Cartoon Network

Cartoon Network is an American satellite television channel owned by Turner Entertainment that aired Thomas & Friends throughout Europe. In the United Kingdom, it aired twice on weekdays from 1995 until 2001. The fourth and fifth series premiered on this channel in the United Kingdom.

In the Netherlands, the show aired from 12th July 1997 up until 31st July 2001. The show stopped airing on Cartoon Network in the Netherlands when Cartoon Network Netherlands was merged into a general channel for Europe. This European channel would not have Thomas & Friends as part of their programming. From 12 July 1997 up to 11th May 1998 the UK dubs of first to fourth series were broadcasted. Only from 12th May 1998 onwards did Cartoon Network air Dutch dubs. The Dutch dubs of the first five series premiered on this channel, of which the first three series used the 1998 remasters. The fifth series premiered on Cartoon Network in the Netherlands at the same time as it did in the UK.

Each broadcast consisted of three episodes from the first four series in a random shuffle; Series 5 joined the slot in 1998. The channel also airs Thomas & Friends in Japan today, as well as Pingu, another HiT Entertainment owned production which lasted in both Latin America and the United States from 1996 to 2001 (2006 in Latin America). Cartoon Network also aired Big World! Big Adventures! in Latin America.

Thomas & Friends now airs in the UK on Cartoonito, the pre-school equivalent of Cartoon Network.

In 2021, Mattel announced that Cartoon Network would air Thomas & Friends in the US starting with the All Engines Go! reboot alongside the series streaming on Netflix.

Trivia

 * Thomas has been parodied in the MAD episode "RiOa/Thomas the Unstoppable Tank Engine" and the Robot Chicken episodes "Hemlock, Gin and Juice" and "We Don't See Much of That in 1940's America", both of which are Cartoon Network productions.
 * Several episodes from the first half of the second series had overlapping soundtracks when they were shown on Cartoon Network.
 * The opening bumper for Cartoon Network broadcasts featured three engines (Duck, Henry and James) passing through Elsbridge, even though only two tracks pass through the station. Duck is also missing his funnel. The cutouts of the three engines were taken from the episode Thomas, Percy and the Dragon.
 * Cutouts of Thomas from Thomas and Gordon, Sir Topham Hatt from The Sad Story of Henry and a guard from James and the Coaches were also included in the opening bumper. One of these cutouts of Thomas features different animated eyes from the ones seen in the actual episode.
 * A selection of clips from these four episodes were used in a Cartoon Network promo for the programme in 1996. In the promo, a whistle sound that would later be used for Spencer can be heard.

Other
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network