Trains Formers is an Affectionate Parody series that combines Thomas & Friends with Transformers. It is a series of short flash-animated films written and directed by James Farr (site here)
for his young son Vector. The videos were featured on Youtube until HiT Entertainment intervened.
The first four episodes features Thomas and his friends battling the forces of evil by transforming into Humongous Mecha with Vector's help. After the fourth episode, however, Farr received a Cease & Desist letter from HiT Entertainment, and was forced to remove them due to copyright violations. That seemed to be the end for the series until Farr found a way around it and created the fifth episode.
Farr has said in his YouTube comments that the series is not over, and that there will be a Trains Formers 6. However, he has also said that he wants to finish some other projects first.
As a 500K subscriber special, the long-awaited Trains Formers 6, now known as Trains Formers Reborn, released finally in 2022.
See also "Puff," Farr's other steam-punk children's series which also features a transforming train.
The series contains the following tropes:
- Adaptational Villainy: Lady of all people! Salty too!
- Sir Topham Hatt is villainous in Reborn!
- Chekhov's Gunman: Remember that mysterious villain at the end of Trains4mers? Yeah, he's an Original Character, meaning the Fun Police didn't take him away. So he's still on the loose!
- Humongous Mecha: Well, duh.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Vector is the creator's son, and is even voiced by him.
- Killer Gorilla: Vector's new Humongous Mecha at the end of TrainsFormers 5.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: When Vector is cornered by Scrapwave he finds a giant gorilla robot and uses it to destroy him.
- Original Character: Troubletron and Scrapwave. Their "original" status becomes a plot point in TrainsFormers 5.
- Screwed by the Lawyers: Both in real life and In-Universe. TrainsFormers 5 opens up with the Fun Police confiscating the sets and telling Vector that he's been "playing with someone else's toys."Vector: But... I love those toys!Fun Police: Yeah? Well, they don't love you.
- Shout-Out
- The entire series is a combination of Thomas & Friends and Transformers.
- Trainsform3rs is a reference to Devastator as he appeared in Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.
- Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers is referenced in one episode.
- Trains4mers is a reference to Super8
- "Tracks? Where we're going, we don't need tracks!"
- The entire series is a combination of Thomas & Friends and Transformers.
- Spider Tank: Lady is one, emphasis on spider.
- Take That!: "Take that, Michael Bay!"
- All of TrainsFormers 5 is one of these against HiT Entertainment.
- Unreadably Fast Text: The Fun Police's warning in the very beginning of TrainsFormers 5.
