Hero of the Rails is a feature-length Thomas & Friends film which was released on DVD in September 2009 in the UK and in the US in 2010, Originally HiT Entertainment wanted to have models in the movie, but it was switched to CGI because it was cheaper. The film was released to well-recieved reviews from fans.
Faces[]
As reference for merchandise makers, the production team had moulded faces of the engines originally prototypes faces for the model version of Hero Of The Rails, explaining why the merchandising faces for Victor, Kevin and Hiro are so similar. These faces were designed by model maker, John Lee.
Trivia[]
- According to Sam Barlow, it was been written before the CGI transition.
- According to John Lee and Christopher Skala, Hiro was created during the end of production on the show's twelfth season, but with a different name and blue livery
- In an early script, Stanley was ment to be the protagonist, but was changed to Thomas for unknown reasons.