Thunderbirds Are Go is an animated science fiction television programme produced by ITV Studios and Pukeko Pictures. It is a remake of the 1960s television series Thunderbirds created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson that follows the exploits of the Tracy family, five brothers who form the front line members of International Rescue, a secret life-saving organisation equipped with technologically advanced crafts for sea, land, air and space rescue; central to these is a fleet of five vehicles named the Thunderbirds.
Video Thunderbirds Are Go (TV series)
Premise
Set in the year 2060, Thunderbirds Are Go follows the exploits of the Tracy brothers: Scott, Virgil, John, Gordon, and Alan. Together they are the front-line members of International Rescue (IR), a secret organisation dedicated to saving people from disaster using technologically advanced vehicles for land, sea, air and space rescue. The most important of these are five machines named the Thunderbirds, each piloted by one of the brothers:
- Thunderbird 1 - first response rocket plane, piloted by First Responder and Team Leader Scott Tracy
- Thunderbird 2 - auxiliary equipment transporter, piloted by Demolition, Heavy Lifting and Logistics Expert Virgil Tracy
- Thunderbird 3 - space rescue rocket, piloted by Astronaut Alan Tracy
- Thunderbird 4 - underwater search and rescue mini-submarine, piloted by Aquanaut Gordon Tracy
- Thunderbird 5 - communications and logistics space station hub, manned by Space Command Communicator and Dispatcher John Tracy
Aided by Head of Security Tanusha "Kayo" Kyrano (also the pilot of Thunderbird Shadow, a stealth aircraft used for covert operations), engineer Hiram K "Brains" Hackenbacker, his robot assistant MAX, and the brothers' Grandma, the Tracy family reside on Tracy Island, their hidden base in the Southern Pacific Ocean from where they operate International Rescue. They also enlist the help of English aristocrat Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward and her chauffeur Aloysius Parker as their London field agents when a mission requires investigation. Penelope and Parker's primary mode of transportation is FAB 1, a six-wheeled limousine fitted with gadgets and weaponry, as well as flying and underwater capabilities, for espionage missions.
The organisation's main adversary is the Hood, a criminal master of disguise who steals others' technology and seeks possession of the Thunderbirds. Secretly the uncle of Kayo, the Hood is also responsible for the assumed death of the Tracy brothers' father, ex-astronaut and IR founder Jeff Tracy, after his ship supposedly crashed. After the Hood is arrested and imprisoned by the Global Defence Force (GDF), IR face a new adversary called "the Mechanic", a mysterious and ruthless villain who uses highly advanced machinery to steal resources. Originally an ally of the Hood who broke him out of prison, the latter betrays him due to his incompetence.
Maps Thunderbirds Are Go (TV series)
Cast
- Notes
- Kayvan Novak, Rosamund Pike and Teresa Gallagher also voice for various guest characters.
- Archive audio of Peter Dyneley, who voiced Jeff Tracy in the original Thunderbirds series, announcing the show's countdown from its title sequence is featured in the programme during the Thunderbirds' launch sequences.
Production
The series is produced using a combination of scale model miniature effects and CGI created by Weta Workshop. In comparison to original series, the reboot features updated character, vehicle, and set designs while retaining their original features and plot purposes.
The production crew for the show includes the following members:
- Series director - David Scott
- Episode director - Theo Baynton
- Writer - Rob Hoegee
- Executive producers - Estelle Hughes, Giles Ridge, Richard Taylor, and Andrew Smith
- Production designer - Ben Milsom.
- Head of miniatures dept. - Steven Saunders.
- Music composers - Ben and Nick Foster
- Film editor - Anthony Cox
Production of each episode for the revamp differs considerably from that of the original 1960s series. Extensive hand-made live action model sets are still used, but since the show uses computer-generated characters rather than puppets for the characters, creating each episode required a different approach. Production begins with the sets, in which the film crew have to devise the camera setups for the scenes to match with the movement and positions of the CGI characters and craft that would be later imposed upon the filmed footage. This includes any manipulation of the scene to match movements made by CGI characters or craft, such as a character opening a door, or objects being displaced by a thruster, and any special effects used on the set, such as smoke and wind.
The sets were created using methods similar to those employed in the original series, including the use of household objects as components. For example, the Thunderbird 1 bay of the original series included an orange hand juicer, and the revamp did the same thing with its version of the bay. The characters and the titled Thunderbird craft themselves have been created using CGI owing to the understandable budget constraints typical of modern children's programming.
All of the CGI sequences to be superimposed onto live footage of the miniature sets are first sketched on paper to work out and detail the sequences. The actual shooting miniatures are individually '3D scanned' to provide the necessary information for the CGI elements to later be accurately registered within the environments. Computers are then used to roughly model the layout of the CGI elements needed for the sequence. Details are then introduced, such as characters costumes, craft setup, atmospheric particles and flying debris etc. and are made to follow the camera layout and movement of set props very closely (such as when Thunderbird 2 is raised into launch position).
The music for the show is in a modern style, but was based on Barry Gray's score for the original series and was written to emulate the memorable feel of that music. UK-based Milk VFX was responsible for final composition.
Production history
The production of the remake series was originally approved by Gerry Anderson when Sir Richard Taylor of ITV visited Pinewood Studios, where Gerry Anderson was working on New Captain Scarlet at the time.
On 4 February 2013, ITV Studios Global Entertainment and Pukeko Pictures announced the production of the television series by ITV Studios, Pukeko Pictures and Weta Workshop, under the title Thunderbirds are Go!.
Production at Pukeko Pictures began at June 2013.
On September 30, 2014, the voice cast was announced. On 18 December 2014, a second series was announced On May 5, 2016, a third series was announced.
Broadcasts
The world television channel premiere was in spring 2015 on ITV and UK's CITV Channel.
On 16 June 2014, ITV Studios Global Entertainment announced it has signed its first international TV broadcast deal with Australia's free-to-air Nine Network (9Go!). Second series premiered on 2016-11-13 on 9Go!.
On 28 April 2015, ITV Studios Global Entertainment announced Tohokushinsha Film Corporation has acquired the television and licensing rights for Thunderbirds Are Go. The Japan broadcast for the first series was premiered in NHK (NHK General TV) on 2016-08-05 (as ??????? ARE GO). France broadcasts were premiered in September 2015 on Canal J (as Thunderbirds), followed by Gulli later this year (as Thunderbirds), with Nelvana as French licensing agent.
On 10 February 2016, ITV Studios Global Entertainment announced 13 episodes of Thunderbirds Are Go (series 1 split up) would premiere in the United States on Amazon Video on 22 April 2016. Second series of Thunderbirds Are Go premiere at Prime Video was also announced.
Canadian broadcasts premiered on CHRGD and Family Channel in April 2016. Taiwan broadcast was premiered in PTS Taiwan on 14 September 2016 (as ??????). In Brazil, the show has broadcast on Gloob since 4 July 2016. In Latin America, the show broadcasts on Disney XD. The Nordic broadcasts were premiered in SVT (SVT Barnkanalen) in Sweden (as Thunderbirds), NRK Super in Norway (as Thunderbirds), DR (Ramasjang and Ultra) in Denmark (as Thunderbirds), MTV Juniori in Finland (as Thunderbirds), with Alicom appointed as the Nordic licensing agent.
The series was also premiered in TVNZ (TVNZ 2) in New Zealand, Noga in Israel (with LDI as the agent), MBC (MBC3) in pan-Arab (as ????????? ?????), NPO Zapp in Netherlands, Télé-Québec in Canada (as Thunderbirds : Les sentinelles de l'air), ABC in Australia, Ketnet in Flemish Belgium (with License Connection appointed as the agent for Benelux) (as Thunderbirds), Minika TV in Turkey, Gloob in Brazil. The Noga premiere began in summer 2015 on Kids Channel. The TVNZ premiere began on 12 April 2015 on TV2.
The second series world premiere took place at BAFTA in London on 1 October 2016.
The second series world television channel premiere began 22 October 2016 on ITV, beginning with episode Earthbreaker. CITV premiere began on 2016-10-23.
China's broadcast was premiered on CCTV-14, starting with the first series on the 15th of May 2017.
Episodes
Series 1 (2015-16)
Series 2 (2016-17)
Reception
Fans and critics reacted very positively to the new series, despite some negative reactions from fans of the original version, claiming the show was clearly made to attract a new generation of fans instead of appealing to nostalgia. ITV's started to air episodes at 8 am (other than the pilot, which aired at 5 pm). Series 2, however, has been airing the show at 4pm on ITV and repeat it the following day at 8:30am on CITV. From the episode Volcano on 30 September 2017, it aired on CITV's Scrambled on Saturday at 8:30am, with it being repeated on ITV the same day at 3:30pm.
Thunderbirds Are Go currently has a 7.2 rating on tv.com and 6.9 on IMDb.
Accolades
Marketing
Since 2016, ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE) is launching consumer products programs for Thunderbirds Are Go at France, Benelux and the Nordics.
Since 2016, Bernard Matthews has released a range of Thunderbird craft shaped turkey.
As part of the second series launch in the UK, a fleet of 5 ThunderCabs taxis with Thunderbirds vehicle themes (including Thunderbirds 1-4, FAB 1) could be booked between 2016-10-22 and 2016-10-23 between 9am and 5pm via the now-defunct Karhoo app, with rides costing a flat rate of £1 for any journey within central London. All proceeds would be donated to The Children's Trust, the UK's leading charity for children with brain injury.
Toys
On 13 May 2015, ITV Studios Global Entertainment announced its appointment of Vivid as its master toy partner in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. As of Licensing Expo 2014, Vivid Imaginations had master toy licensee with worldwide rights excluding US & Asia.
On 24 April 2015, ITV Studios Global Entertainment announced Global Licensing (NZ) Ltd had been appointed as licensing agent for Thunderbirds Are Go in New Zealand. As part of the new deal, Global has worked with Vivid Imaginations, the master toy partner for Thunderbirds Are Go, to appoint Planet Fun as the local distributor in New Zealand which will see Thunderbirds Are Go toys roll out across the territory from S/S 2015.
The Thunderbirds Are Go master toy line from Vivid Imaginations and distributed by HeadStart, was launched in Australia in June 2015. Additional toy rights went to Vivid France and Vivid Holland in respective regions, Takara Tomy as Japan distributor. The toy launches in France, Benelux and the Nordics began in September 2016, with TOPTOY as pan-Nordic distributor in from late summer 2016.
Boardgame
There was an official Thunderbirds boardgame published in 2015. The designer is Matt Leacock (designer of the Pandemic boardgame). Three expansions for the core game were published in 2016: Above & Beyond; The Hood; Tracy Island.
App
There was an official Thunderbirds app launching in October 2015 to accompany the second half of season 1.
An official app was also released on 20 May 2015 as an add-on to the features on the website. The app is available on both Google Play and Apple's App Store for free. Behind the Story developed the app.
As of 2015, ITV Studios Global Entertainment and Miniclip planned the release of Thunderbirds Are Go mobile game(as Thunderbirds Are Go: Team Rush).
Magazine
An official magazine was published by D. C. Thomson & Co. on 15 October 2015. It features comics, facts, puzzles and more. Each issue includes a free gift. The first 6 issues have small plastic replicas of Thunderbird 1 - 5 and Thunderbird S. After that the gifts are generic front of magazine gifts with Thunderbirds are go branding, such as notebooks and 'invisible ink' pens.
License Connection became a representative for the brand in the Benelux territories and has signed Meis & Maas as master publishing partner to launch a range of books and magazine formats in 2017.
Home media
Digital releases
All episodes are available to purchase digitally in full 1080p HD on Amazon Video and iTunes.
Blu-ray release
Only currently available in Japan, Series 1 is released in 2 limited edition box sets on Blu Ray.
Published by NBC Universal Entertainment Japan.
Box 1 (Volume 1) Released 11 May 2016
Box 2 (Volume 2) Released 9 Nov 2016
DVD releases
Soundtrack releases
References
External links
- ITV Studios Limited page: English, Japanese
- NHK page
- Thunderbirds Are Go on IMDb
- Official YouTube channel
- Weta Workshop page
- Milk VFX page
- Thunderbirds Are Go Series 1 on Amazon
Source of article : Wikipedia
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