Britt Allcroft, who brought Thomas the Tank Engine to television, has died at the age of 81

Britt Allcroft, the British producer, director and writer who adapted the antics of the jolly, dashing locomotive into the sprawling franchise and longtime favorite of children and adults, British producer, director and writer Britt Allcroft, died on December 25. in Los Angeles. He was 81 years old.

His death was confirmed by his daughter Holly Wright.

Mrs. Allcroft was the driving force behind Thomas the Tank Engine, an animated locomotive that was first invented in a series of children’s books in the 1940s. Rev. Wilbert Awdryto television screens. The series spawned a movie, merchandise, and even theme parks and spawned a billion-dollar franchise.

Its original adaptation was a low-budget live-action 1984 run on Britain’s ITV as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, later shortened to Thomas & Friends. Audiences were quickly drawn into the show’s life lessons, filled with catchy music, lush scenery and a fun ensemble of human-like locomotives. It became a runaway success, broadcast for over three decades in the UK, US and elsewhere.

“Children live in a fast-paced world these days, but I don’t think children have really changed,” Ms Allcroft said in a 1995 BBC documentary. “They need moderation and comfort in their lives. They need entertainment, and they need stories that are fun for them and help them interpret the world.”

Ms. Allcroft first came across the series while researching a documentary about railroads. Previous attempts to adapt the books for TV had failed, but he pushed to acquire the rights, envisioning a series with a narrator intimately familiar with the original books.

His conviction led him to finance much of it himself, even foreclosing on his home. 1995 interview With Australia’s “60 Minutes”.

As for the narrator, Ms. Allcroft was looking for the right voice when she heard it on television: “I walked into the room and Ringo Starr was doing an interview on a talk show,” she said.

A former member of the Beatles included Michael Angelis, George Carlin, Alec Baldwin and Pierce Brosnan.

“This was a woman who pioneered the television industry in the early ’80s, and it was a largely male-dominated one,” said Brannon Carty, director of the 2023 documentary An Unlike Fandom, about the series’ enduring appeal. “He was against all these things that make the average person give up,” he said. “Through it all, he led the way.”

The series found its way to American children in 1989 when Mrs. Allcroft introduced it to PBS. spinoff seriesShining Time Station, which includes clips from the British version of the show.

“She was a very good businesswoman,” said Rick Siggelkow, a TV producer who worked with Ms. Allcroft. “He had a vision and understood children so intuitively. He would just move on.”

Some executives were initially skeptical that the show would be successful, Mr. Siggelkow said, but Ms. Allcroft believed that children would be drawn to slower-paced tales that had the intimacy of a bedtime story.

“Thomas had a softness that was very different from anything else on the air,” he said in an interview.

“Shining Time Station” became a hit with American children, bringing in nearly 1.2 million viewers to PBS, making “Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood” according to to The New York Times in 1991. The series was also broadcast internationally and created global commercial demand for merchandise ranging from toys and train sets to posters and puzzles.

“Thomas and Friends” is now one of the most popular movies in the world the biggest toy and preschool television franchises with analysts to evaluate In 2016, annual global retail sales exceeded $1 billion. Mattel bought Hit Entertainment, the British owner of Thomas, in a $680 million deal in 2012.

After some criticism of the show’s lack of diversity in its characters, recent adaptations of Thomas world has added locomotives from Brazil, China, India and Mexico, both on display and in product.

The franchise made its way to the big screen with the 2000 film Thomas and the Magical Railroad. A 2021 animated spin-off of Thomas and Friends: All Engines Go on Cartoon Network. According to Mattel, a second film is in the works.

Britt Allcroft was born on December n. 14, 1943, in West Sussex, England, before moving to London.

At the age of 16, he became interested in local theater and behind-the-scenes work. Ms Allcroft joined the BBC aged 19, presenting on shows including Blue Peter, where she later moved into the production team.

In the early 1970s, he moved to Southern Television and later founded his own company, Britt Allcroft Productions, where he created television and stage shows while working for local television stations.

At the end of the decade, he was hired to make a short documentary about British steam trains, recalling books from his youth.

She was married to television producer Angus Wright, who worked closely with her on the development of Thomas and Friends for the screen. They divorced in 1997.

Survivors include a daughter, a son, and grandchildren.

The show’s longevity, spanning generations, has made it a nostalgic favorite of adults as well. In recent years, online communities have come together to celebrate the show and even create their own model versions of favorite episodes.

When Ms. Allcroft attended a screening of the 2023 documentary, “people were cheering and screaming for her,” director Mr. Carthy said. “When he came out, it was like the Super Bowl in there.”

Ultimately, Ms. Allcroft said in the documentary, she wanted her world to be an escape.

“I wanted to make it so that every little kid watching felt like they could go.” “They were not alone and they were comforted and inspired.”

Emmett Lindner contributed to the report.