The Behind the Scenes and Music of 'Thomas' Cancelled Christmas'

Hello faithful viewer,

This isn't Jake - it's Dan who made the video that Jake made the music for, but for various reasons to convoluted to explain, I've made and am uploading this video of the music too.

So many people have asked for the music from "Thomas' Cancelled Christmas". I'm not surprised because it's brilliant. John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Jake Harbour - the big names in musical scores!

I've never made a story this long before, and I've never had to keep track of so many different tones and attitudes either. So much of that is defined by Jake's score. From the frantic opening sequence to Annie and Clarabel's peptalk to Thomas at Dryaw, Jake never, ever misses a beat - and as a result, neither do you.

Jake's music tells the story of Thomas' Cancelled Christmas all by itself, but to give you something to look at, I've thrown in some footage and images that you'd not otherwise see.

This is Jake now - too kind from Mr Dan haha! I'm always thrilled when I get a message saying 'Jake I'm sorry but I think I'm back on my bullshit again' because it means I can contribute to his wonderful storytelling and unique presentation. I'm so glad to help my friend.

The score for this particular one took two years to complete, on and off (with, if I may toot my own horn, the majority being completed in the last two months of 2023). My brief was, as Dan's briefs usually are, deceptively simple. 'Some real instruments, some Thomas stuff thrown around, some Christmas tunes, we'll work out the middle'.

But things are never that simple, and I'm so pleased that they weren't. There are tracks at the end of this half hour musical journey which we had to stop and say, 'this is nice but it isn't matching the tone we want', and we rescored the scenes. Tone was such an important thing to get right.

I'm so grateful to Dan for making this wonderful compilation of concepts, alternate shots, and some spectacular derailments for you to enjoy while you listen to the music. I think a lot of people take for granted just how much coordination is needed and just how much can go wrong when filming these things!

And of course thank you, faithful viewer, for listening and leaving your kind words as always!

(AND thank you to Aiden for the wonderful thumbnail!)

0:00 - A Proper Day's Work
3:56 - The Tree and Me
5:45 - Change of Plan
6:54 - Christmas on the Slow Trains
9:35 - Thomas in Hot Water
11:34 - Tone Deaf
13:10 - Kindred Spirits
17:15 - My Turn Now
19:04 - Bright Spark
21:43 - Just So
22:52 - Trainspotting in Winter
25:03 - Merry Christmas, Thomas the Tank Engine
27:39 - Trainspotting at the Big Station
29:12 - Responsibility
30:14 - The Night Shift