| This article is about the US/Canadian/Korean VHS/DVD. You may be looking for the UK DVD or the Japanese VHS. |
Best of Thomas is a US/Canadian/Korean VHS/DVD release featuring three first series episodes, one second series episode, two third series episodes and two fourth series episodes narrated by George Carlin and one song. The US/Canadian DVD release also featured three additional songs.
This release was distributed in the US and Canada by Anchor Bay Entertainment on VHS and DVD in 2001. It was released by DVD Acadamy in South Korea in 2002. It was released again in the US and Canada as part of multi-DVD boxsets in 2003 and again with a slipcover in 2007. Lionsgate re-released the title on DVD in 2009 and for digital download in 2013.
Description
VHS
For over 50 years, the exciting adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine and his Island of Sodor friends have enchanted millions of people around the world. With his endearing grin, light-hearted attitude, and cheeky personality, Thomas has enriched the lives of generations of children.
Over the past year, we have received hundreds of thousands of letters, e-mails and phone calls from fans who wanted to share with us their favorite Thomas stories. From this loyal support, we were proud to produce this video which features 8 of your favorite adventures highlighting everyone's #1 engine, THOMAS.
Re-live the day when Thomas got his very own branch line, laugh out loud as Thomas and a "not-so-scary" dragon play a little trick on Percy, and get ready with engines as they prepare for a very special visitor.
Join Percy, James, Gordon and the rest of your Sodor Friends as we celebrate the little blue engine who does really big things!
2001/2009 DVD
For over 50 years, the exciting adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine and his Island of Sodor friends have enchanted millions of people around the world. With his endearing grin, light-hearted attitude, and cheeky personality, Thomas has enriched the lives of generations of children.
Over the past year, we have received hundreds of thousands of letters, e-mails, and phone calls from fans who wanted to share with us their favorite Thomas stories. From this loyal support, we are proud to produce this first-ever DVD which includes 8 of your favorite Thomas adventures and remarkable bonus features that promote learning and fun for everyone!
Join Percy, James, Gordon, and the rest of your Sodor Friends as we celebrate the little blue engine who does really big things!
2007 DVD
For over 50 years, the exciting adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine and his Island of Sodor friends have enchanted millions of people around the world. With his endearing grin, light-hearted attitude, and cheeky personality, Thomas has enriched the lives of generations of children.
Over the years, we have received hundreds of thousand of letters, e-mails, and phone calls from fans who wanted to share with us their favorite Thomas stories. From this loyal support, we were proud to produce this DVD which includes 8 of your favorite Thomas adventures with remarkable bonus features that are fun for everyone!
Join Percy, James, Gordon, and the rest of your Sodor Friends as we celebrate the little blue engine who does really big things!Episodes
- Thomas Gets Bumped
- A New Friend for Thomas
- Thomas, Percy and the Dragon
- Thomas Saves the Day
- Trouble for Thomas
- Thomas and Stepney
- A Big Day for Thomas
- Thomas Meets the Queen*
*Followed by a song on VHS in the US/Canada
Songs
- Really Useful Engine (US/CAN VHS, separate from main feature on DVD)
- Thomas' Anthem (DVD only)
- It's Great to Be an Engine (DVD only)
- Let's Have a Race (DVD only)
Bonus Features
- Thomas and the Dinosaur read-along story
- "The Great Festival Adventure" interactive CD-ROM game demo
- Character Gallery
- "What Color Am I?", "Find My Number" and "Which Engine Am I?" DVD games
Trivia
- This marks the first release for a few things:
- The first Thomas & Friends episodic DVD released in the US and Canada.
- The first Thomas & Friends DVD release worldwide to feature Flash animation.
- The first Thomas & Friends VHS released by Video Acadamy and DVD released by DVD Acadamy in South Korea.
- The first one of the "Best of" releases without a Trivia game based on the episodes included on this release.
- The episodes were selected by viewers on a poll on The Official Website.
- This is the last US release to be captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH (known at the time as The Caption Center), although they would later caption the PBS broadcasts of the eighth series.
- The full version of the original theme music is featured on the menus.
- Additional clips from Thomas Gets Tricked, A Big Day for Thomas, Trouble for Thomas, Thomas Saves the Day, Terence the Tractor, Thomas Goes Fishing, Foolish Freight Cars, Double Teething Troubles, Double Trouble, Thomas Comes to Breakfast, Put Upon Percy, Baa!, Bye George!, James and the Trouble with Trees, Make Someone Happy, Happy Ever After, Thomas and the Rumors, Thomas' Christmas Party, A Scarf for Percy, Percy's Ghostly Trick, Thomas, Percy and the Mail Train and Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach are used in the intermissions between the episodes, accompanied by snippets from Thomas' Anthem.
- Most of the "Next Story" title cards at the end of each intermission were reused from Best of Percy.
- The sing-along songs on this DVD are also featured on the CD sampler of Thomas' Songs & Roundhouse Rhythms, which comes as a bonus CD with some copies of this release and the Thomas' Christmas Wonderland and Other Thomas Adventures DVD.
- The only US DVD release to feature the George Carlin narration of Thomas Saves the Day and Thomas Meets the Queen.
- The digital release includes the Gullane Entertainment logo at the beginning and the 2007 HiT Entertainment logo at the end.
- Although no complete episodes from the fifth series are featured on this release, footage from the fifth series is shown in the intermission segments.
- The episodes on the Korean VHS/DVD are voiced over the English audio.
Goofs
- Trouble for Thomas is out of sync and the final 10 seconds are cut.
- Elizabeth is shown on the Korean DVD back cover, but she does not appear in any episodes and she was not introduced until the sixth series.
- Throughout this program, the captioning is inconsistent with how some of the characters' dialogue is spoken during the episodes, often using commas or periods instead of exclamation points when they make actual exclamations. This applies to all other US VHS and DVD releases of Thomas & Friends. Examples in this case include the following:
- In the scene of Gordon and Percy at Knapford Station in Thomas, Percy and the Dragon, when Gordon complains about not having time for Percy's puzzles, periods are used instead of exclamation points in the subtitles for Gordon's lines (including "I don't have time for your games!" which is mistakenly captioned as "I don't have time for games"), making them not match up to the tone of voice used.
- In the scene of the Queen's visit in Thomas Meets the Queen, when Henry and James angrily utter a shush initially, just to momentarily criticise Percy and Toby just for starting to cheer for the Queen, a comma is used instead of an exclamation point in the subtitles for Henry and James' line, making it look misleading the same way.
- On the 2001 DVD release, during the closing credits, the subtitles show lyrics from Thomas' Anthem.
- On the prototype menu of Which Engine Am I? on the DVD booklet, James' number is missing.
- On the "Thomas' Best Friends" section in the booklet:
- In Character Gallery, Paint My Color and Which Engine Am I? DVD games, Mavis is seen puffing steam, despite her being a diesel engine and she does not have her name on the side.
- At the start of Thomas, Percy and the Dragon, the last bit of the intro is shown for a split second, meaning that it was not cut properly.
In Other Languages
| Language | Title |
|---|---|
| Korean | 베스트 오브 토마스 |
VHS/DVD Packs
US/CAN
Best of Thomas, Percy and James Platinum Edition- Best of Collection
- Ultimate Thomas Collection
- Best of Thomas and Best of James Double Feature
- Best Tales on the Tracks
KOR
- Best of Thomas and Best of James VHS Double Pack
