Harold (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

Background Information
Harold is a fictional helicopter created by the Rev. W. Awdry.

He first appeared in the second series episode Percy and Harold, which first aired in 1986. His last appearance was in the twenty-fourth series episode The Inventor's Spectacular Bridge, which was released in 2021.

Harold is based on a Sikorsky S-55 helicopter.

Original model
Harold’s original model was custom built by model makers, Paul Knight and Jeremy King. The model was first constructed from a wooden pattern and vacuformed 1.5mm styrene plasticard was put over it to make a bodyshell. The rotors and windows were made from transparent plastic.

For scenes where he was required to fly, he was attached to strings hanging from a pole which the crew moved around, and a transparent disk gave the illusion of his rotor blades spinning. By the third series, Harold's actual blades were powered by a motor when he would fly.

Harold's original model has gone through several changes throughout the television series:
 * Series 2:
 * His face originally had pie-eyed styled eyes, a larger mouth, and a chin but was later changed to fully circular eyes, a smaller and different mouth design, and lost the chin.
 * His spinning blades were achieved using a transparent disk.
 * In Percy and Harold, The Runaway and Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree, he used a lamp.
 * Series 3:
 * His model's rotor has become smaller, and rotor blades now spin when shown flying.
 * His middle and rear side windows are removed.
 * His blades become flimsy and slightly bent.
 * The lamp reappears only in Thomas, Percy and the Post Train.
 * His face is given a larger variety of emotions.
 * Series 4:
 * His blades become straight again.
 * Series 5:
 * His blades go back to being flimsy and bent.
 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad:
 * His blades are straight once again.
 * His pupils become smaller.

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. Harold's original model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership, likely as backup in case the newer model which was the main model used at the time, was on display elsewhere and another Harold model was needed for another display.

In 2022, on day two of the second Clearwater Event, Harold's model was put on display alongside a Gauge one replica of Thomas with a screen-used tired face, recreating a scene from The Runaway.

Second model
During the production of the eighth series, a new model for Harold was built from brass. In the tenth series, the model was fitted with an moving eye mechanism. It was used in the eighth, ninth, and tenth series, as well as the special The Great Discovery.

Model Changes
Harold's second model has gone through several changes throughout the television series:
 * Series 8:
 * The lamp becomes permanent.
 * Series 10:
 * He gained a moving eye mechanism.

Present Day
Harold's second model is currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan, and was previously at Nitrogen Studios in Canada.

Close-up model
A close-up model of Harold was required for scenes where he had to interact with close-up scale figures. The model was not complete and only the cab was built. The cab was made in pieces so it was able to be dismantled and reassembled for use of interior shots if required.

CGI model
The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into CGI as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Harold was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios in 2008, a year before the show switched over to full CGI. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Photographs of Harold'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.

Harold has had modifications throughout the CGI series. These include:
 * Series 12:
 * His red lining becomes a darker shade of red.
 * Misty Island Rescue:
 * His main body becomes smaller.
 * His face becomes smaller and lowered slightly.
 * His lining changed back to the red shade it normally was.

Voice Actors

 * Kevin Frank
 * Keith Wickham
 * Kerry Shale
 * Rob Rackstraw
 * Kai-Henrik Möller
 * Burkhard Schmeer
 * Erik Schäffler
 * Thorsten Weber
 * Philipp Schmidt
 * Tobias Schmidt
 * Yūki Satō
 * Wataru Hatano
 * Nozomu Sasaki
 * Christoffer Staib
 * Waldemar Barwiński
 * Alexander Heeren
 * Edson Matus
 * Jorge Santos
 * Esteban Desco
 * Harold Salazar
 * Aryeh Cherner
 * Nir Ron
 * Juan Navarro Torelló
 * Jos Gómez
 * Tony Marot
 * Denis Bespaliy
 * Petri Hanttu
 * Haris Grigoropoulos
 * Christian Damsgaard