I'm writing to say that I think I'm seeing a future Traumafession happen right before my eyes. My son is almost two years old. He loves toy trains. He loves books about trains. If he sees trains on T.V. he'll shout out "Choo-Choo!" but there's one show that seems to terrify him to no end…
THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE.
We bought him the DVD thinking he would love it. We read the Thomas books and he never has a problem with them. The second he sees them in motion though, it's like all the secrets of hell have been revealed to him. He starts shaking his head in disbelief shouting "No! No! No!" He slowly backs up and startles at their every move on screen, then he runs out of the room in a panic.
My first thought was thinking, "C'mon kid! Toughen up!" but then I tried to look at the show through his eyes. Real model trains with odd static faces where only the eyes moved from side to side. Speaking, but not moving, like giant locomotives plotting via telepathy. I could kind of see how a toddler might be weirded out by that, but still…
…Maybe we should watch RETURN TO OZ instead.
I guess "Thomas" scares are hit and miss. My nephew began watching the show at age three and he was never traumatized.Â
The show was actually cute and charming – up until a few months ago when PBS started sporadically showing these re-done episodes wherein the static faces of the trains have been replaced by CGI animated faces and that's just downright creepy…
The crashes are what upsets my two year old – I actually submitted a "futuretrauma" about this back in July which didn't pass muster I guess. Â The Sodor Ironworks (which looks like the gates of Dante's Hell) and Thomas covered in flour looking like a hideous wraith were also highlights of the show which can be traumatic for the young'uns.
I always found Thomas totally terrifying! Those big wide eyes and creepy expressions that only change when you're not looking at them. Still, my two year old nephew loves him. Go figure.
I'm a little late in responding to this thread, but Stephen King goes into the scariness of Thomas the train in his book The Wastelands (part of the Dark Tower series). Its pretty creepy.
Be glad he hasn't found "Thomas the Dank Engine"…