Thomas Creator Collective

The Thomas Creator Collective was an award-winning fan-made series hosted by the official Thomas & Friends YouTube channel. The series was filmed, designed, scripted and edited by several talented and popular members of the fandom and was heavily promoted by Mattel, the owner of the show, with one new episode that was released every Friday. It features various Thomas & Friends merchandise manufactured by Mattel, Fisher-Price and other toy companies. 
The series started on 6 November 2015 with the release of the first episode. As new characters were introduced to the official series, they were added to the cast of the TCC soon after. As the series progressed, Mattel began to add a variety of guidelines, including requiring the use of Thomas Wood products instead of Wooden Railways, which received backlash from the community. The series ended on March 16, 2019 due to it fading in interest and lack of creative freedom from the producers.
== Involved Users ==
(Note: "formerly" indicates the user ended their involvement with the Thomas Creator Collective before the final episode)
*Enterprisingengine93
*Calebtrain (formerly)
*TheTrainModeller
*DieselD199
*BrendenReis10 (formerly)
*Rebecca Linthwaite
*Tines Sensahthe
*UpsideNow
*One Tram Band (formerly)
*ThomasTnPProductions
*SidekickJason (formerly)
*Tardisrescue (formerly)
*Mavis M (formerly)
*Capsule Thomas (formerly)
*TTNP Studio
*Carson's Video Workshop (formerly)
*ThomasWoodenRailway
*MrConductorFan1406 (formerly)
*theWorldofSodor (formerly)
*Marina Razumova
*Shlomo Friedman
*Andrew Marvin
*JadanD247
*TrainedAssassin
*Wong Village
*Shortround551 (formerly)
*Sudrian Railway Modeler
*freaky stop motion
*FlyingPringle (formerly)
*Joseph Marshall
* SmurfyDan
*Duck 'N' Duncan
*ThomasFan247 (formerly)
*TramEngineStudios
*flyingtardis
*10leigh10
*Purple N2 Productions
*Joel GeebMachine Hunter - Voice Actor
*Annie C.
*RosietheCutie1995
*FluteGirl12406
*DaWillstanator
*Joey Turner
*The MilanToon Channel
*ThomasTheTankMan111
*Dueling Express
*Tyler Hildebrand
*Michelle Hurtado Voice Acting
*Brandon Polley
*Liz Productions5784
*Roll Along Thomas {Fun for Families & Kids)
*TrevorPalVA
*1995express
*MilkTankerMedia
*stirlingproduct01
*Marcus Yamamoto
*Mullins Studios
*TheSodorSteamworks
*A_Tropical_Mango
*Stepney_Productions
*Germanbluetrain
*Mr.Oily516
*TB7 Productions
*The TWR Critic
*HiroTheJapaneseTrain
*HTTVChannel
*EP53
*Luca Dollar
==Cast==
*Purple N2 Productions as Thomas, Patrick
*Joel "GeebMachine" Hunter as Edward, James, Troublesome Trucks, Peter Sam, D261, Cranky, Horrid Lorry #3, Iron 'Arry, Iron Bert, Winston, Sir Robert Norramby/The Earl of Sodor, Flying Scotsman, Hurricane, Meany, Diesel's Cronies, Toryreck Stationmaster, The Minis, Brendam Docks Manager, Farmer McColl, French Narrator (Crashes & Cheese Caves), Race Announcer (Thomas' Tokyo Trouble), German Truck #3
*Tines Sensahthe as Henry, Toby, Diesel, Rusty, Duncan, Diesel's Cronies, Knapford Stationmaster #2, Firemen
*DieselD199 - Thomas (Secrets of the Stolen Crown - Emily and Nia's Excellent Adventure), Gordon, Sir Topham Hatt, Diesel 10, Paxton, Ace, Stan (Announcer)
*Enterprisingengine93 as Percy, Bertram, Dodge, Arthur, Proteus, Whiff, Charlie, Philip, Skiff, Dimmy, Diesel's Cronies, Knapford Stationmaster #1
*Annie C. as Annie
*RosietheCutie1995 as Clarabel, Rosie
*Flutegirl2406 as Henrietta, Marion, Passengers
*DaWillstanator as Troublesome Trucks, Oliver (Excavator), Max, Kelly, Ferdinand, Sidney, Merlin, Smarty, Dairy Manager, Workmen, Miner, Drivers, Signalmen, Passengers
*Trainlover476 as Troublesome Trucks, Bulstrode, Grouchy, Mr. Bubbles
*TheMilanTooner as Troublesome Trucks, Harold, Monty, Timothy, Workmen, Drivers, Connor's Fireman
*ThomastheTankMan111 as Candy Truck #1
*flyingtardis as Candy Truck #2
*Dueling Express as Candy Truck #3, Workman
*SmurfyDan as Troublesome Trucks, Diesel's Cronies, Workmen, Signalmen
*Tyler Hildebrand as Bertie, Rheneas, Jack, Flynn, Connor
*Michelle Hurtado as Daisy, The Queen of England, Elizabeth, Miss Jenny, Isobella, Molly, Flora, Belle, Millie, Caitlin, Frankie, Rebecca, German Truck #1, Passengers, Emily
*Brandon Polley as Bill
*TramEngineStudios as Ben, Diesel's Cronies, Signalmen
*Lizproductions5784 as Mavis, Emily (The Great Snow Storm of Sodor - Big Galaxy! Big Adventures! part 2, excluding Steelworks of Scares Part 3)
*Mel Shiri as Oliver, Duke, Butch, Horrid Lorry #1, Horrid Lorry #2, The Duke of Boxford, Fearless Freddie, Gator, Diesel's Cronies, Signalmen
*SkarloeyFan2K10 as Skarloey
*TrevorPalVA as George, Hank, The Mayor of Sodor, Nigel (Announcer)
*Julian Risetto as S.C. Ruffey
*1995express as Salty
*Milktankermedia as Harvey
*Mallardfan62 as Spencer, Murdoch, Bradford
*Marcus Yamamoto as Hiro
*Danielthetankengine as Scruff
*ElectroGamer96 as Stephen
*TheSodorSteamworks as Samson
*Klurty34 as Logan
*ATropicalMango as Glynn
*MainlandStudios as Ryan, Theo
*Stepney Productions as Hugo, German Truck #2
*Richa Shukla as Ashima
*Milena Lonardoni as Gina
*Luiz Teixeira as Raul
*Artem Kreimer as Ivan
*Jael Golad as Frieda, Lexi
*Tian Wang as Yong Bao
*Steve Voltts as Etienne
*Sebastien Rostagno as Axel
*Ben Sorensen as Shane
*Christian Cordes as Beresford
*Janice Nijiru as Nia
*Kiki (k1wngg) as Hong-Mei, Chinese Zookeeper
*Germanbluetrain as The Japanese Engines
*Mazzi Tak as Japanese Bullet Train
*TheGermanofSodor as German Truck #4
*KnapfordHarbor as The Mallard
*SudrianTrainspotter as Rickety
*Tommy Wang as Superman Thomas
*Sam Black as Batman Diesel
*Calebtrain as Duck, Dart
*Andrew Sykes as Donald, Douglas, Spencer (Gordon's Grand Adventure - Henry's Fire Rescue)
*TheKipperRunsAgain as Trevor, Derek
*Will Champion as BoCo
*Sidekickjason as Toad, Farmer
*BrendenReis10 as Splatter, Stafford
*MrConductorfan1406 as Troublesome Trucks, Stepney, Norman, Diesel's Cronies
*ThomasWoodenRailway as Mr. Percival, Signalmen
*Voltaire as Maritime Museum Director, Victor
*Michael Nelken as Kevin, Signalmen
*FlouncingFiddlesticks as Porter
*Zak as Gruffy, Diesel's Cronies
*Lucas Cull as Smelly, Drivers
*MrOily516 as Stinky, Fred Pelhay
*WelshCoalStudios as A Stationmaster
*Taylor as A Stationmaster (Henry's Fire Rescue II)
*Mike Park as Sir Topham Hatt's Assistant
*Dan Markowitz as Chief Diesel Engineer
*Ben Goldman as Dustin
*Luca Dollar as Troublesome Trucks, Sir Handel, Oily
*EricPierre53 as Troublesome Trucks
*TrainnedAssassin as Troublesome Trucks, Captain
*James Atherlay as Troublesome Trucks
*The TWR Critic as Alfie
*Shortround551 as Dennis
*TB7 Productions as Den
*HirotheJapaneseTrain as Luke
*UpsideNow Music as Vinnie, James (The Great Snow Storm of Sodor - Belle to the Rescue)
*HTTVChannel as Signalmen
===Former Cast===
*TardisRescue as Edward (The Great Snow Storm of Sodor - The Great Chase)
*The Tuggster Intensifies as Henry (The Great Snow Storm of Sodor - Racers on the Rails) and Oliver (The Great Snow Storm of Sodor - Sodor's Finest)
*TheBuriedTruck as Henry (The Fast and the Fizzleboxes - Thomas and the Super Station Part 2)
*RightOnTracks as Whiff (The Fast and the Fizzleboxes - Percy and the Railway Circus)
*Mikester Paltoes as Philip (Racers on the Rails - The Return of Diesel Part 1, excluding The Steam Games Bonus Scenes and Rumbling Rails)
*RosietheCutie1995 as Rosie (Connor's Windy Day - Hurricane Helps Out)
==History==
In 2015, Mattel, the company that owned the show at the time, started a project known as the Thomas Creator Collective, or the TCC. This allowed many popular and well-respected fans in the community to collaborate together and create a fan-made episode every Friday. The first episode received warm reception from the fandom, as many fan favourite characters were in it, with well-crafted sets and props, along with ingenious stories.
However, later through the years, Mattel became more strict with how the project was run, often limiting the creativity the producers had and forcing them to use their new disliked merchandise, for example Thomas Wood, rather than the merchandise the show-runners wanted to use, like Wooden Railway. The stories were also starting to feel more cheap and generic, and often felt like promotion for new products rather than actual episodes.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuBfmGEJoOA
Along with more kid-friendly policies YouTube began to implement, the TCC episodes began to be marked as made-for-kids, placing them with toy unboxings and nursery rhyme videos. Eventually, the TCC ended in March 2019, without any given explanation or reasoning from the members or Mattel themself.
Later, many people began to call out Mattel, addressing that they were overworking minors without much pay, with some members having too much work to do, whilst others having too little to do. Due to many members feeling like they were being taking advantage of, they quit working on the show. https://www.deviantart.com/railfanbronymedia/journal/An-even-darker-side-to-Mattel-862310967
Many former members are still active in the community, each pursuing their own solo projects like MrConductorFan1406's Magic Railroad Parody and FlyingPringle's Tiger Moth Project. Enterprisingengine93 started a group called the 'Tank Engine Society', which hosted various film festivals and conventions.https://www.youtube.com/@tankenginesocietyinactive7404 Although it is no longer active, it showed that the community was still kicking after the fall of the TCC. Some of groups created after the cancellation of TCC are 'The Thomas The Tank Engine Community', 'The Thomas The Tank Engine Community Radio', and 'Busted Buffers'. While they aren't as big as the TCC once was, they still show that the community that stick together even after Mattel disunited them.
==Trivia==
*Animated faces were rarely used in the first few episodes, but were used more frequently as the series progressed.
*Also, Diesel 10 was the original villain of the show until his role was given to Diesel. Diesel 10 later serves as a companion to the steam engines rather than an enemy and has a prominent dynamic with Philip, with whom he never appears in the official series.
*The first episode used purely physical effects instead of computer graphics.
*Later videos now replace the use of official figures of the toylines with custom-made figures.
*It won the 2017 Cynopsis Kids award for Best Preschool Show Exclusively for a Streaming Platform.
==Sources and Further Information==
* https://ttte.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_Creator_Collective
* https://thomas-creator-collective.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas_Creator_Collective_Wiki
* https://www.youtube.com/playlist?app=desktop&list=PLVKXDhi02s8oVctLvdXaf4zw9pa68POLh
Category: History of YouTube