moon Must Feel"
 * "Where is the windmill?"
 * George the Steamroller
 * Calling Junior
 * Lily Arrives at Shining Time
 * Mr. Conductor Has Another Bad Dream
 * Boomer and Burnett at the Crossroads
 * Sounds of Lady's Magic
 * Mavis Betrays the Mean Diesels/Delayed
 * "Really Useful Engine"
 * Mr. Conductor in Diesel's Clutches
 * The Clue
 * Traveling to the Island of Sodor
 * Lily Meets Thomas
 * Family Reunion
 * Landing into Trouble
 * Mr. Conductor and Lily
 * The Truth About Lady
 * Solving Some Mysteries
 * Looking for Lily's Grandfather
 * "It's Now or Never!"
 * George Quits the Evil Diesel Team
 * Green for Glory
 * The Train Chase to the Viaduct
 * "Gold Dust!!!"
 * 20 Years into the Future
 * Closing Credits
 * Set Up
 * Language
 * English
 * French (Thomas et le Magie Ferroviaire)
 * Spanish (Thomas y el Ferrocarril Mágico)
 * Portuguese (Thomas e a Ferrovia Mágica)
 * German (Thomas die kleine Lokomotive: Die Magische Eisenbahn; title translated in English as Thomas the Tank Engine: The Magic Railroad)
 * Hungarian (Thomas és a Mágikus Vasút)
 * Danish (Thomas og det Magic Railroad)
 * Norwegian (Thomas og den Magiske Jernbanen)
 * Swedish (Thomas och den Magiska Järnvägen)
 * Italian (Thomas e Magica Ferrovia)
 * Polish (Thomas i Magiczna Kolejowy)
 * Japanese (きかんしゃトーマス魔法の線路)
 * Korean (토마스와 마법의 철도)
 * Greek (Θωμάς και το Μαγεία Σιδηροδρομικές)
 * Thai (โทมัสและเวทมนตร์ของทางรถไฟ)
 * Subtitles
 * English
 * French
 * Spanish
 * Portuguese
 * German
 * Hungarian
 * Danish
 * Norwegian
 * Swedish
 * Italian
 * Polish
 * Japanese
 * Korean
 * Greek
 * Thai
 * Commentaries with Britt Allcroft and Robert Zemeckis (with or without subtitles)
 * Special Features
 * The History of Thomas the Tank Engine
 * History of Thomas & Friends
 * Making of Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000)
 * Casting
 * Development
 * Setting
 * The P.T. Boomer scenes, featuring Lennox family and Nicolas Cage.
 * Release
 * Deleted scenes
 * Outtakes
 * Artwork design
 * Thomas and Bertie, Thomas Goes Fishing, Thomas and Gordon and Down the Mine computer-animated remake short films
 * Trailers
 * Teaser trailer
 * Theatrical
 * 1
 * 2
 * 3

Box office
[When the film is done development]

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating with an average rating of 8.7/10 based on 260 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "An old timer film that it was very bad on 2000 so now it was back on the rail to make it better." On Metacritic, the film achieved an average score of 88 out of 100 based on 39 reviews, signifying "universal acclaim".

CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A-" grade. Some of the critics and moviegoers had praised Nicolas Cage's performance of the character Boomer, The New York Times reviewed his performance "When the infamous actor used to make an appearance in any movie like The Wicker Man until it has been flopped, but his performance that he did was the main antagonist P.T. Boomer in the remake from the original 2000 film Thomas and the Magic Railroad where Boomer is very envious that he has nothing to get on his way, which is the most great performance I have ever seen".

IGN game the film a grade of 9.1/10 (Amazing),

[More coming soon!]