Sunday 28 July 2013

Theatrical Film Cancellation

Or not...
Two years ago, the picture above surfaced online with a news article stating that Shane Acker (9), Josh Klausner (Shrek Forever After) and Weta Workshops (Lord of the Rings) were working on a new theatrical Thomas the Tank Engine film. Two years later, Shane Acker has announced that this has now been cancelled (see more about that here). What do I think of this?

I have many emotions about this. First off, I'm not surprised at all. There has been no information since the plot was revealed, and that was barely a month after the above picture was released. I really couldn't get excited over a film which wasn't being hyped in any way, shape or form. In this day and age, new music albums, games and films are given new information on a monthly, weekly, or sometimes even a daily basis, whereas this wasn't.

I'm rather disappointed, but not for me - as I wasn't too excited about it (I'll explain why later). I am disappoointed for the fans that WERE excited for it. They never gave up hope that it would be released and now all of their hopes have been dashed.

I'm also angry at Shane Acker. Not because he cancelled it but because of the cowardly way he announced it! Many fans were excited for its release and he had the audacity to leave a comment ON A STORY ABOUT THE FILM about the cancellation! He could have at least had the decency to release a statement to the press saying it was cancelled! Not only that but blaming a "lack of interest"?! There are LOADS of Thomas fans out there that would have LOVED to have seen it, whether they be young OR old! However, he may have had a point: Shining Time Station: The Movie opened in at 9th in the UK's cinema chart AND it was a general flop. But if that's the case, why announce a Thomas film in the first place if there's a lack of interest? Then again, I can think of MANY films that may have had a lack of interest yet were STILL produced, but I digress. Anyway, he probably meant "lack of financial interest", but if that's the case why didn't he just say that?!

Above all though, I'm actually very happy that it's cancelled! The plot sounded terrible; it felt like Shining Time Station: The Movie 2. I'd like to ask this: can anyone REALLY sit behind their computer screens and say that Josh Klausner, someone who probably has NO IDEA what Thomas and Friends is REALLY about, would have been a better Thomas film writer than Andrew Brenner, a man that's actually worked with the franchise in the early 1990's? Also, do you REALLY think there would have been a railway consultant hired to help ensure it was railway realistic? (Yes, it took 11 years for HiT to hire one, but he's really helped the writers in his short time in the role)

I'm not saying that Shane Acker wouldn't have been an excellent director, but the plot makes a good film, especially Thomas related, and on that alone I'm glad that it's been cancelled. However, I really hope the E2 shaped Thomas made by Nitrogen isn't just used for that poster. I'd love for it to be used in the TV series to replace the one that's currently used, although I feel that's just wishful thinking...

18 comments:

  1. I wonder if there is a unpublished trailer that they haven't released yet.

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    1. The only things that were released were the details we knew: that picture, the director, the writer, the animation studio and the basic plot

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  2. Its Really sad that we've waited 4 years for this Film to be released but now they cancelled it. but ya do have a point there with the plot. maybe if it had a much better plot using some TV Series & Railway Series Elements it would be much better then Thomas And the Magic Railroad. but then again maybe its for the best.

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    1. I'd agree with that. Then again, if the first 10 episodes of Series 17 are anything to go by, we could be seeing more Railway Series references/influences return to the TV series, which would be ideal. And unlike the reference of Henry's Special Coal that Sharon Miller needlessly brought back, they would actually be logical

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  3. Um, just wanted to let you something that I just saw on SIF, maybe it's just speculation, but uh, apparently the movie IS still going on and is to be released in 2015. Chances are it's a rumor, but uh, here's what was posted on the thread discussing the film.
    "Sorry for the disappointment. My comment was posted over 5 months ago. We decided to continue with the film as planned, and scheduled release is in October of 2015.
    As a little teaser, fans can expect some long awaited returns and the introduction of a very “devious” diesel. Also, Kelsey Grammar and Jack Nicholson have agreed to sign on to the project!
    Regards, Shane."

    After all this, I don't know what to believe.

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    1. That one seems a bit more believable, but Jack Nicholson and Kelsey Grammar..? Wasn't T&TMR enough when it came to American casts?!

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    2. Again, this may be all rumors, and to be honest, I am now confused. This, this is just, oi...

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  4. And SiF has confirmed that the movie's status is unconfirmed.

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    1. I think all SIF's blog post did was take things back to the way things were before the comment was found: no one knows what's happened to it :P

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  5. BASICALLY:

    "The WWII Movie" (possibly titled "Thomas the Tank Engine") is the fan-made term used to refer to a theatrical Thomas and Friends film that was due for release in 2013/2014. Someone, believed to be Director Shane Acker, announced on February 21st, 2013 that the film has been cancelled due to "lack of interest". However, HiT Entertainment have said there is "no definitive confirmation on the project's status at this time". It is currently unknown whether or not the film is still going ahead.

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    1. Why have you copied and pasted the TTTE Wikia article here?

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  6. Whether you know already or not, apparently the "cancellation" was quoted back in February and since then, the director changed his mind and decided to get started on it. May or may not be a October 2014/15 (I forgot) release.

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  7. Yeah, I'm not bothered that the film might be cancelled since the plot did sound odd for a Thomas film since it was meant to be set during WW2. As Plunderbird said "Critics might as well call it, the kid's version of The Schindler's list" I don't think that it is appropriate to have a kids film set during such a dark time in history, as talk of it might upset the kids, what with all the families being separated and deaths, I doubt that any deaths would have been in the film, but still families being seperated does sound a bit too upsetting for a kids film such as Thomas's IMO.

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    1. The time period doesn't bother me, it's the fact that it sounds so similar to Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

      That said, if it was set around the second world war, at least it would be a nice nod to the start of the Railway Series (that and the railway realistic locomotive characters)

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    2. I guess you are right. Although it wasn't Thomas who first appeared at the start of the railway series and it was Edward, Gordon and Henry instead.

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    3. He and Edward arrived on Sodor in 1915, so that doesn't bother me. Besides, HiT have a paranoia that if a Thomas film doesn't have Thomas as the main poster boy, it won't sell.

      Then again, Britt Allcroft had the same ethos with T&TMR and it still didn't work

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    4. I personally don't like to think of any of the events of Thomas being set in any time.

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    5. The Awdrys did, hence The Island of Sodor; Its People, History and Railways and Sodor: Reading Between the Lines

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