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Post by FlyingScotsman on Apr 24, 2009 21:29:29 GMT
Japan's answer to Chuggington perhaps? (on the subject of which, what is everyone's opinion on that?) Oy vay, that's a whole can of worms. Chuggington... well, as far as I can see, it doesn't look like a bad series as current kids' programmes go, the characters are vivid and there are some nice ideas. But they did do a guerilla spam advertising campaign on a number of parents' forums (to the extent that I found a thread on one of them called "No I have not seen f******* Chuggington!") Plus they talked trash at Thomas - they claimed it was old-fashioned and boring, and there was a lack of diversity in the characters. Generally they were strutting around, acting like they were going to bury Thomas. Not a wise prediction to make, it's the sort of thing that can come back to bite you where it hurts if you're wrong.
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Tayhan
Passenger Engine
Nothing but blue skies and clear tracks, and a good head of steam.
Posts: 554
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Post by Tayhan on Apr 24, 2009 21:58:33 GMT
Very true. I remember reading once that they said it would 'put Thomas on the sidings'. I had to lol at that. Thomas has been around for years, has a franchice larger than the moon and Texas combined, and has a great deal more charm and style to it than Chuggington has, or could ever have really, given that Thomas seems so much more 'real' than Chuggington.
But on the whole, Chuggington's not that bad. I think that girl-train (i.e. Koko) and Wilson have very annoying voices, and I dislike the certain aspects that kill the illusion of it being a proper railway (i.e. the use of trucks that fire newpapers via a lazer sighted catapult etc). I can tell they have got a lot of stuff from Thomas, but I still think Chuggington has a lot to offer as a kid's programme. It teaches good values and morals, has a variety of characters, a colourful setting and landscape (modern architects could learn from this) and a very catchy theme tune. As for characters, Eddie makes me chuckle, and the little trolley Zephie is especially adorable, but I think, if I'm to name my fave, it would be an all out competition between Brewster, because I see a lot of myself in him, if you get what I mean, and Old Puffer Pete, the only decent steam engine the whole series XD.
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Post by Georgemiser on Apr 26, 2009 19:23:18 GMT
i must say,I've only seen a few clips and i can still sum up the show in a few words.
if you think Thomas and friends is unrealistic, at least its not chuggington.
for those who havent seen it,heres the intro.
lovers of railway realism, watch at own risk.
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Post by TheRollingThunder on Apr 27, 2009 3:58:13 GMT
I hate the way the engines bounce a long the track but the CGI is good and I like how they make the yard seem busy unlike Season 8 of Thomas.
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Tayhan
Passenger Engine
Nothing but blue skies and clear tracks, and a good head of steam.
Posts: 554
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Post by Tayhan on Apr 27, 2009 7:32:23 GMT
Yeah, and how they jumped about and are able to land in exactly the same place is annoying as well. Still, movement is one way to catch a child's attention, and the theme tune is quite catchy I suppose.
But, for now anyway, Chuggington has nothing on our little blue friend.
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Post by Halstead on Apr 27, 2009 14:55:29 GMT
I've only encountered Chuggington a while back and while it's a show worthy of CBeebies, I question it's overall appearance. The characters appear to sail on a spathe of track, similar to the wind up Thomas & Ben Hornby train set I own. It's the track that gets my attention the most and while unsure it's a deliberate juncture or not, this does like the posters above say challenges the levels of realism on the show. But then again like that stupid scandal over Cerrie Bernell's missing arm, ask a viewer about the format of the show and I doubt they'll give a fig about it's confusing appearances. To end my message on their so-called rivalry, it's hard to outweed another show which is over a decade old and renowned worldwide.
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Post by shinystanley on Apr 28, 2009 0:38:27 GMT
Personally, the track setup is unrealistic.
Anyways, I watched (go and laugh XD ) The Little Engine that Could. I could not help but like the music. Sounds very cheery. Btw, Pete's little ditty when he coughs up a cinder at the beginning sounds like a bit you would hear in Thomas.
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Tayhan
Passenger Engine
Nothing but blue skies and clear tracks, and a good head of steam.
Posts: 554
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Post by Tayhan on Apr 30, 2009 16:00:10 GMT
I saw that film a while ago on YouTube. There're two versions, a shorter one, and one which follows the original story much more closely (as in includes all the engines mentioned before etc). As I mentioned in an earlier post, I thought Tillie was an adorable character, and Pete and Farnsworth were very much like Gordon and Henry, in my opinion anyways.
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Post by Aidan on May 3, 2009 22:28:53 GMT
Ah, the "Little Engine That Could" movie was one of my favorites when I was younger. The character Jebediah reminds me of how Edward is portrayed nowadays - a bit on the feeble side, but still a great character. I used to be afraid of the scene with the collapsing bridge, too.
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Tayhan
Passenger Engine
Nothing but blue skies and clear tracks, and a good head of steam.
Posts: 554
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Post by Tayhan on May 4, 2009 20:39:50 GMT
Yeah, that was a bit scary for a kid's programme. And for those who thought Chuggington was a copy of Thomas and Friends, well, you are right! I was watching an episode on BBC I Player, and the latest episode called Brewster's Little Helper, featuring Zephie, the adorable little works trolley. Anyways, cut a long story short, in one of the scenes towards the end, after Brewster has recused Zephie, she says something along the lines of 'I wish I could be a Really Useful chugger too'. Need I say more? Here's the link to the episode in question (only available to UK viewers as far as I know, and for a limited time as well) www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00kcwf3/b00kcwb7/Chuggington_Brewsters_Little_Helper/
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Post by FlyingScotsman on May 4, 2009 22:17:29 GMT
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Tayhan
Passenger Engine
Nothing but blue skies and clear tracks, and a good head of steam.
Posts: 554
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Post by Tayhan on May 4, 2009 22:23:29 GMT
Yeah, it's entertaining for the market it's aimed at (that's more or less what happened with TatMR), but to a railway realist such as myself, the random, laws-of-all-reason-and-physics-out-the-window scenarios are somewhat irritating. But yeah, it beats Underground Ernie by a lot. The trains aren't nearly as scary as in that, and it's generally much more entertaining.
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Post by FlyingScotsman on May 4, 2009 22:30:49 GMT
I also notice some familiar names on the writing credits, including Mr Jimmy Hibbert, something of a legend in kids' TV circles, and I understand he's written for Thomas in the past.
Re the laws of physics thing, I view it as just part of this particular fictional universe. I can see how it might annoy Thomas fans, but Thomas is unusually realistic by the standards of most kiddie trains. Compare Thomas to Casey Jr., Underground Ernie, Sammy the Shunter et al, and engines that actually obey the laws of physics are the happy exception rather than the rule.
Having said that, I just saw an episode where a steam engine's firebox is located under his chimney... which did irritate me. It shouldn't, but, well.
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Post by Chris on May 4, 2009 23:22:23 GMT
I also notice some familiar names on the writing credits, including Mr Jimmy Hibbert, something of a legend in kids' TV circles, and I understand he's written for Thomas in the past. I don't think Hibbert has ever worked on Thomas. You might, perhaps, be thinking of Brian Trueman? Glad to see a couple of people here enjoy Chuggington for what it is. The theme song is undeniably catchy and the CGI is more vibrant than some other recent shows I could mention. New Fireman Sam, anyone? It's most definately head and shoulders above Underground Ernie and I'd say the voice casting is one of chief reasons behind this. The former had a very wooden sounding Gary Lineker, while Chuggington has a lively set of child actors who appear to be enjoying every minute of what they're doing. Here's a neat interview I found with some of them: So yeah, certainly not a patch on Thomas for me, but one of the more tolerable kids shows of recent times.
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Post by FlyingScotsman on May 5, 2009 19:39:46 GMT
My mistake. Although I do think HIT could learn from Chuggington in some ways. For a start, Chuggington's not boring. Recently, Thomas episodes have felt really stretched out - Chuggington is even longer, but never feels padded. There's a good balance of characters, in that there are the three central characters, but there are lots of secondary characters who get some spotlight time. And they're all made distinctive - stories revolve specifically around characters, not vice versa (as I've said before, a lot of current Thomas stories could be recast with any character in the lead and it wouldn't make a difference).
Don't get me wrong, I still prefer Thomas, but I think HIT could afford to watch and learn.
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Post by lolzoad on May 25, 2009 20:36:56 GMT
Wow , the trains on chuggington can :fly , jump , do gymnastics and have pimped out suspension !
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Tayhan
Passenger Engine
Nothing but blue skies and clear tracks, and a good head of steam.
Posts: 554
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Post by Tayhan on Aug 18, 2009 14:43:24 GMT
I honestly had no idea where else to put this. But I was browsing Google Images for 'dieselpunk', and I found...this. Confused? So am I.
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Cranky Conner
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Who put glue in my shampoo?
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Post by Cranky Conner on Aug 18, 2009 17:25:45 GMT
Is that supposed to be from a kids book Tayhan? It looks like something from the bad end of Deviant Art.
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Tayhan
Passenger Engine
Nothing but blue skies and clear tracks, and a good head of steam.
Posts: 554
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Post by Tayhan on Aug 18, 2009 18:41:25 GMT
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Post by CPK on Aug 18, 2009 20:56:52 GMT
It's really interesting to say the least - they look both alright and a little scary at the same time. I'm assuming he most have done a feature for farming machines for a magazine? Nice to know they have to use tanks on that particular farm......
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