AllMovie

The internationally popular children's television program Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (shown in the United States as part of the PBS series Shining Time Station) makes its way onto the big screen in this feature-length adventure. On her way to see her Grandpa Burnett (Peter Fonda), young Lily (Mara Wilson) gets on the wrong train and ends up lost. Fortunately, she meets the tiny Mr. Conductor (Alec Baldwin), who shows her a magical railway where the plucky little steam engine Thomas (voice of John Bellis) pulls the line from the enchanted town of Shining Time to the island of Sodor. Thomas' rival is the bigger (and meaner) Diesel Ten, who has already put one of Thomas' allied engines, The Lady, out of commission. Without The Lady, the Conductor has no source for the magic gold dust that allows him to travel from Sodor to Shining Time in the wink of an eye, so Lily and Thomas have to find a way to find more for him. Thomas and the Magic Railroad also features Didi Conn as Stacy Jones (reprising her role from Shining Time Station) and Russell Means as Billy Two Feathers. Like the TV series, Thomas and the Magic Railroad is loosely based on the Thomas the Tank Engine books written by British children's author Wilbert Vere Awdry.