Official release poster
Tobias and The Half-Pariah is a 2014 epic animated fantasy-adventure film by Adam Guzik, also known as Tines Sensahthe. Based on The Railway Series by Reverend Wilbert Awdry and its subsequent television adaptation, Thomas & Friends by Britt Allcroft, the film serves as a retelling of the story of the character Toby the Tram Engine, whereas he is presented as a magical, supernatural hybrid steam tram with powers unlike any other engine TATHP was released on August 24, 2014 on YouTube. It was met with critical acclaim, praised by viewers and critics alike, and has gone on to become one of the greatest Thomas fan films of all time. A sequel, Tobias and The Arcane Merchant, is scheduled to release in December 2023.
Synopsis[]
Tobias, more commonly called Toby, was a small little tram engine who worked on his tram line with his faithful coach Henrietta. But hard times came, and the tram line shut down. Toby thought it was the end, but when a stout gentleman came to the railway one day, Toby's life changed forever.
He was taken to Sodor, and began a new life. He soon began discovering he was stronger and faster than most of the other engines, much to the dismay of one express engine Gordon. He was so hailed, he was allowed to pull the express himself.
But Toby's power is not without cause - and effect. His powers were ill-begotten, and another engine faced the worse end of the equation. Now this engine is after Toby and his power, and Toby will have to come to grips with what he is, what it means for the others, and how his life will change on the North Western Railway.
Plot[]
In the early 1950s, a tram engine named Tobias ("Toby" for short) is enjoying his life on the East Anglia Tramway, along with his faithful coach Henrietta. However, after numerous and varied operation setbacks, the tramway is closed in 1951, forcing Toby and Henrietta to be put out of service, much to his dismay. But when all seems lost, Toby and his crew receive a letter from a stout gentleman they had given rides to, who turns out to be Sir Topham Hatt (also known as the "Fat Controller"), the controller of the North Western Railway on the Island of Sodor. The Fat Controller offers Toby a new life on Sodor, which he and Henrietta accept with excitement, feeling reborn with a fresh new start. Toby adapts to his new home on Sodor very quickly. At one point he makes the tremendous discovery that he is stronger and faster than most of the other engines, much to the jealously of Gordon, the mainline express engine whom Toby even assists one day.
Gordon's resentment for the tram engine grows much bigger when he discovers that Toby gets to pull the express sometimes because of his immense speed and strength. This causes Gordon's jealously to get the better of him, when one day, he arranges a trick on Toby to divert him onto the branh line to make him late, all in the hope that it would get Toby off the express duties. However, Gordon fails to realize until too late that Percy is pulling a stone train on the same line in the opposite direction. Toby gets diverted on the branch line and onto a collision course with Percy. Just as the two engines are about to crash, Toby uses his newfound powers to stop Percy and throw himself off the rails and out of the way. Thankfully, all the passengers survive the crash, but Gordon is berated by the engines and the Fat Controller, who exiles him from Sodor to the Other Railway.
Voice cast[]
- Tines Sensahthe as Tobias, Henrietta, and Montague
- D.T. Chapman as Gordon
- Rhys Griffin as Thomas and Atherton
- D. Irwin as Percy and James
- Jaimie Ringwood as Edward
- Marlon Mulan as Henry
- Trevor Cully as Ludwig
- James Pyle as Oliver
- Daniel Long as the Fat Controller
- Mark Monroe as Mavis
Production[]
Adam Guzik came up with the idea for some Thomas & Friends fan films in 2012 between his freshman and sophomore years of high school, one of them being Tobias and The Half-Pariah. The other was Thomas and The Engine of The Mountains, which went through four years of production before being cancelled in 2016.
Reception[]
Sequel[]
- A sequel, Tobias and The Arcane Merchant, is scheduled to be released in 24 December 2024.
Trivia[]
- The film takes references from both the books and the series.
- It's basically a darker and more edgier version of Toby's origin story that covers how he got to Sodor.
- It is considered by many fans of the franchise as one of the best fan films that have been made.
- The film currently has an approval rating of 8.5 on IMDb.