Thomas Steams into America

Thomas the Tank Engine, the cheery storybook hero of the British steam train era, is taking a branch line to Hollywood via small-town America.

Paramount studios has signed the blue engine and his friends Percy, Henry, James, Gordon and the Fat Controller for their feature film debut.

Britt Allcroft, whose British television adaptation of the Reverend W Awdry's 1940s railway series has brought Thomas new fame, said she would be writing and producing the film, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, and there would be minor alterations to the characters within the spirit of the original.

In the US version of the television series, the Fat Controller already goes by the less "fattist" name of Sir Topham Hat.

Allcroft said the film would combine the animated characters with live characters from Shining Time Station, a children's series her company makes for US television. It is about a small-town railroad community in the mythical Indian Valley.

The film will be shot in Britain's Shepperton Studios and in the United States for release in 1997.

Thomas the Tank Engine first appeared in 1945, after Awdry created him to amuse his son, Christopher, who had measles. Allcroft's adaptation of the stories for television in the early 1980s made Thomas a big hit in 20 countries.

Tell me if you look forward to see the new Thomas film..

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