Clearwater Features Ltd. was a British film production company (based first in Battersea, 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. It is also known for creating the short-lived children's TV series Tugs.
History
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). It 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, Mitton became part of The Britt Allcroft Company and Cardona went to live in Canada. Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends remained in production by The Britt Allcroft Company (later Gullane Entertainment) from 1984 until 2003, when HIT Entertainment took over.