Monday 31 December 2018

A Retrospective of Thomas & Friends DVDs in 2018

As the clock is ticking down the hours of 2018, let's take a look at the DVD's of Thomas & Friends that were released during the course of 2018:

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND THEY ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

SOME OF MY OPINIONS MAY BE DIFFERENT FROM MY PREVIOUS REVIEWS: 

---

DANGER AT THE DOCKS
Review Date:
27/1/18

The second last release of the 21 episodes. To be honest, I don't really think these are the best portion of S21. The stories aren't bad but they weren't really the strong ones. The only one that was good from this bunch was 'Philip's Number', you can read my opinion on the episode in the DVD review by looking through January 2018 on the blog archive.

Rating: 8/10

ON THE GO WITH THOMAS
Review Date:
19/4/18

This is probably the best one of the S21 releases. I honestly don't have any criticism towards the choice of episodes that they've gone with here. Plus the highlight was the 'Little Engines' remake, it's nice to see that the songs from the classic series are given some new lease of life and some had finally made their debut on UK home video since the song was made over a decade ago.

Rating: 9/10

THE COMPLETE SERIES 19 COLLECTION
Review Date:
18/07/18

S19 wasn't really the best among the Brenner/McCue era after the likes of S17-18. Some had even said that the season was on par with S13-16, which is something that I disagree with strongly. Sure some episodes were duds and not really interesting to watch (e.g - Rocky Rescue) but some episodes were good to sit through and even some duds have some watchability in them and the stories at least have effort put into it. I think considering we had the likes of 'The Adventure Begins' and 'Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure' back then, fans were expecting something much bigger for the show, as we were in the 70th anniversary period as well by that point, a good example of self-hype. One of the criticisms I give to S19 is that this was the start of the 'series before special' idea. All of these episodes were set before the 2015 special but there was nothing that hinted that. I mean why not have Daisy working on Thomas' branch line or have someone mentioning about the new extension? Or have the Arelesdale Miniature Engine stories adapted for this series. It makes me glad that BWBA stopped that and moved back to what the series had done since the start of the DVD specials. However what I do like was that S19 gave episodes to characters like Stephen who hadn't had episodes focused on them in a while. 

Rating: 6.5/10

BIG WORLD! BIG ADVENTURES! 
THE MOVIE
Review Date:
5/09/18

Was the fury of this movie any necessary? In my opinion, no. Ever since the movie and revamped series was announced back in 2017, most people from the fanbase went into a huge meltdown and criticised the likes of Nia for being a bad character from the little info that press releases were saying about her. Too many had jumped the gun and thought that this was another 'dark era' because their are some new changes to the show that pretty much weren't too drastic, and when the movie was finally released, I thought it was very good. Nia and Ace made a great dynamic with Thomas and they feel like Thomas' shoulder angels. Nia is the one telling Thomas to be responsible but Ace is the one telling Thomas to have fun and not follow the rules and Thomas blindly follows him because he is 'free and easy' until he (Thomas) learnt how Ace can be a bad influence, a moral that I don't see working in the 'dark era' which was the Miller/Barlow era. Plus the pacing feels like what every other Thomas special was in the past as well, so nothing drastic had happened. However the ending could've been a bit better, but I still enjoyed it in the end.

Some fans had said that railway realism is now going to be thrown out of the window, despite that it hadn't been 100% since S5. But there are plenty such as rails running through the Sahara dessert, the brazilian rainforest, the Morenci Loop is an actual place and so on, despite that the Rainbow Mountains and the loop-de-loop scene are the more unrealistic ones. 

Considering that next year we are going to get three 20 minute specials, most likely for TV, I'm fine if they stop creating these yearly specials as it would stop the illegal cinema recordings. Yes HIT and Mattel should've released the movies simultaneously over the years, but illegal recordings are illegal recordings no matter what excuse fans have.     

Rating: 9/10

HERE COMES THE STEAM TEAM!
Review Date:
17/10/18

There episodes that I think that should've been more better, particularly in the International side and episodes like Puzzling Parts was boring. Other than that, the DVD was good and despite the series being such a great success, it gained 40% of viewership in the UK, it had its faults and I hope improvements are made to make the newly refreshed series better.

Rating: 7/10

---


And so that was 2018! What's in store for next year? Honestly I don't know. All I know is that the new revamped series is here to stay and I hope it gets improved for the best. I'm also sad that next year will be Andrew Brenner's last season as head writer after five years. Say what you want about him and his specials and episodes but he had led a team in bringing Thomas back to being great again, not a Trump reference. I had a feeling that this news will happen one day but I am not that worried about the future. Brenner may have left but Ian McCue, Michael White, Davey Moore etc. are still with us and they know the show well.

If he's reading this, I want to thank Andrew Brenner for all the hard work he had done for Thomas the Tank Engine with his team of great writers and I welcome aboard the new head writer for Season 24. Dry Rails and Good Runnings! And I also like to say:

HAPPY AND SAFE 2019!!

- NWR991.




Sunday 2 December 2018

S22 Ep.26: Kangaroo Christmas + Series Overall

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED BY THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

KANGAROO CHRISTMAS
Written by
Tim Bain

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Micaela Winter

Plot
Thomas tries to save a toy kangaroo from an actual Kangaroo! 

Air Date
2/12/18

---


I honestly do like the Australia episodes more than the India and China episodes, despite there own faults. They feel all connected. However I find this episode to be a little odd with its moral about Christmas. Thomas was saying that the time of year should be about spending time with those you love and not about snow, presents, trees and all. But most of the episode was about Thomas trying to get a toy kangaroo back to a little Australian girl named Madeline. I mean, probably to make the episode better, why not have Thomas feeling homesick for his friends on Sodor when it comes to Christmas? I mean surely he would've missed them during his world travels? And while at it, have him feeling sad that there's no snow in Australia as we celebrate it in the summer time, when this episode was out on DVD in the UK in August, I was surprised to see people were shocked that Christmas is celebrated in that season and it still makes me think that it's great to teach kids in other countries who celebrate Christmas in winter about the different seasons and it make sense for Thomas' ignorance about the world here.

Back to my version of the plot, why not have Shane telling Isla to make Thomas feel he's right at home by pouring out pretend snow. But that didn't work because it was pretend snow. Maybe in the end, the Australian Railway controller calls up the Fat Controller and send Percy to Australia and Thomas thinks that was the best Christmas ever that he gets to celebrate with Percy and with his new Australian friends. 

In the end though, the actual episode wasn't bad, but it could've been better. 

SERIES OVERALL


So now we end our first full season of the revamped series, is it worth the outrage that some fans have hoped for? Is it another dark era that some had been paranoid about? In my opinion, no. The revamped series may have some duds here and there but it doesn't feel too different. However there were some lackluster episodes, particularly from the International side. I get it that they want Thomas to be the focus to make kids feel comfortable. But there are some episodes that aren't really fit for him, I get it that they want him to be someone to learn about different cultures and learn about the UN goals and have him being the focus. But why not give the international engines the spotlight? Kids might be more interested in them than say Thomas because these are characters they never knew before. They were in 'The Great Race' but mostly as background fodder. I said this before and I'll say it again, one example is the Bollywood episode from India. The plot screams Rajiv! His arrogant personality would bring better conflict to the story. If the production team are reading this, please give the characters from the other countries some screen time. 

It also makes me a bit worried that these countries will be placed on the back burner while they'll focus on other countries, I mean yes there should be more to freshen up the series and make it worth something to watch but characters like Yong Bao and Hong Mei barely had any development. They were just there to say, they're from China! Hong Mei I thought was a charming character and would love to see more of her! I definitely do see her as a tomboy engine who can be a bit jealous or impatient. I mean Thomas is popular in China and I doubt Mattel would neglect a country that is considering as one of the top countries where Thomas is popular. Perhaps create videos for the YouTube channel that focus solely on them with Thomas not being around? I mean those 'Meet the Characters' video they've been pushing out on the YT channel had done nothing for the characters apart from that they exist. 

Ashima is still the dull character that she was in 'The Great Race'. The episodes set in India weren't really the best but I won't say they were the worst, they were mostly average in my opinion. I did like 'Trusty Trunky' because of its realism of elephants helping out on the railway and the Monkey Palace episode was good because of it having some conflict. Although it could've been much better. However Rajiv is definitely the best character coming from India with his arrogant, pompous, boastful behaviour. There is just so much potential with him when it comes to stories and he can work so well with characters like Shankar and Noor Jehan. The latter two feel like characters that have a realistic view point and would bring Rajiv back down to earth. 

The episodes in Australia as I said before would have to be the best among the international stories. They have conflict and strong characters. Shane has more of a personality compare to the likes of Hong-Mei as well as Aubrey and Aiden. Isla to me is a breath of fresh air when it comes to the aircraft characters. In the past we had Jeremy and Harold who were both cocky and trash the railway because they think they are superior. Isla, despite being a doctor's plane, takes her position seriously as she transports someone important and doesn't have time to be cocky. 'Outback Thomas' was fun despite its faults, 'Cyclone Thomas' was great, 'Banjo and The Bushfire' was weak and despite it being a bit odd with its plot, 'Kangaroo Christmas' wasn't bad, but the plot could've been given some fine tuning.  

Meanwhile Sodor is where I think the heart and soul of the series is mostly at. There had been plenty of good episodes some were fantastic! I particularly loved 'Samson And The Fireworks' and 'Rosie Is Red' because of its relation towards kids when it comes to the situations that were made in those said episodes. 'Hunt The Truck' is by the far the best episode on Sodor. The dynamic between Edward, Bill and Ben was spot on and it gave me a third series vibe, sometimes its rare to me to see a modern day episode feel like a classic series style episode. Heck Michael White had done a much better job with the 'Walter Mitty' moments, as Ian McCue puts it at MIPJunior last year. 

One thing that I do love from the series is that the Fat Controller is treated more like a human and less like a tired out slapstick controller that he was last season. It's nice to see him being authoritative but not too much with less comedy here and there. I hope the production team keep up with this.

This by no means that the stories on the international side were terrible or bad! It's far from it, it's just that they were average at best. I get it that they want to focus on the UN goals but stories like 'Thomas In The Wild' didn't really offer much plot to the story. I mean on a educational level it was fine about the different animals but on an entertainment level, it didn't offer much to wow someone. Perhaps the production team should have stories like the Monkey Palace or the Bollywood episode focused upon the international character rather than Thomas. Thomas can still be there as a supporting role but have an international character be the sole focus and bring out there personalities. Maybe other international episodes might have something with Thomas in mind. I did like 'Thomas And The Dragon' because it balances both culture and an entertaining story plus an episode like that can be good for a character like Thomas when it comes to him being a bit ignorant as he would never be familiar with the concept of Chinese New Year and culture considering he had been living on Sodor for many years. Yes he had faced with a dragon back in Series 3, but not many kids today would know of that episode's existence except for older fans who do.

But despite it being strong, there are some duds from the Island and I think the weakest one of all was 'Apology Impossible'. Looking back, that episode was a mess despite the character progression from Philip. I think what made the episode so terrible to sit through was that James' character was exaggerated by full force that it made him more out of character! James is supposed to be a vain and arrogant but not in the style of Gordon. I still think that episode should've been given to Gordon to give Philip a new perspective of an engine that he had admired. Another episode that I find weak from Sodor was 'The Case of The Puzzling Parts' and that was just boring to sit through. The dynamic between Paxton and Sidney was excellent but the story was just paper thin and way too average. I like the slice of life stories but don't make it too boring, it reminded me of 'The Missing Breakdown Train', it was average and nothing really happened until the end, unlike Sidney and Paxton's episode. 

The fantasy sequences are a hit and miss to me. Some felt unneeded and some are just there to eat up the time limit because of their bare plot but some did have some need, I still think 'Thomas In The Wild's' fantasy sequence was needed to show Thomas' imagination about Panda's. But I think the fantasy sequences worked better by Michael White. In 'An Engine Of Many Colours', the sequences were justified as dreams and 'Hunt The Truck' the sequence of the twin imagining about ruining Christmas really adds the drama of Bill and Ben's conflict. Perhaps the production team should take a look at these episodes and try to make the fantasy sequences like that for future episodes.

With Thomas now narrating the stories instead of a celebrity from Liverpool, I think it was done well. Thomas' narration was there only when it was needed, just like from previous years. One person told me that the narration should be in detail but honestly, that worked in the model era because it had its limits. Now that the show is in full CG and has a full voice cast, it really doesn't need a narrator that much nowadays because the characters are more expressive now with their own voice. Plus kids can understand the stories in the end without the need of someone telling them too much.

Although some of the stories that required a moral at the end felt rather awkward. 'The Water Wheel' has a confusing moral about using water, one of the UN development goals, but most of the episode wasn't even about that in the slightest. As I said before the episode should've been given to a character like Hong-Mei, have her being impatient and make her run so fast that she used up all her water.

'Apology Impossible' was downright stupid with its moral about standing up for yourself, not that I'm saying that that lesson is stupid but how the way it was executed. Philip was standing up to James but he is still his timid self afterwards, Philip needs to showcase that moral right! It didn't work with him against Vinnie in TGR nor James in that episode. That episode was a mess! However other episodes have tried their best with the morals and life lessons in the end. I do like that the show is teaching kids about gender equality, despite its controversies from years of misinformation, it didn't feel shoved down or anything controversial like having Rebecca acting like she's better than Gordon. Nor showcasing that Gordon is loosing the power of pulling an express train, like most people believe from their misinformation. Thomas had teach kids life lessons about friendship, working together and all and I think it's not bad for the show to teach kids that both girls and boys can do the same thing together.

The running time is something that I'm a little mixed about. While I understand that it's made for the faster pace storytelling, I feel that it's suffering the show as Thomas was focused way too much when it comes to international side. I understand that he's suppose to be someone trying to understand the world and its different cultures, but like I said before, I think kids might be more interested in the international characters. As I said before, the characters like Hong-Mei, Tamika, Yong Bao etc. didn't really have screen time or development apart than just being there for the sake of being there and we don't get an explanation like why Henry is moving to Vicarstown and I blame the running time for that. The test audience may want the shorter running time, but a test audience doesn't represent the majority of Thomas' audience. They only represent themselves and what they want.

Even though I have no problems with the UN goals that the Thomas team had selected, I hope we don't have the same plots for the same goals like from this season because the plots won't be anything fresh or new and I hope they don't select some new ones because if Thomas has to teach kids about climate change then it would downright idiotic of the UN and the production team for thinking that a steam locomotive can teach kids about climate change despite him being a steam engine is a major cause to it back in the day, which would give Thomas a negative image among parents and children. I'm not a climate change denier, unlike some idiots in the political world, I just want to see some common sense still intact in the show.

But if some fans think that the round the world concept is a one off attempt and that the next season is going to be set on Sodor only, they're going to be disappointed. For starters the song 'Around The World' that plays at the end of each international episode, have at least listed many countries where Thomas might be going. I don't know what countries that he'll go to next but it doesn't smell like a one-off as many had hoped for, I for one believed it was. Some countries had left me intrigued and one of them was Japan. What would I like to see is Thomas being treated like a celebrity considering that Japan has a huge affection with railways that it's almost the equivalent of the UK's love affair with it that it's apart of there national culture. Plus it would be nice meta reference to Thomas' huge popularity over there as well. There is some story potential like Thomas getting into the celebrity highlife until it got him up in the funnel and it can teach kids not to get too up themselves with maybe Gordon or James used as an example at the end of the episode.

Some people had said that Thomas should only stay on Sodor next season, that would be impossible as Mattel would want him on his world travels to make it more familiar to the target range for comfort. I mean if you have episodes focusing on the international characters, it might be foreign to them because they weren't given any big exposure in the 2016 special. They have faces, yes, but every show that has a steam locomotive in it can have a face. Thomas isn't the only one that does that concept, you know. Plus it's not called Big WORLD Big Adventures for nothing you know, so having him on Sodor without him going around the world seems like a stupid idea. Having Thomas around the globe makes sense for that reason to give these international episodes some identity. But despite that, Thomas had been hogging the spotlight giving little exposure to the international characters. Why not have Thomas there but only with the appearance here and there like that they did with him from S20. 

Am I going to give up on Thomas now after one season of the new stuff? No, not everything is going to perfect at first go. Yes this is the same production team that brought us things like 'The Adventure Begins', 'King of The Railway', 'Tale of The Brave', the miniature engine stories, 'Sodor's Legend Of The Lost Treasure' etc. but when it comes to new things like the format and running time it's going to be tough to get used to and I believe from this team that they will improve to make it better, after all they do listen to the fans unlike the previous production team. I mean you can say that the Miller/Barlow era knew the tone of the show, but how the way they've handled it was awful, I mean sure there were some bad morals in this era, but there were truly awful morals with Thomas having no comeuppance, like Thomas taking hats without permission for a snowman? And him not learning about taking other people's thing, that was awful! How he was rewarded a trip to the mainland to collect some Jobi wood after rescuing Diesel who had taken them without permission, but he (Thomas) really had put Diesel down because of what he is and he (Diesel) only took them because he wants to prove how useful he is. How Percy was acting all selfish because Thomas wasn't paying attention to him and not really being happy for Thomas creating new friends. How Thomas had just up and left the steamworks with his 'wonky' whistle endangering the lives of the workmen there and the animals in his vent van. Yeah those morals, and there are more from that era, that are terrible for kids to learn from and if there were a Miller/Barlow era version of this new series, I'm sure it could've been a lot more worse! This is by no means me saying that what was given in BWBA was perfect or reasonable with its morals but the morals placed in BWBA and from past series of this era at least shows Thomas learning from them, at times. Plus the writing at that era was bland and repetitive to sit through.

Yes this season isn't perfect but I'm still going to support the official release during their ups and downs and everyone can have their opinions on it, but I probably won't go around and cherry pick the negatives comments just to prove something is bad.

Another thing that I like to point out in regards to the series is Mattel's marketing for this series, mostly in the US. Mattel wanted to revitalised the brand but in the US the series as well as the movie is only exclusive to a channel that not many parents can afford, Nick Jr. If you had gone on the US Facebook page, you'll see many parents wanting to know about the series and movie not having a DVD or streaming release and the FB page telling them with their robotic responses. The idea of having the show on stream and TV is a great idea and maybe DVD as well, it feels more balanced in my opinion for parents who can or cannot afford things. Having it released exclusive only on a cable TV channel to me looks damaging for the brand because many parents would not be interested in buying a cable service. What was the negations between Mattel and Viacom? Did the latter find the idea of Thomas being on streaming services as a threat for their own network? Because if they do, it's pretty stupid of them having that mind set as they placed some of their own shows and movies there before, like Spongebob! I don't know because there's nothing about these changes and I don't find this fair for many families in the US. Mattel has to change their deal with Viacom to make Thomas more accessible to families who can't afford a cable service. If a DVD is released, would parents be interested in purchasing it despite it being months since its release on Nickelodeon? As Britt Allcroft puts it, 'Thomas is for everyone!'  

In the end, this series maybe a hit and miss, but I did find it to be a lot more better than S21.   


Episode Rating

Series Rating:
192/220

LOOK OUT FOR MY LAST POST OF THE YEAR WHICH IS THE ANNUAL DVD RETROSPECTIVE POST. 
COMING OUT ON NEW YEARS EVE

Wednesday 17 October 2018

DVD Review: Here Comes The Steam Team

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

Now that the movie and new series is out of the way, we are now given our first DVD of the new revamped series of Thomas & Friends in the UK. I had already discussed its history through my review, so if you are new to this blog and wondered what was the cause of this revamp to happen, you can have a read here. So let's a take a look at: 

HERE COMES THE STEAM TEAM
Written by
Davey Moore
Tim Bain
Becky Overton
Andrew Brenner


Special Features
Festive Episode: Runaway Truck
Festive Episode: Kangaroo Christmas 
New Thomas & Friends Theme
New Roll Call
Adventures
Meet The Characters

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Micaela Winters

Release Date
24/09/18

Distributed by 
HIT Entertainment/Mattel 

EPISODES


The DVD consists nine episodes from the new refresh series that had aired over in the UK, Australia and US so far, barring 'Kangaroo Christmas' for the three countries and 'The Case Of The Puzzling Parts' for the UK and US. I had reviewed these episodes back in September and I will say some episodes are great while others can be a hit and miss, particularly Puzzling Parts and 'Trusty Trunky'.


The two Rebecca episodes are among the best of the DVD in my opinion because she has a connecting personality to be people who behave the same way as her. She sees good in everyone, quite bubbly, happy but she feels very insecure about herself when it comes to the other engines. It makes her very dimensional.


There are some international which I do like but I feel that 'Number One Engine' should've been more focused to Hong-Mei rather than Thomas. I believe that there are some international episodes that had worked for him, but maybe some of those could've worked better with other characters instead. I understand they don't want to make the show too foreign for the audience who are familiar with Thomas and they had add him in to make them feel comfortable. But you can still add Thomas in those episodes just maybe in the way he was utilised in S20, have him there as a cameo or with minor speaking role.

With 'Number One Engine', why not have Hong-Mei wanting to prove that she's number one? We see her with her train of stone falling out of her trucks so why not have her not thinking about her job first and when she took the shortcut all of her stone had fallen out of her trucks and would feel most foolish for not putting her work first. The episode can teach kids not be foolish and that racing comes second, plus they could use 'Thomas' Shortcut' as the moral recap and Hong-Mei would probably have some characterisation instead of just being on the side line.


I said it before and I'll say it again, 'Trusty Trunky' would've worked better if it was set at the busy railway station, have the characters with their excuses and Thomas was finding things frustrating in the yard on his own until an elephant came to his rescue and was amazed on what they can do, earlier in the episode he disproves of the elephant shunting idea as silly. Plus the scene with Ashima and the cow really adds nothing to the episode, the episode was about elephants not cows! I understand they want to teach kids about the culture of India, but maybe have that scene work in a cow episode. The scene in the episode was just jarring.


'Forever and Ever' is an episode I still feel as the same when I first saw it, despite the lack of reasoning on why Henry was moving to Vicarstown. The same applies to 'Outback Thomas' and 'The Case Of The Puzzling Parts'. The same applies to 'Runaway Truck' which was considered as a bonus festive episode. My views on 'Kangaroo Christmas' will be released sometime in December as ABC Australia would've held it back for Christmas.

SPECIAL FEATURES


The DVD contains pretty much the two festive episodes, some songs and some 'Meet The Characters' videos. You can view my opinions 'Runaway Truck' in the list episode. I think the Thomas theme video could've been better if it was the extended version, that can be heard on iTunes and Spotify. The other two music videos were though. Plus the character videos are pretty much bios of the newbies and that is pretty much it. But it's nice to see the mainland being reffered to as England though.  

OVERALL

I think there was some missed potential with this DVD. HIT/Mattel should have made this DVD with some Sodor episodes that focuses on the Steam Team characters such as James' episode, Merlin's episode etc. along with some of the Sodor based episodes that are on this release and keep some of the international episodes have their own DVDs focusing on the China episodes, Australia episodes and India episodes with additional Sodor episodes to help with the running time. You can also have some of the 'Meet The Characters' videos focusing on the characters from those particular countries. It's not that the DVD was bad but it could've been better if Mattel Creations and HIT Entertainment had gone with that idea instead.


It's also a shame too that we aren't getting a Christmas release this year like we usually do. Would've been another potential DVD called 'Christmas Around The World', I don't know what was Mattel's decision was for this to be in favour but what we got is what we got.

Another thing too about the Thomas DVDs is that North America hadn't have a single release by Universal during the course of this year! Not a S21, S22 or even a movie release. With the exception of 'Thomas' Halloween Adventures' as that was a re-release. My guess Nickelodeon got the rights to air Thomas exclusively on TV hence why there wasn't a DVD release nor a digital release in NA, and as I said before in my movie review, I see it as potentially damaging to Thomas' US presence. Not many families can afford cable nor can they afford for a streaming service to watch any of the new Thomas content and DVDs are the best cheaper option for them. Unless Viacom has plans to distribute it themselves after Universal's contract expires, but we'll have to wait and see. But so far, it's quite sad.

It's nice to see the toy/DVD package again after so many years but although it's just another Thomas mini that you can get cheaper at any store, depends though on what year they have, they should've made a more exclusive one for kids who have an interest in collecting these. Like maybe have a Mini version of Nia or Rebecca like they showed at various events promoting Thomas. 

Overall Rating: 7/10

THAT'S ALL OF THE DVDS FOR THIS YEAR. THERE WON'T BE MUCH REVIEWS IN NOVEMBER AS THE NEXT TWO POSTS WILL BE RELEASED AROUND DECEMBER 2018.


Thursday 27 September 2018

S22 Ep.25: Counting On Nia

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

COUNTING ON NIA
Written by
Lee Pressman

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Micaela Winter

Air Date
27/09/18

Plot 
Nia is a really clever engine and knows all sorts of things, but when Sir Topham Hatt asks her to take Annie and Clarabel to pick up passengers and take them to Knapford Station, Nia has great trouble finding the right platform.

---


I remember how some fans gave Nia some criticism by labelling her as a Mary-Sue. A Mary-Sue is a trope often given to characters who are too perfect. But in this episode, she is clever but not always indicating that she's not perfect all the time and one thing that surprised me is that Nia can count but not understanding what they look like and after researching, there are different looking numbers in African and I like how Nia suffers from a language barrier, it makes her entirely relatable to immigrants who come to a new country.

The dynamic between her and Annie and Clarabel was great to see, I quite like how the two coaches acted like a motherly figure to her. The fantasy moment was probably one of the most subtle moments coming from the writers. It also doesn't feel like it was there to chew up the running time but was more part of the episode, although they could've done without it as a fantasy moment but I think it's part of the rules, but it wasn't bad by any means it was subtle.

I think with that being one flaw, another one would have to be that there wasn't any reason why the Fat Controller wants Nia to take Thomas' coaches, a mere mention of him being away could be good. 

In the end, it was nice and simple and despite that 'Kangaroo Christmas' has yet to be aired in December, due to it being an Australian Christmas episode and despite it being the 20th episode of this season production wise, this episode was a nice way to the end the 22nd series and the Sodor portion. 

Episode Rating
Banjo And The Bushfire - 4/10
Counting On Nia - 8/10

Series Rating (So far):
185/240

'KANGAROO CHRISTMAS' 
WILL BE COMING SOON IN DECEMBER WITH THE SERIES OVERALL.

LOOK OUT FOR MY DVD REVIEW OF 
'HERE COMES THE STEAM TEAM'
COMING SOON.

Wednesday 26 September 2018

S22 Ep.24: Banjo And The Bushfire

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

BANJO AND THE BUSHFIRE
Written by
Tim Bain

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Micaela Winter

Plot
Thomas offers a lift to a ranger while working in the Australian Rainforest. Thomas is excited to learn from her about all the animals that live there, but he is too loud and impatient to be very useful.

Air Date
26/09/18

---


One thing I do like from the Australia episode is the little depths of realism that was added in the bundle of episodes. Tamika works in Kuranda Rainforest, which is located in far North Queensland, which I think that's why there's narrow gauge track, because Queensland is home to cape gauge, which is a bigger size of narrow gauge. Anyway, Kuranda Rainforest also has a scenic railway that crosses a waterfall, although the show's version is nothing but a slab of concrete whereas the real one is a curved wooden bridge:

Kuranda Rainforest Scenic Railway

There was also a steam locomotive going through it as well. But although these things are nice, the episode wasn't bad but it certainly wasn't my favourite. One thing is the title, I find it a bit misleading. Why create a title for animal that barely had any screen time? Wouldn't it be better if the episode was called 'Thomas And The Bushfire' or better, 'Thomas And The Australian Wildlife', they make more sense in my opinion. Tamika is another oversized NG engine that runs of standard gauge and it makes me wonder what is the point of the dual gauge track? Unless there might be more engines that work in Australia to be introduce in future. Plus they never explained why the bushfire started. I pretty much blame the shorter running time for this and I'm coming to the point that they should go back to what it was before. While the shorter running time does add the much more faster pace that test audiences want, the shorter time does not add time for development, explanations and all. The scene with Thomas trying to save Banjo also felt rushed and a little underwhelming too Thomas just puffed up to Banjo collected him and the tree falling was a little unneeded. I know it's for dramatic effect, but it was underwhelming. It could've been better if he saved Banjo from the tree before it fell after trying to find ways to get him down and after he collects him, he puffs out of the forest as fast as he can maybe have the tree fall behind him just in time. That could've been better dramatic effect if the timing wasn't short.

The fantasy sequence though was something that I laughed at though. Speaking of Tamika, I feel that she has a tomboyish personality towards her, I think it's her voice that adds to it and the colour they've given her wasn't anything stereotypical gender wise. She's kind of like Shankar by being an animal lover. I would love to see more of her though as she was just there at that's it.

I kinda preferred 'Cyclone Thomas' despite its faults. It at least had a plot and it sort of followed what the title had given us and Thomas wanting to be like Isla at least add something to it.

The episode wasn't bad nor it wasn't great, it's more in the middle.



Tuesday 25 September 2018

S22 Ep.23: The Case Of The Puzzling Parts

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

THE CASE OF THE PUZZLING PARTS
Written by
Davey Moore

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Micaela Winter

Air Date
25/09/18

Plot
Special Agent Sidney sets out to solve The Case of the Puzzling Parts.

---


I'll be honest comparing this to the other Sodor episode, this one was boring to sit through. I do like the combination of Sidney and Paxton, it was fun seeing them together. But most of the episode is just them going around places to see what purpose do the parts have and that was it. It was also nice to that the Skarloey Railway engines still exist and I hope we see them in future with an episode. 

The parts that Sidney was pushing look a little lazy. I mean the red wheel is pretty much the size for a steam engine as well as the orange boiler thing. Plus considering that the parts were for Sidney in the end, given the hints throughout the episode, why can't Dart hesitate at the beginning to tell Sidney that the parts were for him, but cut him off before he could say his name by having Sidney honking his horn? It would at least give the situation some purpose.

In the end, there's not much to talk about. It was a little boring, but the combination between Sidney and Paxton was nice.

Episode Rating

Series Rating (So far):
174/230

Monday 24 September 2018

S22 Ep.22: Cyclone Thomas

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

CYCLONE THOMAS
Written by
Tim Bain

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Micaela Winter

Air Date
24/09/18

Plot
Thomas wants to be just like Ruby, a Flying Doctor's plane, who transports Dr Claire to remote places where it's hard for patients to get to hospitals or doctors for treatment.

---


Now that India and China are now out of the way, we are now at the second Australian episode and once again it was great, not being bias here because I'm from Australia. I quite like this episode more than 'Outback Thomas' as this one has more action and conflict. We got to see Isla in action for the first time and see that she takes her job seriously by transporting Dr. Claire to her patients. I do like the cyclone scene, it really felt intense and it had an 'Edward's Exploit' vibe towards it in my opinion with Thomas doing something that Isla can't. Plus I like the cyclone bit, as a way of educating kids overseas about Australia, considering that here in Australia, particualry up the northern part of the country, cyclones can happen. The worst one that Australia faced was back in 1974 known as Cyclone Tracy, which had hit Darwin around Christmas eve and day.

Some people said that Thomas acted irresponsible for pretending to be a doctor, while I do understand that I feel that if Thomas should know that by now then what is the point of him learning? To me Thomas relates to a young kid wanting to be something that they're not and kids soon learnt that they should be happy for being who they are. To me it works and plus Isla told Thomas to leave it for the medical professionals, implying the lesson to kids that being a doctor is something serious. But yeah Thomas should've been thinking about it in the end, like many kids should do in real life as impersonating a doctor is a bad cause.

Some people might also say that the episode is 'Thomas And The Jet Plane' but in CGI and while I can see what they are saying, but in my opinion, would younger fans, kids, the target range would know of that episode's existence? We are living in a world that most of the target range don't know or are even interested in the model era of the show, I mean look at the reviews on some classic series DVDs on Amazon US by parents. I bet there are some who do watch the model era but I doubt that they are a majority. Plus Jeremy in that episode is more like Harold the Helicopter but as a plane. A cocky vehicle that bags out in the railway whereas Isla takes her job seriously.

One thing that I like from this episode is Rachel Miller's Australian accent, it sounds almost authentic and not like a cheap cringy version of it like you hear from the likes of 'The Simpsons', seriously how hard is it to find an actual Australian actor for the show? Their VA's done a terrible job! Another that I like from Jam Filled was the station that Thomas went to when they were in the eye of cyclone. The station was almost authentic too with the lower platforms. Station's like Alice Springs had them, so it's nice to see that.

So while yes I can see what some are saying, but the episode just showcased some strong characters and a good plot that it doesn't really bother me in the end. 


Episode Rating

Series Rating (So far):
168/220