View source for Thomas the Tank Engine (1976)

{{Otheruses1|Thomas}}
{{Infobox Episode
|title1 = Thomas the Tank Engine
|image1 = File:ThomasTheTankEngine1976.png
|caption1 = The only known animated scenes
|writer = * [[Wilbert Awdry|Rev W. Awdry]] {{original story}}
* [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]] {{adaptation}}
|director = [[Wikipedia:Brian Cosgrove|Brian Cosgrove]]
|producer = [[Wikipedia:ITV Granada|Granada TV]]
|released = Unaired {{Note|Test screened early-1976}}
}}
'''Thomas the Tank Engine''' was an animated musical television series planned by [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]] from 1973. A pilot episode was produced but cancelled by 1977 due to the US marketing not being interested enough.

==Production==
Although the [[The Sad Story of Henry (1953)|first attempt at televising ''The Railway Series'' in 1953]] ultimately backfired, there was no lack of interest in trying again.

In 1973, [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]], who had read ''[[The Railway Series]]'' as a child, approached publisher [[Kaye & Ward]] with a proposal for a musical television series. At the time, Lloyd Webber was very much the rising talent, having composed two biblical pop musicals, [[Wikipedia:Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat|Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat]] and [[Wikipedia:Jesus Christ Superstar|Jesus Christ Superstar]], as well as film scores for [[Wikipedia:Gumshoe (film)|Gumshoe]] and [[Wikipedia:The Odessa File (film)|The Odessa File]].

Lloyd Webber had a number of meetings with [[Wilbert Awdry]] and Stanley Pickard, Kaye & Ward's Managing Director. Draft contracts were drawn-up and specimen lyrics written by Peter Reeves were submitted:
<blockquote><poem>
Come take a ride with the eight famous engines
Famous and Faithful and driven by steam
Each one is run by the branch line Controller
Each part of his scheme
The Fat Controller's team...
</poem></blockquote>

However, there was apprehension from the publishers and the author, as the agreement being offered would give Lloyd Webber's company "control of almost everything-idea, the characters, every one of the [[The Railway Series#Rev. W. Awdry|twenty-six books]], and even anything else not yet written on published." Lloyd Webberʼs lawyers argued that such control was necessary in order to "secure the investment money from [[United States|America]] which would be needed to pay for the animation and the film-making."

The project looked decidedly uncertain, but in November 1974, Stanley Pickard advised Wilbert that he was "maintaining personal contact with Andrew and still had a slight hope that there might be a way out." Wilbert remained apprehensive: "Once the Americans get hold of it, the whole series would be vulgarised and ruined." Eventually, a contract was signed almost a year later and Wilbert was paid an advance of £500.

Lloyd Webber ordered a pilot episode from [[Wikipedia:ITV Granada|Granada TV]]. Animator [[Wikipedia:Brian Cosgrove|Brian Cosgrove]] (who would later be one of the founders of [[Wikipedia:Cosgrove Hall Films|Cosgrove Hall Films]] along with [[Wikipedia:Mark Hall (animator)|Mark Hall]]) worked on the pilot, which would feature 2D cutouts of the engines moving along a background similar to that of the [[Wikipedia:Ivor the Engine|Ivor the Engine]] series. The cutouts and backgrounds would be based upon illustrations from The Railway Series, albeit in a unique Cosgrove style.<ref name="shutterstock">[https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/brian-cosgrove-awardwinning-cartoonist-working-on-animated-television-series-thomas-the-tank-engine-box-760-830051736-ajpg-9130474a Brian Cosgrove Award-winning Cartoonist Working on Animated Television Series 'Thomas the Tank Engine'] (18 October 1976)</ref>

The pilot episode was completed in early 1977 and Lloyd Webber had really tried very hard to bring the project to fruition, but Granada ultimately decided not to produce a full series as they feared that Awdry's stories were not then popular enough outside the UK to justify investing the time and money needed to make the series and he was a huge stage hit with [[Wikipedia:Evita (musical)|Evita]].

In 1977, Lloyd Webber formed the [[Wikipedia:Really Useful Group|Really Useful Group]], a name inspired by the phrase "Really Useful Engine." He wrote the ''[[Wikipedia:Starlight Express|Starlight Express]]'' inspired by ''The Railway Series'' in 1984, and it became one of his most famous works. These show that he retained his affection for The Railway Series in spite of the dropped pilot.

==Characters==
* [[Thomas (RWS)|Thomas]]
* [[Edward (RWS)|Edward]]
* [[Henry (RWS)|Henry]]
* [[Gordon (RWS)|Gordon]]
The following characters are mentioned in the specimen lyrics and may have appeared in later episodes.
* [[James (RWS)|James]]
* [[Percy (RWS)|Percy]]
* [[Toby (RWS)|Toby]]
* [[Duck (RWS)|Duck]]
* [[Sir Topham Hatt (RWS)|The Fat Controller]]

==Locations==
* [[Vicarstown (RWS)|Vicarstown]]
** [[Vicarstown Sheds (RWS)|Vicarstown Sheds]]
A bridge similar to the [[Standard Gauge and Narrow Gauge Viaduct|viaduct]] from the [[Series 4|fourth series]] of the ''[[Thomas & Friends|Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends]]'' television series produced by [[Britt Allcroft]] would have also appeared.

==Preservation==
It is not known what became of the original pilot and where it is today, if any footage still exists. The only known image of the series shows Brian Cosgrove animating the pilot.<ref name="shutterstock"/>

==Trivia==
* This is the second example of an attempt to adapt the Railway Series books to television, following the [[The Sad Story of Henry (1953)|1953 BBC]].
* It's currently unknown how far in production the pilot was and there is no information about cast members for the characters. It's also unknown if the episode was colourized or just in black and white due to the only known photos available being the latter.
* It is unknown exactly what story the pilot episode would have been based off of, but from the available image, it appears that the pilot would have been based off one or more of the stories from [[Thomas the Tank Engine]].
* During the production of the series, Lloyd Webber heard a recording of an American soul singer, Earl Jordan, who could sing three notes at once in the style of a steam whistle and it is believed that he was part of the voice cast.
* In the early 1980s, when [[Britt Allcroft]] told [[Wilbert Awdry]] the [[Down the Mine (Unaired Pilot)#Production|plan]] for the ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' television series, Awdry replied that a number of people had the same idea, but had failed in the attempt. He noted this pilot and Andrew Lloyd Webber's involvement as an example and claimed he had never heard more about it.
* According to a news article from Variety, if the series was greenlit, it would have had ten half-hour episodes.

==Gallery==
<gallery position="center" spacing="small" captionalign="center" bordersize="none">
File:ThomasTheTankEngine1976Scene.jpg|[[Thomas (RWS)|Thomas]] with presumably [[Henry (RWS)|Henry]], [[Gordon (RWS)|Gordon]] and [[James]] in the [[Vicarstown Sheds (RWS)|sheds]]
File:1976-pilot-image-restored.png
</gallery>

===Behind the Scenes===
<gallery position="center" spacing="small" captionalign="center" bordersize="none">
File:BrianCosgroveThomasTheTankEngine1976.jpg|[[Wikipedia:Brian Cosgrove|Brian Cosgrove]] animating the series<ref name="shutterstock"/>
File:Variety1976-11-17.png|Variety news article<ref>[https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1976-11-17_285_2/page/46/mode/1up ''Variety'' 17th November 1976, page 46] on the Internet Archive</ref>
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Source==
* [[The Thomas the Tank Engine Man]] by [[Brian Sibley]], pages 310-13 (2015 edition).
* Unmasked by [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]], Chapter 16 and Chapter 20

==External links==
* [https://www.sodor-island.com/the-tv-series The TV Series] on Sodor Island Fansite

[[es:Thomas la Locomotora de Tanque (1976)]]
[[he:תומס הקטר (1976)]]
[[ja:きかんしゃトーマス (1976年)]]
[[ru:Танк-паровозик Томас (1976)]]
[[Category:Lost Media]]
[[Category:Railway Series adaptations]]
[[Category:Cancelled Media]]
[[Category:Behind the Scenes]]
[[Category:1976]]