The characters in the reboot are actually decendants of the original Railway Series characters (similar to Lupin VIII)
This might explain why Thomas is hyperactive, Diesel is nice, Gordon is a father figure, and James is friendlier, alongside other changes (such as the new Steam Team being child versions of Thomas, Percy, Nia, and Diesel, alongside a new character named Kana). The original series takes place in the 1940's-50's, while AEG takes place in 2021. However, Thomas and his friends all have the same personalities as their classic TV show counterparts. The series can be seen as a child's playtime with his Thomas toys
The designs of the characters, now that there's more footage to work with, and how the episodes are structured, along with the new voices, honestly make the series seem like how a young child with their Take-N-Play toys or anything similar would play with them, creating other scenarios that young children are known to do. This would explain the more cartoonish vein one can view the series in, and the different interpretations of the characters: Young kids generally have a very active imagination, so the scenarios in this series might be how they would view or make their own adventures with the characters. The series is another nightmare of Gordon's
Given in Big World Big Adventures, Gordon's anxieties towards change and his tendency to let his imagination run wild from these fears, this could easily be another mental response to "Sir Topham Hatt changing eeeeeverything". It also stays uniform with Gordon's past Imagine Spots, being a Disney Acid Sequence where every other character is wild and crazy and he is the Only Sane Man. The series is the result of Mr. Conductor Jr's imagination running wild
- Just think, Junior is a fun-loving young man who always puts on a cheerful attitude, and the show has a faster pace, rollercoaster tracks, loop-de-loops, and child's play, alongside with Thomas having a cheerful and fun-loving personality!
The 60-minute specials will be Darker and Edgier than the actual show itself
- Not really, Thomas and his friends will need help from Kana so they can actually win the Sodor Cup. Having said that, it does have its Surprisingly Realistic Outcome moments that don't happen in the main show (e.g. Kenji damaging his fender, Kana derailing, etc.)
Golden Thomas will become an actual character and will have an episode/special with him as a plot point
- Since this cartoon is Merchandise-Driven, it is likely that a reboot-designed version of Golden Thomas will appear in an episode/special in the near future as an animated character instead of just a merchandise-exclusive character.
The panda and shark that Percy was worried about during a song number in "Roller Coasting" is a reference to Toon Bops, which is also from Nelvana
- It might be a coincidence, but Toon Bops does have a baby panda and a baby shark (no, not that Baby Shark) as characters and the designs of the two animals Percy was singing about does have similar character designs to the former cartoon.
