Oliver (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
Oliver is a fictional standard gauge tank locomotive created by the Rev. W. Awdry. Oliver lives and works on the North Western Railway. He carries the number 11.

Oliver first appeared in the third series episode Escape, which first aired in 1992. His last appearance was in the twenty-fourth series episode The Great Little Railway Show, which was released in 2020.

Since his introduction, Oliver appeared as a supporting character up until the seventh series. As a result of the stories from the eighth to sixteenth series focusing primarily on the Steam Team, Oliver was neglected and left absent along with many other characters from the eighth to eleventh series. He reappeared in the twelfth series, but was left absent again when the series moved from live-action model animation to Computer-Generated Imagery. Oliver eventually returned in Tale of the Brave, but did not speak until the eighteenth series, and has made regular appearances until the end of the series.

Voice
Since his return in 2014, Oliver had been voiced by Joe Mills in both the British English and American English dubs of the series. Joe Mills gave Oliver a West Country accent, reflecting his basis' origins.

Gauge 1 model
Oliver's model was custom built by model makers, Peter Eves and Jeremy King. It was painted in glossy car body paint while the numbers and GWR logo were custom cut vinyl stickers. Unlike most of the other engines at the time of his debut, Oliver's model was made out of brass, which would be the material used for multiple new characters in the following series.

Oliver's chassis was sourced from a gauge 1 locomotive made by Märklin, the BR 78, but was a later version compared to the type Henry and Gordon used. The buffers, coupling frame and brake pipes were made by Tenmille. The chassis' AC motor was replaced by a DC motor to allow for easier running and maintenance.

Model Changes
Oliver has had modifications throughout the model era. These include:
 * Series 4:
 * His happy face had the mouth slightly altered, but was not used on-screen until the fifth series.
 * His whistle sound changed to Duck’s, but two steps lower-pitched.
 * Series 6:
 * His paint was given a matte finish.
 * He gained a coupling hook base.
 * He is painted in a lighter shade of green.
 * Series 7:
 * His happy face had the teeth open to resemble a chuckling face.
 * Series 12:
 * His happy face was reverted back to its original appearance with full teeth.
 * He has slightly thicker eyebrows.

Present Day
After production of the model series wrapped in 2008, most of the models and sets would be put into storage, with some being put on display at Drayton Manor Theme Park. All other models would be logged and referenced in 2009 by HiT Entertainment, from this HiT would decide on which models were to enter storage once again, which would be given to crew members and which to be disposed off. Due to only having models made in gauge 1 scale, Oliver's model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

Oliver's model is currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan. It had previously been on display at Nitrogen Studios in Canada.

Faces
Seven different facial expressions were sculpted for Oliver and used on screen. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould. Oliver's cross face is now owned by Twitter user TomsProps, and his smiling face is now owned by Twitter user ThomasTankMerch.

Close-up model
Several close-up shots of Oliver's cab was required for scenes in the fifth series episode, Oliver’s Find, where he had to interact with close-up scale figures. It was also used for close-up whistle shots; smoke would emit from the whistle when required. The model was not complete and the cab and whistle were built.

CGI model
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. In 2014, Oliver was created in CGI by Arc Productions. The model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Oliver has had modifications throughout the CGI series. These include:


 * Series 18:
 * He is now painted in a slightly darker shade of green.
 * He has black side-rods and lamp irons.
 * He has more hand rails.
 * His boiler and cab windows are slightly smaller.
 * His back cab windows gained yellow lining to match his front windows.
 * His whistle guard became slightly taller.
 * The 'GWR' logo, his number and his trailing wheels are slightly bigger.
 * His driving wheels are smaller and slightly further away from each other.
 * His buffer-beam is significantly smaller.
 * His running board was painted black, like it was in the Railway Series and is also thicker than on his basis.
 * The frame around his coupling hook changed to black.
 * He lost his guard irons on his cab windows, the counterweights on his wheels, his middle lamp iron and the lamp iron on top of his smoke-box.
 * The four rods (one on the top currently holding his tail lamp) on the back of his coal bunker became black.
 * His smoke-box saddle is narrower.
 * His top feed has moved forward slightly.
 * He is slightly taller, but is also noticeably scaled down compared to his model form and his basis.
 * His dome is taller and thinner.
 * His funnel is thinner and less detailed compared to his model form and his basis.
 * He gained rivets on his smoke-box and on the sides of his buffer-beams.
 * He gained a permanent headlamp and tail-lamp.
 * His whistle design is the same as Thomas', but his whistle sound stayed the same. His current whistle design is also the same as Duck's current one.
 * The sides of his rear bunker gain additional steps.
 * Series 19:
 * The rivets on the sides of his buffer beams changed to red.
 * The frame around his coupling hook became red again.
 * Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure
 * The rivets on the sides of his buffer beams became black again.
 * Series 20
 * The rivets on the sides of his buffer beams became red again.

Texture variants
In addition to his standard livery, a few other texture variants exist of Oliver's CGI model. These texture variants include:

Voice Actors

 * Joe Mills
 * Hikaru Midorikawa
 * Yuta Odagaki
 * Paweł Ciołkosz
 * Piotr Bajtlik
 * Doriel Zohar
 * Mario Filio
 * Kaihiamal Martínez
 * Christian Stark
 * Matthias Klimsa
 * Renato Hermeto
 * Ion Abrudan
 * Denis Bespaliy
 * Anton Savenkov
 * Jeon Tae-yeol