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Thomas & Friends: The Great Race facts for kids
| The Great Race | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | David Stoten |
| Produced by | Ian McCue (HiT) Robert Anderson Lynda Craigmyle Jane Sobol (Arc) |
| Written by | Andrew Brenner |
| Narrated by | Mark Moraghan |
| Starring | Joseph May (US) John Hasler (Uncredited in the US) Kerry Shale Keith Wickham Tina Desai Rufus Jones Rasmus Hardiker John Schwab |
| Music by | Chris Renshaw Oliver Davis Andrew Brenner |
| Studio | Arc Productions HiT Entertainment |
| Distributed by | HiT Entertainment National Amusements (UK, theatrical release) Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (US) |
| Release date(s) | May 21, 2016 (UK; Theatrical) September 5, 2016 (UK; DVD) September 13, 2016 (US) |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Money made | $3.6 million |
The Great Race is a 2016 CGI animated musical Thomas & Friends film.
The film stars the voices of Joseph May and John Hasler as the voice of Thomas in the US and the UK, respectively. It also stars the voices of Rasmus Hardiker, Kerry Shale, Christopher Ragland, Nigel Pilkington, Rob Rackstraw, Teresa Gallagher and Keith Wickham, with Mark Moraghan narrating.
Tina Desai, Rufus Jones and John Schwab join the cast with Jones taking on the role of the iconic Flying Scotsman who appeared only in the Railway Series' story, "Tenders for Henry", and as a brief appearance in the Season 3 episode, "Tender Engines", until now. In an effort to expand the preschool franchise, the new engines are from locations around the world and include several female characters.
This is the last special to be animated by Arc Productions under their original name before they were bought by Jam Filled Toronto in August 2016.
Contents
Plot
After beating Gordon the Big Engine in a race to Vicarstown Station, Thomas the Tank Engine is introduced to Gordon's brother, The Flying Scotsman, who is taking part in The Great Railway Show on the Mainland, encouraging Thomas to try and take part as well. Though every engine on Sodor wants to take part ("Will You Won't You"), Sir Topham Hatt has not made up his mind yet, and Thomas fears he won't be picked to go to the competition. But after getting an idea to be streamlined for the competition ("Streamlining"), he passes his idea on to Sir Topham Hatt, who chooses Gordon to be streamlined instead.
At Brendam Docks, Thomas has a run-in with several of the competitors for The Great Railway Show when their rail ferry docks there by mistake, and as a result, one of them is left behind. Ashima, a beautifully-painted tank engine from India accidentally bumps Thomas in her hurry to try and make the ferry, nearly pushing him over the edge into the water. When he looks up and sees her for the first time, he is instantly captivated by her. This first attraction makes him very uncomfortable as he reacts indignantly out of embarrassment and quickly retreats from the docks. At the shunting yard, Thomas complains to Percy about Ashima, desperately trying to find something wrong with her, yet unable to explain why he is angry. Phillip suggests that Thomas stay away from her.
Ashima is lost and the other engines are too busy to help her get to the mainland. She sees Thomas once again in front of Kellsthorpe Station where she hints once more for help. Annie and Clarabel, immediately noticing this new weakness in Thomas, purposely tease him about the two of them going to The Great Railway Show together. Completely beside himself, he stammers and blushes uncontrollably and is unable to help her as the whistle blows and he hastily leaves the platform. Whilst purposely goading him about her beautiful paintwork, Annie and Clarabel give Thomas the idea to be similarly painted so he can enter the competition. Thomas abandons them at Maron Station and heads to the Steamworks. At the Steamworks, Thomas suggests to Sir Topham Hatt that he have an engine enter the Best Decorated Engine competition. Meanwhile, at the Dieselworks, Diesel devises a trick that involves disguising Den, Dart, and Paxton as trucks, so as to trick Sir Topham Hatt into entering him into the competition instead of Henry ("I'm Full of Surprises").
Back at Maron, Thomas sees Emily and James, who tell him that Sir Topham Hatt has chosen them to painted. He also learns that Ashima took Annie and Clarabel and has been running his branch line in his absence, much to Thomas' ruder and rudely snaps at Ashima, unfortunately Annie and Clarabel are not happy with him for abandoning them and calling them "his coaches"! Thomas finally reveals to Ashima his insecurities about not being good enough to be entered into the competition and she consoles him ("You Can Only Be You"), saying that she finds him perfect just the way he is and that he should just be himself. She suggests he partake in the Shunting competition.
At Knapford Junction, Diesel's trick goes awry when Thomas tries to practice shunting with them. His buffer beam gets damaged in the crash, and his repairs mean he will not be able to go the competition. Sir Topham Hatt reveals he was planning to enter Thomas into the shunting challenge the whole time, but because of his repairs, Percy will take his place. However, upon learning that Gordon left without his safety valve being properly installed while he was being streamlined, Thomas rushes to the mainland to deliver it to him, despite not being fully repaired.
At The Great Railway Show, Henry loses the strength competition, James and Emily lose the Best Decorated Engine award and, due to not waiting to have his safety valve installed, Gordon's boiler explodes and he loses the race ("The Shooting Star Is Coming Through"). With Percy's insistence, Thomas takes his place in the shunting competition, but sacrifices his win to Ashima in order to save her from crashing into a derailed flatbed. However, the judges decide to award Thomas the win alongside Ashima for good sportsmanship. Sir Topham Hatt and the other Sodor engines are very proud of Thomas.
With The Great Railway Show over, everyone is helping Thomas to try and find Ashima so that he can say goodbye when Sir Topham signals for his engines to return to Sodor. Extremely forlorn, Thomas thinks he has missed his chance until he hears her singing as she fills up with coal. Elated, he invites Ashima to come back to Sodor with him, allowing them to spend some more time together before catching her rail ferry back to India from there ("Be Who You Are, And Go Far").
During the credits, Diesel, stuck in a crate, calls for help as he sails away on a ship leaving Sodor.
Musical Numbers
- "Will You Won't You" – Full company
- "Streamlining" – Thomas, Annie and Clarabel
- "I'm Full of Surprises" – Diesel
- "You Can Only Be You" – Thomas and Ashima
- "The Shooting Star Is Coming Through" – Gordon
- "Be Who You Are, And Go Far" – Thomas, Ashima, Philip, Emily, Gordon, Henry, James, Percy
- "He's Full of Surprises" – Ian McCue, Oliver Davis, Andrew Brenner and David Stoten
Cast
| Actor/Actress | Region | Role(s) | Uncredited |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Moraghan | UK/US | The Narrator | No |
| John Hasler | Rheneas | US only | |
| UK | Thomas | No | |
| Joseph May | US | ||
| Nigel Pilkington | UK | Percy | |
| Christopher Ragland | US speaking voice
UK singing voice |
UK only | |
| Jules de Jongh | Emily | ||
| Teresa Gallagher | UK | No | |
| UK/US | Belle, Gina, Frieda, Daisy, Marion, Annie and Clarabel | ||
| Keith Wickham | UK | Edward, Henry, Gordon and James | |
| UK/US | Salty, Den, Norman, Stafford, Skarloey, Sir Handel, Arlesdale Bert, Sir Topham Hatt and some workmen | ||
| Rob Rackstraw | Axel, Raul, Étienne, Flynn and the Great Railway Show Announcer | ||
| US | James and Stanley | ||
| Kerry Shale | Henry, Gordon and Kevin | ||
| UK/US | Diesel and Scruff | ||
| David Bedella | Victor and Carlos | ||
| Matt Wilkinson | UK | Spencer, Stanley, Cranky, Kevin and the Dock Manager | |
| William Hope | US | Edward and the Dock Manager | |
| Glenn Wrage | Spencer and Cranky | ||
| David Menkin | Porter | ||
| Steven Kynman | UK | ||
| UK/US | Duck, Charlie, Dart, Paxton and Peter Sam | ||
| Jonathan Broadbent | Bill and Ben | Yes | |
| Bob Golding | Stephen, Sidney and Ivan | No | |
| Jonathan Forbes | Connor | ||
| Rebecca O'Mara | Caitlin | ||
| Joe Mills | Oliver, Donald and Douglas | ||
| Tim Whitnall | Timothy and Mike | ||
| Robert Wilfort | Samson and a Great Railway Show Judge | ||
| Tom Stourton | Rex | Yes | |
| Rasmus Hardiker | Philip | No | |
| Tina Desai | Ashima | ||
| Rufus Jones | The Flying Scotsman | ||
| John Schwab | Vinnie |
Box office
The film was originally theatrically released on May 20, 2016, in the United Kingdom. The film ranked tenth in its opening weekend, grossing $214,133 from 292 theaters with an average of $733 per theater. The film decreased 77.1% and fell to 19th in its sophomore weekend, grossing $48,944 from 205 theaters with an average of $238 per theater. The film ranked in 18th, 26th, and 27th place in its third, fourth, and fifth weekends.
The film was re-released in China on September 22, 2017 and in South Korea on November 30, 2017. The film had a strong debut in China, ranking fifth in its first weekend and grossing $1.6 million. In its sophomore weekend, the film dropped 86.5% to 13th place, grossing $227,528. The film was less successful in South Korea, ranking 12th in its first weekend with $68,820 from 249 theaters, with an average of $276 per theater.