Thomas in Popular Culture

"Since his debut in the Railway Series and the launch of the television series, Thomas has become an extraordinarily popular character, appearing in over twenty seasons and starring in several direct-to-video films. Because of his popularity, Thomas has even appeared or has been mentioned in other popular shows and films, as well as appearing in many public events too.

Thomas appeared in the 2009 Children in Need charity single produced by the BBC. In it, he was voiced by Ringo Starr, the former narrator of the television series.

In 2014, a balloon of Thomas was launched for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to celebrate the upcoming 70th Anniversary of the Railway Series, and he has continued to appear in the parade since then. Thomas was also featured in the Toronto Santa Claus parade alongside Percy and Rosie on 15th November, 2015.

In the 2015 Marvel film, Ant-Man, Thomas made a cameo appearance in the form of a model train. Bachmann HO scale models of him, Annie, Clarabel and Emily's coaches were used for the film, and his large scale model was used for, with the face digitally altered to resemble the one on the HO scale model." [1]

List of Parodies/References[]

1953[]

In 1953, Ursula Hourihane published a little known book series, with a title character "the little blue engine" which highly resembles Edward, many illustrations appeared in a similar fashion to that of some Railway Series illustrations of Edward.

1955[]

The series of Children's books featuring the locomotive Chuffalong and his friends, feature characters very similar to those found in the Railway Series. Sometimes being clear parody's of Thomas characters. Chuffalong himself is very similar in design to Percy, and one of his friend's resembles Thomas.

1967[]

In an episode of "The Avengers" entitled "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Station" a Meccano Percy set can be seen.

1981[]

In 1981, Movie-Star Actress Ingrid Pitt released a children's book, entitled "Bertie the Bus", the main character clearing being a reference to the Thomas character of the same name.

1988[]

Thomas was parodied on ITV's Spitting Image where he was portrayed as a drunk who went "completely off the rails." [2]
In the British comedy show Bobby Davro's TV Weekly, a spoof was created titled "Thomas The Tanked Up Engine" involving Jeremy, the pink engine. Bobby Davro provided the narration by impersonating Ringo Starr.

1990:[]

Towards the end of the music video entitled "Up All Night" by Slaughter, the horn sound used for Bertie can be heard.

1991:[]

In an episode of "Fast Forward" a sketch featuring Thomas and Percy is briefly shown. Interestingly Percy was incorrectly referred to as "Bertie" "Henry" or "Gordon" in this parody.

1993[]

In The Simpsons episode "I Love Lisa" a Valentines day card depicting a locomotive can be seen, directly referencing a Thomas valentines day card from the year prior.
In an episode of "Bill Nye the Science Guy" one segment features the original Ertl Thomas model, as part of a demonstration.

1994[]

In "All About: Fast Trains" a Thomas model is briefly seen, with various other model railways locomotives.
During the credit scenes of "Big Trains, Little Trains"" a Wooden Railway model of Henry, Mavis, and Annie or Clarabel are briefly seen.

1995[]

A Thomas Lamp appears in Halloween VI.

1996[]

In an episode of "Chucklevision" a rack of Thomas Ertl products are briefly seen on a wall at a train-show.

1997[]

In the episode of "Seinfeld" entitled "The Comeback", the Shining Time Station VHS-Release of "A Bully for Mr. Conductor" can be seen at a video store.
In the episode of "The Outer Limits" entitled "Re-generation", a Thomas toy can be seen on top of Justin's dresser.

1999[]

In the episode of "King of the Hill" entitled "Aisle 8A" one of the items Bobby is seen taking out of his dresser, is a shirt featuring a steam-engine with a face, which is meant as a clear reference to Thomas.
In Pingu gets organised (from the fourth series of Pingu), Pingu and his baby sister, Pinga and their father send a toy train which resembles Thomas down a helter-skelter ramp and through a tunnel much to Pingu’s delight.

2000[]

In an episode of “Dora the Explorer” named “Choo Choo!” Three trains can be seen parodying Thomas, James and Henry, such as like Azul the blue train, the big red train, and the big green train.

2003[]

In the film “Love Actually”, a Thomas ad was seen on a bus.
In an episode of "French and Saunders" Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel's Hornby models are briefly seen.

2004[]

In the Japanese Television Program "Rikon Bengoshi" A child can be seen watching 'Best Dressed Engine' on television, while playing with Wooden Railway models of Henry, Gordon, and Donald & Douglas. The film aired on the same network as Thomas & Friends in Japan.
In the Japanese Anime film "Howl's Moving Castle", a tram-engine numbered 7 can be seen, which is a direct reference to Toby. Additionally one portion of the Secret Garden in the film bears a strong resemblance to The Magic Railroad in Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

2005[]

In "James' Mays Top Toys" a model of Percy is briefly seen.
In "Big Nate (Comics)" There Is A Thomas And Friends Juice Box That Francis Is Drinking.
In the episode of "Totally Spies" entitled "Alex Gets Schooled" Charleston was resembling Sir Topham Hatt.

2006[]

In the Drawn Together episode "The Lemon-AIDS Walk", a group of original cast members were seen playing badminton with the current cast members of the show. Among the cast members was a train with a face, parodying Thomas the Tank Engine.
In the Documentary about the creation and history of the classic claymation character Gumby, entitled "Gumby Dharma", Gumby can briefly be seen riding in a modified Tomy James.
In Doogal (The American version of The Magic Roundabout), Zeebad mentions Thomas during a chase with a sentient locomotive.
In an episode of "The Doodlebops" entitled "All Aboard the Doodle Train" several heavily modified Thomas Wooden Railway products are briefly shown.
In Pingu and the Toyshop (from the sixth series of Pingu), Pingu finds an item of a blue train engine which parodies Thomas and asks his mum for it.
Thomas plays a key part in the ITV-Drama entitled "After Thomas" that first aired on television in December 2006. Specifically, the protagonist Kyle Graham, a child on the Autism-Spectrum, names his dog "Thomas", after the fictional tank engine of the same name.
In the episode of "New MacDonald's Farm" entitled "Max's Tractor" Thomas can be briefly seen and also the miniature engines are resembling Gordon, Bert, Henry, Rex, James and Mike but they are lacking their faces and numbers on their sides.
In the episode of "Postman Pat" entitled "Postman Pat and the Runaway Train" Reverend Timms stole The Greendale Rocket which can be a reference to Wilbert Awdry and his love of trains and how he created Thomas as a wooden toy made out of broomstick for his son, Christopher Awdry in the 1940s.

2007[]

A Toy Train that resembles Thomas appears in a toy factory in the Bob The Builder special “Scrambler to the Rescue”.
During the fight scene at the store in the movie "Fred Clause" Thomas' merchandise can briefly be seen.
In the Criminal Minds episodes "Seven Seconds, a My First Thomas model of Bill can be seen inside of a vintage Claim Jumper arcade machine.

2008[]

The Roundhouse set and the Playtable from Wooden Railway are visible in a scene of Marley & Me.
In the Mr. Men Show episode “Cars” Derek’s horn was used for Mr. Rude’s car.

2009[]

In the 'Big Bang Theory' episode, "The Friendship Algorithm" Several Thomas Wooden Railway items can be found. This included Thomas, Stepney, and the green fossil car
In another episode of the "Big Bang Theory" Calling All Engines! can be found in the background.
In the Mr. Men Show episode “Trains” Emily‘s S7-12 whistle was used Little Miss Daredevil‘s train.
In the Episode "Mine your Own" of Coronation Street, Thomas is briefly mentioned.
In "The Cleveland Show" episode From bed to Worse, Thomas is briefly mentioned.
In the episode of "Little Einsteins" entitled "Show and Tell", a toy engine highly resembling Thomas can be seen.
In the Scooby-Doo movie "Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword" the character Mr. Takagawa bears a striking resemblance to Wilbert Awdry.
In the episode of "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan" entitled "Kai-Lan Goes to China" Thomas' number can be seen on Rintoo's bag.
In the episode of "Shaun the Sheep" entitled "Ewe've Been Framed" a toy engine was resembling Percy but without a face, wheels are black instead of green, lots of different designs from him and without a number.
In another episode of "Shaun the Sheep" entitled "In The Doghouse" a toy engine was resembling James but without a face, a smokebox is red instead of black, lots of different designs from him and has a number 7 instead of 5.

2010[]

in ‘The Cleveland Show’ episode “Brown History Month”. Rallo tells Cleveland he is worse than “Uncle Thomas The Tank Engine”. What follows is a cutaway with Uncle Thomas The Tank Engine nodding and agreeing with whatever the guy parodying Sir Topham Hatt says and then insulting him when he believes he isn’t paying attention.
In The Simpsons episode “Postcards From The Wedge”. Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt were mentioned by Bart and Milhouse when they discover the subway.
In an episode of "30 Rock" Alec Baldwin briefly mentions narrating for Thomas The Tank Engine, and how he had to memorize every word in the dictionary.
In an episode of "Psych" a modified model of Thomas can briefly be seen as part of a small model-railway layout.
In an episode of "Big Babies" entitled "DinoDinoDinotown" a miniature locomotive resembling Thomas, (albeit colored differently, and featuring a dinosaur head), can be seen at a dinosaur-themed theme park.
In the film of "Toy Story 3" in one scene, a toy helicopter resembling Harold is seen at Sunnyside Daycare.

2011[]

Thomas the Tank Engine appears in Cartoon Network's "MAD" Short, "Thomas the Unstoppable Tank Engine," a crossover between Thomas the Tank Engine and Unstoppable. [3]
In a film called “The Smurfs”, When Gargamel is chasing the smurfs in a toy store, several Thomas wooden railway items and a play table appear around the shop.

2012[]

In the “American Dad!” episode “Toy Whorey”, One of the toys Steve had was a train with a face, parodying Thomas.
In an episode of "Robot Chicken" a Thomas skit parody is shown.
In an episode of Joshiraku, Thomas is briefly referenced.
In the short-lived sitcom "Fred: The Show", a Percy Pullback Racer toy can usually be seen within the bedroom of the main character, Fred Figglehorn.

2013[]

In The Simpsons episode “Hardly Kirk-ing”, Milhouse says “Yeah, For my Thomas The Tank Engines”.
In The Octonauts special episode “Very Vegimal Christmas”, a remote controlled steam engine parodying Thomas appears around a dinner table in the Octopod.

2014[]

In the episode of Disney Channel's "Wander Over Yonder", entitled "The Fancy Party", In the scene where Wander bursts through the door whilst still having a hold on it, the crash sound-effect synonymous with being heard on Thomas & Friends, can be heard.
In the episode of "truTV's Top Funniest" entitled "Comical Escapades", one clip shown features a TrackMaster Bash rolling off of a table, and into a child's lap.
Thomas appeared in Macy's Thanksgiving Parade for the 1st Time.
In the Glitch Productions adult animated show "SMG4", The SMG4 Variant of Thomas the Tank Engine made his debut in the episode "War Of The Fat Italians 2014" and he would also appear in many other future episodes after this.

2015[]

Bachmann HO scale models of Thomas, Annie, Clarabel, and Emily's coaches were used in Marvel's Ant-Man, in which during a fight with Yellowjacket, Ant-Man supersizes the Thomas model, crashing it into his daughters house and some parked police cars. (This is thought by some people to be a loose reference to 'Thomas Comes to Breakfast'.)
On Disney XD's 'Lab Rats vs. Mighty Med' Crossover Thomas is referenced.
Thomas was parodied during Otto’s dream sequence in ""The Simpsons"" episode "Bull-e". Also his mouth doesn't move (Referencing the classic series).
On an episode of Disney XD's show "Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero" entitled "Massive Morphy Merge Mechs" (In itself a reference to the Power Rangers franchise), some of the episodes concept was apparently inspired by Thomas & Friends, in addition to several other shows, according to episode writer Sam Levine.
Thomas appeared in Macy's Thanksgiving Parade for the 2nd Time.
A tank-themed version of Thomas appears as an amusement park prop in the anime feature Girls und Panzer der Film.

2016[]

"In the Australian television program, "The Chaser's Election Desk", 4 Wooden Railway toys of Skiff appear in a skit about Australian politician, Peter Dutton, about how he talks about "stopping the boats". [3]
In the “Peter Rabbit” episode “The Tale of the Spilled Milk”, a model train resembling Percy appears in Mr. McGregor’s house.
Thomas Appeared in Macy's Thanksgiving Parade for the 3rd & final time.

2017[]

In the episode "Runaway Train" of Disney XD's 'Pickle and Peanut' a red parody of Thomas is shown, it appears to be based off the "My First Thomas" Range. Also the engine's mouth does not move.(Referencing the Classic Series.)
In the Episode of "Ghost Adventures" entitled "The Titanic Museum" Thomas Merchandise can briefly be seen on a shelf at a gift-shop.
In the episode "Episode 62" of "Sweet Enemy" a toy of Thomas can be seen at background in shopping mall.

2018[]

Thomas appeared in the Robot Chicken episode “Ext Forest Day”. Where wags his tongue and laughs. He also used Mighty Mac’s whistle sound. The model of Thomas in it was his Lionel G-Scale model.
In the film “Incredibles 2” in one scene, a toy helicopter resembling Harold is seen.
In the film “Peter Rabbit” Thomas makes a cameo during the toy store scene.
In the episode of “Big Mouth” entitled "Steve the Virgin" a parody of Thomas was seen, with a mustache , also his number one was replaced with a “S”.”

2019[]

In the episode of Disney "Big City Greens" entitled "Green Christmas" a toy engine, based of Thomas' basis featuring a face can be seen in a store window, a clear reference to the series.
The locomotive whistle heard at the beginning of the theme song for the Television Series "The Adventures of Paddington" is the same whistle sound used for both Lady and Millie.
In the Disney Pixar short "Float", a helicopter with a face, clearly resembling Harold can be seen briefly.

2020[]

On the February 8th 2020 episode of Saturday Night Live, the Thomas Wooden Railway Toby's Windmill item could be seen on a shelf during one of the skits.
On the 18th episode of the 30th Season of America's Funniest Home Videos that aired on April 5th 2020, a Thomas Ride-On Toy was seen at one point during the episode.
On the MSNBC Morning News on May 3rd 2020, one headline read "PPP Plagued by Confusions and Delays" a direct reference to the popular line used in the Television Series.
On the Season 32 episode of "The Simpsons" entitled "Three Dreams Denied", three people dressed up as Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel lookalikes can be seen at one point.
In an episode of Hilda, an engine resembling Edward was seen.

2021[]

Thomas was briefly mentioned on the June 14th 2021 episode of Jeopardy!
In the episode of the Disney Channel Show "Amphibia", entitled "Mr. X", a poster for a horror-film entitled "Trains with Faces" can be seen, with the engine's face additionally being grey, a clear reference to the Thomas franchise.
In the Season 20 Episode of Family Guy entitled "The Birthday Bootlegger", Stewie mentions that he made a new friend, "Thomas the Shank Engine", in detention.
The steam engine with a face resembling Thomas can be seen in page 100 of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot.

2022[]

The title of The Ghost and Molly McGee episode "Twin Trouble" may be a reference to the Season 6 Thomas episode of the same name.
On May 10th a children's book in the Vroomers series was published entitled "Cranky the Crane", a clear reference to the Thomas character of the same name.
On the August 2nd episode of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon", Skiff's voice-actor is interviewed, and Skiff is shown.
The character "Lemon" in the film "Bullet Train" makes references to Thomas the Tank Engine, comparing certain other characters in the film to Thomas characters.
A faceless TrackMaster Percy can be seen on a cake in the film "Smile". At the bottom a motorized AEG Percy can be seen.
An MSNBC Headline from October 2nd, in regards to US Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas, was entitled "Thomas & Friends".
On an episode of Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, entitled "Transport", the main characters meet a sentient steam-engine, meant as a reference to Thomas, who teaches them about transport.
In the episode of Hamster & Gretel entitled "Math Punch" a train driver highly resembling George Carlin as Mr. Conductor appears.
On page 181 of "Interesting Facts for Curious Minds" by Jordan Moore, under the "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" section, one of the facts discusses how Thomas the Tank Engine was created by Wilbert Awdry and that he created a wooden engine for his son Christopher. It should be noted however, that the book incorrectly refers to Thomas as "Thomas the Train".

2023[]

GTA… but with talking trains (also known as Unity Station) is a mix of both Thomas (Model Series) and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Mark Moraghan, the Series 17-21 narrator, reprises his role in the video.
SPIDER-MAN 2 but in Thomas and Friends style! is a mix of both Thomas (Model Series) and Spider-Man 2 (2004) Mark Moraghan, the Series 17-21 narrator, reprises his role in the video.

Other[]

A parody of Thomas the Tank Engine was in Robot Chicken. The skit was called "Blow Some Steam." The narrator (Seth Green) spoke like Ringo Starr who was the first narrator for Thomas and Friends. Thomas was voiced by Daniel Radcliffe. [4]
Stepney’s whistle has been heard in ”The Simpsons” many times.
An Ertl Henry appeared on the American sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond".
Several Thomas Wooden Railway engines appeared in a Sesame Street video called "Learning to Wait".
The Thomas Wooden Railway Sodor Bay Bridge was seen in a Fruity Pebbles commercial "Parade".
a Thomas Rhett concert was entitled "Thomas Rhett & Friends" a clear reference to the title of the Television Series.
Originally Thomas was meant to appear in the original un-produced Lego Movie produced by Blur Studios, this was confirmed via concept art for the proposed film.
Thomas has been referenced several times on episodes of the British Game-Show series "The Chase", featuring questions about the series, such as "In 'Thomas the Tank Engine' what is the Fat Controller's real name?" and "What was the most famous creation of the clergyman Wilbert Awdry?" wrong answers for each of these questions respectively, were "B. Sir Harry Topp; C. Sir Bottom Bratt" and "B. Jimbo and the Jet-Set; C. Ivor the Engine".
A Harold Mug can be seen in some episodes of The Red Green Show (Which ran from 1991-2006), in different places in the background of the possum lodge.
Many streets in the Preserve District of Columbus Ohio are named after locations on Sodor, as-well as the island itself.
The website Percy's Wild Ride showed photos of a TWR Percy being held by various celebrities. [1]
Sir Handel's whistle was used for The Friendship Express in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
On January 16th 2022 the official YouTube Twitter account made a meme post with images to show what 2012 was like. One of the images was of a TWR Stanley, who got sent into space that year, in the video "A Toy Train In Space".
Thomas' number can be seen on Tom Carter's shirt in Dinofroz.

In the News[]

2012[]

Thomas made headlines on various news channels, after a Wooden Railway Stanley was sent to space.

2014[]

On July 29th 2014, Fox News reported about how a blogger made fake claims, claiming the show hid dark 'Sexist and Racist' meanings.

2018[]

NRA TV Host Dana Loesch, outraged by the thought of diversity in the show, controversially edited KKK hoods on an image of Thomas, Percy, and James, being broadcast on live news.