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Anchor Bay Entertainment is an American home entertainment and production company originally formed in 1995. They distributed Thomas & Friends on VHS and DVD in the US from 1995 to 2008 and in Canada from 2001 to 2008. During its time of distribution by Anchor Bay, Thomas reached platinum-selling status and, in 2002, ranked consistently on the VideoScan ranking top 50 chart of children's weekly video sales.[1]

History

Original Company (1995-2017)

Anchor Bay Entertainment was formed through the merger of Video Treasures and StarMaker, two competing video distribution companies, when they were sold to the Handleman Company and formed a new corporate umbrella, Anchor Bay Entertainment, on 2 May 1995.

Previously, Video Treasures had purchased Strand Home Video from VCI in December 1993[2], inheriting the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends distribution rights in the process. Video Treasures began distributing Thomas on VHS in 1994, still using the Strand Home Video logo on VHS tapes that year. In the early months of 1995, Video Treasures distributed Thomas on VHS using its own logo but, later that year, it was merged to form Anchor Bay Entertainment, though the Video Treasures logo continued to be used on Thomas VHS tapes for the next two years. Video Treasures also had Canadian branch named HGV Video Productions formed in 1989, which was largely unaffected by the 1995 merger until 2001. HGV Video Productions distributed Thomas on VHS in Canada from 1992 to 2001, after which it was folded into its new parent company and was renamed Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada, Limited.[1]

In the 1990s and 2000s, Anchor Bay was primarily known for its distribution of horror and cult films but it did distribute some children's shows as well. In addition to Thomas & Friends, Anchor Bay also distributed Shining Time Station, Eloise: The Animated Series, Bobby's World, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, Roseanne, Tickety Toc, Chuggington and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Anchor Bay also had a film studio known as Anchor Bay Films, which mainly distributed direct-to-video and independent films.

In 2003, Handleman sold Anchor Bay to IDT Entertainment, at the time a newly formed entertainment division of telecommunications company IDT Corporation. In 2006, Liberty Media, the owner of the Starz cable network, purchased IDT Entertainment from IDT Corporation and renamed it Starz Media. On 3 April 2007, Anchor Bay was renamed as Starz Home Entertainment but, in early 2008, Starz Home Entertainment was changed back to Anchor Bay Entertainment.

On 30 June 2016, Lionsgate agreed to purchase Anchor Bay's parent company Starz Inc. for $4.4 billion in cash and stock. The merger was completed on 8 December 2016. On 29 August 2017, Lionsgate folded Anchor Bay into their own home media division. In June 2021, Lionsgate was purchased by Shake Creations, Inc. for over $7 billion.

New Company (2024-2025)

In 2024, Lionsgate sold the Anchor Bay Entertainment name and trademark (but not their library, which Lionsgate retained) to Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz, co-founders of film finance and production company Umbrelic Entertainment. According to co-founder Thomas Zambeck, "We had an opportunity to take the name of a beloved genre film brand, one we feel a personal connection to, for our new company. This is a new venture, unaffiliated with any previous incarnations." The new company specialises in genre films, undiscovered treasures, cult classics and remastered catalogue releases.[3]

Thomas & Friends Releases

Originals

1995

ThomasandtheSpecialLetterandOtherStories1995VHScover Thomas and the Special Letter and Other Stories (15 August 1995)

1996

ThomasandHisFriendsHelpOutVHScover Thomas and His Friends Help Out (2 February 1996)
TheGallantOldEngineandOtherThomasStories1996VHScover The Gallant Old Engine and Other Thomas Stories (6 August 1996)

1997

Sing-AlongandStoriesVHS Sing-Along and Stories (11 February 1997)
ThomasMeetstheQueenandOtherStoriesVHScover Thomas Meets the Queen and Other Stories (19 August 1997)

1998

ThomasandHisFriendsGetAlong1998VHScover Thomas and His Friends Get Along (10 February 1998)
ThomasComestoBreakfastandOtherThomasAdventures1998VHScover Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Other Thomas Adventures (18 August 1998)
ABigDayforThomas1998VHScover A Big Day for Thomas (18 August 1998)

1999

Thomas'UsefulStoriesVHScover Thomas' Useful Stories (Blockbuster-exclusive) (2 February 1999)
CrankyBugsandOtherThomasStories1999VHScover Cranky Bugs and Other Thomas Stories (2 February 1999)
Races,RescuesandRunawaysandOtherThomasAdventures1999VHScover Races, Rescues and Runaways and Other Thomas Adventures (10 August 1999)
10YearsofThomasVHScover 10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (14 September 1999)

2000

SpillsandChillsandOtherThomasThrillsVHScover Spills and Chills and Other Thomas Thrills (29 February 2000)
MakeSomeoneHappyandOtherThomasAdventuresUSVHScover Make Someone Happy and Other Thomas Adventures (25 July 2000)
Thomas'ChristmasWonderlandandotherThomasAdventuresVHScover Thomas' Christmas Wonderland and Other Thomas Adventures (26 September 2000)

2001

ThomasTracksideTunesVHS Thomas' Trackside Tunes and Other Thomas Adventures (13 February 2001)
BestofPercyVHS Best of Percy (24 July 2001)
BestofThomasVHScover Best of Thomas (25 September 2001)

2002

BestofJamesVHS Best of James (5 March 2002)
Thomas'fanfavoriteadventuresVHS Thomas' Fan Favorite Adventures (Blockbuster-exclusive) (5 March 2002)
Thomas'MagicalMusicalRide Thomas' Magical Musical Ride (Blockbuster-exclusive) (5 March 2002)
Salty'sSecretandOtherThomasAdventuresVHScover Salty's Secret and Other Thomas Adventures (24 September 2002)

2003

Percy'sChocolateCrunchandOtherThomasAdventuresVHScover Percy's Chocolate Crunch and Other Thomas Adventures (25 February 2003)
TwoThomasAdventuresVHS Two Thomas Adventures (25 February 2003)
BestofGordonVHScover Best of Gordon (22 July 2003)
JamesandtheRedBalloonandOtherThomasAdventuresVHScover James and the Red Balloon and Other Thomas Adventures (22 July 2003)
Thomas'SodorStories Thomas' Sodor Stories (22 July 2003)
FunWithThomas Fun with Thomas (22 July 2003)
Thomas'snowysurpriseandotheradventuresVHS Thomas' Snowy Surprise and Other Adventures (14 October 2003)

2004

NewFriendsforThomasandotherAdventuresVHS New Friends for Thomas and Other Adventures (16 March 2004)
ThomasandtheJetEngineandOtherAdventuresVHS Thomas and the Jet Engine and Other Adventures (20 July 2004)
EarlyYears Cover The Early Years (26 October 2004)

2005

HoorayforThomasandOtherAdventuresVHScover Hooray for Thomas and Other Adventures (25 January 2005)
QuarryAdventuresonSodorcover Quarry Adventures on Sodor (3 May 2005)
PercySavestheDayandOtherAdventuresVHScover Percy Saves the Day and Other Adventures (26 July 2005)

2006

ThomasandtheReallyBraveEnginesandOtherAdventuresVHScover Thomas and the Really Brave Engines and Other Adventures (7 February 2006)
OnSitewithThomasandOtherAdventures2006DVDcover On Site with Thomas and Other Adventures (15 August 2006)
Thomas'HalloweenAdventures2006DVDcover Thomas' Halloween Adventures (29 August 2006)

2007

Thomas'TrustyFriendsUSDVD Thomas' Trusty Friends (1 May 2007)
ThomasandtheToyWorkshop Thomas and the Toy Workshop (18 September 2007)
UltimateChristmas Ultimate Christmas (23 October 2007)

2008

ThomasandtheTreasureDVD Thomas and the Treasure (29 January 2008)
MudGloriousMudDVD Mud Glorious Mud (6 May 2008)

Re-releases

1995

ThomasGetsTrickedandOtherStories1995VHScover Thomas Gets Tricked and Other Stories
JamesLearnsaLesson1995VHS James Learns a Lesson and Other Stories
TrustThomasandOtherStories1995VHScover Trust Thomas and Other Stories
ThomasgetsBumpedandOtherStories Thomas Gets Bumped and Other Stories
Thomas,PercyandtheDragonandOtherStories1995VHScover Thomas, Percy and the Dragon and Other Stories
DaisyVHS Daisy and Other Thomas Stories
Percy'sGhostlyTrickandOtherThomasStories1995VHScover Percy's Ghostly Trick and Other Thomas Stories

1996

JamesgoesBuzzBuzzVHS James Goes Buzz Buzz and Other Thomas Stories
Thomas'ChristmasPartyVHS Thomas' Christmas Party and Other Favorite Stories
RustytotheRescueVHS Rusty to the Rescue and Other Thomas Stories

DVD Packs

2003

BestofThomas,Percy&James Best of Thomas, Percy and James Platinum Edition (22 July 2003)
BestofCollection Best of Collection (14 October 2003)

2004

TotallyThomasVolume1(2004) Totally Thomas! Volume 1 (22 June 2004)
TotallyThomasVolume2(2004) Totally Thomas! Volume 2 (22 June 2004)
TotallyThomasVolume3(2004) Totally Thomas! Volume 3 (22 June 2004)

2005

DVD2-PackwithPercySavestheDayandWoodenRailwayMetallicPercy Percy Saves the Day and James and the Red Balloon 2 Pack DVD (11 October 2005)
10YearsofThomasandBestofGordon2PackwithWoodenRailwayMetallicPercy 10 Years of Thomas & Friends and Best of Gordon 2 Pack DVD (11 October 2005)
ThomasSnowySurprisePercySavestheDaywithWoodenRailwayJackFrostPercy Thomas' Snowy Surprise and Percy Saves the Day 2 Pack DVD (11 October 2005)
DVD2-PackwithJamesLearnsALessonandWoodenRailwayGeorge James Learns a Lesson and New Friends for Thomas 2 Pack DVD (11 October 2005)

2006

ThomasandtheJetEngineandRaces,RescuesandRunaways2PackDVDcover Thomas and the Jet Engine and Races, Rescues and Runaways 2 Pack DVD (7 February 2006)
ThomasandtheReallyBraveEnginesandPercy'sChocolateCrunch2PackDVDcover Thomas and the Really Brave Engines and Percy's Chocolate Crunch 2 Pack DVD (7 February 2006)

2008

TotallyThomasVolume4 Totally Thomas Volume 4 (12 August 2008)
TotallyThomasVolume5 Totally Thomas Volume 5 (12 August 2008)
TotallyThomasVolume6DVD Totally Thomas Volume 6 (12 August 2008)
TotallyThomasVolume7 Totally Thomas Volume 7 (7 October 2008)
TotallyThomasVolume8 Totally Thomas Volume 8 (7 October 2008)
TotallyThomasVolume9 Totally Thomas Volume 9 (7 October 2008)
UltimateThomasCollection Ultimate Thomas Collection (14 October 2008)

Double Features

ThomasGetsTricked&Percy'sGhostlyTrickDoubleFeature2 Thomas Gets Tricked/Percy's Ghostly Trick (2007)
Thomas'TrustyFriendsandOnSitewithThomasandotherAdventuresDoubleFeature Thomas' Trusty Friends/On Site with Thomas and Other Adventures (2007)
ThomasandtheToyWorkshopandThomasandtheReallyBraveEnginesDoubleFeature2 Thomas and the Toy Workshop/Thomas and the Really Brave Engines (2007)
TrustThomasandABigDayforThomasDoubleFeatureRe-release Trust Thomas/A Big Day for Thomas (2007)
JamesGoesBuzzBuzzandThomasandtheSpecialLetterDoubleFeature2 James Goes Buzz Buzz/Thomas and the Special Letter (2008)
PercyTakesthePlungeandThomasGetsBumpedDoubleFeaturecover Percy Takes the Plunge/Thomas Gets Bumped (2008)
TracksideTunesandThomasandHisFriendsHelpOutDoubleFeature Trackside Tunes/Thomas and His Friends Help Out (2008)
ThomasandtheTreasureandThomas,PercyandtheDragonDoubleFeature Thomas and the Treasure/Thomas, Percy and the Dragon (2008)

Shining Time Station VHS Release

1997

'TisaGift1997VHScover 'Tis a Gift (7 October 1997)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 [1] Home Media Magazine (1 August 2002)
  2. [2] Billboard (11 June 1994), page 62
  3. [3] Deadline (15 February 2024)
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