HiT Entertainment

HiT Entertainment is the current owner and producer of Thomas and Friends. They purchased Gullane Entertainment in 2003 and have since produced the new series format of Thomas episodes and merchandise. HiT first acquired the television rights for Thomas and Friends in 2003, during the airing of the sixth season, and the filming of the seventh. HiT's changes to the series have been reviled by many fans, due to their educational overtones. This contrasts with the Reverend W. Awdry's original meaning for the stories to be solely for entertainment. It was recently announced that Apax Partners, HiT's current owner, is prepared to sell it sometime in 2011.

US VHS and DVD Releases

 * Percy's Chocolate Crunch and other Thomas Adventures
 * James and the Red Balloon and other Thomas Adventures
 * Thomas' Snowy Surprise and other Adventures
 * Best of Gordon
 * New Friends for Thomas and other Adventures
 * Steamies vs. Diesels and other Thomas Adventures
 * Thomas and the Jet Engine and other Adventures
 * It's Great to be an Engine
 * The Early Years
 * Hooray for Thomas and other Adventures
 * Thomas' Sodor Celebration!
 * Songs from the Station
 * Percy Saves the Day and other Adventures
 * Calling All Engines
 * Thomas and the Really Brave Engines and other Adventures
 * Track Stars
 * Tales from the Tracks
 * Thomas' Trusty Friends
 * Thomas' Halloween Adventures
 * Come Ride the Rails
 * Milkshake Muddle
 * On Site with Thomas
 * Carnival Capers
 * Thomas and the Toy Workshop
 * Thomas and the Treasure
 * Engines and Escapades
 * The Great Discovery
 * Hero of the Rails
 * Splish, Splash, Splosh!
 * Thomas and the Runaway Kite
 * The Greatest Stories
 * Creaky Cranky
 * Misty Island Rescue
 * Merry Winter Wish
 * The Lion of Sodor
 * Wobbly Wheels and Whistles
 * Pop Goes Thomas (coming soon)
 * Day of the Diesels (coming soon)

UK DVD Releases

 * The Complete Eighth Series
 * The Complete Ninth Series
 * All Aboard with the Steam Team
 * It's Great to be an Engine
 * Peep! Peep! Hurray! Three Cheers for Thomas
 * Calling All Engines
 * Tales from the Tracks
 * Little Engines, Big Days Out
 * On Track for Adventure
 * Together on the Tracks
 * Thomas' Trusty Friends
 * Engines and Escapades
 * The Spirit of Sodor
 * The Great Discovery
 * Carnival Capers
 * Songs from Sodor
 * Heave Ho!
 * Hero of the Rails
 * Splish, Splash, Splosh!
 * Best of Thomas
 * Thomas and the Runaway Kite
 * The Complete Tenth Series
 * Creaky Cranky
 * The Complete First Series
 * The Complete Second Series
 * The Complete Third Series
 * The Complete Fourth Series
 * The Complete Fifth Series
 * The Complete Sixth Series
 * The Complete Seventh Series
 * Misty Island Rescue
 * Christmas Express
 * Wobbly Wheels and Whistles (coming soon)
 * The Complete Twelfth Series (coming soon)
 * The Lion of Sodor (coming soon)
 * Day of the Diesels (coming soon)

Criticism
Many fans believe that HiT Entertainment damaged Thomas and Friends on several grounds:
 * Replacing the melodious music by Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell with Robert Hartshorne and Ed Welch's un-catchy tunes.
 * Newer songs sung by kids differing from the styling of those from Seasons 1 through 7.
 * Changes in the persona's of several characters, most notably Edward, Toby, Skarloey, Sir Handel, Rheneas, Diesel, and Diesel 10.
 * The writing style of the series changing from entertainment with a moral, while kept fairly accurate to real railway operations, to an educational format.
 * Contradicting continuity, most notably with Henry needing special coal once more and Hiro being referred to as "the first engine on Sodor."
 * Transitioning from classic model animation to CGI.
 * Crashes that result in less violent effects than would be if in reality.
 * Additions of oddly configured trucks for tasks that would, in reality's railway operations, be handled by other types of rolling stock best suited for the task.
 * Storylines which do not seem to relate to that of what a real engine could endeavor. A notable example of this is Snow Tracks.
 * Stories commonly fixated on the Steam Team with older characters like Duck, Oliver, BoCo, Donald and Douglas and Duke, among others remaining absent, with some not appearing at all.
 * Less realistic rail operations.
 * Bizarre jobs being given to the engines.
 * New characters being introduced, possibly only for one episode, and then never appearing again.
 * Engines' crews only appear during closeups.

External link

 * HiT Website