Thomas & Friends

Thomas & Friends (originally known as Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends) is a British children’s television series Created by Britt Allcroft & Based on the Railway series books by Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher. The series follows a group of Steam Locomotives and Road Vehicles working on the fictional Island of Sodor for the North Western Railway. Thomas is the main character from the show, who first worked as the Station pilot at the Big Station & was later given a Branch-line. Other Engines on The Fat Controllers Railway include, Edward, Gordon (Strongest and most powerful member of the Team), James (Fastest red engine) & Percy (Thomas’s best friend).

Characters
Thomas- Thomas is a cheeky Blue E2 class Tank Engine, who originally worked as the Station Pilot at The Big Station, but was given a Branch-line along with two coaches named Annie and Clarabel, after saving James from a nasty accident.

Edward- Kind, reliable and helpful mixed traffic Engine who has worked on the Island of Sodor for many many years. Edward sometimes gets teased by the other engines for his age, but would do anything to help a friend in need.

Gordon- Big blue express Engine, the Strongest and most powerful member of The Steam Team, and thinks he is the best.

Percy- Thomas’ best friend on Sodor. Green Tank Engine who delivers the early on time. Was the first Steam Team member which was named by The Fat Controller.

Gullane Entertainment (1984-2002)
The rights for The Railway Series were brought by Britt Allcroft for The Britt Allcroft Company  for over 50 thousand British pounds, that company  later assembled the TV Series. The company produced Series 1-5 of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends as The Britt Allcroft Company, and produced series 6 as Gullane Entertainment.

HiT Entertainment (2002-present)
HiT Entertainment Limited agreed to purchase Gullane Entertainment in July 2002, for approx £144 million British pounds. HiT entertainment was the owner and production company of Thomas & Friends from series 7~20 (2002~2017) along with the Jack and the Sodor Construction crew spin~off series & a total of 12 films ans specials. In 2017, HiT Entertainment merged with Mattel Playground Productions & that formed Mattel Television.

Mattel (Since 2012)
Apex Partners agreed to sell HiT Entertainment to Mattel inc in October 2011 for $680 million, as Mattel out bided Disney. The sale/merger was completed on February 1, 2012 & HiT Entertainment became the owned subsidiary of Mattel.