Cranky (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Television Series
Cranky was introduced in 1998 during the fifth series of the television series, and he has appeared in every series since as a supporting character. As the fifth series was the first not to have any stories based on the Railway Series, Cranky was among the first characters not to originate from the book series, and out of all the characters introduced in the fifth series, he is one of the very few characters to make frequent appearances since, along with 'Arry and Bert.

As with many major characters since the thirteenth series, Cranky has two separate voice actors in both English dubs of the series. Matt Wilkinson provides Cranky with a nasally standard British accent in the UK dub while Glenn Wrage gives Cranky a gruff American accent in the US, reflecting his Cranky personality. Since the nineteenth series, Wilkinson has altered the tone of Cranky's voice, making it higher and more nasally than his original voice for the character. As a result, it sound very similar to Wilkinson's voice for Diesel 10.

Gauge 1 model
Cranky was designed by art director, Robert Gauld-Galliers and built by model-maker, Chris Lloyd. The model was built out of plastic mouldings and styrene card to standard 10mm to the foot. It had two motors and gearboxes. One was used to turn Cranky round and the other was used to control the winch. Both of these features were controlled from the same remote. During 2022, Cranky got a major refurbishment, gaining several new parts and components.

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired.

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 one model made in gauge 1 scale, Cranky's model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

Cranky's model used to be on display in Canada at Nitrogen Studios with his content face. In early 2020, his model was put on display at Drayton Manor Theme Park and still had his content face on. His left eye was rolled back when Drayton Manor reopened, but had been fixed since 2021. In July of 2022, it was replaced with his annoyed face. After the exhibit closed and a new layout was constructed elsewhere in the park, the model was returned to storage.

Faces
Nine different facial expressions were sculpted for Cranky and used on-screen. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould.

Model Changes
Cranky has had modifications throughout the model era. These include
 * Series 5:
 * Chains held his crane arm to his body wrapped around a pipe between his nameplates.
 * Series 6:
 * Two metal strips are shown replacing the chains.
 * He also gains a sad/weary face.
 * He also gains an angry face.
 * Series 8:
 * His nameboards are now positioned in the centre of his cranehouse roof.

CGI model
In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Cranky was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Photographs of Cranky's live-action model were used for referencing. According to Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.

Cranky has had modifications throughout the CGI era. These include:


 * Hero of the Rails:
 * His nameboards are positioned in centre of his cranehouse roof again.
 * Series 13:
 * The design of his hook changes.
 * Learn with Thomas (YouTube Shorts):
 * In Learn About Recycling, Cranky has a a grabber attachment as opposed to his hook attachment just like the number of his original toys.

Voice Actors

 * Matt Wilkinson
 * Glenn Wrage
 * Rob Rackstraw
 * John Schwab
 * Stephen Donald
 * Hisao Egawa
 * Takaya Kuroda
 * Christoffer Staib
 * Simen Sand
 * Walter Wiegand
 * Eckart Dux
 * Klaudiusz Kaufmann
 * Jarosław Domin
 * Piotr Bajtlik
 * Fabrice Trojani
 * Octavio Rojas
 * Harold Salazar
 * Jeremy Luton
 * Dan Schatzberg
 * Mauro Castro
 * Ricardo Vasconcelos
 * Ángel Amorós
 * Ole Møller
 * Petri Hanttu
 * Loukas Frangoulis
 * Alexander Kotov
 * Alexander Horlin
 * Szabó Sipos Barnabás
 * Joó Gábor
 * Volodymyr Tereshchuk