I stumbled across this documentary on Instagram, and have just spent 2 and a half hours on a Monday evening reminiscing about something that I fondly remember from my childhood. Watching Tugs on CITV as a 5 year old was so joyful for someone who was already madly infatuated by Thomas the Tank Engine. I can remember having the annual, the story books, the sticker books, and even the Board Game (I kind of wish I still had it now - but sadly I suspect it got 'lost' in one of the moves or many clearouts as I went through my teenage years). Thank you for making this wonderful documentary that has rekindled my long lost love for this show. I hope someday we get official DVD's of the whole series that I can get for prosperity (and to remind me again in another 30 odd years of my childhood).
I haven’t got to watch the video last year because I was busy working on my video projects for RU-vid. But when I tapped on this video to watch it, this was the best documentary I’d ever watched. I love the history behind the show and all the detail about it. It made an impact for those who love Thomas like myself. Not to mention some of the crew members who were involved with TUGS were featured in this documentary, including the voice actors Sean Barrett or Shaun Prenderghast talking about the characters that they play in the show. Even Chris Tulloch, the voice of Zorran, is in this documentary. Great video! I personally would like to see Simon Nash and Shaun Prenderghast together in an interview, and maybe do their voices of Ten Cents and Sunshine to improvise a couple lines. What I personally love about TUGS is that the crew treat the show like a Steven Spielberg movie. They’d built some awesome models and sets. The effects and explosions were fantastic. And they’d done some breathtaking shots like the sunset or dawn shots in this show. The crew knows what they’re doing and David Mitton is a charismatic director who makes the show be like as a big Hollywood action movie. TUGS is not just a masterpiece in and of itself as a show, it’s a cinematic masterpiece. Happy 35th anniversary to the show itself.
Who else is here to watch this to celebrate TUGS' 35th Anniversary? Everything about this is almost tear-jerking. There is so much appreciation to be found here. I still can't get over on how many behind the scenes shots there are for "Munitions!"
Man, the ending really hit me in the feels. From Sean Barrett’s send off to Big Mac at 2:21:33 to Chris Tulloch and the fade out of Zebedee sailing off into the sunset at 2:25:57 with that background music. I loved all of this. This was really well made. Great work!!!!
Thanks for your kind words there, we really wanted the ending to have that emotional feel toward the nostalgia and legacy of TUGS. As for Sean Barrett's send-off to Big Mac, there's an origin story behind it - one which we'll be covering in our upcoming 'Greetings and Saluations' video.
You certainly did a great job to give the film title a ‘Marvel Cinematic Universe’ styled design. Many thanks again for your services, Jeff and we hope you enjoy the finished film. 🙂
It is a shame, but we'll be doing another 'greetings and Salutations' video in the future - one relating to 'Bigg Retrospective.' We'll be covering that in the video.
What a fantastic video. Very interesting to hear how Sean Ruttledge joined the project. It must have been an honour to have a big name like him join your production. I still love the 'Retrospective' video you all worked so hard on and I'm very proud of you all :) .
Was much an honour watching the Bigg Retrospective premiere and hearing the stories from the people that worked on Tugs. If I hadda known you lot were doing fan reviews at the time of filming, I might have come forward to be interviewed as an international Tugs fan from Australia 🇦🇺. Best wishes to you guys and your future projects. 😉 I can also impersonate Patrick Allen, I do so for my own Tugs series. But Sean I think did it better being a more professional VA to me.
Thank you for taking my idea into consideration hopefully if there would be a reunion with those kids who are now adults for singing that Christmas Thomas song from 1996 possibly they could sing it at the same railway where it was originally filmed and it would be a lovely idea to get interviews with them.
Hello! Thanks for sharing your update! I would say the subject that grabbed my attention is having more TUGS related projects in the future. I’m eager to know what you guys will have in store once everything is idealized with passion. I’ll look forward to seeing more content from you. Keep it up! :) -Craig
Hi Craig, thank you for your response and to answer your subject on TUGS; we have been having discussions about doing any more TUGS-related content in the future. There MIGHT be something, but if these do go ahead, we'll keep you updated. And regarding what else we have in store, keep an eye on a video that will be going up later in the week or so. We've got more things planned! :)
Was there no chance of interviewing Robert Cardona? I know he is 93, but it would be interesting to hear what he thought of Tugs, why they made it and what he thinks of its renesanse.
Hi there, We didn’t manage to get ahold of Robert when making the film. You’re absolutely right, it would’ve been amazing to have him in the film. Back when I first planned the film in 2015, I thought it would be good to structure the film around Robert’s memories. However, my rule on the film was always to respect the age of those we were approaching. I didn’t want to appear as if I was constantly pester people. So, in the end, it felt more appropriate to leave Robert alone. In a similar vein, John Baddeley is now in his 90s, and turned down our invite to participate. I didn’t want to go after people in the winter of their lives. It felt more appropriate to leave them be. Lewis
Ringo Starr's Startling Studio, where the Tugs music by Mike O' Donnell and Junior Campbell was recorded, had previously been John Lennon's personal studio at his Tittenhurst Park home in Berkshire where he famously recorded his "Imagine" album. Ringo bought Tittenhurst Park from John in 1973, but sold it in 1988, therefore it is possible the Tugs music was amongst the last pieces recorded in that famous studio. It is interesting to note that Ringo Starr recorded "Goodnight Vienna" there in 1974 - what a coincidence?
Ringo Starr's Startling Studio was previously John Lennon's private recording studio at Tittenhurst Park Estate in Berkshire where he recorded "Imagine". Ringo sold it in 1988, so sounds like the Tugs music was amongst the last pieces recorded there.
I was never a tugs fan ( I barely watched Thomas as a child) but the sheer craftsmanship of the props and models used in both those shows is iconic. You could mix backgrounds from this show into a pile of unrelated backgrounds and they could be picked out easily. Just fantastic art direction overall
Amazing! Awesome job! I don’t even mind that my attempt to join was unsuccessful. This is incredible, I hope TUGS gets a Region Zero DVD release someday
Fantastic! Well made and very nostalgic. I loved this as a child. Introduced to it by my father a tug skipper and 33 years later i followed my goals, my heart, my family and now i too am a tug skipper. Proud to do what i do and live the life. Looking back its even more credit to the writers and team who have got so many narratives, jargon and features the same as the real world. In addition im a modeller too, im part of the making tracks model railway team, and document both these aspects of my life on my youtube channel "tugsntrains"
Such spectacular work, as well as it would've been awesome if we also saw an interview of the voice of Ten Cents himself, Simon Nash (many years ago, he did act alongside with John Hasler, who would later be a future UK dub voice of Thomas for Thomas And Friends). Also in the final part regarding on whether there will be a possibility of a remake of this defunct series, hope they keep everything the same way as it did (character designs, storytelling, etc.), as well as who knows, even possibly adding in actual human characters like it was done in Thomas And Friends instead of just being loudhailers. May the great legacy of Robert Cardona and late David Mitton live on for many years to come.
Which person in the documentaty is Ross King? I used to see his name on the end credits for Tugs, when I was a kid and I thought that he was the Scottish TV presenter from ITV, but I later found out that it was a different person called Ross King, who did the special effects for Tugs.
Yes, it always seems very bizarre to see one or two people with the same name and you wonder if they're the same person, but of course, they're not. Ross King appears in two of the photos, the first is at 32:20 - 32:26 (he's the man dressed in white) and he also appears at 39:43 - 39:51. He was identified by Jeremy King and Giles Christopher during the days we shot their interviews. As there are some crew members who did not get interviewed or have long passed away, we had to blur out the faces due to permissions may be involved. Sadly, on the day we filmed Jeremy King, he revealed to us that Ross King had died a long time ago, so that is the main reason we do not have Ross interviewed for the film. ~ Elliot K.W.
Oh thanks for that. I typed Ross King's name into IMDb and it does not reveal when he was born or if he had passed on. Time Bandits was an amazing project that he worked on before his time on Tugs.
