New characters give ‘Thomas & Friends’ a jolt of girl power
NEWYORK» Girls are finally getting a bigger role in Thomas the Tank Engine’s boy-dominated world.
Mattel, the toy maker that owns the Thomas brand, will add two female main characters to the “Thomas & Friends” TV series next year. Nia and Rebecca will appear in each episode and help fix the gender imbalance at the shed where Thomas and the other main characters live: Three of the seven engines at Tidmouth Sheds will be female, up from just one.
The gender shakeup is just one of the many changes coming to the 30-year-old show. Thomas visits real countries for the first time; the animation will move at a faster pace; there’s a new theme song; the characters will crack more jokes; and the narrator will be gone, replaced by the voice of Thomas.
It’s all an effort to shake Thomas’ stodgy image, compete with flashier preschool shows and fight a drop in toy sales. It’s a big risk for the franchise, which got its start as a book series more than 70 years ago. To avoid any missteps, Mattel consulted with parents, young fans and even the United Nations. In all, the company spent two years working on the makeover.
“It’s such a huge shift,” said Kate Schlomann, a vice president of branding at Mattel. “We want to make sure we’re here another 70 years.”
Nia, an engine from Kenya, will make her debut next summer in the movie “Big World! Big Adventures!” and then join the TV series in the fall. Experts at the U.N. advised producers with Nia’s name (it means “purpose” in Swahili) and helped select the African pattern that runs across Nia’s body.
“When you’re designing an engine from any country, you want to be spot on,” said Schlomann.
Rebecca’s origins are less exotic. She’ll come from the Mainland near Thomas’ fictional island of Sodor. She’ll first appear on screens in the TV series next fall. Henry and Edward will get the boot from Tidmouth Sheds to make room for the two new girls, but the boy engines will still appear on the show from time to time. (Mattel refers to the characters as girls and boys, even though they are engines.) Producers wanted Nia and Rebecca to have starring roles, and they’ll join Emily, who has been the only girl engine among the crew of main characters for about 13 years. Other girls in Thomas’ universe have had smaller roles.
“We have added new female characters before, but I think, with a show like Thomas, they tend to fall into the background after initial introduction,” said Ian McCue, a “Thomas & Friends” producer. “What we wanted to do here was really bring these two female characters to the forefront.”