Product: Thomas & Friends: 10 Years of Thomas & Friends (2008)
Rating: 4.0
Nice compilation, but DVD could be better
This DVD is the "Commemorative Collector's Edition" of the *10 Years of Thomas & Friends* video that was released in 1999, and comes with a wooden Alfie vehicle by Learning Curve. It includes footage of the "A Day Out with Thomas" event held at the Strasburg Railroad in Pennsylvania, during which children selected their favorite episodes for inclusion in the video.Since the episodes contained in this DVD have been reviewed pretty thoroughly for the VHS version, I won't comment too much on them.Both the image and sound quality on the DVD transfer are fairly good. The DVD programming, however, leaves something to be desired. You cannot skip the logos and ads at the beginning of the DVD, nor forward through Sir Topham Hatt's introduction to the DVD features--at least, not on my DVD player (I was able to skip and fast forward using WinDVD on the PC).The "Bonus Features" are rather unexceptional. The "Build an Engine" game is best suited for young preschoolers: you add parts to Thomas, James, or Toby. The "Sing-Along" doesn't display the song lyrics, like on the "Best of..." DVDs, so singing along can be a challenge if you don't know all the words. The "Read-Along" story seems to be a scanned version of the storybook, and not very interactive, except for clicking on the arrows. The "Character Gallery" consists of brief bios of 16 engines, plus Sir Topham Hatt. And as for the link to the official Thomas website, well, you don't need this DVD to visit the site.Many reviews for the VHS version denigrate the footage from "A Day Out with Thomas," but I actually enjoyed the footage of the Strasburg Railroad and life-sized Thomas. The interviews with children and parents, though, did grow tiresome after a few viewings. However, the "Day Out" footage actually was one reason I bought this DVD, since I planned to take my 2 year-old son to that very event at the Strasburg Railroad. I didn't want my son to be afraid when he saw the actual Thomas steam engine in real life, since it's a lot bigger than his wooden Thomas train!My son enjoys all the episodes, although his attention sometimes flags about halfway through the DVD, so we usually just watch a few episodes (right now, his favorite train DVD is *Big Trains, Little Trains*). It's a pretty good collection of George Carlin era episodes. My son couldn't care less about the narrators at this point, but my favorites have always been Ringo Starr and George Carlin. I used to watch "Shining Time Station" with my younger brothers back in the 80s. George Carlin does a great job characterizing the different engines and people.NARRATOR: George CarlinRUNNING TIME: Approximately 63 min. (plus 60 min. Bonus Features)PACKAGED WITH: Alfie (Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway); DVD in slimline slipcaseSTORY STOPS:+Thomas & Bertie's Great Race+Old Iron+The Trouble with Mud+Terence the Tractor+Percy's Ghostly Trick+Mavis+Henry & the Elephant+Percy's Promise+James Goes Buzz Buzz+All at SeaBONUS FEATURES (from the DVD case):+Bios of Your Favorite Friends+"Thomas' Anthem Grand Finale" Sing-Along Song+"Build and Engine" Game+"Breakfast Time for Thomas" Read-Along Story+Link to Official Thomas Web Site