10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

## 10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends/10 Years of Thomas & Friends

**10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends**, later shortened to **10 Years of Thomas & Friends**, is a US and Canadian VHS/DVD celebrating the tenth anniversary of the television series in the United States and Canada. It features two first series episodes, two second series episodes, five third series episodes and one fourth series episode narrated by George Carlin and one song. Each song and story was bookended with interviews about Thomas from various people at a Day Out with Thomas event at the Strasburg Rail Road in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. It was distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment on VHS in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2004 and was released on DVD in 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Railway Series. Anchor Bay Entertainment re-released the DVD in 2007 and 2008, and Lionsgate released the title on DVD in 2009 and for digital download in 2013.

## Description

### VHS

This commemorative Collector's Edition video celebrates 10 years of Britt Allcroft's Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends in America, and highlights Thomas' favorite friends, as chosen by the experts - his loyal fans! Children love Thomas and his friends because they can identify with their everyday friendships, squabbles and rivalries and parents love Thomas because of its entertaining wholesome qualities that teach gentle messages important in developing good morals and values.

In this anniversary video, children from across the country came out for a special day with Thomas to share with us their favorite Thomas friends and episodes, and to help us choose these 10 classic Thomas stories. In a live-action clip introducing each episode, you'll learn straight from the fans just what they like about their favorite characters. The grand finale features the music of Thomas' theme with special appearances by all the friends Thomas has made over the last 10 years!

### 2005 DVD

This commemorative Collector's Edition DVD celebrates 10 years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends in America, and highlights Thomas' favorite friends, as chosen by the experts - his loyal fans! Children love Thomas and his friends because they can identify with their everyday friendships, squabbles and rivalries and parents love Thomas because of its entertaining wholesome qualities that teach gentle messages important in developing good morals and values.

In this anniversary DVD, children from across the country came out for a special day with Thomas to share with us their favorite Thomas friends and episodes, and to help us choose these 10 classic Thomas stories. In a live-action clip introducing each episode, you'll learn straight from the fans just what they like about their favorite characters. The grand finale features the music of Thomas' theme with special appearances by all the friends Thomas has made over the last 10 years!

### 2007/2008 DVD

This commemorative Collector's Edition, now for the first time on DVD, celebrates 10 years of Thomas & Friends in America, and highlights Thomas' favorite friends, as chosen by the experts - his loyal fans! Children love Thomas and his friends because they can identify with their everyday friendships, squabbles and rivalries and parents love Thomas because of its entertaining wholesome qualities that teach gentle messages important in developing good morals and values.

In this anniversary DVD, children from across the country came out for a special day with Thomas to share with us their favorite Thomas & Friends episodes, and to help us choose these 10 classic Thomas stories. In a live-action clip introducing each episode, you'll learn straight from the fans just what they like about their favorite characters. The grand finale features the Thomas & Friends theme music with special appearances by all the friends Thomas has made over the last 10 years!

## Episodes

1. Thomas and Bertie's Great Race
2. Old Iron
3. The Trouble with Mud
4. Terence the Tractor
5. Percy's Ghostly Trick
6. Mavis
7. Henry the Elephant
8. Percy's Promise
9. Buzz, Buzz
10. All at Sea

## Song

* Thomas' Anthem Grand Finale

Throughout the program, extracts of the songs Don't Judge a Book By its Cover, Let's Have a Race, Really Useful Engine, Toby, The Island Song and Gone Fishing are featured as background music in the live action interstitials.

## Bonus Features

* Breakfast-Time for Thomas read-along (from Salty's Secret and Other Thomas Adventures)
* Bios of your favorite engines (from Percy Saves the Day and Other Adventures)
* Build an Engine game (from The Early Years)
* Link to the official website

## Trivia

* The release was made to celebrate a decade of Thomas' introduction to America, which was on 29th January 1989; the air date of the Shining Time Station series premiere, A Place Unlike Any Other.
* This was the last US VHS to feature the original *Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends* logo on the cover.
* The DVD won a Parents' Choice Award.
* A tin bank was included in some limited-edition releases of the VHS.
* Mr. Conductor's whistle from Shining Time Station's second and third seasons is heard at the start of each episode.
* The Day Out with Thomas clips were featured in the music videos in Storytime with Thomas. The VHS version of this release came out on the same day the episodes Stepney Gets Lost and Rusty and the Boulder aired in the US on Storytime with Thomas.
* Interviews feature children telling stories of their favorite characters, some of which reference episodes that were not included on this video:
	+ The stories about Gordon allude to the first series episodes, Edward Helps Out and Henry to the Rescue.
	+ The story about Toby alludes to the third series episode, Time for Trouble.
	+ The story about Henry allude to the first series episode, Come, Out Henry!
	+ One story about James alludes to the first series episode, Thomas Saves the Day.
* Wilbert Awdry was not mentioned on the release, despite having written the original stories for each of the episodes on this video (except for All at Sea). Shining Time Station was not mentioned either.
* The music video appears twice in the DVD menu, once in the episode selection and again in the sing-along song menu.
* Some VHS copies are black tapes and some are blue tapes.
* During an interview, a parent mentions Culdee as one of her son's toys, thus marking the first time the Culdee Fell Railway has been alluded to in a television series production.
* The live-action segments were filmed at the Strasburg Rail Road in Pennsylvania. This railroad would be used for filming again in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
* Julia Weinstein (who was a producer for Shining Time Station) was post-production supervisor for this.
* The recordings of the Day Out with Thomas event took place between 30th April and 2nd May 1999.
* The back cover features an image from Gordon and the Famous Visitor.
* James Goes Buzz Buzz is referred to under its UK title ("Buzz, Buzz") on its title card and the episode selection menu on the DVD.
* This is the only VHS release captioned by the National Captioning Centre.
* The original VHS with a 2000-2004 styled ink label came in an original 1999 box, which means it was released in 2000, but the box did not change until 2001.
* This is the last US DVD to have the menu on the Island of Sodor.
* This is the last US DVD to be released in 2005.
* The Canadian VHS says "10th Anniversary - Best Friends"
* Thomas' Anthem Grand Finale is not closed-captioned.
* "Thomas and Bertie's Great Race" comes before "Terence the Tractor," so viewers may not know who Bertie is.

## Goofs

* The front cover shows that James and Percy are not on the tracks.
* Henry and the Elephant is called "Henry the Elephant" on the back cover and in the DVD's booklet.
* The closed captioning misspells Culdee and Skarloey as "Coldy" and "Skarloway" respectively.

## DVD Packs

* 10 Years of Thomas and Thomas, Percy and the Dragon **Double Pack**
* Best of Gordon and 10 Years of Thomas & Friends **Double Pack**
* 10 Years of Thomas and Hooray for Thomas and Other Adventures **Double Pack**
* Totally Thomas Volume 7
* Ultimate Thomas Collection
* Best Tales on the Tracks

Template:Home Video Releases (US)