“Thomas & Friends: The Great Discovery” (2008)

Thomas & Friends: 

The Great Discovery

Brief Description:

Thomas rediscovers the long lost original station which in its day was called Great Waterton and he also becomes jealous of a new tank engine called Stanley.

(from IMDb)

Date: 2008

Genre: family animation 

Running time: 1 hour

Narrator: Pierce Brosnan

Director: Steve Asquith

Production company: 

Based on: the Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry

IMDb page

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Setting/Aesthetic/Feel: 4/5

I have to admit, Sodor is super cute. And I love railways, and the English countryside and houses. And everything is so old-timey and cute. <3

Characters: 3/5

Thomas is an idiot. Except he’s meant to be a kid, so he’s realistic. He’s still an idiot though. Sir Topham Hat has no excuse. He’s also an idiot. Why on earth did he think he was making good decisions, putting and removing the trains in charge?? Like how did he not realise this was gonna make problems between Thomas and Stanley??? Anyways. I love Stanley. He’s so sweet.  

Plot: 3/5

Well, it’s a cute film. Kinda. It’s just really boring and drawn out, and very one-track (pun intended). It’s for kids, I get it… but… it’s still pretty boring for a kids’ film. My siblings liked it better than I did though, so I don’t know. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I got annoyed at Thomas’s brattiness and the conductor’s stupidity too much to enjoy everything else, maybe. I liked the little songs scattered throughout though. They use nice, big words. ;) 

Theme/Message/Topics: 4/5

Good themes of actions have consequences, letting go of being in charge, not getting jealous, not worrying about your place being filled by someone else, and making friends.  

Content: 5/5 (low to none)

Some music I didn’t care for; maybe a euphemism or two? 

Overall: 3/5

I don’t know, I feel disappointed. I thought I’d like this more. I’ll give it another shot though, and see what I think that time.