Monthly arts column

Do you know the names of the red one, the green ones and the blue ones? If you could also identify the two black ones and some 20 others, then chances are that you exist in close proximity to a Thomas the Tank Engine fan.

Class system

The creator of the fussy little engine was a clergyman who began telling stories about trains to his three-year-old son, Christopher, in 1943. The original series by the Rev W. Awdry introduced the engines through stories explaining how they came to work on the Line. In them, details are carefully given about the functions of the engines and events are often drawn from real-life railway news, as if from one train enthusiast to another.

The post-war stamp of class hierarchy can be clearly identified; there are the ruling classes, represented by the tailcoat-wearing Fat Director, later changed to the more identifiable Fat Controllerâ and, in the US, the more politically correct, Sir Topham Hatt.

The middle classes are split into the tender and tank engines. The tender engines (Gordon, James and Henry) are proud and frequently disgruntled, offended when asked to shunt their own carriages and pompous in their self-importance. The tank engines, however, (Thomas and Percy) are happy, cheerful and eager to help the Fat Controller in their gratitude for the opportunity of being part of the Line.

Meanwhile, the working class trucks and carriages are simply there for hard graft. They are expected to do whatever is needed and the trucks are often described as ‘troublesome’, needing to be kept in strict order.

The ideology in the early tales seems to be that you should do the job that you were born to do without complaining or grumbling. Selfish, grumpy attitudes are normal but shown to be unhelpful and shameful. A sense of humour under duress is essential and cheeky pranks played on the proud are fair enough. These early stories may have the veneer of being dated in their vocabulary and tone but they contain values that accept that the majority of behaviour is driven by self-interest. This seems to be a realistic start to conversations with children about the root of their bad behaviour and a useful provision of illustrations with which to consider the consequences of thinking only about oneself.

Continuing values

Remarkably, the values of these first stories seem to have been carried across the years, particularly by those who have developed the Thomas franchise over the last 20 years. The key influence on the ongoing popularity of Thomas is the documentary maker, Britt Allcroft, who brought the Thomas series to ITV in 1984, drawing audiences of 8.4 million, despite looking like a Hornby train set filmed in someone’s attic. The engines are still grumpy and selfish but still end up seeing sense in the end.

However, the American film Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000) changes tack dramatically. In this film, magic, gold dust and the fight between good and evil are predictably top of the bill. The instruction ‘to believe in the magic inside all of us’ comes thick and fast as the universe of talking trains on the Island of Sodor is threatened by the evil diesel who wants to destroy the hidden, lost engine, ‘Lady’. Only the actions of two children can save the conductor by finding him more gold dust. It is a true Disneyfication of the original stories which divests the viewer of the need to think logically, requiring them just to watch and worship the trains. If anything, you should be really useful, and whatever you do, you’d better believe!

Where is Jesus?

While thinking about the values and ideologies behind Thomas the Tank Engine past and present, I couldn’t help thinking about the creator of the series, the Reverend Awdry.

I’ve tried to find out about his theology and impact on the churches that he ran, but without much success. It seems sad that a man who used his ‘Rev.’ title so proudly should have so little said about his work for the gospel. The legacy of Thomas may be a lot of fun for children today, containing some useful indicators as to sensible behaviour, but I wonder if the children and adults in his direct care heard much about the Lord Jesus as well.

Eleanor Margesson

© Evangelicals Now - July 2006
Please consider supporting this ministry by subscribing.