ReadItDaddy temporarily switches over to WatchItWithDaddy for a moment or two. Thanks to the good folks at HiT Entertainment, we've been given a preview copy of Thomas the Tank Engine's latest movie - Day of the Diesels - to review.
Charlotte has been a fan of Thomas the Tank Engine for quite a while, mostly because she's inherited a lot of her uncle's "Railway Series" books and has seen a few episodes of the HiT Entertainment "Thomas and Friends" series airing on Channel 5's "Milkshake" segment.
Those who remember the cute Thomas stop-motion stuff from the 1980s may already know that Thomas and the Island of Sodor are all now rendered in CGI. What's important though is that this hasn't changed a thing - the little engine and the rest of the characters are as great as ever they were.
"Day of the Diesels" introduces us to some new characters that viewers of the TV show won't have seen before. There's Belle, a fantastic engine who can fight fires along with her friend Flynn, a rail-going fire engine as happy on the road as he is on the tracks.
Then there are the diesels. They're dirty, they're rude and if truth be told, they're more than a little bit devious.
Without spoiling the movie too much, Day of the Diesels is more about Percy the little engine than it is about his best friend Thomas. In fact Thomas plays second fiddle to most of the characters in this movie but there's a good reason, as the movie weaves quite a purposeful tale of friendship, misunderstanding and what can happen if you fall in with a bad crowd.
Diesel 10 - the silver-tongued (and slightly sinister) main miscreant in "Day of the Diesels" takes Percy under his wing. But is his friendship genuine, or does Diesel 10 have a rather sinister ulterior motive...?
Any engine with a gigantic claw on its roof can't be trustworthy, surely?
The film runs for just over an hour and despite a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, managed to keep Charlotte rivetted to the spot. She found some of the diesels a little bit scary (as I said, the main 'baddie' having a huge snapping claw on his roof was a bit scarier than the average TV episode) but thoroughly enjoyed the movie and wanted it straight back on again for a second viewing as soon as the end credits rolled.
The bonuses on the Blu Ray (and DVD versions) were excellent too. Simple animated sequences to show exactly how Steamies and Diesels both work. There are also "guess the character" games, and two of the very catchy songs from the movie are also available with full sing-along lyrics.
The movie will be released on DVD and Blu Ray on September 26th, 2011 - Here's an Amazon link.
Thomas & Friends - Day of the Diesels [DVD] [2011]
Charlotte's best bit - Belle the brave fire-fighting engine
Daddy's favourite bit - The Diesels going absolutely loopy at the Steamworks
Rating - 4 out of 5 stars
(This item was sent to us for review)