Amazon shows 'DOTD' UK DVD cover draft

amazon.co.uk have published of what looks like the UK cover for the Day of the Diesels DVD release.

The cover is the same from all the posters seen across the internet but with some notable differences.

All the engines have been given a weathered look to give a more industrialised feel that can perhaps be considered an improvement over it's preceders.

Looking carefully under Mavis, Den, Salty and Dart, some objects are slightly visible while Salty's front is no longer clean.

However, the classification logo's have not been added in just yet but should do some time soon.

Day of the Diesels hits UK DVD shelves on September 26th 2011.

Thanks to SI3DFilms for the alert.

VIEW THE COVER

Pack your Android's up with the 'Game Pack' app

The Thomas Game Pack previously available for the iPhone and iPod Touch can now be purchased as an Android app.

Revealed back in mid May by the Official Thomas & Friends facebook page, the Game Pack has been successfully converted for Android users.

The app includes the games Matching Mission, Cargo Mazes and Engine Puzzles with a requirement for installing the app for Android's 1.6 and onwards.

The Thomas & Friends Game Pack app for the Android can now be purchased for £1.87 from the Android Market.

PURCHASE THE APP

UK's wish for DVD comes true, for Halloween

The UK version of the Merry Winter Wish DVD has been confirmed by amazon.co.uk.

The first Season Fourteen DVD released for the UK was Wobbly Wheels & Whistles but not the above due to a near Christmas release date preferration for the year after.

So far, little is known about the title, other than the fact that it shall have a run time of 50 minutes approximately.

The episodes have not yet been revealed for the release, although it is likely that it could contain the same as the US version.
 
Merry Winter Wish hits UK DVD shelves on Halloween, October 31st 2011.

PRE-ORDER 'MERRY WINTER WISH'

Thanks to Madness for the alert.

'Snow Days' are Hit's favourites

Hit Entertainment's next DVD in their Favourites series coming to the UK will focus on a preceding release from the US.

Snow Days, a Christmas release featuring episodes from Hit's selected brands will aim at the snowy weather themes and will run at 80 minutes approximately.

amazon.co.uk have confirmed Thomas & Friends, Fireman Sam, Barney, Angelina Ballerina and Bob the Builder to star in the DVD, although it is not known if Pingu will.

It is not currently known what episodes or extras will feature, although it is possible that it could follow on from the US' pick.

Hit Favourites - Snow Days hits UK DVD shelves on October 24th 2011.

PRE-ORDER 'SNOW DAYS'

Thanks to SteamTeam for the alert.

Scruff gets scrunching with Mega Bloks

MEGA BLOKS are on hand to release more characters for their Thomas range, with Scruff the Scruncher confirmed as the next one.

The lime green boxy tank engine follows on from engines such as Charlie, Toby, Gordon and Salty to feature in the toy range.

Scruff's face has been authentically replicated to match his TV Series look and is so far the only character from Season Fourteen and onwards to be made from the company.

MEGA BLOKS' Scruff will be released in toy shops worldwide later this year.

VIEW 'MEGA BLOKS' SCRUFF

Thanks to EmeryAndEmilyFan2344 for the alert.

'Mountain Engines' not ready for ride

The UK's Thomas Land theme park has not yet made their new ride Blue Mountain Engines available.

The ride at the Drayton Manor site was due to be ready for the public on Saturday May 28th but has been delayed till further notice.

In a statement on the park's official facebook page in the comments section about the ride, the following was said.

We've had some issues with regards to delivery. The ride will be operational soon. There will be a post on here to confirm date.

The merry-go-round style ride is confirmed to include Skarloey, Sir Handel, Rheneas and Peter Sam.

The Blue Mountain Engines ride will be available at Drayton Manor's Thomas Land soon.

Norman will give and take and play

Norman will be the next character to be available as a Take-n-Play diecast model.

The unibrow Diesel due to make his official debut appearance in the Day of the Diesels special has been immortalised for the toy range.

The model is currently on auction via ebay from Hong Kong which is currently at a price of over $1 in American currency with $3 of postage and packaging.

It is as of yet unknown if Sidney or Paxton will recieve the same treatment.

VIEW NORMAN'S MODEL AND AUCTION

Thanks to 01Salty for the alert.

Vue gets ready for Diesel day

Vue Cinemas have listed the Day of the Diesels special in their Coming Soon section of movies due out soon.

The cinema chain has confirmed the previously announced release date confirmation for September 17th while the letter s has been missed out of the end of the special's title.

Tickets for the special's appearance in cities across the UK will be released in due course.

Day of the Diesels premieres in Vue Cinemas across the UK including a Leicester Sqaure celebrity premiere on Saturday September 17th 2011 while the DVD will be available on September 26th 2011.

VIEW VUE'S DAY OF THE DIESELS PAGE

Deutschland goes Blu for Thomas

Like the US, Australia and New Zealand, Germany will be getting it's taste of Thomas & Friends or Thomas & Seine Freunde in High Definition.
 
Der Löwe von Sodor or The Lion of Sodor and Thomas und die Ferkel, Thomas and the Pigs each feature five episodes from the Thirteenth Series, translated and dubbed for Deutsch viewers.

Both titles will be available as Blu Ray releases at 55 minutes each in duration, in 1080i but however does not include an English language feature.

Episodes on Der Löwe von Sodor

Knirschender Cranky (Creaky Cranky)

Der Löwe von Sodor (The Lion of Sodor)

Schweinchenrosa (Tickled Pink)

Der Doppelgänger (Double Trouble)

Rutschiges Sodor (Slippy Sodor)

Episodes on Thomas und die Ferkel

Der frühe Vogel (The Early Bird)

Lustig oder nützlich (Play Time)

Thomas und die Ferkel (Thomas and the Pigs)

Die besondere Vorlesestunde (Time for a Story)

Percys Paket (Percy's Parcel)

The episodes run in the official order of the series while the discs have been developed by Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

Der Löwe von Sodor and Thomas und die Ferkel will both hit German Blu Ray shelves on August 5th 2011.

PRE-ORDER THE RELEASES

DER LÖWE VON SODOR

THOMAS UND DIE FERKEL

VIEW INFORMATION ON THE RELEASES

DER LÖWE VON SODOR

THOMAS UND DIE FERKEL

Big Belle Be Brave

Although Belle as a Trackmaster model was revealed at New York's Toy Fair of 2011, her set wasn't, until now.

In a video by TheDirtyTrain1, Belle the Tank Engine will feature in a set called Brave Belle, based on the Day of the Diesels special.

The set includes a detailed model of the above engine along with a fire equipment flatbed and a low yellow open truck.

Trackmaster's Brave Belle will be released worldwide later this year.

VIEW THE SET

'Triple Pack' to 'Adventure Pack'

The Triple Pack UK set featuring 3 DVD's has recently undergone an alteration by renaming the set, Adventure Pack.

The name seems to have reflected the Season Twelve DVD set of the same name in the US, also adopting the similar Thomas and Harold appearance on the cover.

The DVD's however remain the same whilst the only change only affects the box set cover.

It is unknown whether Hit Entertainment will re-release the set under the new design as no online stores have changed the name, although Play.com and ASDA Entertainment have done so on the cover.

VIEW THE IMAGE

Thanks to SI3DFilms for the alert.

Den joins Trackmaster cavalcade

Den will be another character to be released for the Trackmaster range as Day of the Diesels approaches it's premiere dates.

A YouTube video by TheDirtyTrain1 not only shows the previously mentioned sets of Diesel 10, Dart and Flynn but includes Den at the Dieselworks.

It features a Trackmaster model of Den the Dieselworks Engine with his face and body resembling his TV Series look.

Accompaining him is a red van and a small flatbed, all ready and packaged up.

The Trackmaster Den at the Dieselworks will be available in shops worldwide later this year.

VIEW DEN AT 0:55

Five new Trackmaster's in the shed

Fisher Price will released three more Engines and two Rolling Stock sets for the Trackmaster range.

Linking with the release of the Day of the Diesels special comes the newest interactive engine, Talking Diesel who is coupled with a red Dieselworks truck full of barrels.

Diesel 10 is to be re-released with some modifications on his model including his face while he will carry an oil tanker and an empty truck in Diesel 10 Takes Charge.

Flynn will be the newest engine to be available in the Trackmaster range where he will come with a flatbed.

Moving on from the special is the Livestock Cars or Vans includes a see-inside feature which also goes for the tool vans renamed the Refrigerator Cars.

The Trackmaster items will be available in shops worldwide later this year.

Thanks to GeebMachine for the alert.

VIEW THE IMAGES

TALKING DIESEL

DIESEL 10 TAKES CHARGE

FLYNN

THE LIVESTOCK CARS

THE REFRIGERATOR CARS

YouTube: 'Never, Never ' goes up

The instrumental version of the Never, Never Give Up music video is now available on my YouTube Channel.

The Season Sixth music video's instrumental audio comes together from various snippets, compiled into the final mix.

A thanks goes to jeremycrispovideo for supplying the video while this version of the audio is the cleanest that I could produce.

More instrumentals? Time will tell.....

WATCH THE INSTRUMENTAL VERSION OF 'NEVER, NEVER, GIVE UP' ON YOUTUBE

Railway Seri-ous on postcard releases

There is to be a new set of postcards celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Revered Wilbert Vere Awdry.

The first set of postcards feature specially selected artworks from some of the Railway Series books by Awdry, remastered and in more pristine quality than ever before.

The second shows characters such as Edward, Harold and Percy edited into a clear background, also remastered.
 
All illustrations originate from C. Reginald Dalby's artworks from the books and are available to buy from Severnside Wholesalers' website.
 
The Thomas the Tank Engine Est. 1945 postcards will be available in shops soon.

BUY THE POSTCARDS

Thanks to SI3DFilms for the alert.

Sidney and Paxton wood tell Norman

After the reveal of Norman's Wooden Railway model image, Sidney the Forgetful Diesel and Paxton the Young Diesel's have also emerged.

From the same website The Traincellar, the images of the Wooden Railway models of Sidney and Paxton have been released.

However, their models have their inside base of their wheels painted red, which never happened with Paxton's TV Series appearance.

It is unknown whether Sidney will be affected by the colour following his appearance in the Day of the Diesels special.

The Wooden Railway models of Sidney and Paxton will be released in December 2011.

VIEW THE MODELS

SIDNEY

PAXTON

Darting for Trackmaster

A Trackmaster model of Dart the Dieselworks Engine has been revealed, but not from a shopping website.

In a video by skullsproductions, Dart was purchased by the latter in Target and is named, Oil and Trouble Dart.

The pack includes a Trackmaster model of Dart, a truck carrying a hose and a blue brakevan.

The Trackmaster Dart pack will be available in stores worldwide soon coinciding with the release of Day of the Diesels.

VIEW TRACKMASTER DART

'Day of the Diesels' release dates recap

Day of the Diesels will soon be available to watch in various different forms in four countries.

For the fans who would like to know when the hour long episode is released in their countries, below shows a timetabled recap of when the special will come to you.

'Day of the Diesels' Release Dates;

United States

PBS Sneak Peek airing in Fall 2011.
DVD and Blu Ray on September 6th 2011.

United Kingdom

Vue Cinema's and Celebrity Premiere on September 17th 2011.

DVD on September 26th 2011.

Australia

Hoyts Cinema's Premiere on July 23rd and 24th 2011 from 10am.

DVD on September 1st 2011.

New Zealand 

Hoyts Cinema's Premiere on July 23rd and 24th 2011 from 10am.

DVD on September 7th 2011.

Lionsgate releases 'Day of the Diesels' promos

Lionsgate Publicity have published five promotional images from the new special, Day of the Diesels.

At least two of the images can be seen in the trailer whilst the other three are relatively new to fans. Along with this, an extra large version of the DVD cover has been included.

The promos feature Percy, Diesel 10, Flynn, Belle, Thomas, James, Gordon, Edward, Kevin and part of Rocky.

LIONSGATE'S 'DAY OF THE DIESELS' PAGE

HIGH-RESOLUTION VERSION OF THE DVD COVER

Japanese get two CGI for DVD

The Japanese will see the release of two more Season Thirteen DVD's each with four episodes featured.

The two DVD's are the third and fourth in Japan's run of the 2009 produced season after the prevoous two were released earlier this year.

Tōmasu to Tanoshii Mizu Asobi contains the following episodes translated in Japanese;

Tanoshii Mizu Asobi (Splish, Splash, Splosh)

Tōmasu no Haya Oki (The Early Bird)

Yuki no hi no Deki-Goto (Snow Tracks)

Pāshī no jū-yō Nani Motsu (Percy's Parcel)

The other DVD, Tōmasu no dai Tsui Seki contains the following;

Tōmasu no dai tsui seki (Thomas and the Runaway Kite)

Tobī no Atarashi Ikite Ki (Toby's New Whistle)

Dotabata sei Bikoujou (Steamy Sodor)

Sutekina o Hanashi Kai (Time for a Story)

Both DVD's will run at 39 minutes approximately and are featured in 16:9 Widescreen along with Japanese and English Subtitles.

Tanoshii Mizu Asobi and Tōmasu no dai Tsui Seki hit Japanese DVD shelves on June 29th 2011.

VIEW INFORMATION ON THE DVD'S

TANOSHII MIZU ASOBI

TŌMASU NO DAI TSUI SEKI

Japan updates Episode Guide with Season Thirteen

The Official Thomas & Friends Website in Japan have added Season Thirteen to their Episode Guide.

All 20 episodes from the 2009 produced season are listed along with promotional images accompained with each episode.

The episodes are in a slightly different order compared to the appropriate order with Henry's Good Deeds billed as the last episode.

However, Japan have yet to see the light of Season Twelve as it has yet to be aired on TV or released on DVD even if Season Thirteen has already been seen.

VIEW JAPAN'S SEASON THIRTEEN EPISODE GUIDE

Season Fifteen song artist named

The singer who performed the most recent Thomas & Friends song, Hear the Engines Coming has been named.

Josh Harvey, an actor from Northamptonshire has been revealed by castingcallpro as the lead singer towards the Fifteenth Season song.

According to his online CV, the song was recorded a year earlier in Reading 2010 in Composer Robert Hartshorne's recording studio, ECG.

Harvey's song credit is his first production role while later ones include two stage shows from 2011.

High-res cover of Day of the Blu Ray Diesels

Lionsgate Publicity have published a larger version of the cover from the upcoming US Blu Ray release of Day of the Diesels.

The cover offers a closer look at the Vicarstown Dieselworks along with five of the participating Diesels from the special on the top of the cover.

Lionsgate shall soon release promo images from the special when their page on the special is opened.

Day of the Diesels his US DVD and Blu Ray shelves on September 6th 2011.

VIEW THE COVER ENLARGED

The woods are not Norman-lly here

The first image of Day of the Diesels character showing Norman in his Wooden Railway form has been released.

As reported back in mid May, Norman along with Sidney and Paxton were revealed to be available as models soon in the Wooden Railway range.

The TrainCellar shows the completed and official model of the monobrow Diesel rather than the low-resolution 3D.

The Wooden Railway model of Norman will be released starting from December 2011.

Thanks to johnat16 for the alert.

VIEW NORMAN'S MODEL

Thomas' maker a suprise in 2014 film poster

SiF have exclusively revealed on their fansite that Nitrogen Studios have played their part in producing part of the 2014 film poster.

It was previously thought that company WETA's designing qualities had produced the poster, however Greg Tiernan of Nitrogen has revealed that his company designed Thomas.

It is as of yet unknown if Nitrogen are on board for the film, although it's early days.....

READ THE REPORT ON SiF

Content confirmed for American 'DOTD' DVD/Blu-Ray

The content due to be featured in the new Day of the Diesels DVD for the US has been revealed.

Confirmed by Walmart, the release will include two sing-along songs, an educational video and a game based on the 2011 special.

Extras include;

Fiery Flynn to the Rescue Game

Day of the Diesels Karaoke Music Video

Hear the Engines Coming Karaoke Music Video

Steamies Vs. Diesels Video

The Hear the Engines Coming music video previously aired in a block of two Season Fifteen episodes more than a month ago while the Day of the Diesels song has yet to be seen or heard.

The Day of the Diesels song is the second to be named after the name of it's special after Misty Island Rescue in 2010.

Fiery Flynn to the Rescue named after a quote by Flynn as heard in the trailer is a new game while the Steamies Vs. Diesels feature has been featured on the Day of the Diesels minisite.

Additional extras include Audio Languages with Dolby Digital 5.1 English Enhanced Audio, French and Spanish while Closed Captioned English Subtitles accompaine the languages.

The Blu Ray release will have the same content from the DVD, albeit upgraded to 1080p HD. Both of which will be featured in 16:9 Widescreen.

Day of the Diesels hits US DVD and Blu Ray shelves on September 6th 2011.

PRE-ORDER AND VIEW THE CONTENT ON WALMART

DVD

BLU RAY

Day of the Blu Ray Diesels

The upcoming Thomas & Friends special, Day of the Diesels will be oiling it's way onto Blu Ray home video releases.

The 2011 special is the second to be featured in a High Definition US release after it's preceder, Misty Island Rescue.

The release developed by Lionsgate Entertainment will come in a DVD Combo pack complete with a copy of the Blu Ray version.

The Day of the Diesels - Blu Ray/DVD Combo Two Pack hits US store shelves on September 6th 2011.

Thanks to SI3DFilms for the alert.

PRE-ORDER THE COMBO PACK

YouTube: 'Never, Never Give Up' on instrumentals

Another instrumental will appear on my YouTube Channel next week but is a song composed by the original musicians of Thomas.

Mike O' Donnell and Junior Campbell's Never, Never Give Up is the next song and music video to be released on my Channel in instrumental form and is one of my favourite Thomas songs.

The instrumental has been compiled from a few sources, edited and combined with the music video's footage thanks to jeremycrispovideo.

The music video will be more clearer to see due to quality enhancement along with the 1080p HD promise for all future videos. However, this is not the video that I have teased in a previous post of mine.....

The instrumental version of Never, Never Give Up arrives on TheTopHatts' YouTube on Friday June 24th 2011.

Christopher Awdry on father's centenary

Christopher Awdry has been interviewed celebrating his father, the Reverend. W. Awdry's 100th Anniversary.

On location at the Talyllyn Railway in Wales, ITV Wales correspondent Rob Shelley spoke to Christopher about the birth of the Railway Series, the popularity and the television series.

Included in the report was footage on the Talyllyn Railway on the day of the anniversary, a clip from the episode Being Percy, images of the books, the recent Royal Mail stamp collections and more.

An extended interview with Christopher Awdry is also available to view, however people outside the UK will not be able to view the interview, but can see the report on YouTube as uploaded by BusterTheSteamroller.

WATCH THE VIDEOS

ITV WALES' REPORT ON AWDRY
ITV WALES' REPORT ON AWDRY ON YOUTUBE

EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTOPHER AWDRY

Thanks to SI3DFilms for the alert.

Three Diesels return to the Official Websiteworks

Three more engines have now had their Engine Depot images revised on the Official Thomas & Friends Website.

Arry, Bert and Salty all of which returned in Season Fourteen can now be viewed on their profiles in their current CGI forms.

However, owing to the characters' returns in 2010, neither Whiff or Stanley have yet to recieve their profile treatments which also goes for the addition of Scruff.

A notable error on one of the images is Salty's paintwork which has less residue and more cleanliness.

VIEW THE DIESELS ON THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE

UK - 'ARRY', 'BERT', 'SALTY'

US - 'ARRY', 'BERT', 'SALTY' 

Bachmann 'Diesel' revealed

The first image of the Bachman produced model of Devious Diesel has been revealed.

In a video posted by CrovansGateOO9 on YouTube, the first sighting of the new model can be seen.

Diesel's model features a true renactment of the TV Series model coupled with the current CGI.

Also immortalised is his animated face as seen in the current television series produced in CGI.

Bachmann Devious Diesel is available later this year.

VIEW THE IMAGE ON YOUTUBE

"Firefighter" Talking "Flynn ready and steady..."!

Another character is due to be re-released in his Take-n-Play model, with a difference.

Flynn the Fire Engine will broaden to more toy shelves when his Talking Take-n-Play model will appear.

Flynn is the latest in line of Thomas' friends to recieve the talking treatment after the likes of Henry, Rosie and Spencer.

The model comes tieing in with the release of Day of the Diesels.

VIEW THE FIRST IMAGE OF 'TALKING TAKE-N-PLAY FLYNN'

Tomos serves Welsh demands

The Welsh translated version of Thomas & Friends can now be viewed On Demand via S4C's Cyw website.

Twelve episodes of Tomos a'i Ffrindiau are available to watch on the network's website which currently includes selected episodes from the Sixth Series.

S4C are currently showing more episodes on their channel after which will be viewable On Demand.

The network regularly screens the Sixth and Seventh Series.

WATCH 'TOMOS A'I FFRINDIAU' ON S4C'S CYW WEBSITE 

Thanks to SI3DFilms for the alert.

More CGI promo pics including Classic

Searching for more on the web, here I present to you worthy Thomas fans more promotional images from the CGI Series including one from the last Classic Series.

One of the images shows the engines at Tidmouth Sheds, this version however is featured in clearer quality while another is an advertisement from Toys R' Us.