An unreleased pilot episode of Thomas and Friends, dating to 1983 and featuring the voiceover work of Ringo Starr, was chanced across in storage. Fans of the sentient tank engine and his heartwarmingly servient chums—there are now more than 500 episodes, 207 books and 20 movies in the endlessly-rolling franchise—can now watch the earliest version of "Down the Mine" (later reshot as the first series' 25th episode) online.
The five-minute episode was pieced together from multiple 35-millimeter film strips. The picture and sound were cleaned up, and newly composed music was added.
"I think there's a sort of a lovely charm and innocence about it, and I think even as a pilot, as a test piece, it still has that lovely, classic, timeless story to it, and the voices, everything is just so delightful," [producer] Ian McCue said.
For the uninitiated, Thomas is a cheerful blue locomotive with an expressive face who first appeared in British children's books by the Rev. W. Awdry. The character and his fellow locomotives, like Percy (green) and James (red), rose to new levels of popularity when they were animated for the popular program, which premiered in 1984.
The episode is embedded below. They left in action cards and such—interesting to see the sets and how small the models were.
Previously:
• Supercut of songs that may have inspired the Thomas and Friends themes
• George Carlin's narration for Thomas the Tank Engine spiced up with other George Carlin voice-overs
• Thomas the Tank Engine theme tune praised
