Background Information
In Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Diesel 10 was originally played by Australian actor Keith Scott and the character was intended only as a villain supplementary to Doug Lennox's character, P.T. Boomer. Boomer was cut due to early audience reactions and Diesel 10's role was rewritten to make him the primary villain. In the process, Keith Scott was replaced by Canadian improv comedian Neil Crone. Crone, with fellow improvisation comedian Kevin Frank, had been auditioning for the film to play the trucks. Crone was given the part of Diesel 10 when he was heard performing a gruff voice during auditions. In the final film, Crone and Frank improvised much of their dialogue, including the name "Pinchy" for Diesel 10's claw.
His plan in the original script was also much different. He plotted to get rid of the steam engines by making their lives miserable, one of the sections of the plan included the "Sneezing Powder" sequence (originally quarry dust in the original script and Little Engines Can Do BIG Things). He also planned to destroy all the buffers on the railway so the steam engines would crash and derail, with the diesels taking over and rebuilding the buffers after. The plan to destroy the buffers was further bolstered by his discovery of the buffers that led to the entrance of Mr. Conductor's Magic Railroad, thus stopping him from continuing his plans of diesel domination. This plan was the reason why George was going to be one of his assistants. Also, instead of returning to Sodor to finally destroy Lady once and for all, he was a new engine who Sir Topham Hatt brought to help while he was away but instead caused more havoc on the island.
Following his return in Calling All Engines!, he remained absent for 3 years before having a cameo in The Great Discovery and did not appear until 2 years later, in the post-credits scene of Misty Island Rescue, where he began serving as a special-exclusive villain. Following Day of the Diesels, Diesel 10 disappeared until the seventeenth series episode, The Missing Christmas Decorations, which is his only full appearance in a television episode. Aside from "Pinchy's" cameo in a fantasy scene in the twenty-second series episode, What Rebecca Does, Diesel 10 has been absent from the screen since 2013, probably due to the writers and Mattel considering him too scary for the audience. Matt Wilkinson (originally Rupert Degas) took over the role since 2010, giving Diesel 10 a gruff British accent, though his initial performance had a considerably more villainous deep tone to it.
Behind the Scenes
Gauge 1 model
Diesel 10's model was scratch built from brass and was built with pickup contacts and an eye mechanism with 2 servos that allow them to move however the crew member with the controls want it. The model was also equipped with a functional claw, controlled by the pre-programmed "motion control".[1]
Concept art showed that it was originally meant to extend after unfolding from inside his roof before it was dropped for engineering concerns. The model also had an alternate extended version of the hydraulic claw arm, which prominently saw use when he gets smacked in the face and hung from the viaduct.
Eight facial expressions were sculpted in clay before being cast in resin for the final model, although only seven were used on-screen.
Diesel 10's Mountain was carved based on Diesel 10's smiling face mask.
Life-size model
A life-sized version of Diesel 10 was required for a scene where the actors interact with him. Junior was green-screened in the scrapyard and rolling shots (also including P.T. Boomer of the chase scene in the original version), while a facade of Diesel 10's rear cab was done for the ease of editing. For the scene where he picked up Mr. Conductor, only half of the claw's arm was built, as the entire body did not need to be seen.
Close-up model
A close-up model of Diesel 10 was required for scenes where he had to interact with the close-up scale figures in Calling All Engines! The model was not complete and only the claw was built.
CGI model
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Diesel 10 was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.
Photographs of Diesel 10's Gauge 1 model were used for reference. According to Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.
Voice Actors
- Keith Scott (Thomas and the Magic Railroad; original workprints only)
- Neil Crone (Thomas and the Magic Railroad)
- Matt Wilkinson (UK/US; Misty Island Rescue onwards)
- Rupert Degas (UK/US; Misty Island Rescue - Day of the Diesels; original cuts only)
- Ginzō Matsuo (Japan; Thomas and the Magic Railroad only)
- Kiyoyuki Yanada (Japan; Calling All Engines only)
- Takaya Kuroda (Japan; Misty Island Rescue only)
- Ryōta Yamasato (Japan; Day of the Diesels only)
- Yohei Nishina (Japan; seventeenth series onwards)
- Yoram Yosefsberg (Israel; Thomas and the Magic Railroad)
- Christoffer Staib (Norway; Misty Island Rescue only)
- Simen Sand (Norway; Day of the Diesels - seventeenth series)
- Louis-Georges Girard (French speaking Canada; Thomas and the Magic Railroad)
- Helmut Krauss (Germany; Thomas and the Magic Railroad)
- Martin May (Germany; Misty Island Rescue only)
- Jürgen Holdorf (Germany; Day of the Diesels onwards)
- Wolfgang Hartmann (Germany; Audio Books only)
- Sławomir Pacek (Poland; Misty Island Rescue only)
- Dariusz Odija (Poland; Day of the Diesels only)
- Janusz Wituch (Poland; seventeenth series onwards)
- Luis Alfonso Padilla (Latin America; Thomas and the Magic Railroad)
- Miguel Ángel Ghigliazza (Latin America; Thomas and the Magic Railroad; TV Version)
- Gerardo Reyero (Latin America; Misty Island Rescue onwards; excluding Day of the Diesels)
- Eduardo Garza (Latin America; Day of the Diesels only)
- Sander de Heer (The Netherlands; Thomas and the Magic Railroad)
- Pasi Ruohonen (Finland; Misty Island Rescue onwards)
- Haris Grigoropoulos (Greece)