Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller is a Canadian fantasy adventure film written and directed by Michael Rubbo. Released on December 16, 1988, it is the seventh installment in the Tales for All series of children’s movies produced by Les Productions la Fête.

The film opens with Tommy (Anthony Rogers) and his partner-in-crime Cass (Paul Popowich) confidently selling low-value stamps to their classmates by exaggerating their rarity. The real trouble begins when Ralph (Lucas Evans), the film’s main protagonist, invites Tommy over for some stamp trading. Tommy, always chasing a quick profit, tricks Ralph by swapping a valuable 1929 Bluenose stamp—featuring a subtle “printer’s error” of a man’s outline on a ship’s mast—with a cheaper one.

When Ralph realizes he’s been duped, he and his sister Nancy (Jill Stanley) visit a local stamp store, only to find that Tommy has sold them the counterfeit Bluenose and made a profit. Unable to afford the $500 price tag for the genuine stamp, the kind store owners try to comfort Nancy by gifting her an old, seemingly worthless stamp album they recently acquired at an estate sale.

Later that day, Ralph, Nancy, and Albert (Andrew Whitehead)—another victim of Tommy’s schemes—discover a hidden note inside the cover of the old stamp album. Written by Charles Merriweather, an 11-year-old boy, the note reveals that several valuable Canadian stamps were hidden long ago in a shop in Australia.

Hoping to replace the Bluenose stamp before his father notices, Ralph decides to follow the letter’s unbelievable instructions. Uttering a few magic words, he magically shrinks down into a stamp, ready to be mailed overseas. However, Tommy overhears Ralph’s plan and sneakily changes the postcard’s address to Chen Tow (Chen Yuan Tao), Nancy’s pen pal in China.

Ralph is initially confused when he arrives in Beijing, but with the help of Chen and his sister Mai Ling (Han Yun), he manages to reach the stamp store in Australia—only to discover that Tommy has beaten him there! Along with Cheryl (Catherine Wright), the granddaughter of the original shop owner, Ralph sets out to find Cheryl’s eccentric uncle’s home in the outback, where the album has been stored since the shop closed.

When Tommy is caught trying to steal the rare Canadian stamps, it falls to Ralph and Cheryl to come to his rescue.

Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller follows young Ralph and Tommy Tricker, both avid stamp collectors. When Tommy snatches a rare stamp, Ralph discovers the magical secret of stamp travel, which takes him on a globe-trotting adventure to far-off places like Australia and China. Along the way, they must navigate a complicated set of rules to return home safely.

A coming-of-age story at its core, the film also depicts Ralph overcoming his stutter, culminating in him speaking fluently by the end.

Notably, the film features a brief appearance by teenage singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, who performs the pop song “I’m a-runnin’,” though this scene stands out as somewhat out of place.

In 1989, Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller was nominated for two Genie Awards: Best Original Screenplay for Michael Rubbo and Best Original Song for Rufus Wainwright.

Photo courtesy Google. Excerpts taken from Google.