Storytime with Thomas (partially found Fox Family series; 1999-2000)
The show's title card.
Status: Partially Found
Storytime with Thomas was a series created by Britt Allcroft for the short-lived Fox Family channel (now known as Freeform). The show ran for 40 episodes between September 6th, 1999[1] to May 26th, 2000 and was a compilation of two episodes of the American dub of Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends (Season 1-5), a song from the series and an episode of The Magic Adventures of Mumfie (which was also created by Britt Allcroft)[2]. The series marks the first time Season 5 of the former airs on American television (since Shining Time Station ended it's run four years earlier) and the first appearance of actor Alec Baldwin as the show's narrator, following a handful home media releases of his episodes just months prior to the show's premiere.
A large majority of Baldwin's episodes of Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends and The Magic Adventures of Mumfie can be found today and have seen several home media and streaming releases, but Storytime With Thomas itself is very elusive and very little of its run has resurfaced.
Episodes
| # | Song | Thomas Episode | Mumfie Episode | Thomas Episode | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Let's Have a Race | A Surprise for Percy | Scarecrow's Birthday Surprise | Snow | Partially Lost | Aired September 6th, 1999. |
| 2 | The Island Song | Bye George! | Scarecrow's New Best Friend | Double Teething Troubles | Partially Lost | Aired September 7th, 1999. |
| 3 | Really Useful Engine | Happy Ever After | All Work and No Play | Busy Going Backwards | Partially Lost | Aired September 8th, 1999. |
| 4 | Toby | Toby and the Flood | The Black Cat Disappears | Toby's Discovery | Partially Lost | Aired September 15th, 1999; Baldwin narrations and "Toby" song are online. |
| 5 | Every Cloud has a Silver Lining | Cranky Bugs | If The Hat Fits | Horrid Lorry | Partially Lost | Aired September 10th, 1999. |
| 6 | Unknown | Something in the Air | Scarecrowella | Oliver's Find | Partially Lost | Aired September 9th, 1999; Baldwin narrations are online. |
| 7 | Unknown | Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach | Unknown | Thomas and the Rumors | Partially Lost | Aired September 11th, 1999; Baldwin narrations are online. |
| 8 | Unknown | James and the Trouble with Trees | The Bird House | Make Someone Happy | Partially Lost | Aired September 12th, 1999; Baldwin narrations are online. |
| 9 | Unknown | Lady Hatt's Birthday Party | Bristle's Holiday | Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday | Partially Lost | Aired September 13th, 1999; Baldwin narrations are online. |
| 10 | Unknown | Stepney Gets Lost | The Perils Of Pearl | Rusty and the Boulder | Partially Lost | Aired September 14th, 1999; Baldwin narrations are online. |
| 11 | Unknown | A Better View for Gordon | Captain Jellybean's Treasure | Gordon and the Gremlin | Partially Lost | Aired September 16th, 1999; Baldwin narrations are online. |
| 12 | Accidents Will Happen | Diesel Does it Again | The Lost Cloud | Escape | Partially Found | Aired circa. 2000; Accidents Will Happen is online. |
| 13 | Don't Judge a Book by its Cover | Old Iron | Sunrise, Sunset | Wrong Road | Partially Found | Aired circa. 2000; Don't Judge a Book by its Cover is online. |
| 14 | Don't Judge a Book by its Cover | Woolly Bear | Unknown | Steam Roller | Partially Found | Aired circa. 2000; Don't Judge a Book by its Cover is online. |
| 15 | Every Cloud has a Silver Lining | Henry's Forest | A Foggy Day | Percy's Promise | Lost | |
| 16 | Gone Fishing | Percy Proves a Point | Mind Over Manners | Percy, James and the Fruitful Day | Lost | |
| 17 | Gone Fishing | Thomas Gets Bumped | Abominable Pinky | Thomas, Percy and the Dragon | Partially Found | Aired circa. 2000; Gone Fishing is online. |
| 18 | The Island Song | No Joke for James | A Fishy Tale | Train Stops Play | Partially Lost | Aired circa. 2000. |
| 19 | It's Great to be an Engine | Gordon and the Famous Visitor | Case of the Missing Sand | Paint Pots and Queens | Partially Found | Aired circa. 2000; It's Great to be an Engine is online. |
| 20 | Sir Topham Hatt | Toby's Tightrope | The Star Duster | Rusty to the Rescue | Partially Lost | |
| 21 | The Snow Song | The Diseasel | Unknown | One Good Turn | Partially Found | Aired circa. 2000; The Snow Song is online. |
| 22 | Thomas' Anthem | Percy and the Signal | It Won't Be All Right on the Night | Donald's Duck | Lost | |
| 23 | Unknown | Bulls Eyes | Unknown | Percy's Predicament | Lost | |
| 24 | Unknown | Daisy | Unknown | A Cow on the Line | Lost | |
| 25 | Unknown | Edward, Trevor and the Really Useful Party | Unknown | A Scarf for Percy | Lost | |
| 26 | Unknown | Four Little Engines | Unknown | A Bad Day for Sir Handel | Lost | |
| 27 | Unknown | James Goes Buzz Buzz | Unknown | Tender Engines | Lost | |
| 28 | Unknown | Oliver Owns Up | Making A Stand | Gallant Old Engine | Lost | |
| 29 | Unknown | Thomas and the Special Letter | Days Without Night | Thomas and Stepney | Lost | |
| 30 | Unknown | Thomas Comes to Breakfast | Up, Up, And Away! | Bulldog | Lost | |
| 31 | Unknown | Sleeping Beauty | Unknown | Duncan Gets Spooked | Partially Found | Baldwin's narration of "Duncan Gets Spooked" is online. |
| 32 | Unknown | Snow | Pinky's First Winter | Thomas' Christmas Party | Partially Found | Baldwin's narration of "Snow" is online. |
| 33 | Percy's Seaside Trip | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Lost | |
| 34 | Come for the Ride | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Lost | |
| 35 | Harold the Helicopter | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Lost | |
| 36 | Night Train | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Lost | |
| 37 | Donald's Duck | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Lost | |
| 38 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Lost | |
| 39 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Lost | |
| 40 | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Lost |
Availability
Since a large amount of content that aired on Fox Family is obscure and elusive, Storytime With Thomas is lost. The shows featured in Storytime With Thomas are no stranger to home media releases and many of them have materialized in the decades since Storytime With Thomas last aired (while Mumfie has received the least home media releases than Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends), with streaming releases like Netflix and Amazon Prime also popping up over the years. Only six episodes (with the Mumfie episodes cut out) have surfaced on YouTube. Disney bought Fox Family in 2001 (and rebranded as ABC Family) and as a result, a lot of the channel's original programming got vaulted including Mister Moose's Fun Time (which carried episodes of Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends while Season 5 was in production) and a revival of Captain Kangaroo. It can be assumed that Storytime With Thomas was vaulted as well, but with the show's rights to broadcast on American television constantly changing hands throughout the years, this remains to be seen.
See Also
Thomas & Friends
- Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go (partially found test animation of reboot of British children TV series; 2019)
- Thomas & Friends: Day of the Diesels (lost original cut of direct-to-DVD film; existence unconfirmed; 2011)
- Thomas & Friends "Jack Jumps In" (found Alec Baldwin narration of British children's TV series episode; 2002)
- Thomas & Friends "Series 7" (partially found original music of American dub of British children's TV series; mid 2000s)
- Thomas & Friends "Series 12" (partially found Pierce Brosnan narrations of British children's animated series; 2008)
Thomas the Tank Engine
- Thomas the Tank Engine (lost pilot episode of unproduced 2D animated adaptation of "The Railway Series" books; 1976)
- Thomas the Tank Engine "Down the Mine" (partially found unaired pitch pilot version of children's TV series; 1983)
- Thomas the Tank Engine "The Missing Coach" (partially found footage from unfinished episode of children's TV series; 1986)
- Thomas the Tank Engine "Season 3" (found original Michael Angelis narrations of British children's TV series episodes; 1991)
- Thomas the Tank Engine "Season 4" (found pre-recorded version of British children's TV series episodes; 1994)
- Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (partially lost deleted scenes of British children's TV series; 1984-2021)
Other
- Barry the Rescue Engine (lost production material of cancelled "The Railway Series" book; 1980s)
- Jack and the Sodor Construction Company (miscellaneous lost media of spinoff series; existence unconfirmed; 2002)
- The Sad Story of Henry (lost live BBC broadcast adaptation of "The Railway Series" books; 1953)
- The Thomas & Friends Institute of Innovation (partially found informational short film; 2013-2014)
- Thomas and the Magic Railroad (found deleted scenes of children's fantasy adventure film; 2000)
- Thomas and the Magic Railroad (lost test footage of 3.5" character models for British children's TV series; 1995)
- Thomas and the U.K. Trip & Thomas Number 1 (found Japanese "Thomas the Tank Engine" crossover TV special and music video; 1993)
- Thomas the Tank Engine (found original illustrated edition of book; 1946)
- Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (found build of cancelled NES port of educational game; 1993)
- Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (lost build of cancelled PlayStation educational game; 1999)
- The Three Railway Engines (found original edition of book; 1945)