When I found the IMDb page for what they call the 2004 'Fireman Sam,' I assumed it was for both the new stop-motion version and the CGI version. At first I thought both series were not quite the same as the original series but I was intrigued to watch them for the new characters and story lines.
The 2000s stop-motion incarnation isn't quite as good as the original but better than the CGI series. The stop-motion animation is more advanced than that in the original due to the characters' mouths moving with the dialogue. All the original characters returned with changes to them such as the fire crew's uniforms being blue instead of black/navy, Penny Morris having short blonde hair instead of reddish brown hair in a bun and Sarah, James, Dilys and Norman wearing modernised outfits. Dilys's shop may be bigger than it was in the original series but at least the front is pretty much the same. Bella's café is also the same as it was in the original albeit its differences of the pizza oven and the exterior. The original characters' personality traits are the same as they were in the original but this time around Sarah and James, alongside Bella, Station Officer Steele, Mike and Helen Flood and Tom Thomas do not speak with Welsh accents like they did in the original series and the CGI series. Further to the characters, I like Mandy's personality being a cross between Sarah and James's good behaviour and Norman's naughty nature, Helen is caring and motherly if a tad strict and Mike is just as incompetent as Elvis. My favourite episodes in this series were 'A Real Live Wire,' 'Norman's Invisible Friend,' 'Neighbourhood Watchout,' 'King of the Jungle,' 'Fiery Finale,' Twitchers in Trouble' and 'The Big Freeze' since most of them covered fire and safety hazards that were not fully covered or not mentioned in the original series. The theme tune is different but this series uses a couple of the same pieces of incidental music (Trevor's bus music and the rescue mission music when the firefighters set out for their emergencies) as in the original albeit their altered instrumentation.
The CGI series is my least favourite incarnation (I was somewhat appalled when I first saw a short clip from 'Floating Cart') but I watched a few episodes on Cartoonito and later on Amazon Prime Instant Video out of curiosity after having watched the engaging feature- length film 'The Great Fire of Pontypandy' and despite the characters being cheaply modelled and their movements being inconsistent (particularly in the earlier episodes) the backgrounds are nicely rendered and I found the story lines intriguing (I especially found 'Alarm on the Beach' cleverly written) if some of them recycled those from both stop- motion incarnations and other CGI episodes. For example 'The Great Guinea Pig Rescue' reminded me of 'A Real Live Wire' while 'Floodlights' and 'Santa Overboard' were similar. Other similarities in story lines were both adult and child characters competing with one another. One thing I dislike about this series is the absence of Bella but I like the new characters such as inquisitive toddler Lily and the wheelchair-bound and radical Hannah. The voice acting here is a mixed bag. Most characters have tolerable voices but those of Sarah, James and Norman are somewhat grating. Certain characters have had changes to their traits such as Steele becoming stricter yet unleashing his inner child at times, Elvis and Mike becoming more incompetent than ever before and Norman becoming more impatient and greedy.
Overall both series are not quite as good as the original but I like them for their story lines and new characters. 8/10 for the 2000s stop-motion series and 7.5/10 for the CGI series.
The 2000s stop-motion incarnation isn't quite as good as the original but better than the CGI series. The stop-motion animation is more advanced than that in the original due to the characters' mouths moving with the dialogue. All the original characters returned with changes to them such as the fire crew's uniforms being blue instead of black/navy, Penny Morris having short blonde hair instead of reddish brown hair in a bun and Sarah, James, Dilys and Norman wearing modernised outfits. Dilys's shop may be bigger than it was in the original series but at least the front is pretty much the same. Bella's café is also the same as it was in the original albeit its differences of the pizza oven and the exterior. The original characters' personality traits are the same as they were in the original but this time around Sarah and James, alongside Bella, Station Officer Steele, Mike and Helen Flood and Tom Thomas do not speak with Welsh accents like they did in the original series and the CGI series. Further to the characters, I like Mandy's personality being a cross between Sarah and James's good behaviour and Norman's naughty nature, Helen is caring and motherly if a tad strict and Mike is just as incompetent as Elvis. My favourite episodes in this series were 'A Real Live Wire,' 'Norman's Invisible Friend,' 'Neighbourhood Watchout,' 'King of the Jungle,' 'Fiery Finale,' Twitchers in Trouble' and 'The Big Freeze' since most of them covered fire and safety hazards that were not fully covered or not mentioned in the original series. The theme tune is different but this series uses a couple of the same pieces of incidental music (Trevor's bus music and the rescue mission music when the firefighters set out for their emergencies) as in the original albeit their altered instrumentation.
The CGI series is my least favourite incarnation (I was somewhat appalled when I first saw a short clip from 'Floating Cart') but I watched a few episodes on Cartoonito and later on Amazon Prime Instant Video out of curiosity after having watched the engaging feature- length film 'The Great Fire of Pontypandy' and despite the characters being cheaply modelled and their movements being inconsistent (particularly in the earlier episodes) the backgrounds are nicely rendered and I found the story lines intriguing (I especially found 'Alarm on the Beach' cleverly written) if some of them recycled those from both stop- motion incarnations and other CGI episodes. For example 'The Great Guinea Pig Rescue' reminded me of 'A Real Live Wire' while 'Floodlights' and 'Santa Overboard' were similar. Other similarities in story lines were both adult and child characters competing with one another. One thing I dislike about this series is the absence of Bella but I like the new characters such as inquisitive toddler Lily and the wheelchair-bound and radical Hannah. The voice acting here is a mixed bag. Most characters have tolerable voices but those of Sarah, James and Norman are somewhat grating. Certain characters have had changes to their traits such as Steele becoming stricter yet unleashing his inner child at times, Elvis and Mike becoming more incompetent than ever before and Norman becoming more impatient and greedy.
Overall both series are not quite as good as the original but I like them for their story lines and new characters. 8/10 for the 2000s stop-motion series and 7.5/10 for the CGI series.