Britt, the British producer, director, and writer who adapted the antics of the hilarious and impulsive locomotive into the television series Thomas and Friends, which became a sprawling series and a perennial favorite among children and adults alike. Allcroft died on December 25th. In Los Angeles. She was 81 years old.
Her death was confirmed by her daughter Holly Wright.
Ms Allcroft was the driving force behind bringing Thomas the Tank Engine, the animated locomotive first devised by the Reverend Wilbert Audley in a series of children's books, to television screens in the 1940s. The series has spawned movies, merchandise, and even a theme park, and has grown into a billion-dollar franchise.
Her original film adaptation was a low-budget, live-action production that first aired on the British channel ITV in 1984 as Thomas and Friends, which was later shortened to Thomas and Friends. Viewers were immediately drawn into the show's life lessons, packaged with catchy music, lush scenery, and a fun ensemble cast of human-like locomotives. The show ran for over 30 years and was a huge success.
“Children these days live in a fast-paced world and I don't think they've really changed,” Allcroft said in a 1995 BBC documentary. “They need tenderness and comfort in their lives. They need fun, and they need stories that are not only fun for them, but also help them interpret the world.”
Allcroft first came across the series while researching documentaries about trains. Previous attempts to adapt the book for television failed, but she envisioned a series with a faithful narrator and staked the rights.
Her conviction led her to raise much of the money herself and even mortgage her home, she said in a 1995 interview on Australia's “60 Minutes.”
As for the narrator, Allcroft said he was looking for the perfect voice when he heard it on TV. “I walked into the room and Ringo Starr was being interviewed on a chat show,” she said.
The former Beatles member became the first star to narrate the series, including Michael Angelis, George Carlin, Alec Baldwin and Pierce Brosnan.
“This woman was a pioneer in the television industry in the early '80s, which was mostly male-dominated,” said Brannon, director of “An Unlikely Fandom,” a 2023 documentary about the series' enduring appeal. Carty said. “She had all these things in her that a normal person would give up on,” he said. “Despite everything, she took the lead.”
The series reached American children in 1989 when Ms. Allcroft brought it to PBS in the form of 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 Sigelkow, a television producer who worked with Ms. Allcroft. “She had a vision and an intuitive understanding of kids. She just moved forward.”
Mr. Siggelkow said some executives were initially skeptical that the show would be a success, but Mr. Allcroft agreed that the slow-paced story, with the intimacy of a bedtime story, would appeal to children. They believed that they would be attracted to each other.
“Thomas had a gentleness that was completely different from everything else that was on the air,” he said in an interview.
“Shining Time Station'' became a hit with American children, drawing approximately 1.2 million viewers on PBS, comparable to “Mr. Time Station.'' According to a 1991 New York Times article, the series was aired overseas and sparked worldwide commercial demand for products ranging from toys and train sets to posters and puzzles.
Thomas the Tank Engine is now one of the world's largest preschool toy and television franchises, with analysts estimating global annual retail sales of more than $1 billion in 2016. Mattel acquired Thomas' British owner Hit Entertainment in 2012. $680 million contract.
Although there has been some criticism of the lack of diversity in the show's characters, recent adaptations of Thomas's world both on screen and in merchandise have added locomotives from Brazil, China, India and Mexico.
The series hit screens in the 2000 film Thomas and the Magic Railway, and another animated version of the series, Thomas and Friends All Engines Go, aired on Cartoon Network in 2021. According to Mattel, a second film is currently in production.
Britt Allcroft was born on December 14, 1943 in West Sussex, England, and later moved to London.
At age 16, she became interested in local theater and the work that goes on behind the scenes. Ms Allcroft joined the BBC at the age of 19, appearing on shows such as Blue Peter before moving into the production team.
In the early 1970s, she moved to Southern Television and later founded her own production company, Britt Allcroft Productions, producing television and stage shows while working for local television stations.
At the end of the decade, she was hired to make a short documentary about British steam locomotives, which reminded her of a book from her youth.
She is married to television producer Angus Wright, who worked closely with her in developing Thomas and Friends for the screen. They divorced in 1997.
In addition to her daughter, her survivors include a son and grandson.
This program has been running for a long time across generations, making it a nostalgic and popular program for adults as well. In recent years, online communities have sprung up to celebrate the show, even creating their own model versions of popular episodes.
Director Carty said that when Allcroft attended a screening of the 2023 documentary, “people were cheering and screaming at her.” “It was like the Super Bowl when she walked out.”
Ultimately, Allcroft said in the documentary that she wanted her world to be an escape.
“I wanted it to be something that would make the little kids watching feel like this is a place they can go,” she said. “They were not alone, but they were comforted and inspired.”
Emmett Lindner contributed reporting.
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