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Title: | The TV Chatter Notes Conference |
Notice: | Welcome to TV Chatter :-) |
Moderator: | PASTA::PIERCE |
|
Created: | Wed Dec 16 1992 |
Last Modified: | Thu Jun 05 1997 |
Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
Number of topics: | 498 |
Total number of notes: | 5416 |
458.0. "Thomas the Tank Engine" by DONVAN::KEEFE () Fri Jul 19 1996 13:55
From 456.2:
> ...the country that dubs Thomas The Tank Engine ...
Well it isn't dubbing per se is it, as the trains aren't, you know,
really talking. It's just voiceover. Thomas got the Power Rangers
treatment.
I noticed the American narrator in the newer shows recently, and don't
like him of course. The original accents were part of the show's "charming
eccentricity".
Didn't Ringo Starr read some of the stories, as well as being the
little conductor? He has a terrific accent. I vaguely remember another,
more poncy narrator too, but even he was better than the current
American with his grating gee-whiz manner.
The whole little Thomas steam-engine world seems so veddy British that
now it feels odd to hear the bland American talking about Sir Topham
Hat, and the engines stopping at Upper Codswallop, East Pudding, etc.
I wonder it they replaced Ringo Starr with George Carlin for the same
reason--Ringo's accent was too evy for the poor Yank tykes?
I was surprised to see Ringo in the role, and impressed that he'd take
such a thing on. I like George Carlin too but hope they didn't dump
Ringo cause he was too -- ethnic? Once Thomas became a hit maybe they
had to Americanize/blandize the English for worldwide consumption. Too
bad.
Neil
T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
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458.1 | | TGRAPH::WEGG | Some hard boiled eggs and some nuts. | Fri Jul 19 1996 16:18 | 34 |
458.2 | Sir Ringo Hatt | DONVAN::KEEFE | | Fri Jul 19 1996 17:30 | 25 |
| Re Ringo replaced by Michael Angelis...
Do you mean as the conductor, or as the narrator?
The current UK shows don't use George Carlin? Is there a whole separate
crew within the station? In the US all the humans are chirpy Americans.
Interesting how they re-work these shows for different markets. According
to:
http://www.catt.ncsu.edu/users/gkeeper/HTML/my.useless.pages/STS
/Sir_Topham_Hatt.html
"Sir Topham Hatt used to be known as _The Fat Controller_ elsewhere
outside of the United States. His name was first used by Duck in the
story where Diesel first arrives. He is now referred to as Sir Tophamm
Hatt.
Also interesting is that only the Thomas section is shown outside
of the US, Shining Time Station is not."
I don't know what the last sentence refers to. I'm sure I remember Ringo
talking about Topham. (I also remember being abused by giant cabbages from
Saturn as a boy though.)
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458.3 | As dad to 5-yr-old, I learned these things... | ODIXIE::LOWER | What fools these mortals be! | Mon Jul 22 1996 07:05 | 19 |
|
>Is there a whole separate crew within the station? In the US all
>the humans are chirpy Americans.
>"...Also interesting is that only the Thomas section is shown
>outside of the US, Shining Time Station is not."
>I don't know what the last sentence refers to. I'm sure I remember Ringo
The last sentence refers to exactly what you asked previously. The
name of the series here in the States (on PBS) is "Shining Time
Station", the name of the train station. They serve up "Thomas
the Tank Engine" stories to illustrate their lessons of the day.
That's why all the characters at "Shining Time Station" are Americans,
it's an American creation. Incidently, the adult actress who plays the
ticket lady at Sining Time Station is DeDe Cohn, formerly of the hit
series "Benson" in the 80's.
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