Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends: Thomas' Snowy Surprise (2004)

Thomas the Tank Engine shows are a sweet nostalgic treat. I discovered Thomas and his friends, along with Arthur and Reading Rainbow on PBS, when I had tykes. Soon afterwards, I bought a compilation of the Thomas stories by Rev. A. Awdry from the train store in either Bandana Square or the Mall of America. The TV series hones closely to the spirit and style of the books, showing all of the characters and a mildly impressive range of landscapes and weather conditions through which the trains travel -- with a similar range of emotions and adventures. The gray fixed-expression faces with their shifting oogly eyes are a little ooky but basically innocent and fun -- think of Thomas and his friends as a retro 1950s story arc in stopmotion. Each of the 6 episodes on this disc is about 5 minutes long for a total, with opening and closing credits, of 34 minutes. Sadly, the instant watching version does not provide access to the singalongs or DVD games. 3.5 stars.