| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment, Children's programming |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Defunct | 31 December 1990 |
| Fate | Ceased operations |
| Products | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, TUGS |
Clearwater Features Ltd. was a British film production company (based first in Battersea and then at Shepperton Studios) that produced the first two series of the children's television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends from 1984 to 1986. Clearwater is also known for creating the short lived children's TV series TUGS.
The company was founded in 1979 by Gerry Anderson alumni Ken Turner and David Mitton, and produced television commercials as well as miniature effects for films and TV shows. Turner left the company in 1979, to be replaced by American-born director and producer Robert D. Cardona.
The production logo of Clearwater Features was a pink Buick Y-Job parked at a film studio with palm trees, based on Clearwater, Florida, and it appeared on the ending of half the stories of Thomas the Tank Engine from series 1 and 2 (the other half ending with a nameboard gallery), and also appeared on a flag of a barge in the TUGS episode 4th of July.
The company closed down on New Year's Eve 1990 because of TUGS' conclusion. When the studio closed, David Mitton became part of The Britt Allcroft Company, and Robert D. Cardona went to live in Canada. Britt Allcroft, returning home from the US, purchased the models and sets which were used for TUGS, and the show Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends remained in production by The Britt Allcroft Company (later Gullane Entertainment) from 1984 until 2003, when it was produced by HIT Entertainment.
The Clearwater Periscope lens system was a type of television camera developed in 1983 by Clearwater Features for use on the children's television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and Tugs. The cameras were used together with live action model animation,[1] to produce the image of character movements at eye level.[2] Only two of these camera systems were ever made.[3] The system used for TUGS was later shipped off to Canada and modified for the filming of Theodore Tugboat.