Stanley/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
Stanley is a fictional standard gauge saddle tank locomotive created by Sharon Miller.

In 2008, Stanley made his debut in the Thomas & Friends special, The Great Discovery and has appeared in every series except the thirteenth and the seventeeth series.

When the show transitioned to full CGI in 2009, Stanley was absent for a year and later returned in the 2010 special, Misty Island Rescue, but did not speak until Day of the Diesels.

Voice
Matt Wilkinson voiced Stanley in the UK since his return in CGI, though he was temporarily replaced by some US actors in a few productions. In the US dub, Kerry Shale voiced Stanley in Day of the Diesels, while Ben Small took the role between the fifteenth and eighteenth series. David Menkin voiced Stanley in both English dubs of the nineteenth series, though while Matt Wilkinson reclaimed the role in the UK, Keith Wickham voiced Stanley in The Great Race while Rob Rackstraw took the role in the twentieth series. John Schwab would later voice Stanley in Pouty James, though afterwards Rackstraw would take over as Stanley until the end of the classic continuity.

Gauge 1 model
Stanley's model was built as a Hudswell Clarke/Kitson No. 5459 "Austin I" hybrid, most accurately resembling the former. It was built to approximately 1/32 scale and designed to run on gauge 1 track.

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. The controller used to move Stanley's eyes was also shared with Murdoch. This controller is now owned by Twitter user IsaacM6991. Like Billy, a spare chassis would also be built for Stanley, however it would be left unused, this chassis is currently owned by Twitter user TomsProps

Stanley has had a few modifications throughout the model era. This includes:
 * Series 12:
 * His whistle sound changed to eight steps higher-pitched and it's also Thomas' whistle, but three steps higher-pitched and Stepney's one from the same series, but two steps higher-pitched.

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

Stanley's television series model used to be on display in Canada at Nitrogen Studios and wore his surprised face. After Nitrogen left the series, the model was returned to storage.

Faces
Six different facial expressions were sculpted for Stanley and used on-screen. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould; some of Thomas' face casts were used as references. The model body was made from brass. While only one body was made, two complete chassis' were constructed from scratch (CNC). The chassis had two motors, both powered by electricity from the track via the pickups on the metal wheels. The main motor powered the wheels, while the second motor (located at the back) powered an inside piston for the smoke mechanism.

Fonts
The following fonts are used on Stanley's Gauge 1 model:
 * Arial Bold

Close-up model
Close-up shots of Stanley's cab was required for scenes in The Great Discovery 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. Most of the engine was built, excluding the wheels, and a visible face, however, only the back half of Stanley was shown on screen.

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

Photographs of Stanley's Gauge 1 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.

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


 * Misty Island Rescue:
 * His smokebox became shorter in height.
 * Series 15:
 * His whistle sound changed back to its original pitch.
 * Series 19:
 * He gains front and rear brake pipes.
 * He received permanent head and tail lamps.
 * He gains a lamp-iron.
 * He received front and rear brake-pipe outlets.
 * Series 22:
 * His smokebox is more reflective.

Fonts
The following fonts are used on Stanley's CGI model:
 * Arial Black

Voice Actors

 * Matt Wilkinson
 * Kerry Shale
 * Ben Small
 * David Menkin
 * Rob Rackstraw
 * John Schwab
 * Keith Wickham
 * Hiroshi Tsuchida
 * Nozomu Sasaki
 * Christian Stark
 * Benjamin Morik
 * Stig Krogstad
 * Christoffer Staib
 * Adrian Perdjon
 * Piotr Warszawski
 * José Luis Rivera
 * Alan Prieto
 * Óscar Martínez
 * Tony Marot
 * Mercedes Espinosa
 * Carlos Moreno
 * Rafael de la Rica
 * Anton Savenkov
 * Petteri Hynönen
 * Petrus Kähkönen
 * Haris Grigoropoulos
 * Thiago Zambrano
 * Christian Damsgaard
 * Alexander Kotov
 * Anton Savenkov