All Engines Go Wiki:Exclusives/Monica Dennis Interview

**Wikia Bureaucrat, FowlerHedgehog01, has been in contact with the Creative Director and Senior Director of Preschool Content at Mattel, Monica Dennis, via email for another new exclusive interview, here on the Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go Wikia!**

***Author's Note: This interview will be refering to the series' seasons as 'Season 25, Season 26' etc, instead of 'Season 1, Season 2' etc due to Mattel promoting All Engines Go this way. Question 15 is slightly outdated too as that question, along with all the others, were sent through in April. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this interview!***

**1. Let’s start before working on Thomas and joining Mattel. You have previously worked on development for family and animation and kids programming for Entertainment One and Amazon Studios respectively, what was it like to help with developing all of the creative ideas for the shows you’ve worked on?**

I’ve been fortunate to work in several company cultures and on many projects. I develop and manage current series, so I give feedback on each creative step in the life of a series. I hope to make every show the best version of itself and successful. It is exciting, collaborative, diverse work.

Many creative people come together to make animation, from the first spark of the idea, it evolves with writers, designers, directors, storyboard artists, actors, musicians, animators, editors, post-production. There are also tactical teams including production coordinators, line producers, marketing, finance, distribution, localization…more people in both categories than I can list. Part of the excitement of the job is engaging with all these personalities, contributing to the culture of each project team. At the beginning of each project, I’m excited for a new adventure!

**2. When it comes to preschool content and developing a kids show, what are the biggest priorities for the team?**

We think about how each show can be exciting and important for the intended audience as well as unique among other series. These three qualities work together. When preschoolers love watching something, they play it and take the ideas they see into their lives. So, we think about how each show can be incredibly fun and funny while telling stories or representing characters that will be meaningful and authentic. There are a lot of shows out there, so we think about what makes each series unique from others. Usually, those differences are part of what can make it fun!

**3. In 2019, you joined Mattel as a director for Preschool Content and then in 2022, you were promoted to Senior Director, what were your thoughts on getting the job at Mattel and your thoughts when you got promoted to Senior.**

Mattel offered a role where I could apply my skills and continue to grow. I am happy to contribute to great brands like Thomas & Friends, Barney, while supporting an original series like Deepa & Anoop. My promotion suggests that Mattel is satisfied with my work thus far and continues their commitment to content as an IP driven, high performing toy company.

**4. As a creative director, what’s the process of coming up with creative ideas and directing it to the crew?**

I often shape creative goals for the teams. This can look different from project to project, but it may be a theme, character to highlight, or a creative strategy for a new project. I also think about the intended audience for each project. Then, I work with writers, artists, and other talented people to help expand those ideas. As we iterate together, my feedback keeps sight of the goals, aims to elevate what is most unique and entertaining, or pivot as needed in the evolution of a project. One of my colleagues has referred to me as the navigator toward Thomas’s “North Star.” I don’t know if I’d define myself the same way, but I do work to uphold the brand purpose that has been so important for Thomas over the years. I can feel like a Look Out for a team as we take a creative journey together.

Part of my role is noticing and celebrating great ideas. Our creative team is clever. They pitch ideas that are surprising and wonderful all the time. Sometimes, my best job is saying “that! more of that!” One example of this is the song On My Own in Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go. When I saw the idea for the song, I suggested “more of that” and pushed to make it an acapella song. If Thomas is really on his own, the song structure can reflect that. Another example is the Song of Sodor and Sights of Sodor songs. Once we celebrated the sounds and sights of Sodor, it feels natural to consider other senses and link the songs together – “more of that!”

**5. In relation to the process, does it get stressful to assist on not only with directing ideas but also on several episodes and specials on the shows you’re currently and formerly worked on?**

It gets very busy and can feel formidable, but it’s also rewarding. When you are given the opportunity to tell many stories in a brand, you can put characters in situations that you might not expect. You can also revisit aspects of a story in a new way. In Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go, for instance, you see several of Sandy’s and Whiff’s inventions evolve over time as they tinker with them. Percy’s Ghost Scaring Machine becomes the Biggest Adventure Club Machine as he gets over his fear of ghosts. For a first-time viewer, that might not be noticeable, but for someone who watches all the episodes, it can be rewarding to see growth in subtle ways. Our Creative Producer, Joe Sichta is particularly good about building up our gags, creating these rewards.

**6. So by 2019, the development of Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go had begun. New staff, new writers, new everything. With that said, how did you get involved in the production process of the show?**

When I was hired Mattel had laid the track for Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go to be a younger audience series with a new look. I got involved bringing together the team, including Rick Suvalle, to develop the new direction. We talked about characters and settings from the original series so we could enrich the new series building from the foundation of what came before.

**7. Continuing on the development of the show throughout 2020, COVID-19 had hit the world and that caused huge changes for everyone, such as remote working from home and having meetings through sites like Zoom. How much of a hindrance did the pandemic affect the production process of the show?**

Animation was remarkably resilient in the advent of COVID-19. We were already working via Zoom with teams all around the globe. It changed some of the internal meetings, or face-to-face events, but in terms of process, we adapted quickly.

The greater change was social. I became more mindful of people’s day to day lives outside of the office and more open with my own. Mothers and fathers were balancing school closures, folks were struggling with stress from wiping down groceries to ill health and loss. Someone’s adorable cat would cross in front of them on a Zoom call. It was easier to invite more people to the meeting, all with equal sized squares. It was also easier to feel unseen if videos stayed off and you were speaking into a void. While the change had high and low moments, the impact for me was more about people than process.

**8. The big changes that happened for All Engines Go was making Thomas and his friends into children with some engines like Gordon being parent figures. As well as that, instead of CGI, Thomas became 2D animated using vector animation. With that in mind, what influenced the team with the new visual style and what challenges did you all had to face when reinvigorating the Thomas brand with this new look and feel?**

We wanted Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go to reflect a younger audience.  Thomas has always been cheeky. Making him and other engines younger stayed true to what we love about their personalities while allowing them to be playful and authentic to the audience. The friendships bring a joyful warmth to the adventures of locomotives – and music!

When viewers watch Thomas and Gordon, hopefully they see that there are friends in every generation and each generation can learn from one another. Gordon is still formal when he gives advice to Thomas, but he’s capable of chuckling at the little engine too. Young kids bring an unpredictable set of surprises into life, and we hope grown-ups see Gordon reacting with a blend of exasperation and amusement that feels real.

Many factors influenced the shift in visual style. Thomas & Friends had shifted from stop-motion and model photography in the past to CGI, could it shift again? In part, we felt it was the right timing for a change, aligned with more youthful characters and younger audience. The shift to 2D could bring more physical comedy, movement, steam expressions, and emotional facial expressions to the series. The change meant we had to build the world and characters from scratch, but that also allowed us to focus again on Thomas, the number one engine, and his closest friends.

**9. With the new look and feel, this also comes into the Biggest Adventure Club, the main characters. What was the procedure on deciding the main cast and coming up with changes (like Carly becoming from a normal crane to crane engine) and coming up with new characters like Kana and Sandy?**

The Biggest Adventure Club is a little bit different than the Steam Team or other teams that represent one type of engine or only main characters. Have you noticed that anyone and everyone can be part of the Biggest Adventure Club? Steam, Diesel, Crane, everyone belongs along for that episode’s adventure. Darcy even joins in at the end of The Mystery of Lookout Mountain!

Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go focuses most on Thomas, the number one engine! As we chose his closest friends, we began with classic characters like Percy and newer friends from the CG series like Nia. But we wanted to include all kinds of vehicles in his core friend group, not just steam engines. So, we welcomed in Diesel, Kana and put Carly on rails. We also wanted to offer a range of positive friendships in our girl characters. Sandy and Carly are great friends with Thomas, and even better friends with each other. They work well together as fixers and don’t mind the dirt that comes with heavy work. Kana is more feminine but an athletic girl. Then, in Season 26, we would introduce Bruno the Brake Car. When you put the whole team together, we have a set of varied physical types, distinct job roles, and personalities that work together to tell great stories and reflect the diverse lives of kid viewers.

**10. One of the biggest developments, you helped out with, was the creation of Bruno The Brake Car. What got you the idea to bring in an ASD character, officially, like Bruno and what steps you and the team had to go through to make him feel authentic and into the brake car he is today?**

It was clear to me very early on that we should represent neurodiversity in Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go. Thomas & Friends has an organic, passionate fanbase within the autism community. We would be telling stories of friendships and teamwork, where different thinkers and abilities contribute to greater outcomes. We were on track. As Rick Suvalle began early development, we were already talking about our intentions to include Bruno. You can see this in Season 25. In Thomas Blasts Off, Thomas mentions that he isn’t hauling a “brake car.” He was coming soon!

Teale Sperling and I planned the steps to develop Bruno using a philosophy in the disability community, “nothing about us without us.” We would create a structure where autistic talent would not just advise but create the character and stories with us. We partnered with ASAN (Autistic Self Advocacy Network) and EasterSeals Southern California with Aaron Likens contributing to give feedback at each stage from ideation, writing, design, and animation. Teale Sperling also connected with Daniel Share-Strom, an autistic advocate, social worker, and now children’s television writer!  He wrote the core character description for Bruno and went on to write the majority of Bruno episodes and a special collaborating with our Story Editor, Craig Carlisle.

From the start, we committed to feature Bruno in several stories, so we had opportunity for multiple autistic writers to contribute to episodes. We cast autistic child actors to voice Thomas in the US and UK too. It was important to have multiple autistic contributors through the production process as we were often told “when you meet one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.” While there were many points of agreement, some of the most rewarding conversations occurred when our advisors had different points of view. We would talk about unique lived experiences with autism and what that might mean for Bruno. I believe all this open-hearted conversation, question asking, and direction from our autistic team is what makes Bruno feel so authentic.

**11. In recent years, Thomas has taken advantage of YouTube with more fully-animated content exclusively for that; how did that inspire expanding All Engines Go to platforms beyond television and home video?**

If a person loves Thomas & Friends, we want that person to be able to find and enjoy content. Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go is intended for a younger audience and parent population who enjoy viewing on YouTube. Tailor-made short form content is a natural way to meet the audience where they are.

**12. A thing I have noticed is that though the majority of the characters are steam engines, there hasn’t seem to be a mention of their combustion being coal and in the Sodor Mystery short “Thomas and the Mysterious Delivery”, Percy mentions that he ran out of oil, instead of coal. Why would that be? Would it be due to environmental reasons?**

I’m happy to tell stories that encourage thoughtful care for the environment. We have wind turbines on Sodor, Whiff’s Recycling Plant, and stories about respect for natural spaces or animals. Our steam engines use traditional fuel as well as water in their boiler for propulsion and oil or grease to keep rolling smoothly. In the case of stories with oil leaks, the engines are worried about seizing up.

**13. Simple question I have asked previously to everyone who I’ve interviewed. What is your favorite character, episode and song from All Engines Go?**

It’s impossible to choose a single episode or song or character!

I am especially proud of my role with Bruno. In a long legacy of a beloved brand, I am grateful I could cheerlead a meaningful new friend.

**14. A big step up from the original show and the Big World Big Adventure era of Thomas is the huge improvement of inclusivity. We’ve seen a better range of gender equality being well used, of course we have an autistic character and with the humans, there’s a character on a mobility bike. Is there potential to expand and see more inclusivity for the world of Thomas?**

I’m so happy that audiences see and feel the inclusive nature of the show! Over the years, Thomas & Friends has increased diversity and inclusion with each iteration. However, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go was our greatest effort, building a welcoming world from scratch. As far as potential to expand, I say, “that! more of that!”

**15. Starting in May for Cartoonito, we’re finally going to see the official start for the second half of Season 26 with loads of interesting episodes like Salty’s Sea Shanty and For All the Marble. Without spoiling and to give some extra promotion, what can we expect for the second half of the season?**

We continue to bring favorite, classic characters into the show. There’s more great music and, as I mentioned earlier, we build on the “stuff” of past episodes in new, funny ways. The more you watch, the more you can feel part of a growing world.

**16. Final question, a lot of exciting things are happening in the future with the upcoming Marc Forster Thomas film, Season 27 and 28 still in the works and the upcoming CGI Barney with the partnership with Nelvana still going strong. What is your biggest hope for the future of, not just Thomas & Friends, but preschool content as a whole and how would you achieve that hope?**

The biggest question of all!

I think preschool content is part of many complex factors that impact how kids see themselves, the world around them, and ultimately who they turn out to be. In the most idealistic sense preschool content may help kids grow into joyful, caring, confident people. In a smaller sense, preschool content can help a kid have something they need in a moment – a tool, a laugh, validation, a known world to play with friends, etc. When the fun of preschool and an emotional connection come together, a brand can become as enduring as Thomas & Friends. I hope the preschool content we make inspires kids to play and grow now, and when they think about a show as an adult in the future, they still smile.

**Note from FowlerHedgehog01: First of, a major thank you goes down to Monica Dennis for taking her time to be a part of this big interview, as well as a thank you to Mattel's Corporate Communications team of Casey McDonald and Kensie Sanchez for helping out with setting it up and working with Monica on this interview. This has been one of the most exciting things to do! I've been wanting to interview Monica for a while now so to take the opportunity, it is amazing.**

**Second, thank you to everyone who helped with contributing questions to me. You have all been a huge major help to some of these questions. I apologize I can't credit all of you this time for your questions. Since this had to go through Mattel's PR, I decided to go to more of a professional stance for this interview. Also, if your question didn't get chosen, again I am sorry but please understand that I was trying to go for questions that were allowed to be answered and sounded interesting to both Monica and to the readers.**

**I hope you have enjoyed reading this very big interview!**

*Note: All opinions expressed in interviews belong solely to the crew or cast member interviewed, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of All Engines Go or Mattel Television.*