Cartoon Network is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery that aired Thomas & Friends throughout Europe. In the United Kingdom, it aired twice on weekdays from 1995 until the end of February 1999,[1] due to Nickelodeon UK acquiring the British pay broadcast rights to Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends.[2] The fourth and fifth series premiered on this channel in the United Kingdom & the Netherlands. In Japan, it aired from 13 December 2008 to 22 December 2024.
Each broadcast consisted of three episodes from the first four series in a random shuffle; Series 5 joined the slot in 1998. Cartoon Network also aired Big World! Big Adventures! in Latin America. In the UK, Thomas & Friends now airs on Cartoonito, the pre-school equivalent of Cartoon Network.
In the Netherlands, Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends aired on Cartoon Network from 12 July 1997 to 31 July 2001. The show stopped airing on Cartoon Network in the Netherlands when Cartoon Network Netherlands was merged into a general channel for Europe. This European channel did not have Thomas & Friends as part of their programming. From 12 July 1997 to 11 May 1998, the UK dubs of first to fourth series were broadcasted in The Netherlands. Starting on 12 May 1998, Cartoon Network aired Dutch-dubbed episodes. The Dutch dubs of the first five series premiered on this channel, of which the first four series used the 1998 remasters. The fifth series premiered on Cartoon Network in the Netherlands at the same time as it did in the UK.
In 2021, Mattel announced that Cartoon Network with Cartoonito would air Thomas & Friends in the US starting with the Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go reboot alongside the series streaming on Netflix. The series ran on the network until late 2023.
Airings
1996
1998
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Trivia
- The first series was broadcast individually from 12th September 1995-3rd March 1996 before the began of the fourth series on 4th March-8th April 1996.
- Thomas has been parodied in the MAD episode "RiOa/Thomas the Unstoppable Tank Engine" and the Robot Chicken episodes "Hemlock, Gin and Juice" and "We Don't See Much of that in 1940s America", both of which are Cartoon Network productions.
- Several episodes from the first half of the second series had overlapping soundtracks when they were shown on Cartoon Network.
- The opening bumper for Cartoon Network broadcasts featured Duck, Henry and James passing through Elsbridge, even though only two tracks pass through the station. Duck is also missing his funnel. The cutouts of the three engines were taken from the episode Thomas, Percy and the Dragon.
- Cutouts of Thomas from Thomas and Gordon, The Fat Controller from The Sad Story of Henry and a guard from James and the Coaches were also included in the opening bumper. One of these cutouts of Thomas features different animated eyes from the ones seen in the actual episode.
- A selection of clips from these four episodes were used in a Cartoon Network promo for the programme in 1996. In the promo, a whistle sound that would later be used for Spencer can be heard.
Gallery
Bumpers
Opening Titles
Closing Titles
Other
