Best of Thomas

Best of Thomas is a US VHS/DVD and Korean DVD release featuring three first series episodes, one second series episode, two third series episodes and two fourth series episodes narrated by George Carlin, and one song. The DVD release also featured three additional songs.

This release was distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment on VHS and DVD in 2001. It was released again in multi-DVD boxsets in 2003 and again with a slipcover in 2007. Lionsgate re-released the title on DVD in 2009 and for digital download in 2013.

VHS
For over 50 years, the exciting adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine and his Island of Sodor friends have enchanted millions of people around the world. With his endearing grin, light-hearted attitude, and cheeky personality, Thomas has enriched the lives of generations of children.

Over the past year, we have received hundreds of thousands of letters, e-mails and phone calls from fans who wanted to share with us their favorite Thomas stories. From this loyal support, we were proud to produce this video which features 8 of your favorite adventures highlighting everyone's #1 engine, THOMAS.

Re-live the day when Thomas got his very own branch line, laugh out loud as Thomas and a "not-so-scary" dragon play a little trick on Percy, and get ready with engines as they prepare for a very special visitor.

Join Percy, James, Gordon and the rest of your Sodor Friends as a celebrate the little blue engine who does really big things!

2001 DVD
For over 50 years, the exciting adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine and his Island of Sodor friends have enchanted millions of people around the world. With his endearing grin, light-hearted attitude, and cheeky personality, Thomas has enriched the lives of generations of children.

Over the past year, we have received hundreds of thousands of letters, e-mails, and phone calls from fans who wanted to share with us their favorite Thomas stories. From this loyal support, we are proud to produce this first-ever DVD which includes 8 of your favorite Thomas adventures and remarkable bonus features that promote learning and fun for everyone!

Join Percy, James, Gordon, and the rest of your Sodor Friends as we celebrate the little blue engine who does really big things!

2007/2009 DVD
For over 50 years, the exciting adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine and his Island of Sodor friends have enchanted millions of people around the world. With his endearing grin, light-hearted attitude, and cheeky personality, Thomas has enriched the lives of generations of children.

Over the years, we have received hundreds of thousand of letters, e-mails, and phone calls from fans who wanted to share with us their favorite Thomas stories. From this loyal support, we were proud to produce this DVD which includes 8 of your favorite Thomas adventures with remarkable bonus features that are fun for everyone!

Join Percy, James, Gordon, and the rest of your Sodor Friends as we celebrate the little blue engine who does really big things!

Episodes

 * 1) Thomas Gets Bumped
 * 2) A New Friend for Thomas
 * 3) Thomas, Percy and the Dragon
 * 4) Thomas Saves the Day
 * 5) Trouble for Thomas
 * 6) Thomas and Stepney
 * 7) A Big Day for Thomas
 * 8) Thomas Meets the Queen

Songs

 * 1) Really Useful Engine
 * 2) Thomas' Anthem
 * 3) It's Great to be an Engine
 * 4) Let's Have a Race

Bonus Features

 * Thomas and the Dinosaur read-along story
 * "The Great Festival Adventure" interactive CD-ROM game demo
 * Character Gallery
 * "What Color Am I?" "Find My Number," and "Which Engine Am I?" DVD games

Trivia

 * This marks the first release for a few things:
 * The first Thomas & Friends episodic DVD released in the US.
 * The first Thomas & Friends DVD release worldwide to feature Flash animation.
 * The first Thomas & Friends DVD released by DVD Academy in South Korea.
 * This is the last US release to be captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH (known at the time as The Caption Center), although they would later caption the PBS broadcasts of the eighth series.
 * An extended version of the original theme music is featured on the menus.
 * Additional clips from Thomas Gets Tricked, Terence the Tractor, Thomas Goes Fishing, Foolish Freight Cars, Double Teething Troubles, Double Trouble, Thomas Comes to Breakfast, Put Upon Percy, Baa!, Bye George!, James and the Trouble with Trees, Make Someone Happy, Happy Ever After, Thomas and the Rumors, Thomas' Christmas Party, A Scarf for Percy, Percy's Ghostly Trick, Thomas, Percy and the Mail Train, and Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach are used in the intermissions between the episodes, accompanied by snippets from Thomas' Anthem.
 * Most of the "Next Story" title cards at the end of each intermission were taken from Best of Percy.
 * The sing-along songs on this DVD are also featured on the CD Sampler of Thomas' Songs and Roundhouse Rhythms, which comes as a bonus CD with a rare version of this release and the Thomas' Christmas Wonderland and Other Thomas Adventures DVD.
 * This marks the only release for a few things:
 * The only US DVD release to feature Thomas Meets the Queen.
 * The only one of the "Best of" releases not to have a Trivia game based on the episodes included on this release.
 * The only DVD to be released in 2001.
 * The only DVD to have the Really Useful Engine song available through the Sing-Along menu. However, both the VHS and digital releases include Really Useful Engine after the episodes.
 * The digital release includes the Gullane Entertainment logo at the beginning and the 2007 HiT Entertainment logo at the end.
 * The episodes on the Korean VHS/DVD are voiced over the English audio.
 * Thomas Saves the Day comes before Trouble for Thomas, meaning that audiences may not know about Thomas knowing about pulling the troublesome trucks.

Goofs

 * Trouble for Thomas is out of sync and the final 10 seconds are cut.
 * On the 2001 DVD release, during the closing credits, the subtitles show lyrics from Thomas' Anthem.
 * Also, on the same DVD release, in the scene of the Queen's visit in Thomas Meets the Queen, when Henry and James angrily utter a shush initially (criticising Percy and Toby just for starting to cheer for the Queen), a comma is used instead of exclamation point in the subtitles for Henry and James' line, making it not match up to the tone of voice used.
 * On the "Thomas' Best Friends" section in the booklet, Skarloey and Rheneas' pictures have each other's names switched.
 * At the start of Thomas, Percy and the Dragon, the last bit of the intro is shown, meaning that it was not cut properly.
 * A New Friend for Thomas actually has Trevor as the main character, Thomas, Percy and the Dragon actually has Percy as the main character, and Thomas Meets the Queen actually has Gordon as the main character. However, Thomas is a supporting character in all three episodes.

DVD Packs

 * Best of Thomas, Percy and James Platinum Edition
 * Best of Collection
 * Ultimate Thomas Collection
 * Best of Thomas and Best of James Double Feature
 * Best Tales on the Tracks