First Impressions: Journey Beyond Sodor

Once again, I'm so sorry for the lack of updates. Season seven of My Little Pony has begun airing, and in case you are all wondering, yes. I will be reviewing it here, as well as doing a couple of video reviews here and there. (On a side note, I'll also be including fandom reactions for the EG specials when they come out on Netflix in the summer despite an early Polish release this month.) But for right now, I'm going to be talking about the trailer for the upcoming Thomas special Journey Beyond Sodor, as well as the controversy it's caused upon release last week.

The following post contains spoilers; reader discretion is advised.

1. The Story

Right off the bat, the story is a bit... bog standard for Thomas. We've seen him leave Sodor before - to London, to Muffle Mountain, to Misty Island (frequently), to the mainland, and (in the books, at least) to York. Why retell what you've already done, especially in last year's special (which felt pointless overall)? 

Then there's him meeting with the Experimental Engines and the Steelworks Duo, who we'll cover in the next section - both have respective vibes from Misty Island Rescue and Day of the Diesels, and whilst I think they might be both specials done right, even then, they don't feel all that fresh.

All that being said, I am hoping that James does play a big role in this; he's on the poster for goodness' sake! Last time he played a major role was in Tale of the Brave and (to an extent) The Adventure Begins. Why can we not have the rest of the Steam Team play bigger roles once in a while and expand on their characters a bit? (Yeah, I do feel Gordon should've been the lead character in The Great Race, and it's so annoying that he wasn't.)

2. New Characters and Locations

Theo is just charming. Whilst we don't know what he's specifically based upon, it's been said that he is autistic, and I'm hoping that he'll become a character that, finally, the autistic audience (like myself) can relate to - more on that later.

Same thing with Lexi - now, I'm more or less familiar with cab-forward engines, but I never expected to see something like No. 21 "Thomas-Stetson". Yeah, her changing voices is a bit jarring at first, but it could be part of her personality, and again, I'll come to that later. So far, Lexi looks to be entertaining, but she's got nothing on...

Merlin. Just... everything about him, really. Straight away, he's gonna have tons of personality and charm to him. Oh, and he's got a song of his own, which might be fun!

I can't really say too much about Beresford (if that is his name). Hopefully, for whatever screen time he has, his voice actor will shine through. From what I can tell so far, he's a bit clumsy... but that's it.

I thought it'd be fair to discuss Hurricane and Frankie together. Again, their roles could be Day of the Diesels done right, and it'd be interesting for Thomas to finally have his first female antagonist in the show. I'm not usually one to discuss fandom theories, but it could be interesting if they were the villains of the special, and hopefully show Vinnie how to be a true antagonist.

The Steelworks are where Hurricane and Frankie work, and it looks really cool so far. It looks scary and intimidating, almost akin to the scrapyards in season five and Thomas and the Magic Railroad. I think it'd be nice to see it more often in future seasons.

3. Voice Actors and Celebrity Guest Stars

In the UK dub, it looks... uh, sorry... sounds like Rob Rackstraw will be voicing James in the near future. I don't mind, really. Keith Wickham, good as a voice actor he is, does voice a lot of characters already, so it's nice to see more diversity in the Steam Team's voices in the UK dub. It does look as through bit by bit, the voice cast in both the US and UK dubs are starting to become one, with slight narration differences. I kinda got that vibe when Keith Wickham starting voice Sir Topham Hatt in the US dub - he's more natural than Kerry Shale who just sounded a bit forced at times (just watch the second accident in No More Mr. Nice Engine to prove my point).

No word as of yet to who voices Hurricane, Lexi, Frankie, or Theo. Beresford, however, will be voiced by Colin McFarlane, the first African actor to voice Thomas in any English dub. Like I said, I'm pretty sure he'll do a great job for what little screen-time he might have.

But the true standout is Hugh Bonneville as Merlin. As I said, he looks to be a fantastic character, and Hugh brings it out perfectly - he even compared Merlin to his character Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey. To be honest, I haven't watched Downton Abbey, so I can't really make the comparisons. What surprises me, honestly, is how many big-shot British actors they're getting every year - Clive Mantle, Olivia Colman, Eddie Redmayne, the late John Hurt, Jamie Campbell Bower, the list goes on. I love it! It's like they're telling us, "yes, Thomas is big in America, but its origins have always been on British soil."

4. Jam Filled's Animation

Since Arc's bankruptcy, it's been taken over by Jam Filled Productions. I'm glad for those fortunate enough to have a second chance in animating for Thomas, so what problems do Jam Filled face?

For starters, the animation looks... unfinished at places. There are two possible answers for this:

1. This is simply a trailer, and the final product will look better.
2. It's Jam Filled's first feature length special, but the animation will improve over time.

Both possibilities are not out of the question, and we've only seen, give or take, about two minutes of the special, so we've got four months to wait for the DVD before making a full judgement. Other than that, the scenery looks really good.

Then of course, there's the experimental engines being able to move around, even when stationary. Really, what's the issue here? Yes, at first glance, it's a bit stupid and can be compared to Cars and Chuggington, but here's what most fans seem to forget...

We are no longer the target audience!

At one point, we were, but that was then, and this is now. We've all grown up the same way those who've watched seasons 8-16 have all grown up and moved on. Will this current generation of Thomas fans even remember Rosie in her lavender livery, Bill and Ben with black wheels, or even what Oliver looked like prior to season 18? Heck, we have retellings of classic stories in the current series like Old Reliable Edward, Bill or Ben?, Thomas' Shortcut, and even the Arlesdale trilogy being adapted for the first time.

Be honest, guys; do you really want everything to go your way? Thomas the Tank Engine is, and always shall be, a children's show. Yes, I dare say that, not as an excuse, but as defense. If an engine moving can appeal to kids, fine. If a story is well written, I, personally, could care less about an engine moving around. I will proudly continue to watch the show for what it is until either I die or stop being a fan, whichever comes first.

Honestly, all those complaints about the show's current state is making me feel that the model era these days is overrated...

5. Diversity - Good or Bad?

Remember what I said about Theo being autistic? There's complaints not only about that, but this rumor I heard of about Lexi being gender-fluid. For those who don't know, that means Lexi does identify herself as being male or female. And both implements have angered a ton of fans.

For Christ's sake, people, what is the bloody issue there?! As far as I'm aware, there's no issue with anyone being autistic or gender-fluid. If anything, I applaud the staff for trying to broaden their audience a little. The only reason they're issues is because over-sensitive people make them issues. This is why I defend Brotherhooves Social - it gave sympathy to those who felt comfortable with cross-dressing and it gave Big Macintosh some character development. It's also why I defend Diesel and the Ducklings - it gave Diesel himself an additional layer to his personality of having a soft side. Heck, it's even why I was all for LeFou being gay in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast - some characters are more complex than we give them credit for.

They tried giving diversity in The Great Race with the international engines, but that flopped because it gave Thomas a stupid, pointless, uninteresting story arc that he didn't need to go through after learning it multiple times in the past (not that Ashima was any better, but still). Basically, if we don't get enough sympathy for either Theo or Lexi, it's not because they tried including diversity. No, it's because the writers were being lazy with their characters.

Bottom line, if you're going to complain about a show or a movie including diverse themes, then why waste your time complaining if you don't like it?

6. Little Things

Finally, the trucks are becoming diverse once again! We did see vans with faces in Bradford the Brake Van, but up to that point, the only trucks to have faces were the gray seven-plank wagons. The fact that they even got faces on tankers for the first time since Toad Stands By feels even greater. A few complaints about standard gauge slate trucks, but I can let it pass, given his/her self-awareness, as well as the joke he/she made. Can we have the coaches with faces for season 22? That'd be nice to see for the first time!

Other than the Steelworks, there seems to be more locations for the mainland! That viaduct does look like the one between Maron and Cronk, only pink. When was the last time we saw the original? Season 15?

Belle is seen pulling the red branch line coaches, not dissimilar to her basis being a passenger engine. If we had an episode what showed her taking passengers, as well as giving her some development, that'd be great to see!

Final Thoughts

Honestly, I think fans are making a huge deal over absolutely nothing. It's quite ironic that the majority of them have autism or some other disability, and yet, when it's translated onto the small screen, suddenly, all empathy goes out the window. I don't get it.

I'm just hoping that Journey Beyond Sodor will at least be good enough to watch over and over again, or at least, an improvement over The Great Race. I don't think any future special will ever top Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure for me, but I'll be surprised if JBS can!