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Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends - Hooray for Thomasx$2.95
  (14 reviews)
Best Price: $9.98 $2.95
Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 07/29/2008 Run time: 35 minutes Rating: Nr
MPN: ANBD12932D - UPC: 013131293296
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Customer Reviews
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I keep forgetting to read the back of the box...
By A26HFSVLAGULIM on 2005-03-28
before I purchase a new Thomas video/DVD to check out the narrator. This particular DVD is narrated by Michael Brandon. I do not care for his voice. Of course, I am nostalgic for Ringo Starr, George Carlin, or, surprisingly, Alec Baldwin. Also, I prefer Michael Angelis (from "New Friends For Thomas") as a new narrator. I find Michael Brandon to be horribly inconsistent (and somewhat inappropriate and uninventive) with the character's voices. They vary from story to story and sometimes within the stories themselves. His voice is also too harsh in my opinion. My five-year-old who loves Thomas doesn't have much interest in the videos he narrates. This has not been the case with the other narrators.
The stories themselves are somewhat lacking as well. "Edward's Brass Band" features the sweetest engine on the railway, but you would never know it watching this story. Thomas and Bertie's race seemed half-hearted, and the stories about Rheneas, Skarloey, and Peter Sam lacked real feeling. I was also disappointed with the characterization of Rusty. His potential was also overlooked and the voice selected was terrible.
Overall, I am not very pleased with this video. Of course, I will continue to buy Thomas products in the future, but not without checking the back of the box. :)
Great New Stories
By A3UV7L5ND3EH8T on 2005-04-22
You're invited to the celebration on the Island of Sodor! Watch as Thomas wins a medal for saving the day. Will Edward rescue the brass band in time? Can Peter Sam help find a new refreshment stand for the refreshment lady? There's lots of fun new stories in this DVD, including Rheneas giving the school children a roller coaster ride on the tracks and Gordon winning a best-dressed competition.
The stories themselves run about 35 minutes and include:
Hooray For Thomas
Edward's Brass Band
The Refreshment Lady's Stand
Rheneas and the Roller Coaster
The Grand Opening
Best Dressed Engine
The Bonus Features include:
Character Gallery
Read Along Story: The Great Race
Sing Along Song: The Red Balloon
3 Games: Counting Celebration, Paint Party, and Fun With Shapes
Computer Fun: Web Fun and 2 Coloring Sheets
While the stories will appeal to children of all ages, the DVD games are quite basic. This is ironic, because a child would have to be pretty advanced to work the DVD remote to access the games! By the time a child knows how to use a DVD remote, he's outgrown the games. It would be nice if the DVD games were more advanced.
Kids will love the bonus train that comes with the package. If I recall correctly, it was Mavis that came with ours. It was a "repeat", but my son doesn't mind that he has a few doubles of some engines...having fun with them regardless!
The actual DVD case that's in the box is quite slim...more narrow than the usual DVD cases that don't have the bonus train. The flimsiness shouldn't matter, though, as long as the DVD case is stored properly.
My son enjoys all the narrators, and doesn't seem to notice the different ones. I feel the narrator on the Hooray For Thomas DVD does just as good a job as most (save Alec Baldwin, who's my favorite)...and much better than Ringo Starr and George Carlin (in my opinion).
A very nice addition to the Thomas DVD collection.
Narrator is hard to follow
By A29JWDYT71W4GU on 2005-07-15
my 1 year old loves the Ringo Narrations, he will not watch this one with this Narrator. The Narrator is all over the place, and his voices are dumb. I cant even watch it because it makes me go insane. I love the Ringo ones and so does my 1 year old. This DVD is going right up on Ebay.
Toy not as pictured
By A1HNU69LVVTIGK on 2005-02-01
I purchased this with the impression that I would receive Rheneas with the DVD. The toy that came with this DVD is Thomas. I just wanted to let people considering this item that the toy was different as pictured. It's still a good value and a great DVD, hence the 5 stars.
News about this DVD
By on 2004-12-11
"Hooray For Thomas" will be on DVD and Video January 25th.
Narrator: Michael Brandon
Stories:
Hooray For Thomas
The Grand Opening
Best Dressed Engine
Rheneas & The Roller Coaster
Edward's Brass Band
The Refreshement Lady's Stand
Song: Rules & Regulations
- Good Video
By A112C25QVKS6PR on 2005-03-28
This DVD uses Michael Brandon as the narrator. My two sons adore Thomas but they are 3 and 1, so they do prefer Michael Brandon as the narrator since they are reletively new to Thomas. I can appreciate the history behind the excellent narations of Ringo Star, George Carlin and Alec Baldwin, but if you have a new Thomas fan, this will be the voice they are used to seeing on TV.
As far as the episodes go, they are all very good. I do have to mention that 3 of the 6 stories involve the Mountain Branchline characters (Skarloey, Rheneas, Rusty, PeterSam, Duncan etc.) so if your kids like those guys, you must go get this DVD because those characters generally are not featured much on these DVDs. This is a good DVD for those guys.
But, the other 3 stories involve our classic characters. The first story has Thomas and Bertie, then Edward, and then Gordon and Toby complete the DVD. This was very reasonably priced and if you were fortunate enough to find a copy that included a free train that makes this almost pay for itself.
- I don't know...
By on 2004-11-04
Okay, this isn't a HIT release, but it will probably be one of the last Thomas videos that we can expect from Anchor Bay with the original theme and music. Anyway, it's sad to see classic Thomas thrown away, and with so many stories left to tell from the REAL railway series. Oh well, nothing we can do to tell the people at HIT that they're messing up a classic. So, I will cherish this video as it will probably be almost the end of the track for the Thomas I grew up with. Maybe the video SODOR CELEBRATION will show us moments that we all love from the original series, and show the people at HIT that they need to stop screwing with our favorite little blue engine.
YOU HERE THAT HIT? STOP NOW. I MAY HAVE SAID IT WAS OKAY EARLIER, BUT PLEASE GIVE US BACK OUR ORIGINAL THOMAS!
- Hooray!!!
By A110LZFBUFYWN7 on 2005-02-15
Hooray for Thomas wasn't too bad but I was kinda hoping I'd see more of Thomas and his friends. There were too many stories about the little engines. Although, in one story, Thomas and Bertie have another race. Find out who will win this time. The story stops are:
HOORAY FOR THOMAS 7.5/8:
It is summer on the Island of Sodor and the children are having an annual sporting event, where they will compete for medals in various types of activities. Thomas wishes that he could win a medal, but Percy tells him that he must first win a race. So Thomas and Bertie have a race but Thomas is interrupted during the race because he must go collect the children's medals which have been left behind at the station. Can he get their medals on time!
EDWARD'S BRASS BAND 7.5/8:
A Brass Band is holding a concert on the Island of Sodor and Edward can't wait to meet them. One his way to meet the band, a crane accidentally knocks Edward of the track with a big ship's engine. Edward is sent to the fitter's yard and Sir Topham Hatt informs him that Bertie must meet the band instead of him. But, after a storm, Bertie has some problems with mud and the band gives off a distress signal. Who will help them?
THE REFRESHMENT LADY'S STAND 7/8:
It is a hot summer and lots of people come to the Refreshment Lady's stand for some cooling refreshments. The Refreshment Lady is planning on opening up a new stand but can't decide were it should be. There are so many ideal places like: Woodland Way, The Castle, and Whispering Waterfall. Find out how a storm will give Peter Sam a perfect idea for a new refreshment stand.
RHENEAS AND THE ROLLER COASTER 7/8:
Rheneas is to take a group of school children on a tour around the island. But Rheneas doesn't find the trip very exciting because they are all places he sees everyday. When Rheneas goes down the wrong line, the children are in for the ride of their life.
THE GRAND OPENING 7.5/8:
A new line is being opened and all the little engines are looking forward to the grand opening. Even Sir Topham and Lady Hatt are excited and plan to ride Harold for a good view. But Harold has some problems with his engine so Sir Topham Hatt moves on to plan B, a hot-air ballon. Meanwhile, all the engines are there for the grand opening except for Skarloey, who is running late. As Sir Topham and Lady Hatt are enjoying their view of the railway, the balloon runs out of hot air and they start falling from the sky. Will Skarloey be able to help them?
BEST DRESSED ENGINE 8/8:
A celebration is taking place on the Island of Sodor and alot of decorating is taking place. The engines are even allowed to be decorated. Thomas, Percy, James, and Murdoch are all very excited but Gordon, who thinks it isn't dignified, finds them rather silly. While pulled the Express, a banner falls off on a bridge and lands on Gordon's smoke box. He is decorated afterall.
"THE RED BALLOON"(music video) 6.5/8:
A music video about the time when James saved a red balloon.
Again, a great except for the fact that they didn't show Thomas enough. Expect the next Thomas video, Sodor Celebration, to come out March 8, 2005.
- Well worth a few bucks
By on 2005-04-23
This DVD contains six episodes from Series 7 of Thomas and Friends. However, the music in them has been redone by the current composer, probably because the old composers took the rights to their music with them when they left. I much prefer the original music, but this new music isn't too bad.
Michael Brandon narrates this DVD, and he narrates it rather well. However, once again he is rather here and there when it comes to voice consistency; and some of his character voices are a bit iffy (Bertie has a Cockney accent that gives Dick Van Dyke's a run for its money when it comes to poor quality; Rusty sounds like a thug; Rheneas sounds like he has a cold; Skarloey sounds a tad too young for an engine his age; Rheneas's driver sounds like a robot; and Peter Sam's driver sounds like he's falling asleep). His emotions and enthusiasm can't be faulted, but I do wish he would choose his voice for each character and stick with it.
As for the episodes themselves..."Hooray for Thomas" and "Edward's Brass Band" are really good. "The Refreshment Lady's Stand," "The Grand Opening" and "Best Dressed Engine" aren't too bad either. "Rheneas and the Roller Coaster" is the poorest episode on the DVD...completely unrealistic and poorly directed.
All in all this is a good way to spend a few dollars.
- Brandon's narration prevents 4 stars
By on 2006-01-12
This DVD would have been so much more enjoyable had there been another narrator apart from Michael Brandon. His voices are what really let him down this time around. Not only is he totally inconsistent with them, but he chooses unsuitable voices for nearly all the characters. Rusty sounds like a raving madman, Rheneas sounds stuffed up, and Edward and Skarloey's voices are too high-pitched. And he also tries a bit too hard with the minor characters, giving them voices that are completely weird and wacky (if you listen to his voice for Rheneas's driver, you'll see what I mean). Brandon also sounds really amateur; there are numerous scenes in "Edward's Brass Band" where his narration is out of sync with the on-screen action, and at one point in "Rheneas and the Roller Coaster" he rushes through his narration to try and keep up with what's happening on screen.
The music on this DVD is also somewhat half-hearted (the original music worked so well, why couldn't they have stayed with it?). However, the music video at the end ("The Red Balloon" is truly beautiful...the last moments always bring a tear to my eye. At least they included something from the original composers on here!
The episodes on this DVD are all well-written and fairly original (I especially like "Edward's Brass Band"), so it is a great pity that they are spoiled by Brandon's shoddy narration and below-average music. Young children might like it, but this shouldn't be on your "must-have DVDs" list.
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