Mavis (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
Mavis is a fictional standard gauge diesel locomotive created by the Rev. W. Awdry. She lives and works at the Ffarquhar Quarry.

Mavis first appeared in the third series episode Mavis, which first aired in 1991. Her last appearance was in the special Big World! Big Adventures!, which was released in 2018.

Since her introduction, Mavis appeared as a supporting character up until Big World! Big Adventures!. As a result of the stories from the show's twenty-second series onwards focusing primarily on the Steam Team and only occasionally some side characters, Mavis has not appeared in the television series since 2018.

Voice
Jules de Jongh gave her an American accent in the US dub from Hero of the Rails to Blue Mountain Mystery, before she stepped out of the role and left Teresa Gallagher to take it in 2013. In addition to replacing Jongh, Gallagher has voiced Mavis in the UK dub since the show's full CGI switch in 2009, and she portrays the character with a Norfolk accent in both English dubs.

Gauge 1 model
Mavis' gauge 1 model was custom built by model makers, Peter Eves and Jeremy King. The model was built to run on Gauge 1 track, and was painted in glossy car body paint.

Mavis' model was made using both plastic and brass, the latter of which would be the material used for multiple new characters in the following series. Her chassis sourced from a Gauge 1 locomotive made by Märklin, the BR 80. The buffers, coupling frame and brake pipes were made by Tenmille, she shares the same buffer bases as Gordon. The chassis' AC motor was replaced by a DC motor to allow for easier running and maintenance.

In the fifth series episode, Busy Going Backwards, Mavis' chassis was reused to push Toad and his train of trucks and was seen in the scene past the buffers that were set away by the points.

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 eyeballs were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eyeballs would move however the crew member desired.

Mavis has had modifications throughout the model era. These include:
 * Series 3:
 * Her horn was BoCo's at nine steps higher-pitched.
 * Series 4:
 * Her middle lamp iron was removed.
 * Her horn sound changed, reused and had the same as Class 40.
 * Series 6:
 * Her paint was given a matte finish.
 * Her eyebrows became thinner and longer.
 * Her middle lamp iron returned.
 * Her horn sound changed again and reused Derek's horn sound.
 * Series 7:
 * Her horn sound changed again and reused Daisy's original horn sound from the second series.
 * Calling All Engines!:
 * Her horn sound changed again to a different one (excluding Series 15 and the rest of Series 16).

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, Mavis' model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

Mavis' model is now currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan with her concerned face.

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

Fonts
The following fonts were used on Mavis' Gauge 1 model:
 * Franklin Gothic Compressed
 * Arial Bold

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

Photographs of Mavis’ Gauge 1 model were used for reference. 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.

Mavis has had modifications throughout the CGI series. These include:
 * Hero of the Rails:
 * Her face became slightly larger and her nose was remodeled.
 * Series 15:
 * Her horn sound changed again and now reuses Diesel's Misty Island Rescue-Series 14 horn sound which was a stock recording of an "American" Nathan K3LA diesel. (Excluding Thomas and the Sounds of Sodor).
 * Series 18:
 * She gained a lamp of the same design as Charlie's mounted on her right.
 * Series 19:
 * The lamp moved to the lamp iron above her face.
 * She gained a tail lamp.
 * Her wheels are more visible.

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

Fonts
The following fonts were used on Mavis' Gauge 1 model:
 * Arial Bold

Voice Actors

 * Teresa Gallagher
 * Jules de Jongh
 * Blanche Ravalec
 * Marit Berg
 * Marianne Westby
 * Nao Nagasawa
 * Ryō Horikawa
 * Yuka Shioyama
 * Kumiko Itō
 * Sakura Yoshioka
 * Joey Cordevin
 * Konstantin Graudus
 * Zuzanna Galia
 * Beata Jankowska-Tzimas
 * Irina Índigo
 * Talya Barkay
 * Renato Cavalcanti
 * María Sánchez
 * Paqui Horcajo
 * Olga Kuznetsova
 * Susa Saukko
 * Ioana Perneș
 * Elain Llwyd
 * Vina Papadopoulou
 * Lee Je-in
 * Solecki Janka
 * Anday Kati