... is only referred to by his 'proper' name (Sir Topham Hatt) in the USA prints of Thomas stories. Don't know if the same fate befell the Thin Controller (Mr. Percival).. although his Narrow Gauge engines do have cooler names than the Sodor lot... Rheneas, Skarloey etc.
2007-01-21 01:12:07 · 13 answers · asked by Mr. Fox 5 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Comics & Animation
It’s political correctness gone mad. He was always called Sir Topham Hatt, but in the post war Britain, there were very few fat people, and virtually no obesity. As the post war prosperity spread, so more PC names were slowly introduced, but on the introduction of the stories to America, with its obesity problems, his nicknames were dropped.
The Fat Controller is a bit of a parody of a nineteenth century American railroad baron - JP Morgan crossed with I. K. Brunel.
Originally created by the Rev. W.V. Audrey during the early 1940's as a story to entertain his son who was suffering from measles, the adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends on the island of Sodor have delighted many generations of children and parents alike.
Sir Topham Hatt, or less formally the Fat Controller, is the head of the railway in The Railway Series of books written by Rev. W. V. Awdry. In the first two books in the series (The Three Railway Engines and Thomas the Tank Engine) he is known as The Fat Director.
His name was changed when the railways in the UK were privatised in 1949. As a clergy man, he represented the world as he saw it, with the Director as god, and the different engines as different social classes. The Diesels upset the social order however. In the third book (James the Red Engine) he becomes The Fat Controller, as the railway is nationalised. His full name is revealed in the book Duck and the Diesel Engine.
The first Topham Hatt was This man was a talented engineer who was apprenticed with William Stanier at the Great Western Railway's Swindon works, which gave him a great love of all things Great Western. He went on to assist A. W. Dry in the construction of the Tidmouth, Knapford and Elsbridge Light Railway (which ultimately became Thomas' branch line) and designed the locomotives that ran upon it.
When the standard gauge railways of the Island were merged into the North Western Railway in 1914, Topham Hatt was once again called upon for his engineering skill. He constructed a bridge to link Sodor with the Mainland, as well as a number of branch lines and improvements to locomotive facilities. He was immediately made a Director of the railway.
When the North Western Railway was nationalised and became part of British Railways in 1948, Topham Hatt was made Controller of the railway. 1948 also saw him made a baronet for his services to the railways of Sodor.
It is no exaggeration to say that the prosperity of modern day Sodor can be put down to this man.
Charles Topham Hatt was the son of the first Sir Topham Hatt and the second Controller of the NWR. He too served an apprenticeship with Stanier, this time working under the locomotive designer. Like his father, he was an innovative engineer and made a number of improvements to the railway and its engines. He was also the originator of the scheme to construct the Arlesdale Railway and the ballast consortium that used it.
He was responsible for the line's policy of retaining steam locomotives long after they had been abolished on the rest of British Railways, and while Richard Beeching was closing down branch lines on the Mainland, he was reopening them on Sodor.
Stephen Topham Hatt was first seen as a child in the book 'Toby the Tram Engine'. As an adult, he was elected as the third Controller of the North Western Railway. He, like his father and grandfather before him, is an innovator and a canny businessman. He has been involved in a number of schemes for improving the railways of Sodor, from assisting in the construction of new engines to plans to introduce a direct London-Sodor train service.
2007-01-21 01:20:25 · answer #1 · answered by DAVID C 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Fat Controller
2016-12-10 07:03:40 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
Why is it that the Fat Controller in Thomas the Tank Engine...?
... is only referred to by his 'proper' name (Sir Topham Hatt) in the USA prints of Thomas stories. Don't know if the same fate befell the Thin Controller (Mr. Percival).. although his Narrow Gauge en...
2015-02-03 04:08:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The publishers are probably trying to be pc. Describing him as fat may offend some larger readers so they call him by his proper name. They could, I suppose, have called him The Obese Controller, or the Not Fat He's Big Boned Controller, Or The Controller With A Hormone Problem, but it wouldn't have been as catchy.
2007-01-21 01:20:59 · answer #4 · answered by Gar 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sir Topham Hatt
2016-10-02 09:00:08 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is probably due to the political correctness brigade which would seem to have begun in the states,Bloody morons need to get a life and let the rest of us get on with calling a spade a spade (and no that is not a racist comment a spade is a garden implement used for digging)
2007-01-21 01:17:20 · answer #6 · answered by CHRIS P 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I think the other contributors are right.
It is the over sensitive state of affairs in the states.
You can't say fat, you have to say overweight and short people are vertically challanged!
2007-01-21 01:23:42 · answer #7 · answered by Doodie 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not
2014-07-24 05:44:24 · answer #8 · answered by patricica 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think it's because america is more politically correct. we've never had a problem with the fat controller.
2007-01-21 01:59:55 · answer #9 · answered by katrina c 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its not pc to say chat. As for the short people comment by Splodge. Good 1 I like being vertically challenged lol :)
2007-01-21 01:27:08 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋