{"id":13274,"date":"2017-10-15T04:11:39","date_gmt":"2017-10-15T08:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/"},"modified":"2017-10-15T12:52:13","modified_gmt":"2017-10-15T16:52:13","slug":"mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Mattel\u2019s Christopher Keenan Talks New Thomas & Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ahead of the World Premiere Screening of Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!<\/em> at MIPJunior last night, Mattel Creations\u2019 Christopher Keenan gave TV Kids<\/em> some insight into what\u2019s in store for the new iteration of the classic brand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping that anyone who sees this new iteration of Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!<\/em> will see that what we\u2019ve done is retain a lot of the core storytelling elements that made Thomas a staple in children\u2019s entertainment for years,\u201d Keenan, senior VP and executive producer at Mattel Creations, told TV Kids Daily<\/em>. \u201cThey\u2019ll also see that we\u2019ve modernized it just enough so that the pacing is a little more in tune with what kids are seeing in other programs today. As well as upping the ante in terms of humor, we\u2019re doing a lot more physical and visual humor than we\u2019ve ever done before. And probably most importantly, we\u2019re really embracing this idea of Thomas and his Steam Team being global citizens. We feel really strongly that it\u2019s time for Thomas to start addressing some of the issues that our young audiences are already getting exposed to.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new 26×11-minute series premiered on night one of MIPJunior and is set to roll out to platforms globally in fall 2018. The brand refresh follows extensive market research with parents and children and features storylines inspired by five of the UN\u2019s Sustainable Development Goals: quality education, gender equality, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, and life on land.<\/p>\n

Among the key features of the reboot are faster-paced, 7-minute narrative stories in the 11-minute episodes with more comedy and fantasy sequences, alongside 4-minute sing-along songs and \u201clife lessons\u201d delivered directly by Thomas. The show also sees Thomas leaving Sodor for the first time in the series\u2019 history, exploring countries such as China, India and Australia.<\/p>\n

The new Steam Team, meanwhile, formerly six boys and one girl, now includes three girls and four boys. Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!<\/em> also sees the introduction of a new main title song and Thomas as the narrator, speaking directly to the audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe brand is currently undergoing an evolution to remain relevant for the next generation of parents and kids by opening up the world of Thomas & Friends<\/em> so kids can discover the world around them,\u201d said Kate Schlomann, VP and general manager of Thomas & Friends. \u201cThis, in turn, offers many new opportunities for the brand franchise, which takes Thomas & Friends<\/em> from an evergreen brand to a must-have hot property!\u201d<\/p>\n

Maher Nasser, director of the outreach division of the United Nations\u2019 department of public information, noted, \u201cWe recognize the power of the creative community and entertainment industry in reaching much wider audiences through storytelling. The UN Creative Community Outreach Initiative works with partners, such as Thomas & Friends<\/em>, to translate our messages into everyday language that young people and children can better understand and relate to. Once children understand these concepts, they will grow to be more responsible adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schlomann added, \u201cWe see great value in the Sustainable Development Goals and chose the ones that felt most natural to the Thomas & Friends<\/em> storyline and provided the opportunity for a new type of life lesson using messaging that is easy to understand for a preschool audience. Our new show is all about discovery, curiosity and wonder explored through Thomas\u2019 eyes of innocence, much like that of our young audience. The content hopes to inspire the next generation of global citizens and produce meaningful conversation and learnings between children and parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! The Movie<\/em>, an 80-minute special, premieres next summer, while the new season (its 22nd<\/span>) rolls out in the fall. The brand currently airs in over 110 countries in 33 languages.<\/p>\n

Asked about the enduring appeal of Thomas, Keenan noted, \u201cThomas represents the spirit of the audience we\u2019re speaking to. He\u2019s a cheeky little engine who tends to make mistakes, or at least tends to be faced with dilemmas where he has to make a decision. And thankfully he now often chooses the high road. He\u2019s really a kid\u2019s best friend. So many kids who watch Thomas think of him as their friend. He\u2019s the friend they feel safe going on these journeys with.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ahead of the World Premiere Screening of Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! at MIPJunior last night, Mattel Creations\u2019 Christopher Keenan gave World Screen Newsflash some insight into what\u2019s in store for the new iteration of the classic brand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":13275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[1007,1008,2759,409],"class_list":["post-13274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-christopher-keenan","tag-mattel-creations","tag-mipjunior-2017","tag-thomas-friends","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nMattel\u2019s Christopher Keenan Talks New Thomas & Friends - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mattel\u2019s Christopher Keenan Talks New Thomas & Friends - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ahead of the World Premiere Screening of Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! at MIPJunior last night, Mattel Creations\u2019 Christopher Keenan gave World Screen Newsflash some insight into what\u2019s in store for the new iteration of the classic brand.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-15T08:11:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-15T16:52:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/Thomas-1017.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"353\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/\",\"name\":\"Mattel\u2019s Christopher Keenan Talks New Thomas & Friends - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-15T08:11:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-15T16:52:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mattel\u2019s Christopher Keenan Talks New Thomas & Friends\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\",\"name\":\"TVKIDS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. She can be reached on mdaswani@worldscreen.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/author\/mdaswaniworldscreen-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mattel\u2019s Christopher Keenan Talks New Thomas & Friends - TVKIDS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mattel\u2019s Christopher Keenan Talks New Thomas & Friends - TVKIDS","og_description":"Ahead of the World Premiere Screening of Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures! at MIPJunior last night, Mattel Creations\u2019 Christopher Keenan gave World Screen Newsflash some insight into what\u2019s in store for the new iteration of the classic brand.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/","og_site_name":"TVKIDS","article_published_time":"2017-10-15T08:11:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-10-15T16:52:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":353,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/Thomas-1017.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mansha Daswani","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mansha Daswani","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/","name":"Mattel\u2019s Christopher Keenan Talks New Thomas & Friends - TVKIDS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-10-15T08:11:39+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-15T16:52:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/mattels-christopher-keenan-talks-new-thomas-friends\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mattel\u2019s Christopher Keenan Talks New Thomas & Friends"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/","name":"TVKIDS","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad","name":"Mansha Daswani","description":"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. She can be reached on mdaswani@worldscreen.com.","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/author\/mdaswaniworldscreen-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}