Even Thomas the Tank Engine and Star Wars need to change

Toddler Mojo started to enjoy television.  To him television is Thomas the Tank Engine.  He just entered pre-school, so I’m glad that he can point to Thomas the Tank Engine and be in the same click as the other boys.

The episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine made the stop animation used in Wallace and Gromit look like rocket science.  All of the trains have eyes and rough facial characterizations that evoke emotion, but it was done via cutting away and voiceovers. Sir Tomham Hatt and the rest of the people in the series were the same way.  It was real scale model trains in a deliciously simple and charming kids show.

One day new episodes of Thomas were available On Demand and I was aghast at what we saw. The trains were talking and the introduction had been replaced.

That was the old introduction.  The new introduction was like I tuned in to watch Sesame Street and The Muppet Babies had taken their place.

My jaw was open.  Toddler Mojo was on the pillow watching it seemingly unaware that his show was drastically different.  Gone were the scale models and in their place was a digital landscape of trains on the island of Sodor.

I was invested in the appearance of a children’s television show that wasn’t even part of my childhood.    After a couple viewings of the computerized version of Thomas the Tank Engine you realize that the animation is so good you can’t tell that they’re not real.  Moreover, this is the version that Toddler Mojo will associate with when he’s older.

He’ll look at the scale version of Thomas the Tank Engine, think it’s quaint and wonder who the hell George Carlin was.

Similarly he’ll watch Star Wars and never know the changes that George Lucas made when they were released on Blu-ray.

 


You may have heard about these changes.  They’re not major changes, just weird ones.  Fanboys who’ve seen them more than twice know that Darth Vadar saying “Noooo!” in a tortured voice is odd and out of place.  But if you’re seeing the movie for the first time, as Toddler Mojo will in a couple years, it’s normal.

What Toddler Mojo taught us is that it’s relative as to when you experience something.  His children will have a different Thomas the Tank Engine and he’ll tell them about how much more ‘real’ it was when he was a child.  George Lucas’ kids will still be tinkering with Star Wars and George Carlin will be cursing them all with 7 little words that you still can’t say on the television.

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Daddy Mojo

Daddy Mojo is a blog written by Trey Burley, a stay at home dad, fanboy, husband and father. At Daddy Mojo we'll chat about home improvement, giveaways, family, children and poop culture. You can find out more about us at http://about.me/TreyBurley

9 thoughts on “Even Thomas the Tank Engine and Star Wars need to change”

  1. Uh…no. There’s something to be said with not tampering with a work of art. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Lucas has ruined his masterpiece, and the new Thomas and Friends episodes are not just creepy, they’re vapid. Compare the story content and delivery of old and new. I suspect the only reason our children don’t notice the difference is because they don’t have particularly sophisticated or discriminating tastes. 😉

    “My attitude toward progress has passed from antagonism to boredom. I have long ceased to argue with people who prefer Thursday to Wednesday because it is Thursday.” – G. K. Chesterton

    1. She did look kind of surly. We’ve only seen a couple of the new Thomas episodes, but will take note of the plot. It wouldn’t surprise me though. Initially I was out of sorts with the Star Wars changes, but then we saw one of the newer ones over the weekend and it wasn’t horrible. It certainly wasn’t great, but it was kind of enjoyable. Lucas has messed with the recipe so much the couple of unnecessary changes to the Blu-ray release will be tweaked again when the next format happens in 12 years.

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