It's a cute movie for the family. The only "scary" part is with Diesel chasing down some of the trains with his claw, but my 3 year old handled it surprisingly well. He said that Diesel is a mean train, and that in the end he winds up in a ditch.
It has some cute moral lessons about responsibility, families sticking together, and Peter Fonda is wonderful as the gruff, reluctant grandfather. The little girl is adorable, and all of the human characters are cute. My son had no trouble following the plot - and I welcomed a slightly complex plot from a kids' movie. Fine for 3 +.
My 4 year old loves to play with the Thomas trains and so I took him to see this movie. It was way too scary. Diesel has a menacing, chomping steam shovel to chase Thomas and his friends with. He's also got a really scary laugh. Too much emphasis on scary bullying and there isn't really a clear lesson or message from the story. Definitely don't make this among the first feature films for your preschooler to see.
I really like this movie. My son loves Thomas and this is our favorite. Diesel can be a little scary and there is one scene where Percy gets scared in the dark. It did not bother my son who usually scares very easily. I love the people in this movie, I actually remember when Shining Town was on PBS and wish they would rerelease those shows.
This movie is awful. It is so absolutely bad, I can't even begin to describe it. Alec Baldwin is completely miscast. Peter Fonda is terrible. It's just complete rubbish.
One of the themes is sadness - and how to respond to it with kindness. This provides an opportunity for parents to talk with their preschoolers about this emotion. The mean behavior displayed by Diesel isn't over-the-top. It's helpful for children this age to know that "bad guys" exist on the planet.