With clunky bluescreen, spot-a-mile-off matte work and an absolute lack of synergy between real-life and animated action, it all conspires to provide an appropriately amateur sheen.
Comment
12/30/06
Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000)
19
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:63
Fresh:12
Rotten:51
Average Rating:3.9/10
Consensus: Kids these days demand cutting edge special effects or at least a clever plot with cute charectors. This movie has neither, having lost in its Americanization what the British original did so right.
Runtime: 87 mins
Genre: Childrens
Synopsis: Eleven-year old Lily (Mara Wilson) sets off to see her grandpa (Peter Fonda), but she ends up on the wrong train. Lily meets Mr. Conductor (Alec Baldwin), who lives in the town of Shining Time. Mr.... [More]
Starring: Edward Glen, Alec Baldwin, Peter Fonda, Mara Wilson
Director: Britt Allcroft
Reviews for Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Top CriticIf all this sounds convoluted, well, it's a toddlers' film and anything goes.
06/24/06
Top CriticAn inglorious wreck of a movie.
12/02/02
Could have been worse I suppose. At least there are no Pokemons or (shudder) grinning purple dinosaurs around.
12/10/01
Nonsensical, cheesy, saccharine drivel, with all the charm of the source material removed, and the low-tech special effects kept in.
01/01/00
It's sad in the extreme to see a behind-the-scenes cast of thousands, well hundreds, combining in an attempt to turn visual effects and animation into pure, innocent magic, and failing miserably.
01/01/00
Top CriticClick to read the article
08/07/08
Scenes with Peter Fonda as a melancholy grandfather -- he couldn't get a cherished engine running in time for his late wife to ride it -- periodically bring the movie screeching to a halt.
05/19/08
Please, for the love of God, don't let it be a franchise. Think of the parents.
12/06/05
It's very slow, though it does offer a respite from the overactive animation that kids are mostly subjected to.
05/20/03
Top CriticThere's no magic here, only incompetence.
05/14/03
...A strange, brooding story vastly different from its TV ancestor, and it will soon slip indistinctly from the public consciousness and into video stores, which is where it belongs.
02/08/03
Kids who loved the TV series will probably love this too. Adults will likely be less enthused.
10/21/02
Click to read the article
05/31/02
Top CriticA really unnecessary movie, whose purpose is primarily to promote the inevitable home video.
04/05/02
Click to read the article
03/24/02
Top CriticIf I had been on drugs, I would have laughed hysterically at those silly trains, with only their googly eyes giving them expression.
02/14/01
Offers a smooth trip.
01/01/00
Top CriticThis land of sweetness and light may appeal to many, but to some it is going to seem like living hell.
01/01/00
A cynical, poorly constructed attempt to make parents and kids pay for a lesser version of what they can get free on TV.
01/01/00
Latest News for Thomas and the Magic Railroad
January 01, 2000:
It looks cute enough. 
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January 01, 2000:
Though its box-office prospects seem chancy, the film does have a ready-made audience.
More...
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