Tracy Island

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Tracy Island
Thunderbirds location
South Pacific Ocean
LocationsTracy Villa, Cliff House, Round House
CharactersTracy and Kyrano families, Brains

Tracy Island is the secret headquarters of the International Rescue organisation in the 1960s British

South Pacific Ocean and is home to the Tracy family, scientists Brains and Tin-Tin, and housekeeper Kyrano. The name "Tracy Island" originates in Thunderbirds comic strips and other tie-ins
; within the series, the characters simply refer to it as International Rescue's "base".

The island has had several releases as a children's toy, most notably in the early 1990s, 2000 and 2015.

British Association of Toy Retailers
' Toy of the Year.

Depiction

The centrepiece of the island is the Tracy Villa, the home of the island's residents. Various features of the original series' villa – such as the outside staircase descending to water, the large windows, and the prominent stone chimney – suggest that its design was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater house.

Thunderbird 3
is launched from underneath the Round House (the island's guest accommodation).

Although the security of the island is stated to be assured by jamming equipment, in the Thunderbirds comic strips published in

canonicity of the Thunderbirds comics adventures is open to interpretation.)[5]

Background

A tropical beach against a sunny sky
Shooting locations for the live-action version of Tracy Island included Anse Lazio beach on the island of Praslin in Seychelles (pictured).

Derek Meddings, special effects supervisor on the puppet series, described his excitement at designing Tracy Island as "one of those feelings you get when you're a kid, imagining that you're Robinson Crusoe living on a lovely island."[6]

For the 2004 live-action film, the main shooting location for the island exteriors was North Island in the Seychelles. Co-producer Mark Huffam described Tracy Island as "the most idyllic [...] imaginable, with crystal-clear waters, tropical jungle and mountainous peaks", adding that it was "fantastic" that North Island provided "all these essential elements". Various locations on Praslin, including Anse Lazio beach and Vallée de Mai nature preserve, were also used.[7]

The buildings on the re-imagined island were deliberately given a "

retro-futuristic" appearance, described by production designer John Beard as "based in the '60s and '70s, which is similar to what we were doing for Brazil."[8] Further inspiration was drawn from the work of Oscar Niemeyer and others.[8] The interiors set at Pinewood Studios was built in what Beard described as a "kind of double-'S' shape". He added that "because we're not building the top, it means we can hang the building from the top ceiling in the studio, which we couldn't have done outside."[9]

Toys and Blue Peter

In the UK, repeats of Thunderbirds on

WWF Hasbro action figures due to the stock shortage.[11] It subsequently won the 1993 award.[17][18][19]

In January 1993, the BBC children's TV programme Blue Peter responded to the stock shortage by showing viewers how to build a home-made version out of household waste.[20][21] The BBC was then, in turn, overwhelmed by requests for copies of the instruction sheet for making the model.[13][20][21] Eventually the broadcaster stopped sending out the sheets and released a recording of presenter Anthea Turner's demonstration, Blue Peter Makes a Thunderbirds Tracy Island, on VHS.[21][22] In 2015, Radio Times described Blue Peter's island-building demonstration as "one of the most iconic moments" in the programme's history.[23]

The BBC's re-launch of Thunderbirds in 2000 prompted a resurgence in the toy's popularity and a second Blue Peter demonstration.

microchips caused by high demand from the mobile phone industry.[16][29] The playset ultimately became one of the best-selling toys of 2000, with demand estimated at up to ten times greater than supply.[25]

In 2005, Thunderbirds' 40th anniversary,

sticky-backed plastic."[30]

In 2015, to coincide with the debut of the remake Thunderbirds Are Go, Vivid released a new version of the toy incorporating smart technology.[4][31]

Reception

Mid-Century Modern".[33]

Jon Abbott of TV Zone magazine criticised the base's layout, questioning why the control centre is located in the lounge when a hidden control room would eliminate the need for "Operation Cover-Up" – the procedure used to rid the lounge of all trace of International Rescue's presence whenever the island receives visitors from the outside world. As part of this operation, wall portraits of the Tracy brothers in their International Rescue uniforms are replaced with alternatives showing them in casual attire. Abbott asks why Jeff Tracy would even need uniformed photographs of his sons, regarding this as one of several aspects that make the Tracy Island lounge a "delightful deranged indulgence". However, he concedes that for child viewers, the existence of these features made Thunderbirds "much more fun to watch than Z-Cars or Dr. Finlay's Casebook".[34]

Commentator Ian Haywood, who interprets the series partly as a struggle between nature and science, considers Tracy Island a technological

imperialist symbol in that it effectively serves as "a Pacific base for American influence", which he believes "strikes a chilling chord in today's post-Cold War era of American global peace-keeping."[35]

In a publicity exercise,

Thunderbird 2. Titled "Thunderbirds Powered By Ford", it was one of the largest exhibits ever built by construction company Imagination and proved to be a success, attracting 250,000 to 300,000 visitors and winning a certificate of "High Commendation" at the 2004 Marketing Brand Design Awards.[36]

The new version that was modelled for the remake series Thunderbirds Are Go (2015–20) was positively received by Wired UK magazine, whose reporter Matt Kamen described the island as "stunningly detailed, and any returning viewers will be delighted to see classic features such as the retractable swimming pool revealing a rocket silo have been retained for the update."[37]

References

  1. telegraph.co.uk
    . Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  2. ^ Carvell, Nick (4 April 2015). "Five reasons why Thunderbirds was the most #menswear show ever". gq-magazine.co.uk. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  3. ^ Caesar, Ed (3 December 2005). "Mad About The Toy: What's This Year's Christmas Craze?". independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 December 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  4. ^
    Forbes.com. Archived
    from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  5. ^ Thunderbirds Legends: Building the Thunderbird Machines. March 28, 2020 – via YouTube.
  6. ISBN 978-0-563-53481-5
    .
  7. ^ a b "Thunderbirds Are Go!". Seychelles Nation. Seychelles National Information Services Agency. 24 July 2004. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  8. ^
    Trinity Mirror Midlands. 2004. Archived
    from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  9. ^ "Thunderbirds Movie Production Notes (2004)". madeinatlantis.com. 16 September 2014. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  10. ^ a b "A Basic History of Popular Toys". toyretailersassociation.co.uk. Toy Retailers Association. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012.
  11. ^ a b "The '90s". toyretailersassociation.co.uk. Toy Retailers Association. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012.
  12. ^ a b Cope, Nigel (10 December 1992). "Toys rise above the recession: The unpredictable dictates of fashion can mean a nightmare for manufacturers and panic for parents". independent.co.uk. Independent Print. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  13. ^ a b c Lister, David (4 June 1997). "Thunderbirds Are Go – Again". independent.co.uk. Independent Print. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  14. manchestereveningnews.co.uk. Archived
    from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  15. lep.co.uk. Archived
    from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  16. ^ a b c "Christmas Rush Too Much for Thunderbirds". BBC News Online. 3 December 2000. Archived from the original on 6 May 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  17. ^ "Toy of the Year 1965-2007". toyretailersassociation.co.uk. Toy Retailers Association. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  18. ^ "Over 50 Years of Toy of the Year". BBC News Online. 11 November 2016. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  19. ^ MacDonald, Marianne (21 August 1995). "Thunderbirds Are Going, Going, Gone". independent.co.uk. Independent Print. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  20. ^ a b "Blue Peter to be shown on CBBC before BBC One". BBC News Online. 16 December 2011. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  21. ^ a b c Blair, Andrew (2 February 2016). "Remembering '90s Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet Toys". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  22. ^ "'Blue Peter Makes a Thunderbirds Tracy Island' on BBC Video". videocollector.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 July 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  23. ^ Daly, Emma (13 September 2015). "Anthea Turner still has that Blue Peter Tracy Island". radiotimes.com. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  24. ^ "Re-launch of Thunderbirds Television Show Sparks Fresh Demand for Toys". BBC Online. 22 December 2000. Archived from the original on 29 April 2005. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  25. ^ a b c Purdom, Nick (19 January 2001). "Kids PR – Norton spins Tracy Island into Success". PRWeek. Haymarket Media Group. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  26. ISBN 978-0-85783-629-8
    .
  27. ^ Smithson, Nick. "Toys: Powertech Tracy Island". sci-fi-online.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  28. ^ Robinson, Neil (21 December 2000). "Thunderbirds Have Gone". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  29. ^ Edwardes, Charlotte (22 October 2000). "Thunderbirds Are Gone in Clamour for Classic Toys". telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  30. ^ White, Jim (26 September 2005). "Wilson talked of technology – and along came Thunderbirds". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  31. ^ Fordy, Tom (19 December 2015). "10 Toys Dads Should Buy 'For Their Kids' This Christmas". telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 December 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  32. ^ McLaughlin, Rob (30 July 2008). "The Top 10 Secret Hideouts". Den of Geek. Dennis Publishing. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  33. latimes.com
    . Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  34. OCLC 226121852
    .
  35. ISSN 0011-1570
    .
  36. ISBN 978-1-856178-18-1
    .
  37. wired.co.uk. Condé Nast. Archived
    from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2020.

External links
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