Thomas the Tank Engine has gone through a lot of changes over the years, from the completely 2D version of being in a book to the 80s model trains to the 3D CGI version that came along, but this latest change has proven too much for some young fans.
The latest makeover for Thomas and his trains pals find them rendered in 2D animation and some parents have complained that this new look has completely overwhelmed their little ones. Some kids have been brought to tears by how ‘menacing’ Thomas now looks.
Thomas, menacing? If the complains were about grumpy old meanie Gordon you could understand, but cheeky little Thomas?
On Facebook, parent Samantha wrote “Just shown it to my son. He’s so disappointed with the change and voices. He said it’s not Thomas anymore & doesn’t like.” How do you think the rest of us feel, Samantha’s son? The version you love doesn’t even have Ringo Starr doing the narration.
Another parent, Fiona joins the conversation: “This looks awful. Why have you ruined it?” As if Thomas wouldn’t be able to bounce back from this. They made a live action Thomas the Tank Engine movie with Alec Baldwin as the fat controller and bounced back better than ever after that. What makes you think they won’t be able to recover from something this?
Sam brings a tale of heartbreak to Facebook. “Just asked my 6-year-old daughter who grew up watching Thomas, almost cried and said she hates it.” Which suggests it would probably be good for her to learn that things change and everything you love won’t always be there for you and sometimes Thomas looks different than he used ti and that’s okay. Maybe that’s all this change is, a way for all of us to accept that just because something is different to thing that we like doesn’t mean that it won’t be special for a new generation of kids.
If those of us who grew up with the classic Thomas whizzing around on a track were able to accept the monstrosity that was the CGI Thomas reboot, then this new generation can learn to live with a menacing looking 2D animated Thomas.
