My team supported Thomas & Friends during its transition from CGI to 2D animation starting in 2019. The 2D animation was part of a strategy to demonstrate friendlier versions of Thomas characters and connect younger train fans to the terrific Thomas license.

The core of the Thomas line is the beautifully crafted and decorated engines. My design team created hundreds of interactive & motorized engines that communicated with one another, basic motorized engines for great track play, die cast engines for collecting & gravity play, and Thomas minis for very cost-effective collecting.

These Thomas & Friends products enabled us to play with Thomas’ scale and play patterns in interesting ways. From big pull along versions to Storytime Thomas that focused on extending the animated content & music, we had a lot of fun with these standalone items.