The Princess and The Pickle: Thomas & Friends Blue Mountain Mystery - Review of the premiere, plus a DVD giveaway!

This morning we went along to the premiere of the Thomas & Friends Blue Mountain Mystery movie at Vue cinema in Leicester Square.

When we arrived, there was a selection of goodies, such as bags of popcorn, Thomas cheesy snacks, Thomas sweets and even Thomas branded bottles of water waiting on each seat, which The Princess and The Pickle were delighted about!

The Fat Controller himself welcomed everyone and introduced the film. The lights went down, The Pickle looked around nervously, then the music started and he was mesmerised! It was his first cinema experience and he’s not quite 2 yet so we weren’t sure what he’d make of it, but he seemed to really enjoy it and watched the entire film without making a sound (although all the snacks probably had something to do with that!)

The film itself was around an hour long, which is just the right length to keep a young child’s attention. There was a good storyline with lessons to be learnt along the way. At the beginning of the film, Paxton has an accident and needs to be repaired, so Thomas lends a hand working at the Blue Mountain Quarry. Whilst there, he meets a new friend, Luke, who is hiding a secret as he is afraid he’ll be sent away from Sodor if The Fat Controller finds out. Thomas has to find out what the secret is and help his new friend so that he can stay on the Island without being afraid.

Both The Princess and The Pickle enjoyed the film and it was also enjoyable for the grown ups too, with old and new characters popping up throughout. The Princess was old enough to understand the storyline properly, whereas I think The Pickle just enjoyed watching the trains and hearing the sounds and the music. The second the credits came up at the end he shouted “More!”, so it was a definite hit with him.

Afterwards there was a party with a buffet lunch (with blue iced cupcakes and amazing chocolate brownies!), helium balloons everywhere, performers making balloon models, colouring and activity areas and of course some Thomas train track to play with. At the end the children were each given a fantastic goody bag to take home (which kept them both entertained on the journey home!)

As The Princess and The Pickle both received a goody bag, we have a spare copy of the Blue Mountain Mystery DVD (which is released on Monday 3^rd September), so The Princess has decided to donate her copy, along with a couple more Thomas goodies as a spot prize for one of the best Pudsey’s Adventures entries throughout September. So please have a look at the Pudsey’s Adventures page if you’d like to enter the colouring competition and help us raise lots of money for BBC Children In Need!