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Thomas the Tank Engine Wikia
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Series 12

Revision as of 02:31, 17 March 2020 by TheGreenBeetle (Message Wall | contribs) (Why is it trivia worthy?)
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The twelfth series of Thomas & Friends began airing in September 2008. It was the first series to utilise CGI elements, with the vehicles' faces being animated in CGI and other characters being fully CGI animated. There are twenty episodes in this series and all were narrated by Michael Angelis in the UK and Michael Brandon in the US. Pierce Brosnan was originally meant to narrate this series in both English dubs, but he was eventually replaced by Angelis and Brandon, respectively.

Production

Unexceptionally, Series 12 marked the beginning of the show's transition into CGI. HIT Entertainment was originally keen on producing more model/CGI series but the plans fell through because of its low finances and budget.

The characters' faces were animated through CGI with the aid of motion capture animation. The physical models' moulded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production.

Episodes

Screenshot UK title (top)
US title (bottom) 		Written by Original UK release date Episode number #
ThomasAndTheBillboard99 Thomas and the Billboard Mark Robertson 1st September 2008 #01
Diesel obscures Thomas in a photograph of the engines.
SteadyEddie17 Steady Eddie Sharon Miller 2nd September 2008 #02
Edward takes the Great Waterton water wheel on the scenic route to show off to his friends.
Rosie'sFunfairSpecial87 Rosie's Funfair Special
Rosie's Carnival Special		 Andrew Viner 3rd September 2008 #03
Rosie and Emily are pulling a train for a fair, but Rosie wants to pull it alone.
MountainMarvel74 Mountain Marvel Sharon Miller 4th September 2008 #04
Peter Sam rushes to finish his jobs in order to hear a tale about Proteus from the famous storyteller, Miss Marvel.
HenryGetsItWrong13 Henry Gets it Wrong Abi Grant 5th September 2008 #05
Henry worries that the workmen are going to cut down the wishing tree.
HeaveHoThomas!36 Heave Ho Thomas! Sharon Miller 8th September 2008 #06
A large new engine called Hank arrives, but Thomas is determined not to need his help.
Toby'sSpecialSurprise69 Toby's Special Surprise Sharon Miller 9th September 2008 #07
Toby wants to make an impression by searching Sodor for something special.
ExcellentEmily50 Excellent Emily Paul Larson 10th September 2008 #08
Emily becomes arrogant after receiving praise from the Fat Controller.
ThePartySurprise69 The Party Surprise Simon Spencer 11th September 2008 #09
Freddie decides to reorganise a winter party from Mr. Percival's house to the Wharf as a surprise for Colin the crane.
SavedYou!20 Saved You! Paul Larson 12th September 2008 #10
Thomas wants to prove his heroism when he learns a fireman is to be honoured.
DuncanAndTheHotAirBalloon80 Duncan and the Hot Air Balloon Mark Robertson 15th September 2008 #11
Mr. Percival's twins are getting a ride in the Hot Air Balloon for their birthday, but Duncan wants to take them himself.
JamesWorksItOut47 James Works it Out Simon Spencer 16th September 2008 #12
When James ignores Hector's advice, he gets caught in bad winter weather.
TramTrouble55 Tram Trouble Sharon Miller 17th September 2008 #13
Toby and Flora are heading a parade at Great Waterton; Thomas thinks Toby would rather lead the event on his own and tries to distract Flora.
Don'tGoBack11 Don't Go Back Simon Spencer 18th September 2008 #14
Thomas and Diesel race backwards.
GordonTakesaShortcut12 Gordon Takes a Shortcut Wayne Jackman 19th September 2008 #15
Gordon gets lost while taking a shortcut and refuses to ask for help.
TheManintheHills72 The Man in the Hills Sharon Miller 22nd September 2008 #16
Thomas and the narrow gauge engines collect presents for Mr. Percival's birthday.
ThomasPutsTheBrakesOn44 Thomas Puts the Brakes On Mark Robertson 23rd September 2008 #17
Thomas' brakes malfunction while delivering bricks to repair a bridge.
PercyandtheBandstand62 Percy and the Bandstand Paul Larson 24th September 2008 #18
Percy is tasked with bringing Lady Hatt to a surprise party, but the unknowing Lady Hatt tells him to go elsewhere.
PushMe,PullYou69 Push Me, Pull You Sharon Miller 25th September 2008 #19
Skarloey refuses Rheneas' help to pull a train for a puppet show and ends up playing the trucks' games.
BestFriends71 Best Friends Anna Starkey 26th September 2008 #20
Thomas tries to avoid telling Percy he has been given a job Percy wants to do.

Songs

Characters

Characters Introduced

Half Hour Format

When series 12 aired on PBS Kids, Nick Jr. UK and Treehouse, each broadcast had 2 episodes from series 12, a segment dedicated to one of Thomas' friends and past animated learning segments and songs from series 8, 9 and 10 were used.

Good Friends

Being Careful

Good Turns

  • Heave Ho Thomas!
  • Learning Segment: Guess the Engine - James
  • Song: Pride
  • Thomas' Favourite Friends - Henry
  • Learning Segment: Which Engine for Which Job?
  • Toby's Special Surprise

Right Track

  • Don't Go Back
  • Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Gordon
  • Learning Segment: Over the Bridge
  • Thomas' Favourite Friends - Gordon
  • Learning Segment: Which Track for Henry?
  • Learning Segment: Emily Huffs out of the Station
  • Percy and the Bandstand

Courage

  • Thomas Puts the Brakes On
  • Learning Segment: Guess the Engine - Emily
  • Song: Brave
  • Thomas' Favourite Friends - Neville and Dennis
  • Learning Segment: Getting There
  • Gordon Takes a Shortcut

Presents and Prizes

  • The Man in the Hills
  • Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Edward
  • Learning Segment: What is Thomas Thinking of?
  • Thomas' Favourite Friends - Harold and Jeremy
  • Learning Segment: Which Load to Which Station?
  • Excellent Emily

Kindness

  • Tram Trouble
  • Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Toby
  • Song: Responsibility
  • Thomas' Favourite Friends - Edward
  • Learning Segment: Who Can get to the Washdown?
  • James Works it Out

Pulling Together

  • Rosie's Funfair Special
  • Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Percy
  • Song: Togetherness
  • Thomas' Favourite Friends - Diesel
  • Learning Segment: Which Load for Which Party?
  • Push Me, Pull You

Adventures

  • Duncan and the Hot Air Balloon
  • Learning Segment: Dot to Dot - Thomas
  • Learning Segment: What Does Toby see?
  • Thomas' Favourite Friends - The Narrow Gauge Engines
  • Learning Segment: Percy's Treasure
  • Mountain Marvel

Mistakes

Trivia

  • Nitrogen Studios began production on this series in November 2007.[1] Additionally, according to writer Andrew Viner's website, the episode Rosie's Funfair Special was commissioned/written in 2007.
  • This was the first series of several things:
    • The first series where all engines' faces, human characters, animals and environmental surroundings are in full CGI and have animation.
    • Sharon Miller's first series as head writer.
    • Claire Waxler's first series as supervising producer, albeit uncredited, while being her first and only series as animation coordinator.
    • The first series to be in 1080p progressive scan full high definition.
    • The first series to have twenty episodes.
    • The first series produced and to contain CGI by Nitrogen Studios.
    • The first HiT series recorded and edited in 25 FPS (aside from the end credits).
    • The first Thomas & Friends production since Thomas and the Magic Railroad in which humans and animals are shown walking onscreen.
    • The first series to premiere on Milkshake! before the half hour airings on Nick Jr. in the UK.
    • The first series since their debuts where 'Arry and Rocky appear, but do not speak in any of their appearances.
    • The first series in which Stephen Hatt does not appear.
    • The first series to have Mark Robertson write episodes for the series.
    • The first series in which Butch does not appear since his introduction in the fifth series.
    • The first series in which each of the characters have their own voices in the South Korean dub.
    • The first series where James only speaks in two episodes.
    • The first series where James does not visit the narrow gauge railway.
    • The first series where Ffarquhar Quarry does not appear.
  • This was also the last series of several things as well:
    • The last series to use models and resin faces, however the resin faces were only used in background shots.
    • Simon Spencer's last series as producer and showrunner.
    • The last series filmed at Shepperton Studios.
    • The last series in which where Stepney, Arthur, Murdoch, Neville, Freddie, Mighty Mac, Hector, Jeremy, Dusty Miller, Alice, the Photographer, Mrs. Percival, the Dockyard Manager, and three Members of the Railway Board appear.
    • The last series to feature songs composed by Ed Welch.
    • The television series veteran Steve Asquith's final series as director.
    • The last production to have all of the characters voiced by the narrator until Thomas Goes to New York.
    • The last series to have Abi Grant, Simon Spencer and Wayne Jackman as a part of the writing team.
    • The last time Paul Larson writes an episode until the seventeenth series as well as the last series where he writes an episode by himself.
    • The final time until the eighteenth series episode, Samson Sent for Scrap to use the brake sound from The Train.
    • The last series until the twenty second series to introduce more than one engine.
    • The last series to have songs sung by children until The Adventure Begins.
    • The last series since to have 7-minute episodes until the twenty-second series.
    • The last series to open with Awdry's letter to Christopher in television broadcasts.
    • The last series until the seventeenth to not feature Thomas or any Steam Team member in every episode.
    • Marc Seal and Sharon Miller's last series as Additional Material Written.
    • This series marks the last appearance of Killdane Junction
  • This was also the only series of several things as well:
    • The only series to use a hybrid model/CGI mix.
    • Dino Athanassiou's only series as CGI director.
    • Pete Atkin's only series as voice director.
    • The only series in which where Stepney speaks in the US dub, but not the UK dub.
    • The only series where Ben appears without Bill.
    • The only series where Alfie, Cranky, and Arthur appear, but do not speak since their introductions.
    • The only series not shown on Japanese television, but some episodes have been shown exclusively at Thomas Land's 3D Theatre and Video on Demand in Japan.
    • The only series to not be completely dubbed in Japanese.
    • The only CGI series not to have a full voice cast for the characters outside of France and Korea.
    • The only series to have Anna Starkey write an episode for the series.
    • The only series to have Andrew Viner write for the series until the sixteenth series.
    • The only series not dubbed in Dutch.
    • The only series where Flora, Hank and Colin appear. Colin was meant to appear in King of the Railway, but was cut for unknown reasons.
    • The only series to not include an original music video.
  • Aside from the Teacher and the tree specialists, all of the characters introduced in this series have only ever appeared in their debut episodes.
  • This series contained the 300th episode of the television series, which was James Works it Out.
  • Pierce Brosnan was originally hired to narrate this series after The Great Discovery, but he was withdrawn from the series and Michael Angelis and Michael Brandon returned to replace Brosnan. Brosnan is known to have recorded narration for, at the very least, several episodes of the series.
  • This is the second series after the ninth series in which Spencer does not appear.
  • In the UK, this series had been shown before The Great Discovery, meaning that the audience may not have known about Stanley or Great Waterton.
  • This series was never shown in Hungary, Norway, Romania, Poland and the Netherlands, meaning audiences would not know about any of the new characters introduced in this series.
  • Harvey, Arthur, Cranky, Max/Monty, Annie, and Clarabel were the only non-human characters not to utilise CGI face masks. However, two pictures from a magazine story shows Harvey with a CGI face.
  • Despite using CGI for the engines' faces, there are scenes that show some characters with their face castings.
  • One year later in 2009, the twelfth series along with the eighth to eleventh series aired at 5.35 or 5.40 am on Sundays and Mondays until the rights from live action model animation expired in 2012.

<< Series 11

Series 12

Series 13 >>

#01 Thomas and the Billboard #08 Excellent Emily #15 Gordon Takes a Shortcut
#02 Steady Eddie #09 The Party Surprise #16 The Man in the Hills
#03 Rosie's Funfair Special #10 Saved You! #17 Thomas Puts the Brakes On
#04 Mountain Marvel #11 Duncan and the Hot Air Balloon #18 Percy and the Bandstand
#05 Henry Gets It Wrong #12 James Works It Out #19 Push Me, Pull You
#06 Heave Ho Thomas! #13 Tram Trouble #20 Best Friends
#07 Toby's Special Surprise #14 Don't Go Back
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