DOING THE LOCOMOTION 'THOMAS' HOPES KIDS COME ALONG FOR THE RIDE.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

In this summer of children's blockbusters like ``Dinosaur,'' ``Chicken Run'' and ``Pokemon the Movie 2000,'' ``Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' may be the Little Engine That Could.

Box office success is an uphill climb for Thomas, the little blue tank engine from the Rev. Wilbert Awdry's books and the ``Shining Time Station'' TV shows and tapes.

The little train and his other railroad friends are models that do all their acting in voiceovers and shifting, rolling eyes, with the rest of their facial expressions changing only when they're off camera. That simplicity makes it hard to compete with the eye-popping computer animation of Disney's dinosaurs, the action-filled Pokemon story and the incredibly expressive clay-animation hens of ``Chicken Run.''

So why not run with the pack and give Thomas a splashier look for his feature debut, or at least let the little guy's mouth move when he talks?

Britt Allcroft, who wrote, directed and co-produced ``Thomas and the Magic Railroad,'' said she felt a strong need to remain true to the TV series she created.

``I went very much on the basis that if it ain't broke don't fix it,'' said Allcroft, whose lush British accent clashes with the American colloquialism.

`` 'Chicken Run' is 'Chicken Run' and 'Thomas and the Magic Railroad' is 'Thomas and the Magic Railroad,' '' she said. ``I set out to make a movie that would be, I hope, visually stimulating and nourishing and accessible to little children to look at but would leave space for their imagination, and has what I call a storybook look about it - reality touched by fantasy.

``We're all living in this incredibly fast-forward lane of life, and it's highly technological, but we still need some sort of simplicity,'' Allcroft said.

Allcroft admits she is protective of Thomas, Mr. Conductor and their train friends - Percy, Gordon, James, Henry and the rest - whom she has loved since she stumbled upon Awdry's books about 20 years ago while researching a documentary about Britain's love affairs with trains.

In 1983, she mortgaged her home to launch ``Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends,'' a series of short films for television with ex-Beatle Ringo Starr as the narrating conductor. There are now 130 episodes in the series, also known to American kids as ``Shining Time Station,'' as well as videotapes, Brio-scale train sets and other merchandise.

The simple look of the characters was well-established by the TV series, seen in the States on PBS starting in 1990, and Allcroft was not eager to alter it even if Destination Films gave her the budget and the time to do so.

``We talked long and hard about it because we were conflicted about whether the mouths should move or not,'' said Phil Fehrle, the film's other producer. ``Early on, everybody automatically assumed the mouths would move, and we said, 'Not necessarily.' And I think we agonized over that decision for about eight weeks before we decided.

``It was always an audience consideration - will the audience be disappointed if the mouths don't move or will they be disappointed if the mouths do move,'' Fehrle said. ``I was glad a year ago when we made the decision, and I'm glad today.''

Allcroft's concept of reality touched by fantasy seemed to apply not only to the final product but to the filmmaking process as well.

Fehrle said the locals on the Isle of Man in the North Sea, where the exteriors were shot, made no secret of their beliefs in folklore, particularly their respect for fairies and the good or bad will they could cause.

Fehrle said his location manager, Jim Cleary, was driving one day when they crossed a span labeled ``The Fairy Bridge.''

``He said, `Good morning, fairies,' '' Fehrle said. ``He said, 'Phil, if you want to have good luck on this picture, you should say good morning to the fairies.' ''

Much later in the shoot, Fehrle said, the crew was setting up a shot in a large field with one clump of brush standing in it.

``Jim pointed to it and said, 'There are fairies living in there. It'd probably be a good idea to get their permission to be here,' '' Fehrle said.

By then, the Encino-based producer, who usually deals with film offices, city bureaucrats and property owners for such matters, had fallen in step with the customs.

``So I went over and had a conversation with the fairies,'' he said. ``And then I came back and said, 'Jim, I'm not sure, but I think they said it was OK.'

``And you can believe whatever you want, but we had great weather.''

The closing credits of ``Thomas and the Magic Railroad'' even thank the fairies.

Maybe now they can step in and push the little engine up over that hill.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1) Thomas, right, tries to hurry along as a rival train manages to keep up with him. ``Thomas and the Magic Railroad,'' adapted from the Rev. Wilbert Awdry's books and the ``Shining Time Station'' TV show, was produced without elaborate special effects. (2) Alec Baldwin, who plays the amicable Mr. Conductor, goes over the script with writer/director/co-producer Britt Allcroft.