Thomas The Tank Engine Film Reveals Diverse New Engines

A diverse new group of globe-trotting trains are to join Thomas The Tank Engine on the rails.

‘Thomas & Friends: The Great Race’, a new special to be released in cinemas next month, will see engines from India, Brazil, Belgium and China joining Thomas and his mostly male, mostly British cast.

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The CGI cartoon will pitt train against train in the 'great railway show’, and now all the new engines have been unveiled.

The show has been criticised in the past for its lack of diversity, so here it appears to be addressing some of those concerns.

The new line up comprises Ashima and Rajiv from India, Carlos from Mexico, Yong Bao from China, Ivan from Russia, Vinnie from the USA, Axel from Belgium, Raul from Brazil, Etienne from France, Gina from Italy, Frieda from Germany, Shane from Australia, and the Flying Scotsman from Scotland.

But producer Ian McCue has said that the new engines are not a nod towards political correctness.

“That wasn’t the intention,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

“The intention was to create this big global racing event and make it feel real. I’m a little bit shocked about the strong views people have articulated about things they haven’t seen yet. There are clearly some upset people.

“We’ve had a lot of flak in the past about not having enough female representation. But we’ve been trying to bring in more female engines, and now the main new character is female.”

These days, the franchise, worth in excess of $1 billion around the world, is owned by Mattel.

It was originally devised by clergyman and writer Reverend Wilbert Awdry in the 1940s.

Image credits: Mattel