Bert Allcroft, a British producer, director and writer who adapted the antics of a jovial, spirited engine into a TV series, “Thomas and Friends,” which became an extensive franchise and a longtime favorite of children and adults alike. , died on December 25. in los angeles. She was 81 years old.
His death was confirmed by his daughter Holly Wright.
Ms Allcroft was the driving force behind Thomas the Tank Engine, an animated locomotive first imagined in a series of children’s books in the 1940s. Rev. Wilbert Awdryon television screens. The series spawned a movie, merchandise and even theme parks, turning into a billion dollar franchise.
The original adaptation was a small-budget live-action production that premiered on the British channel ITV in 1984 as “Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends”, later shortened to “Thomas & Friends”. . Audiences were quickly drawn to the show’s life lessons filled with catchy music, lush scenery and an entertaining cast of humanoid engines. It became a runaway success that continued to air for more than three decades in the UK, US and elsewhere.
“Children live in a fast-paced world these days, but I don’t think children really change,” Ms Allcroft said in a 1995 BBC documentary. “They need relaxation, relaxation in their lives. They need entertainment, and they need stories that entertain them as well as help them interpret the world.
Ms. Allcroft first encountered the series while researching a documentary on the railroad. Earlier attempts to adapt the books for TV failed, but he pushed for the rights, envisioning a series with a narrator who closely followed the original books.
His conviction forced him to finance much of it himself, even mortgaging his home, he said in a 1995 interview With Australia’s “60 Minutes”.
As for the narrator, Ms. Allcroft was searching for the right voice when she heard it on television: “I walked into the room and Ringo Starr was being interviewed on a chat show,” she said.
The former Beatles member became the first in a long line of stars to narrate the franchise, including Michael Angels, George Carlin, Alec Baldwin and Pierce Brosnan.
“This was a woman who was the founder of the TV industry in the early ’80s, and it was mostly dominated by men,” said Brennan Carty, director of “An Unreal Fandom,” of the series’ enduring appeal in 2023. A documentary film. “He had all these things going against him that would make the average person give up,” he said. “Despite all this, he led.”
The series reached American children in 1989, when Ms. Allcroft took it to PBS. A spin-off series“Shining Time Station”, which included clips from the British version of the show.
“She was a very good businesswoman,” said Rick Sigielko, a television producer who collaborated with Ms. Allcroft. “She had a vision, and she had this intuitive understanding of children. She would just move on.”
Some executives initially doubted the show would be a success, but Ms. Allcroft believed children would be drawn to a slower-paced story that had the intimacy of a bedtime story, Mr. Sigilko said.
“There was a tenderness with Thomas that was really very different from anything else that was on the air,” he said in an interview.
“Shining Time Station” became a hit with American children, winning PBS nearly 1.2 million viewers – which “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, According to at the New York Times in 1991. The series was also broadcast internationally, creating worldwide commercial demand for merchandise ranging from toys and train sets to posters and puzzles.
“Thomas & Friends” is now one of the world’s. The greatest toy and television franchises for preschoolers with analysts Estimate Annual global retail sales of over $1 billion in 2016. Mattel bought Hit Entertainment, the British owner of Thomas, in 2012 as part of a $680 million deal.
After some criticism that the show lacked character diversity, Recent Adaptations of World of Thomas, both on screen and in merchandise, has included engines from Brazil, China, India and Mexico.
The franchise made it to the big screen with the 2000 film “Thomas and the Magic Railroad.” A separate, animated version of the series, “Thomas and Friends: All Engines Go” aired on Cartoon Network in 2021. According to Mattel, a second film is in the works.
Bert Allcroft was born in West Sussex, England on 14 December 1943 before moving to London.
When she was 16, she developed an interest in local theater and behind-the-scenes work. Ms Allcroft joined the BBC when she was 19, presenting shows including “Blue Peter”, of which she later moved into the production team.
In the early 1970s, she moved to Southern Television and later formed her own company, Bert Allcroft Productions, through which she produced television and stage shows while working for local television stations.
At the end of the decade, he was hired to make a short documentary on British steam trains and recalled the books of his youth.
She was married to Angus Wright, a television producer who collaborated with her in producing “Thomas and Friends” for the screen. They got divorced in 1997.
Besides his daughter, he is survived by a son and grandchildren.
The show’s longevity, sustained from generation to generation, has made it a nostalgic favorite for adults as well. In recent years, online communities have flocked to celebrate the show and even created their own model versions of beloved episodes.
When Ms Allcroft attended a screening of the 2023 documentary, “people were cheering and screaming for her”, director Mr Carty said. “When she got out, it was like the Super Bowl in there.”
Ultimately, Ms. Allcroft said in the documentary, she wanted her world to escape.
“I wanted to make it so that any little kid who saw it could feel like they could go there,” she said. “That they were not alone, and that they were comforted and inspired.”
Emmett Lindner Cooperation reporting.