Thomas & Friends 75

Thomas & Friends 75

All aboard for some royally good adventures!

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Thomas & Friends, and Mattel is celebrating in style with a full year packed with new toys and content. Kids and families have a lot to look forward to as some famous faces get in on the action, paying tribute to what started as a simple story written by a father for his son back in 1945.

Thomas & Friends: The Royal Engine

On May 1, the celebration officially begins with the debut of Thomas & Friends: The Royal Engine, a 22-minute special which pays homage to the show’s British heritage and features Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Prince of Wales as a child. Thomas travels to London for the first time on a mission to take Sir Topham Hatt to Buckingham Palace. Thomas & Friends: The Royal Engine includes a special introduction from Harry, The Duke of Sussex. Rosamund Pike (Thunderbirds Are Go!) voices a new character, Duchess of Loughborough.

Harry, Duke of Sussex

Thomas & Friends 75th Anniversary Celebration Initiatives

  • The 24th season of Thomas & Friends includes 20 new 11-minute episodes and a pair of Thomas & Friends: Marvelous Machinery specials. Each 22-minute presentation focuses on special themes including flying cars and new technology. The season will stream on Netflix and will be supplemented by four all-new YouTube series.
  • Thomas & Friends is teaming up with Nitro Circus for an epic stunt that will debut on Quibi in Life-Size Toys, debuting on May 25.
  • “Thomas & Friends Storytime” is a new podcast for kids. The series of 46 stories will be released weekly beginning May 12 across all major podcasting platforms.
  • On May 8, a Thomas birthday album will be released across all major digital music platforms. Additionally, 50 more new songs will be released throughout the year with companion music videos slated to debut on YouTube.
  • Beginning May 4, Thomas-themed sleep stories and guided meditations will come to the Calm app. Two additional pieces of Thomas-related content will debut on the app later this year.
  • Thomas & Friends: Best Birthday Ever! will be released by Random House Books for Young Readers in the U.S. Families in the UK can be on the lookout for three new titles from Egmont.
  • Caribu, the family activity video-calling app, will feature videos in which Kevin Jonas reads classic Thomas & Friends books every week in May.
  • New birthday-themed Thomas & Friends toys include Birthday Wish Thomas, a push-along Thomas train with a cargo cart and light-up birthday cake candle that features music and phrases such as “Happy Birthday”; Golden Thomas, a special-edition train that is decorated with festive balloons and beats a party drum as he moves along the track; and Celebration Thomas, Percy, and Nia, special-edition engines that have shiny metallic finishes.

More information will be available throughout the year at thomasandfriends.com.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.

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