David Mitton (1939 - 2008)
Directed Thomas the Tank Engine, Created Tugs, and Orsum Island
David Mitton, who wrote and directed more than 180 episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine, died May 16th of a heart attack, according to the Daily Telegraph. He was 69.
He was also the creator of Tugs, and at the time of his death, was working on an upcoming live-action/CGI television series called Adventures on Orsum Island. It followed the adventures of a a shipwrecked teenager that gets involved in a power struggle on the titular island.
David Mitton worked on Thunderbirds, Thomas the Tank Engine
Mitton was born on February 27, 1939, the son of a consulting engineer. He started writing when he was 16, but joined Britain's Royal Air Force after graduating high school. After serving in the Air-Sea Rescue Unit in Aden, he mustered out and returned to Britain to work in children's television.
He started as a special effects technician on Garry and Sylvia Anderson's mid-60's puppet show Thunderbirds, and later worked on Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and UFO.
In the early 1980's, Mitton formed his own company, Clearwater Features, with Ken Turner and began making stop-motion animated commercials. During that time, The Britt Allcroft Company approached Mitton and asked him to work on Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, a television adaptation of the popular children's stories by the Reverend W.V. Awdry.
Mitton wrote and directed the successful pilot episode for the show (whose title was later shorted to Thomas and Friends). Mitton would go on to write and direct more than 180 episodes of the popular children's show, and produce 34 episodes as well. He worked on the show, retiring after its seventh season.
The show's producer, Britt Allcroft, said that his painstaking work gave the show its distinctive look, and that he he talked about the engines as if they were living things.
Star Tugs and Z-Stacks
In 1989, Mitton produced his own series, Tugs, about the adventures and mishaps of two rival tugboat fleets: the Star Tugs and the Z-Stacks. It was considerably darker in tone than Thomas and Friends and only lasted for one season. The props and sets ended up at Brit Allcroft, and several of the characters from Tugs ended up appearing, albeit heavily modified, in Thomas and Friends. Brit Allcroft bought Clearwater Features in 1991, and was in turn absorbed into H.I.T Entertainment in 2002.
Mitton also worked on the 2000 live-action/CGI feature film, Thomas and the Magic Railroad, which starred Peter Fonda and Alec Baldwin. Unfortunately, the film died at the box office, but Allcroft did produce several direct-to-DVD sequels.
In 2005, Mitton established Pinnaple Squared Entertainment with David Lane and Michelle Fabian Jones, and began working on Adventures on Orsum Island. He was working on the show when he died of a sudden heart attack.
