Mavis (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

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This is a behind the scenes subpage for Mavis (T&F). This subpage contains all behind the scenes material relating to said article.

Background Information

Mavis is a fictional standard gauge diesel locomotive created by the Rev. W. Awdry. She lives and works at the Ffarquhar Quarry.

Mavis first appeared in the third series episode Mavis, which first aired in 1991. Her last appearance was in the special Big World! Big Adventures!, which was released in 2018.

Since her introduction, Mavis appeared as a supporting character up until Big World! Big Adventures!. As a result of the stories from the show's twenty-second series onwards focusing primarily on the Steam Team and only occasionally some side characters, Mavis has not appeared in the television series since 2018.

Voice

Jules de Jongh gave her an American accent in the US dub from Hero of the Rails to the sixteenth series, before she stepped out of the role and left Teresa Gallagher to take it in 2013. In addition to replacing Jongh, Gallagher has voiced Mavis in the UK dub since the show's full CGI switch in 2009, and she portrays the character with a Norfolk accent in both English dubs.

Behind the Scenes

Gauge 1 model

Mavis' gauge 1 model was custom built by model makers, Peter Eves and Jeremy King. The model was built to run on Gauge 1 track, and was painted in glossy car body paint.

Mavis' model was made using both plastic and brass, the latter of which would be the material used for multiple new characters in the following series. Her chassis sourced from a Gauge 1 locomotive made by Märklin, the BR 80. The buffers, coupling frame and brake pipes were made by Tenmille, the buffer bases being the same as Gordon's. The chassis' AC motor was replaced by a DC motor to allow for easier running and maintenance.

The Märklin BR 80

Mavis' model being constructed by Jeremy King

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eyeballs were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eyeballs would move however the crew member desired.

Mavis' debut in the third series

Mavis' model in 2001

Filming of Don't Be Silly, Billy

The model's final appearance in Don't Go Back, covered in soapy suds

In the fifth series episode, Busy Going Backwards, Mavis' chassis was reused to push Toad and his train of trucks and was seen in the scene past the buffers that were set away by the points.

Mavis' chassis

Reference Sheets

Series 3

Series 8

Calling All Engines!

Faces

Seven different facial expressions were sculpted for Mavis and used on-screen. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould.

Reference Sheets

Series 4 - 1994 (Alongside Bertie's faces)

Series 6 - 2001/2002

Series 8 - 2003/2004

Series 12 - 2008

Usage and Evolution

Mavis' happy face as it first appeared in the third series... (1991-1992)

...then was temporarily alternated with the mouth open in a promotional image from the episode, Mavis... (1991)

..until it was recasted with a slightly altered mouth during production of the fourth series and reappeared in the fifth series... (1994, 1998)

...and later had her eyebrows modified to resemble a sly face in the sixth series all the way until The Great Discovery, excluding the ninth series and Jack and the Sodor Construction Company... (2002-2008)

...but did appear in the ninth series Learning Segment, Where Can Neville Find Salty?... (2005)

...as well as the interactive DVD game, Sir Topham Hatt's Helping Hand (2006)

Mavis' smiling face that appeared between the third series and Calling All Engines!, excluding the seventh series, Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and Thomas and the Magic Railroad... (1991-1998, 2002, 2004-2005)

...but did appear in the interactive DVD game, Sir Topham Hatt's Helping Hand... (2006)

...as well as the tenth series Learning Segments, Percy's Story and Diesels and Steamies (2006)

Mavis' cross face that appeared between the third and ninth series, excluding the fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth series, Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and Thomas and the Magic Railroad (1991, 2002, 2005)

Mavis' concerned face that only appeared between the third and tenth series, excluding the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth series, Jack and the Sodor Construction Company, Thomas and the Magic Railroad and Calling All Engines! (1991-1994, 2002, 2006)

Mavis' weary face that only appeared in the third series episode, Toby's Tightrope (1991)

Mavis' shocked face that only appeared in the sixth series episode, Buffer Bother... (2002)

...and Calling All Engines! (2005)

Mavis' sad face that only appeared between the eighth and eleventh series, excluding the tenth series… (2004-2005, 2007)

...but did appear in the tenth series Learning Segment, Help from Your Friends... (2006)

...before it last appeared in the song, Where, oh Where is Thomas? from The Great Discovery... (2008)

...and also appeared in the song, Thomas, You're the Leader, where it was edited with the mouth from her happy face to resemble a bashful smiling face (2008)

Present Day

Mavis' cross face is currently owned by Twitter user TomsProps.

CGI Face

The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into CGI and the characters' faces were animated using CGI with the aid of motion-capture animation. The physical models' moulded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production. Unlike most of the cast at this time, Mavis's model was never seen with its original resin faces.

Fonts

The following fonts were used on Mavis' Gauge 1 model:

• Franklin Gothic Compressed (name and "Ffarquhar Quarry Co. Ltd." lettering; S3-S5)
• Arial Bold (name and "Ffarquhar Quarry Co. Ltd." lettering; S6-S12)

Modifications

Mavis has had modifications throughout the model era. These include:

• Series 3:
  • Her horn was BoCo's at nine steps higher-pitched.
• Series 4:
  • Her middle lamp iron was removed.
  • Her horn sound changed, reused and had the same as Class 40.
• Series 6:
  • Her paint was given a matte finish.
  • Her eyebrows became thinner and longer.
  • Her middle lamp iron returned.
  • Her horn sound changed again and reused Derek's horn sound.
• Series 7:
  • Her horn sound changed again and reused Daisy's original horn sound from the second series.
• Calling All Engines!:
  • Her horn sound changed again to a different one (excluding Series 15 and the rest of Series 16).

Present Day

After production of the model series wrapped in 2008, most of the models and sets would be put into storage, with some being put on display at Drayton Manor Theme Park. All other models would be logged and referenced from 2010 till early 2011 by HiT Entertainment, from this HiT would decide on which models were to enter storage once again, which would be given to crew members and which to be disposed off. Due to only having one model made in gauge 1 scale, Mavis' model would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

Mavis' model is now currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan with her concerned face.

CGI model

In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Mavis was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios. Her model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software.

Photographs of Mavis’ Gauge 1 model were used for reference. According to Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval.

Mavis has had modifications throughout the CGI series. These include:

• Hero of the Rails:
  • Her face became slightly larger and her nose was remodeled.
• Series 15:
  • Her horn sound changed again and now reuses Diesel's Misty Island Rescue-Series 14 horn sound which was a stock recording of an "American" Nathan K3LA diesel. (Excluding Thomas and the Sounds of Sodor).
• Thomas the Quarry Engine:
  • She gained a lamp of the same design as Charlie's mounted on her right.
• Series 19:
  • The lamp moved to the lamp iron above her face.
  • She gained a tail lamp.
  • Her wheels are more visible.

Mavis' CGI ortho sheet

Head-on CGI Promo

Side ortho

Final Render

Vents

Name and cab

Head lamp

Texture variants

In addition to her standard livery, a few other texture variants exist of Mavis' CGI model. These texture variants include:

Mavis covered with slate dust (Percy's Parcel)

Mavis with a dented and scratched top end (Den and Dart)

Fonts

The following fonts were used on Mavis' CGI model:

• Arial Bold (name and "Ffarquhar Quarry Co. Ltd." lettering)

Voice Actors

• Teresa Gallagher (UK; Hero of the Rails - twenty-first series - US; seventeenth - twenty-first series)
• Jules de Jongh (US; Hero of the Rails - sixteenth series)
• Blanche Ravalec (France and French speaking Canada)
• Marit Berg (Norway; Hero of the Rails - seventeenth series, excluding Day of the Diesels and Blue Mountain Mystery)
• Marianne Westby (Norway; Day of the Diesels and Blue Mountain Mystery)
• Nao Nagasawa (Japan; third series only)
• Ryō Horikawa (Japan; fifth series only)
• Yuka Shioyama (Japan; sixth - eighth series)
• Kumiko Itō (Japan; Calling All Engines! - thirteenth series)
• Sakura Yoshioka (Japan; fourteenth - twenty-first series)
• Joey Cordevin (Germany)
• Konstantin Graudus (Germany; audiobooks, Calling All Engines! only)
• Zuzanna Galia (Poland; Hero of the Rails - eighteenth series)
• Beata Jankowska-Tzimas (Poland; nineteenth series onwards)
• Irina Índigo (Latin America)
• Talya Barkay (Israel)
• Renato Cavalcanti (Brazil)
• María Sánchez (Spain; Hero of the Rails - Not So Slow Coaches)
• Paqui Horcajo (Spain; Thomas the Quarry Engine - nineteenth series)
• Olga Kuznetsova (Russia)
• Susa Saukko (Finland)
• Ioana Perneș (Romania)
• Elain Llwyd (Wales)
• Vina Papadopoulou (Greece)
• Lee Je-in (South Korea)
• Solecki Janka (Hungary; Hero of the Rails only)
• Anday Kati (Hungary; sixteenth series onwards)

See also

• Mavis (RWS)/Behind the Scenes