The ‘Island of Sodor’ is all set to turn into a stomping ground of tank engines once again as MIP Junior announces new series Thomas and Friends: Big world! Big adventures as the first screening at the 2017 MIP Junior World Premier TV screening.
Produced and distributed by Mattel Creations, this new series is about the group of locomotives consisting of 26 episodes running for 11 minutes each. The new episodes will witness Thomas and his friends traversing the road less travelled, exploring newer landscapes and also venturing into some countries to learn about the culture and of course make new international friends along the way. The show will have a more contemporary feel and increased, global appeal for preschool viewers.
In addition to Thomas’ expanded adventures, audiences will also enjoy seeing several aspects of the show that have been evolved to appeal to contemporary viewers: An all-new format series, faster-paced plots, increase in humour, more action and adventure-based storylines with several new fantasy and musical elements.
Mattel’s Chief Content Officer, Catherine Balsam-Schwaber, says: “We are delighted to receive a World Premiere TV Screening at Reed MIDEM’s MIPJunior, which is the perfect platform to showcase our newly-refreshed series. The updated format will make Thomas & Friends content more entertaining, inclusive, meaningful and global, whilst ensuring all the favourite characters and storylines that fans around the world love remain at the heart of the action.”
“We feel so privileged to showcase the new version of Thomas & Friends at MIP Junior!” declares MIP Junior director Lucy Smith. “It’s such an iconic brand and TV show with a strong international presence and that is very inspirational for our audience.”
Thomas the Tank Engine was created over 70 years ago and that story quickly grew through content to become the award-winning global brand franchise it is today. It has multiple touch-points and formats, including apps; toy consumer products; publishing; live attractions and much more.
The exclusive premiere will unveil brand-new content from the forthcoming series as well as a behind-the-scenes peak of the production alongside a question and answer with the creators and producers of the show. MIP Junior delegates will be amongst the first to see the full, remarkable makeover of Thomas & Friends plus many more surprises at the World Premiere on Saturday 14th of October 2017 at 18:00 followed by the official opening party.