The B&O Railroad Museum here in Baltimore just hosted a weekend of a visit from "Chugginton--A Traintastic Adventure!" I happened to be watching local morning TV in Baltimore on Friday as they showed a fluff/promo piece live at the Museum, with the animatronic trains in the background, and I cringed at the cornball, hammy "acting" and prancing done by the performers on TV--however, to be fair, I would (and do) cringe at ANY kiddie production or local-morning-news-promo/fluff segment.

We have had discussions here over the merits or lack thereof of Thomas the Tank Engine events at rail museums/excursion lines--added patronage, but at high cost in money and labor.

Have any of us had Chuggington events, and would your recommend them or not? Why?

I seem to recall a tempest in a teapot a couple of years ago -- was it here? -- where someone thought the Baltimore museum was revising their logo to appeal to 'the younger set' by including Chuggington characters. As it turned out, that was just a 'special version' promoting the first of these Chuggington events, and I'd surmise from this latest report that the museum thinks they are positive enough to repeat.

I'd like to add a second layer to this conversation: What can or should be done to make events like this LESS cringeworthy? I recognized very, very long ago (from Shari Lewis, among others) that kid's programming doesn't have to be as awful as the Wiggles or some of these 'live reenactments' (or, lest you think I'm being snobbish, those acts dramatizing 'railroad history' in dance at various World's Fairs). There are some pretty good possibilities for positive messages here -- let's figure out how to enhance them at museums, perhaps leveraging their value as 'bully pulpits' to producers who might be amenable to learning better ways to make money than schlock.

The earlier thread:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=38377

This was in 2015 when someone confused a temporary Facebook profile picture with a new logo for the place.

As for the cheesiness of the entertainment, I would suggest that almost ANY entertainment aimed at small children--think anything from the children's play/story hour at a library (designed to give moms a chance to let their babies see other children, and get out of the house and away from being the center of the wee one's attention) to Barney the Dinosaur to whatever-is-hot-these-days-among-the-rugrats--is going to be "cringe-worthy" to someone not acclimated to small children.

One of my close friends became a children's librarian at a local system, and had also long been an animal-shelter volunteer, zoo volunteer, etc. Either because it was her nature or because of her work, she was so quick to descend to cutesie-poo "baby talk" that it became difficult for me to be around her. (I think it was the squealing praise of her dog "going poopie" that finally drove me away.)

I also deal with professional entertainers in magic and music, and they will all tell you it takes a special breed and mindset to handle themselves professionally around children. One who does it well looks like he or she really enjoys it no matter how many wrong turns the kids may create, and I think what I saw briefly on that short live TV shot that made me cringe was a certain air of "please kill me now... or let me survive this and get my paycheck and run..." that many performers air when they're doing a temporary gig that seems beneath them.

If the kids love Chuggington or Thomas AND it boosts the operation's bottom line and future prospects long-term, all the better, and it speaks to the professionalism of these shows' operators. I mean, I know people who continue to love Disney World even after the kids have grown up, and lots of aspects of that Cult Of the Mouse also make me cringe.....