History BrokenBase / ThomasTheTankEngine

* The faces. Charmingly simple or [[UncannyValley nightmarishly unsettling]]?

* ''WesternAnimation/BigWorldBigAdventures'' has split the fanbase even further than the previous two specials, with some panning it for the downgraded lighting and unrealism taken UpToEleven, and others praising it for the soundtrack and the characterizations of Nia and Beau.

* Nia is quite divisive. She has garnered some praise for her resourcefulness and kindness, while others pan her for supposedly being a MarySue. It doesn't help that she's taking Edward's place in the main cast, along with being criticized as a FlatCharacter due to her only character trait being a TokenMinority.

* Donald and Douglas' SiblingRivalry in the later seasons. Some fans find their bickering to be humorous while the other half find it annoying and prefer their relationship in the earlier seasons.

** On the topic of Henry, fans feel his departure from the main cast in “Forever and Ever” to take up residency at Vicarstown was poorly handled. While some see the move as trying to be “Railway Series faithful” (due to the engines living at Vicarstown in the early books), others feel his move was done solely to write him out due to the writers despising him, and to make room for Rebecca. Fans feel that because he has been handled badly in later seasons, and with most of his season 22 appearances only being cameos, Henry should have been written out of the show altogether, just to save him from rotting away in the background.

* Emily has been a subject of split opinion among the fandom ever since her first appearance in Season 7. To start off with, there were some who took a liking to her for her kind, sensible and mature personality, while others found her to be rather basic and felt that she didn't really add much to the series aside from being a way to balance out the cast's gender inequality at the time. The fact that the new series [[{{Flanderization}} flanderized]] her into a bossy, controlling nagger didn't help matters, either. "Emily's Adventure" was a particularly notorious showcase of this, with her being rude to just about everyone she interacts with in the episode, telling them that they're not working hard enough not showing any form of gratitude to them when they help her. After watching the episode, most people, even her detractors, could all agree that Season 7 Emily would ''never'' do this. While she does revert to her original caring and helpful personality in the CGI seasons, there are still some shades of bossiness still hanging around occasionally, causing some to have the same split opinions as the ones mentioned above.

* Philip is another divisive character. Some like him for being {{Adorkable}}, while others detest him for being basically, an annoying child. It also didn’t help he was the reason Edward decided to transfer to Wellsworth Sheds, where Philip lives.

* Season 22 has also been divisive among fans. Some like it for being a change of pace and testing different dynamics by incorporating the international engines (both newbies and returning ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatRace'' characters), while others hate it due to the faster pacing, Nia and Rebecca joining the main cast purely to force in more female representation, Edward, Toby, and Henry's roles being diminished to make way for Nia and Rebecca and appease the feminists who frequently target the show for its predominantly-male cast, and the focus on more gimmicks such as unrealistic fantasy sequences, over-the-top stunts (some of which actually take place ''outside'' of fantasy sequences) and wild animals. Some also hate the involvement of the United Nations on the new series, due to them pushing agendas and prioritising cultural and political messages over the storytelling. Everyone, though, agrees that the series was retooled by Mattel specifically to compete with ''WesternAnimation/PawPatrol'', which had taken a considerable amount of Thomas' market share.

* Flying Scotsman finally being introduced in the ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatRace'' had a mixed response. While in all versions he cares about his brother Gordon. They kept the Spencer-tradition going that any foreign British locomotive is always depicted negatively. The famous engine's graceful and humble character of the books was dropped in favor of turning [[UpperClassTwit him into a more pompous and arrogant version of Gordon]]. However, since all of his jabs were directed at Gordon, and he was shown to speak kindly to Thomas, [[SiblingRivalry he could just be teasing Gordon for fun without any underlying pomposity]], and [[ThickerThanWater he does show concern for Gordon's well being during the titular Great Race]], so his smokebox may not be so clouded with pride as it appears.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatRace'' itself is much more divisive than the previous specials, in no small part due to the sheer amount of characters introduced, many of said characters being relegated to background roles, the special being a musical (these fans objected to the perceived {{Disneyfication}} of the franchise), and Gordon and Thomas' streamlined forms (though Thomas' was a fantasy, it still got a ridiculous amount of merchandise). Some people were turned off by all of these factors and more, while others found the special a lot of fun regardless--or even because of--those factors.

** "Apology Impossible". Some like it for Philip's CharacterDevelopment, but some felt that James was too mean in the episode, and that it would've been more fitting if Gordon, Spencer, or Diesel had James' role instead. A few thought James bullying Philip was in-character due to James' [[FantasticRacism long-established hatred of diesels]], while others felt that it made him come off as an UngratefulBastard towards Philip, as Philip had saved him back in season 19's "Philip to the Rescue".

** "Apology Impossible". Some like it for Philip's CharacterDevelopment, but some felt that James was too mean in the episode; a few thought James bullying Philip was in-character due to James' [[FantasticRacism long-established hatred of diesels]], while others felt that it made him come off as an UngratefulBastard towards Philip, as Philip had saved him back in season 19's "Philip to the Rescue".

** "Forever and Ever". Some appreciate the message about change and related with Gordon's feelings, while others felt that Gordon was uncharacteristically mopey and regarded it as a TakeThat towards the fandom.

** "Apology Impossible". Some like it for Philip's CharacterDevelopment, but some felt that James was too mean in the episode; a few thought James bullying Philip was in-character due to James' [[FantasticRacism long-established hatred of diesels]], while others felt that it made him come off as an UngratefulBastard towards Philip, as he had saved him back in season 19's "Philip to the Rescue".