Hop on Board Songs and Stories

Thomas and Friends' newest release is a delightful music-filled compiliation of favorite songs and scenes from the series. An added bonus are two stories narrated by the rich, deep voice of the late George Carlin!

The songs are subtitled, helping readers sing-along and read-along. However, the lyrics are sung clearly enough that even non-readers will learn them.

This DVD was originally titled "Formerly titled Thomas & Friends Sing-Along and Stories."

DVD Synopsis
It’s a magical musical ride when Thomas and his engine friends travel the tracks on the Island of Sodor with the toe-tapping DVD+Bonus Music CD Set, Thomas & Friends™: Hop on Board Songs and Stories, steaming into stores June 16, 2009 from Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment. The set is fully-loaded with fan favorites including 2 classic Thomas & Friends stories, 7 sing-alongs and a bonus music CD featuring 5 songs!

Teaching timeless life lessons of discovery, friendship and cooperation, the Thomas & Friends animated series invites children to enter a world of imagination through the tracks of a train and the words of a story.

Life on the Island of Sodor is extremely busy for the engines. While Thomas and his friends are hard at work, they like to listen to music and sing-along. Now you can join in on all the fun with this DVD collection of Thomas & Friends songs and episodes, including a bonus music CD featuring 5 songs: “The Roll Call Song,” “Let’s Have a Race,” “Toby,” “The Island Song” and “He’s a Really Useful Engine.”
Follow the bouncing steam cloud to read the words and sing along to Thomas’ Anthem, “Let's Have a Race,” “Gone Fishing” and four other Island of Sodor favorites. You’ll also enjoy two classic Thomas & Friends episodes “Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady” and “Bulldog”, as well as a bonus sing-along, "It’s Great to Be an Engine.” Hop on board for toe-tappin’ fun with Thomas & Friends: Hop on Board Songs and Stories.


Rating: NR
Genre: Children/Family/Ages 2-5
Closed Captioned: English Closed Captioned
Format: Full Screen
Feature Running Time: 60 minutes
DVD Audio Status: 2.0 Dolby Digital

Thomas & Friends: Hop on Board - Songs and Stories

Team Up with Thomas DVD Review

This May 19th release of the beloved trains of Sodor Island features a new character, Mr. Arkwright, a new engine driver. His appearances are made during live action segments. He shows children the employee breakroom. During Team Up with Thomas, Mr. Arkwright has an important task to complete: Make a cardboard engine for Sir Topham Hatt's grandchildren! Mr. Arkwright's welcome addition will not appear on television broadcasts of Thomas and Friends, but only on DVD releases.

The animated adventures continue to uphold Rev. Awdry's original stories' valuable lessons in cooperation, respect for oneself and each other, completing tasks, and following directions. The Team Up with Thomas DVD's emphasis is, of course, team work and cooperation in work and play. Children will recognize themselves and their peers as they watch the trains work, play, make mistakes, but ultimately do a job well done.

The DVD includes a Roary the Racing Car bonus episode, "Roary Takes Off." When Roary is accidentally filled with helium instead of an engine cleaner, he gets a new view of the world. The addition of a Roary episode complements the Thomas and Friends stories. Roary's eagerness to become the best race car leads to an ocassional mishap, but always ends happily with new life lessons learned while having fun.

Hit Entertainment and Lionsgate have released a limited Edition set that includes a well made wooden Thomas the Tank Engine toy. The cost is just a couple of dollars more, but the toy would cost several dollars more at most retailers. Thomas & Friends: Team Up with Thomas with Thomas Toy

Thomas & Friends: Team Up With Thomas DVD

Team Up with Thomas DVD Synopsis
Everyone's favorite true blue engine, Thomas, is back with friends old and new in four fun adventures on the Island of Sodor in Thomas & Friends: Team Up With Thomas. This DVD is enhanced with state-of-the-art CG animation and a new live-action host, Mr. Arkwright, who welcomes viewers with a smile and a fun project for Lady Hatt's grandchildren. Thomas, Edward, Toby, James and the rest of the engines introduce young engineers to Hank, a big, strong, new engine, and Flora, a lovely new lady steam engine. Together, they take us along on their tasks around the island. Be careful: trouble may lie around the next bend. But one thing's for certain - you'll always come home with a brand new friend!

Episodes include:

"Heave Ho Thomas" - Sir Topham Hatt asks Thomas to show Hank, the new engine, around the island. Thomas quickly rails against Hank's brash personality and refuses to let Hank help him with his important jobs. When overloaded, Thomas cracks a cylinder and needs Hank's help. The two soon become good friends.
"James Works It Out" - It's winter on the island and James is telling everyone he always knows best and never needs advice from anyone! When Hector tries to warn him about the bad weather, he decides to ignore him. He soon changes his mind when they get stuck in the snow. Luckily, Hector is happy to help his friend James.

"Tram Trouble" - Toby is very excited about leading the parade at the first Great Waterton festival, so when Thomas discovers that Flora, the new steam tram, is also leading the parade, Thomas is worried his friend will be upset. Thomas tries to impede the forthcoming events…little does he know that Toby is scared of leading the parade on his own!

"Push Me Pull You" - The Puppet Show has arrived on the Island of Sodor and Skarloey excitedly asks Sir Topham Hatt if he can pull the puppet show special. The trucks are very heavy, and instead of accepting Rheneas' offer of help, Skarloey challenges him to a tug of war with the trucks. Disaster quickly ensues, and Skarloey learns that friendship is the strongest thing of all.

DVD Special Features
Spot the Difference Game
Sir Topham Hatt's Helping Hands
Bonus Episode: Roary™ the Racing Car - "Roary Takes Off" The all-new TV series from the creators of Bob the Builder™

DVD Technical Features
Rating: NR
Genre: Children/Family/Ages 2-5
Closed Captioned: English Closed Captioned
Format: Full Screen
Feature Running Time: 46 minutes
DVD Audio Status: English, Spanish and French 2.0 Dolby Digital

Children can have fun at the Thomas and Friends official website

Halloween DVDs for Kids and Family

Halloween began as a pagen harvest festival and considered the Celtic New Year. As Christianity took root, the Church instituted All Hallows Day, more commonly known in modern times as "All Saints Day," celebrating the lives and miracles of all the Catholic Church's saints. The night before All Hallows Day became known as "All Hallow Even," the evening before All Hallows Day. "Hallowe'en" replaced the Gaelic custom of dressing up as ghosts and spirits on October 31st. They believed a door between our world and the spirit world was opened for that day only. Evil spirits invaded the world to wreck havoc on human beings. The costumes were believed to appease the spirit world, lessening the destruction they brought. Since then, Halloween has become a day of revelry for all ages, and an opportunity to "play dress-up" as adults. Costumed children go begging door-to-door, calling "trick or treat," delighting their neighbors with their costumes, ranging from angels to devils and monster. Thankfully, the "trick" part of this custom is no longer considered acceptable.

Another favorite part of Halloween is watching scary movies, television episodes, and cartoons. Here are some of our old and new favorites for kids and family.

Scholastic and Fox Home Entertainment have released three Goosebumps DVDs based on R. L. Stine's writings: One Day at Horrorland; Monster Blood; and A Night in Terror Tower DVDs. The first title is part of the Stine's HorrorLand series that also includes books and video games. The Goosebumps book and television series receives a great deal of criticism some parents' groups. Nevertheless, they are entertaining scary stories for the preteens who love this genre. Stine's stories seem to be inspired by O'Henry's surprise endings and Twilight Zone's twists and turns.

Each episode of HIT Entertainment's Halloween Spooktacular DVD collection of stories and activities is not scary and written for preschoolers and early elementary age children. The episodes cover a variety of Halloween topics, including choosing a costume, safety carving and handling pumpkins, what to expect while trick-or-treating, good manners for trick-or-treating, owning up to one's mistakes, being a good friend, cooperative play, and slightly spooky ghost stories. Episodes are taken from Barney, Angelina Ballerina, Thomas & Friends, Fireman Sam, and Bob the Builder. A Fifi and the Flower Tots bonus episode is also included.

Nickelodeon Films and Paramount Pictures finally did justice to a movie adaptation of a children's book series when it released The Spiderwick Chronicles. When his parents separate, Jared Grace, his twin brother Simon, sister Mallory, and his mother, Helen, move from New York to a mysterious old house in the country. It is owned by their great great uncle Arthur Spiderwick and great aunt Lucinda. The brothers and sister soon learn that the Field Guide their elderly uncle wrote isn't a fantasy. These creatures actually exist! The only way a human can see these creatures is through a special seeing stone, or by being spat in the eye by an icky goblin. The Grace children desperately try to keep the key to the Unseen World out of Mulgareth's evil hands. As the Graces develop their powers and face these magical, sometimes frightening beings, they overcome their personal conflicts.

Don Knotts was best known for his roles as the suspicious, bumbling deputy in The Andy Griffiths Show and the suspicious, bumbling apartment manager in Three's Company. But, he also made a name for himself in family comedy movies, the best of which is The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, released in 1966. It's all silly and your kids will find the special effects and props outdated. It is, however, still funny. Knotts plays Luther Heggs, a newspaper typesetter back in the day when setting up a newspaper for printing required setting it up on a huge printers. He dreams of becoming a reporter. One day, he Luther is given a dare to stay overnight in the town's haunted house. He decides that the best way to draw attention to his investivative reporting skills is by finding out what is going on in the house. But, he is so frightened by the happenings at the house that he doesn't make it. He tells of his terrifying evening, which makes him the laughing stock of the town. Determined to save face, Luther continues to investigate the mysterious house.

The magical adventure The Little Vampire is a delightful children's fantasy film, complete with flying cows. Kids will watch as an underdog gains confidence as he helps his new friends overcome a huge obstacle and evade a klutzy vampire hunter. The parents are loving and caring, but bemused at Tony's make-believe vampire friends - until they are introduced. In the end, good conquers evil. Those who were thought to be evil weren't so bad, after all. They were just stuck in a bad situation and needed a little help getting out of it. The acting and writing is remarkably good, compared to many kids' movies of this genre. The story keeps the attention of the kids. And, adults will catch themselves laughing along with the kids.