Disclaimer: We were invited to see the preview as VIP guests (with the exception of 321Testify who went to see it at a later date) and the opinions expressed are entirely based from our own perspectives individually.
Here is my blog report on the latest instalment to the Thomas & Friends franchise ~ ‘Digs and Discoveries’, along with input from my friends who went to see it with me. This was especially written as a special thank you to Mattel and Thomas & Friends for inviting us to be one of the first people to see it!
After over 2 hours of transportation where my father dropped me off at around 10 AM, I thanked him for the lift, we bid our farewells until the end of the day for home, and I went to the Main Entrance where I was kindly given a special Thomas lanyard and explored Thomas Land to start things off.
One of the very first people I had happen to meet along the way was none other than Veronica Chambers ~ one of the Reverend Awdry’s daughters! She was really happy to see me as we both recalled our first encounter at Talyllyn back in 2011 during Duncan’s Days event. We both had our picture taken and had a brief yet pleasant chat before parting ways until the next time we met after some exploration.
Then I met Geoffrey who was also happy to see me for a brief time before he went off to find his mother, and I then wandered around the main part of Thomas Land and Sodor Airport where I rode James and the Red Balloon. It was fun from the start, but in the end ~ I did feel a little dizzy and needed a break!
By 11:20, I decided to leave Thomas Land for a while and went to see the entrance of the 4D cinema and to my amazement, I could see promotional banners of ‘Digs and Discoveries’ right above the building along with a few posters and a photo stand for attendants and VIP guests to have their picture taken.
Over half an hour later, after the second encounter with Geoffrey and his mother and had our pictures taken together, the doors opened as all the guests and competition winners went inside ~ just as the weather turned drizzly…! It was a good thing too, for I did not ever wear a jacket!
The cinema was already packed with lots of guests including myself and other select “super Thomas fans” who wrote their contributions to the blog report to learn more as well, along with Veronica Chambers, lots of families and children and most importantly ~ Ian McCue and his family too!
Before we were all called to the screening room, there was even a special room filled with latest Thomas Trackmaster sets being demonstrated like Thomas’ Dragon Escape set and Super Cruiser. Once we were all settled in our seats before Digs and Discoveries had started showing, Derek and Kemi performing their special Milkshake dances to the audience including some children who went to see and dance with them up close! After the special Thomas Milkshake dance move and the introduction from the Fat Controller, the two parter special started playing.
Now to simply put from my initial viewing experience, I had a lot of fun watching another Thomas Big World Adventure and it was a real joy seeing familiar classic characters, along with the introduction of new friends including my all new tie-in favourite characters ~ Lorenzo and Beppe!
I especially loved how the dream sequences were executed for some comedic effect, as well as how the message about curiosity gets the best of you if you are not being careful was thoroughly explored quite well too. The visuals and voice direction were also spot-on as an added bonus.
In all Digs and Discoveries was full of wonder, curiosity and fun for any Thomas fan to enjoy (and perhaps for a whole family), and that is one of the things I liked about Thomas & Friends based from my own perspective as a full grown adult who is still young at heart.
~ SmurfyDan
Geoffrey
Another brilliant instalment to the Big World Big Adventures franchise and of course leaving us wanting more. Fantastic to meet new characters Lorenzo and Beppe. Seeing the famous Italian landmarks was great rather than just as background paintings. Thomas was at his best as always making new friends with Gina. We learnt about archeology and new vehicles like Stefano. Great music as always and fun to have a longer episode and bringing in favourite characters like Jack. Can’t wait to see the two accompanying Italian episodes. From Geoffrey
ellsworth
On June 28th 2019, I received an email from Mattel; it was an invitation for two tickets to the ‘Digs & Discoveries’ premiere at Drayton Manor. The following day, I began to decide who I would take to the premiere and after much consideration, I decided to choose MrMerlinFan02 because it would give him the opportunity to experience what a real film premiere would be like. After making a few arrangements with him, the big day (July 6th) finally came and rendezvoused at the entrance of Drayton Manor.
After having a great reunion with Ian McCue, Veronica Chambers (Rev Awdry’s daughter) and Sara Henson (Christopher Awdry’s niece), we all made our way into the main screen of the Drayton Manor Cinema. I won't go into detail, but I will say that the two 22-minute special episodes were really worth the watch and there’s so much excitement throughout the storylines. Italy really is fascinating in the two-part specials, it’s culture and environment is absolutely beautiful. The Italian characters stand out very well and all get perfect amount of screen-time, especially Gina, Lorenzo, Beppe and Stefano.
Another great improvement that was made here is that Thomas is not the only ‘Sodor’ character seen abroad as he is accompanied by Jack, Alfie, Oliver, Max & Monty and a new member of the Sodor Construction Company: Brenda. It was about time more Sodor characters were seen abroad as it really brings more story potential to have someone other than Thomas involved.
‘Digs & Discoveries’ may have had a few flaws in its path, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying every moment of the two special episodes. I really look forward to seeing more of these 22-minute episodes in the future! From Elliot Killick-Ward (Ellsworth).
MrMerlinFan02
On June 29th 2019, I was invited by Elliot Killick-Ward (ellsworth) to the “Digs & Discoveries” event at Drayton Manor. I agreed to it and started to get very excited about it, on July 6th I made my way to Drayton Manor and met up with Elliot. After meeting up, We met up with Ian McCue and Dan (SmurfyDan) and not forgetting Veronica Chambers (one of Wilbert Awdry’s daughters). After watching Dig & Discoveries, it really brought lots of surprises, meeting the new characters was great as well as seeing all the children enjoying themselves. It was a great pleasure being invited to this event and even getting TrackMaster 2 Lorenzo & Beppe, look forward to more of these events in the future!
From Callum (Mr.MerlinFan02)
321Testify (WARNING: May contain spoilers!)
On Friday the 12th of July, I headed up to Drayton Manor Theme Park to view one of the public screenings of Digs and Discoveries. This is the first time the new special format is being used. Just to clarify, both parts are twenty minutes long to make up a complete forty minute story. The new twenty minute special format felt like it was more effective in Mines of Mystery than in All Tracks Lead to Rome. All Tracks Lead to Rome was part one, and obviously there were plot threads and character arcs that needed to be established, but it still seemed like it was a little slow to start. This type of story works quite well with the format: it’s larger and longer than an ordinary episode, but doesn’t quite feel justified to have an hour long special dedicated to it, which was nice. In addition, both parts were formatted so they could be watched independently from one another, but still withhold a main story. In my opinion, BWBA felt like it could have benefitted from this segmented story format.
One of the things I was most eager about with this special was the inclusion of Gina. I had secretly been hoping that Gina would make a return in the series and when D&D was announced I was thrilled to hear it was set in Italy. But I was also a little worried she wouldn’t be characterised very well and that she would end up needing more development like other international engines such as Ashima or Tamika. I was relieved to see that she actually had an interesting personality, and she was fun to watch.
Lorenzo and Beppe were also a lot of fun; their stylised backstory was wonderfully executed, the enigma surrounding them was nice, their dynamic was very refreshing, and of course their personalities were wonderful. I look forward to seeing them in future stories.
Right from the start, Stefano had me a little worried. I mean, look at him. Upon first impressions, he doesn’t exactly feel like a Thomas character, and I understand why a lot of people dislike him. But I never found myself groaning whenever he was onscreen. But I feel like I need to see more of him to form a proper opinion.
I always get excited whenever The Pack are featured, they’re a fun cast of characters that are able to bring unique stories to Thomas & Friends, due to that fact that they are construction vehicles. Their inclusion in the Thomas’ universe doesn’t feel out of place, and I would argue that their inclusion in D&D fits in with one of the central themes (you’ll find out what that is when it comes out).
As for Brenda and Ester, there’s not much I can really say about them. Ester feels a little bland (and looks a bit odd too). Brenda’s inclusion in The Pack was obviously to diversify the gender divide in The Pack. Her body and paint scheme look the part but I think her face is a bit ugly. I’m a bit worried that Brenda may have also killed any chance for a character like Byron to ever return, now that the bulldozer role is taken. Poor Byron. Her personality seems nice but much like Stefano, I need to see more of her before I can form a proper opinion.
Something I didn’t really like about this special was how Thomas acted really immature - more so than usual. I get that Thomas is supposed to be a child and is curious to learn about the world around him, but some of his actions are unbelievably silly. We’ve seen Thomas going through these motions before. Thomas constantly envying everyone else for doing things he can’t do is getting a little old. I understand that his actions are supposed to play into the themes of the special, but I feel as if it could have been executed better.I was also a little disappointed by how under-utilised The Pack were. I know that this isn’t their story, but I was rather hoping they would have more screen time seeing as they play a role in it.
Another thing I noticed were small railway inconsistencies, where engines could choose which track they were going on independently, and other times where points were manually changed by a Driver. Not something to really complain about, but something I thought might be worth mentioning.
Overall, I thought Digs and Discoveries was fun, Becky Overton did a good job here. I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it as much as some of the other specials, but I’d still recommend giving it at least one watch despite its problems.
~ Luke
(Picture credits goes to SmurfyDan, ellsworth and 321Testify)
Thomas & Friends: Digs and Discoveries out now on DVD!
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