ThomasNATION Classic Reviews - Dream On

September 07, 2024

 

I think it goes without saying that Thomas himself has gone through quite the identity crisis through the years ever since HiT Entertainment first bought the franchise where he would always wish that he could be anything but a steam engine like his friend Jeremy and even in today's age with the franchise under the reign of Mattel where they literally want Thomas to be anything but a train rather it be an airplane, an astronaut, a Roman chariot or an...elephant.  I don't mean to keep ragging on modern day Thomas, but the fact they're trains is and should be the selling point of this very franchise.  It's no wonder that the toy sales continue to slip, even in the current age of All Engines Go.  Kids aren't going to want toys of trains when the show itself goes to extreme lengths to say that trains are lame and has them doing anything other than what trains would do.  It's safe to say that Thomas entered a sort of identity crisis since Mattel took over which only gets worse and worse with every passing year.  But for today's review, let's journey back to the final all-model season of Thomas & Friends to a time when Thomas wanted to be faster, shinier and stronger than the mainland's very own Spencer as we can only do nothing but "Dream On".  Let's take a look...

DREAM ON: Thomas wants to be faster, shinier and stronger than Spencer.

---
I think it's safe to say that many people especially in the current state of the world have issues with self-esteem where they wish that they were just like someone else or had something that made them just like everyone else.  But no matter how hard we try to be just like those other people, we have to realize sooner or later that we can only be who we are and being who you are can actually help you to go far sometimes.  This is a story that we've seen thousands of times before in countless of other children's media whether books or film, and even Thomas has had its fair share of stories where characters need to learn to be proud of who they are and not wish that they were like everyone else.  Besides, this world we live in wouldn't be the special place that it is if everyone looked and acted and thought the same as each other. So, how does this play into my thoughts on "Dream On" which was the first of two times in the franchise's history where Thomas had to learn a lesson in self-esteem?  Well, even if this is your typical "three strikes" formula that had really made watching the HIT Era of Thomas feel like a drag and speaking as someone who still struggles with self-esteem issues even at the age of thirty, this episode is actually a favorite of mine.  I have loved this episode ever since I first saw it seventeen years ago.  Despite the three strikes, the episode is entertaining too. The moral of the episode has been used before about being yourself, but it can work in a few episodes. I especially liked the coat of arms, though I wish that they had put it on Spencer's tender since it would've looked realistic or maybe even on his running board.  After all, for all you fans of U.K. railway history, Princess Elizabeth herself wore the royal coat of arms on her running board for the Queen's Diamond Jubliee in 2012. But like I said before, a man who has been a fan of Thomas as well as trains in general for as long as he can remember can dream.
In fact, this really puts into perspective just how delicate of a matter it is to make Thomas "appeal to a wider audience". Whether it's making him into a bouncy cartoon toy like what we've seen with All Engines Go or a gritty steampunk machine like what we would've seen with the canceled film "The Adventures of Thomas", it's difficult to really reimagine the guy being a series where preserving heritage and legacy in a rapidly modernizing world is a key theme. It should come as no surprise that any form of change in its lore, aesthetic and design would be unwelcome.  But what happens when your series is forced to rapidly modernize?  As time went on, Thomas became a more personality-driven franchise and that meant that it was required to "adjust" to the appeal of wider audiences and temporarily boost toy sales. But ultimately, these changes are met with either strong criticism or plain indifference.  Thomas & Friends' eighty-year-old legacy is what keeps it firmly planted in its roots of heritage.  It is also what holds it back from appealing to a more contemporary audience no matter how hard they try to "modernize" its appearance.  In other words, Thomas & Friends is a series that constantly changes its image and yet cannot truly change its image. In the end, you're left with an intellectual property that is currently in a state of limbo, with not one company or producer ever figuring out what to do with the talking blue train.  
But with all this in mind, even if it falls victim to the "three strikes" formula that plagued the HiT Era for years, I still think that "Dream On" is a pretty good episode just for being what it is and this type of story could only really work as an episode in a television show compared to what we saw with "The Great Race" nine years later.  But that's a story for another day, as I'm gonna give "Dream On" a rating of a 4/5.

Share This Story

Tags: , , , ,

You Might Also Like

0 comments

Follow us on Twitter!