Ben Small

Benjamin "Ben" Small (born on 1st January 1971 in Bristol, England, UK) is a British voice actor descending from Canadian stock. He provided voices for characters in both the UK and US dubs of Thomas & Friends until the end of the eighteenth series.

Departure from the Series
In mid 2014, his contract with HiT Entertainment was not renewed and the executives wanted to look for a fresh new voice for Thomas, despite the fact Small would provide voices for other characters. John Hasler would take over the role for Thomas in 2015, Hasler would also take over Small's role of Rheneas. Rob Rackstraw took over the role of Toby in the UK, as well as Owen and Flynn for both the UK and US. Various different voice actors took over for Stanley in the US, before the role permanently went to Rob Rackstraw. Christopher Ragland took over the role of the Troublesome Trucks in both the UK and US. Steven Kynman took over the role of Charlie in the US.

Despite his departure from the show, he still voiced Thomas in a few live shows. Most notably a Christmas live show in Nex Mall, Singapore named Thomas' World of Adventure, which is a Christmas live show that was possibly performed to promote the Big World! Big Adventures! retooling on the original series despite John Hasler's takeover for the role of Thomas in the original UK dub.

UK

 * Thomas
 * Toby
 * Ferdinand
 * Some Sodor United Team Players

US

 * Stanley
 * Charlie

UK/US

 * Rheneas
 * Flynn
 * Troublesome Trucks
 * Owen

Songs

 * Party Time
 * I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside
 * Never, Never, Never Give Up

Filmography
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Film

 * Skegs & Skangers (2002)
 * The Haunted Pumpkin of Sleepy Hollow (2003)
 * Zorro: Return to the Future (2006)
 * The Prince and the Pauper: Double Trouble (2007)
 * Alice in Wonderland: What's the Matter with Hatter? (2007)
 * Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails (2009)
 * Zorro and Scarlet Whip: Revealed! (2010)
 * Thomas & Friends: Misty Island Rescue (2010)
 * Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels (2011)
 * Thomas & Friends: Blue Mountain Mystery (2012)
 * Thomas & Friends: King of the Railway (2013)
 * Thomas & Friends: Tale of the Brave (2014)

Television
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 * Clifford the Big Red Dog (2000-2003)
 * Xcalibur (2001)
 * Make Way For Noddy (2002-2003)
 * Watch My Chops/Corneil & Bernie (2003-2014)
 * Zorro: Generation Z (2008)
 * Dork Hunters From Outer Space (2008)
 * Thomas & Friends (2009-2015)
 * Pet Squad (2011)
 * Matt Hatter Chronicles (2012)

Trivia

 * He also narrated the UK versions of the Guess Who? Puzzles between the thirteenth and sixteenth series.
 * He also performs the song, The Wheels on Thomas, which can only be heard at Day Out with Thomas events and stage plays in the UK.
 * HiT Entertainment wanted him to concentrate on voicing Thomas alone, but it was later decided that he could also voice Toby if he wished to do so. This then snowballed because HiT wanted to have the same voices for some characters in both the UK and US versions. He auditioned to voice Thomas in the US version, but Martin Sherman was chosen instead.
 * Small said in an interview with the Sodor Island Fansite that he was a fan of the Railway Series in his youth. He said that he listened to the Johnny Morris recordings as a child.

Links

 * Ben's Farewell Interview with SIF

Gallery
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