Movie Re-Review: Journey Beyond Sodor (2017)

Back on May 12th 2017, the trailer had dropped for 'Journey Beyond Sodor' on the official Thomas YouTube channel alongside a Behind the scenes video for the movie starring Hugh Bonneville, who was the celebrity actor for the film voicing Merlin. But once when the trailer was released one thing wasn't met with praise, amongst older fans. The engine's bodies were moving, I'll get to that later on in the review. Pretty much after that, for the older fandom in general, 2017 for Thomas was going down south, as mentioned in my S21 review from April.

But now that the movie is nearly five years old does it still hold up despite the uproar from the older fandom? Or is it still something that haunts the memories amongst some Thomas fans from the year that was 2017? Let's find out.

But first:  

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

JOURNEY BEYOND SODOR

Written by
Andrew Brenner

Directed by

David Stoten

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)

Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Release Date

22/08/17 - US

4/10/17 - AUS

16/10/17 - UK

Distrbuted by

HIT Entertainment/Mattel Creations

MY VIEWS

We start off with the usual cold opening of the special with us being introduced to the Island of Sodor. To be honest as much as I like the opening, I feel that it could've been scrapped in favour of adding more breathing room to the story or setting up the mainland and how different it was compare to Sodor. Everyone knows about the Island of Sodor and what's there since we'd been exposed to it for years on the TV screen and it adds unneeded build up to what the special is really about as Sodor was barely in much of the special. 

After Henry had his accident, we now see the two main characters of the special, I honestly feel that more could've been done with their rivalry like maybe have James being on time with his trains while Thomas was not, probably due to problems on his branch line like animals blocking the line, faulty signals or points or broken tracks. Like I feel that the rivalry they had was a bit out of nowhere in the special.

Meanwhile the Fat Controller had decided to let James take Henry's trucks to the mainland. I remember people saying that Thomas was out of character in the special thinking that he was just some whiny little kid who doesn't get everything he wants. But I seem to remember he was exactly like that in 'Thomas' Train', I mean that scene with Thomas ranting to Percy about James 9 minutes into the film feels like that scene when Thomas was being annoying to the other engines, yes I know that in S1 and 'The Adventure Begins' that he grew up but most of Thomas episodes and movies are more plot driven than character driven, sure they learn their lesson in the end but they would go back to their usual way in the end because it creates conflict and brings out more stories. I personally felt Andrew Brenner was only trying to make Thomas like this to appease the older fans who for years want the show to be like the classic series, when really it's not easy to replicate something from childhood. 

The next day, James was surprised that Thomas took the train to mainland himself and told the Fat Controller crossly, however he'd decided to let James take over Thomas' branch line while Thomas was away. I honestly never liked how the Fat Controller just didn't seem too cross about Thomas taking the trucks without asking, which would cause some disruption to a railway in real life, but realism was already thrown out of the windows years before this special came out. I guess Mattel didn't like the reception that they got from parents about the Fat Controller from Lost Treasure, because they don't seem to understand that he has an entire railway system to look after while juggling with an extension and a tank engine who was causing trouble at the same time. 

It seems some of them wanted him to be more of an irresponsible parent, since the Fat Controller is one metaphorically. That and years and years of stupid comparisons of him being a dictator to his engines made up by jouranlists because they don't have anything else better to do.

Meanwhile Thomas was on the mainland, for the second time following 'The Great Race'. Yes the setting of it is bare but I will give it a pass considering that Arc Productions, who were animating the special at the time, was bankrupt in 2016 and so work was halted prior to Jam Filled taking over around the same month, August and, from my memory, they lost one month of production and probably didn't have much time sprucing it all up. However I don't know why they hadn't update it for 'Thomas & The Royal Engine' in 2020? I guess they didn't want to put much work into it due to the shot being short. 

I will say the troublesome trucks bantering and teasing was fun to watch though. Later Thomas was still making his way towards Bridlington and soon we got to meet our first newbie, Beresford, not much can say about him but considering that he was a secondary character his development couldn't be that important since most secondary characters don't usually get much focus. But although he was agressive you can feel for him that he was a lonely crane and that he hasn't anyone to talk too, could've been an episode if 'Big World, Big Adventures' wasn't greenlit, not that I have anything against that era of the series. 

We also got one of the songs called 'Who's Thomas'. Beresford's song didn't progress much of the story but it did give us on who he is, it was a nice way to introduce his character. After Thomas left Beresford, we now see him trundling through a forest and into a yard that introduce us to more newbies such as Lexie and Theo. Two experimental engines. Prior to that, Thomas ran out of coal. A side effect that'd started from S7's 'Trusty Rusty'. Thankfully they had fixed that in Big World. Another little nitpick that I had with the scene is that the trucks were scared by the look of the yards called a bads yard, wouldn't it better to call it a scrap yard? It has a bit of rhythm there.

Lexi is an engine who experiments with her voice for many different accents, done by the wonderfully talented Lucy Montgomery. I remember an article says that she was gender fluid and it'd caused an uproar in the fandom but honestly I don't see that myself, not that I have anything against people who are gender fluid. Lexi's name is commonly identified with females. 

One example of gender fluidility in the show that I can bring is Rusty. In the books Rusty has always been a male character but when the TV series was made around its fourth season, Thomas had been getting criticism for its lack of female characters and at the time when Britt Allcroft was running the show, she was adapting the stories from the books from an era where women stay at home and men go to the office and of course by the 1990's the culture had changed since then. So Britt Allcroft's approach was to make Rusty gender fluid, given the name it can be either male or female like Red, Rain, River etc. and with the gender pronouns he was often reffered to as 'the diesel' or 'the little diesel', although as a kid I'd always assumed he was male. By S9, HIT Entertainment changed his pronouns to him/he. I don't know if any kids show had done this back in the 90's but it was a ballasy move to do that, given how many people act irrationally over gender when someone doesn't identify themselves as a male or female. If I'm straightsplaning here, I apologise and if you see Lexi as gender fluid, do it. Just like how Mark Hamill says about Luke Skywalker can be seen gay by the LGBTI community.

Theo a shy and unconfident engine, and a subtle representation to people with autism. I'm not very familar with autism since I don't have it nor the experience so I won't say how the way Theo was written was either wrong or right. But I do like his character, he's a cynical engine based on the fact that his design was a failure since he was an experiment. After Thomas' brief visit, we then see him going to the steelworks where we meet Hurricane and Frankie with their song, which is a total banger, 'The Hottest Place In Town' introducing us to the steelworks.

Meanwhile back on Sodor, the engines were worried about Thomas as he hadn't returned from the mainland. I remember people having a problem with Percy's character, considering that after 'Tale of The Brave' he had learnt that being brave is not about not being scared it's about what you do even when you do feel scared. But I did say that most of the episodes and specials have become more plot driven. Although I think it would've been nice to see Percy help saving his friend, but then again the special was more focused as a Thomas and James special. I know that Percy was scared in 'The Great Race' but I kinda see that as natural behaviour of self doubt like Toby being worried about the dam for breaking up in 'Toby and The Flood' in S5. Sometimes being worried about things can be natural. 

Next morning, Thomas was forced to work at the steelworks after Frankie manipulated him by saying that they had done his work for him and surely he should repay them for their gratitude. Their is alot of mystery surrounding Frankie and it's a shame that the show didn't do much with her afterwards, unlike Merlin, now that the original show had ended. Like Frankie says that Thomas is her favourite 'new engine' which kinda implies that their had been other engines before he came to the steelworks.

While Thomas was at the steelworks, the Fat Controller began to worry about Thomas for not returning home. However I find it odd that Percy was more worried about Thomas being delayed than lost. But from looking at the scene of the Fat Controller having a hard time with Thomas being away and dealing with engines doing other work, it was nice to see him acting as a railway controller and I remember people had a problem with BWBA not showing that, despite that Thomas hadn't apologised to the other engines for leaving behind his work based on a cheeky idea and James as well for thinking more about himself by being a hero for finding Thomas, but I think from watching this special we could get the idea of what a railway without Thomas would be like, despite that the Thin Controller was in charge in the latter special. 

Back at the steelworks, Thomas was tired but Frankie and Hurricane were pleased with his help, although it was done by force. But from looking at Hurricane, I feel that he was more genuine when it comes to Thomas' help. He feels like a friendly giant. He was more concerned about Thomas whereas Frankie was more stern and forceful towards him.

Meanwhile we got another song, 'I Want To Go Home', which was a beautiful song and was sang well by John Hasler. I think nowadays the song does kinda hits home considering that we are in a pandemic and although some countries have been vaccinated, and you should too without listening to all the BS from social media from anti-vaxxers, some countries, as of writing this post, like us here in Australia are in lockdown because of the delta-variant of COVID-19. We all like to be at different places but we just want to come home and be with our family and friends as they are important but sadly some can't unless they have a reason to come home.

Also during the song it does kinda show Thomas going through hard manual labor and considering that so many people interpret Thomas is under some tyrinncial ruling on Sodor kinda showcases here hard on the mainland when on Sodor it's hard work but the Fat Controller is more of a kind and worriesome father figure. 

The scene with James and the sheep though does kinda show that patience is virtue, even though some members of the fandom don't even learn that. After James went off to the mainland to find Thomas, really to be a hero, Thomas had decided to escape the steelworks, although he was found out by Frankie and Hurricane. I love how the scene had no dialouge nor narration for a bit and it gave off a very 'show don't tell' way of what Thomas is doing. As Thomas ran away and hid in some bushes, we then meet, although off screen, the last newbie, Merlin, although you can see him for a split second when Frankie and Hurricane came by again. 

I will say I love Hugh Bonnieville's acting as Merlin and you can tell he had so much fun voicing him. It was interesting to hear Merlin talking about being a stealth engine as his experiment, based on his real life basis, was during war time as he was given three funnels so that the steam can block the engine from any potentail bombers during WWII, although it was a failure. 

Next morning Thomas was looking for Merlin. I like this scene as you have the sounds of nature, no music to set the mood as the silence is the mood. It was nice and calming, feels like something from an anime that doesn't require too much music. Meanwhile James arrived at Bridlington to look for Thomas, however none of the engines hadn't even seen him. Although it was great seeing the EWS diesels, considering that their livery is the same as their basis' livery, it just seems odd to see a British built engine having an American accent, although the steam team and some secondary characters have that in the US dub, it just feels strange since they'd never done that previously, same can be said with the trucks. No offence to American fans but I just much prefer the UK dub.

Meanwhile Thomas had returned to the experimental engine's yard, much to the excitment of Lexi and Theo. But Thomas was downtrodden because he'd lost James' trucks, although he was told they were delivered but I think because of how Hurricane and Frankie treated him he probably have some doubts, and had no sense of direction for his way home that he felt useless. The experimental engines told them that they had the same problem but Thomas thought they were amazing and that leads us to the song 'We Can't Do Anything' which ties itself to the plot and love how they'd showcased the different dynamics of the experimental engines with Theo and Lexi being the cynics and Merlin being the more confident one. This is where we see Merlin for the first time in physical form. The music was good too.

After Thomas left the yards, since the experimental engines couldn't help him to find his way back to Sodor, although Merlin wanted to give it a try, Thomas arrived at the canal despite Beresford catching him with his hook, Colin Mcfarland did a really good job at voicing him. While Thomas was telling Beresford that he shouldn't force someone to be their friend and to stay, you have to be nice to them. Meanwhile Hurricane and Frankie were passing by with James, while Thomas was hiding away. Thomas wanted to save him and, with Merlin, following suit, by his side, he decided that he and the experimental engines help Thomas to rescue James.

Meanwhile James was at the steelworks while Hurricane and Frankie were singing to him. However James wanted to know where Thomas is. However they told him that Thomas was gone and may've been going to 'see the world', a subtle foreshadow for BWBA? And told James he could be back, which is a way to keep him and force him to do the work.

Back at the yards, Thomas and the experimental engines had decided to save James, with Theo being worried. You could see a bit of growth from Lexi, although she doubts herself into doing something she wants to help no matter what. And so a plan was made, Theo and Lexi created a diverson so that Thomas could go in and get James, while Merlin sits back and keep watch, although maybe he could've gone and help Thomas anyway but was probably done so that conflict can be made.

Meanwhile Thomas was in the steelworks to try and find James, but the plan was foiled as Merlin was spotted pulling into the steelworks. Thomas had found James but soon the chase was on to try and escape the steelworks. Although how Thomas had fallen from the magnet was a bit silly as he was flung round like a toy but like I said before, realism is not really a necessity in the show at this point of the series. However when the slag was spilt over, Hurricane came to Thomas' rescue, as I said before, it shows that he does care for Thomas' safety and he was not evil at heart. However the slag caused his wheels to melt and of course inoperable.

Frankie began to cry since now she was left to do the workload, since Hurricane's wheels had melted and the other engines were to head off. I remember some people had a problem with the ending thinking that Thomas was throwing the experimental engines under the bus since both her and Hurricane had held Thomas and James against their will. But I think with Frankie admitted everything and Thomas knowing that Hurricane had saved him, he probably doesn't see them as bad engines and admitted their fault and so recommended the experimental engines to help out, despite some demure from Lexi and Theo thinking they can't do anything but with Merlin telling them that they can try and do the work. I don't think the ending was bad to be honest. 

In the end, Thomas and James head back for Sodor and apologised to each other for their behaviour and so we were given our final 'The Most Important Thing Is Being Friends', a typical friendship song but not a bad song though. 

OVERALL

In the end, the special wasn't really that bad. Like I said in my review for S21, when you remove all the BS that was 2017 in the Thomas fandom, it's really not a bad special. There were a few flaws but some were minor to me really and I kinda like this better than 'The Great Race', even though I don't think that was bad. There were some decent characters and songs and the plot was good too. I do remember parents, particulary from Amazon, at the time of the movie's release had complained that the movie was 'too dark' but honestly their are many kids movies that have some dark elements but they always tend to have a happy ending, like Don Bluth's films such as 'The Secret of Nimh'. Heck even some Disney films like 'Bambi' and 'The Lion King' had some dark elements. Even 'Mewtwo Strikes Back' from Pokemon, both the original and the remake. But, in common with each other, they all had happy endings indicating to the child that their can be a light at the end of the tunnel. 

I understand that parents don't want their kids to be scared but we live in a world where their is conflict, dark stuff and people who love to do terrible things. You can't wrap them up in cotton wool and expect them to learn all this stuff when they're older. That's disrespectful to the mind of a child. 

I remember the 'controversey' amongst the older fandom when it comes to the bouncing and I will say this, I still standby that it brought in much more expressive movement to the character. Yes they are suppose to be locomotive but like I said time and time again about realism, it had been thrown out of the window since the fifth season. I remember the fandom being OK with all the other unrealistic stuff years prior to this movie, heck I remember people liking Kevin's movement in 'Snow Place Like Home' from S19 and yet when everyone bounces some people had lost their minds. In the end, kids did like bouncing and it was left intact until the end of BWBA last year. The movement in this special was alot of subtle. 

So that's my re-review done and I think this special was good overall. Maybe next year I might do 'Big World Big Adventures' again, can't make any promises. 

OVERALL RATING

8/10  

A Retrospective of Thomas & Friends DVD in 2017

As we are getting ready to end another year once again, let's take a look back the DVD reviews of Thomas & Friends that were released during the course of 2017. But first here's the warning:

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

TALES FROM THE RAILS

Review Date:

30/01/17

Looking back, not much to say but I still think the DVD had a good amount of episodes, even if some are duds from both seasons. 

Rating:

7/10

EXTRAORDINARY ENGINES

Review Date

6/03/17

The Hugo episodes were a bit disappointing, I don't hate them but I think they could've been better. I get it that the first episode on this DVD, 'Engine of the Future' was suppose to be the don't jump to conclusion moral. But it feels plain in comparison to an episode like 'Harvey to the Rescue', the reason why that episode is better in my opinion is because Harvey proved his worth after the engines criticised him of being different and that was about his crane arm. Hugo didn't do anything to show his worth and never really had much purpose or a reason to be on Sodor. 

The other episodes like 'The Missing Breakdown Train', while not bad, wasn't that great in my opinion. Not much happens in the episode until Daisy's derailment, it was average. 'Hugo and the Airship' could've been better too if the episode didn't feel like it was two seperate stories morphed into one as it felt like a mystery tale at first then Hugo suddenly have this ambition to fly. 'Three Steam Engines Gruff' by far is the worst episode coming from this DVD. The story could've worked with the classic personas of the three Ffarquhar engines or it could've worked with engines like Bill, Ben and Timothy. The latter could've been a much more better episode.

However this DVD had some good episodes, 'Henry in the Dark' is one my favourites as Lee Pressman had turned the tables around for Henry. I still standby my opinion that Henry's scaredy engine persona was handled more better in S19 and 'The Adventure Begins', because one story had something relatable  for kids and the other worked considering that it was during Henry's early years. But prior to that, Henry's wimpy persona was truly awful and it was nice to see that change. 

Skiff and the Mermaid was simple, nice and hilarious too, especially with the Fat Controller.

The DVD doesn't beat the likes of 'Spills and Thrills' and 'Start Your Engines' and I felt this one was less thematic as some episodes aren't really focused on things that are extraordinary. I think it's because of Hugo? But I think his stories weren't really that extraordinary, maybe it would've been better if the Glynn stories were placed on this DVD too in the UK rather than another random DVD. I mean Glynn is a unique looking engine as well.

Rating:

7/10

THE COMPLETE SERIES 18/DINOS AND DISCOVERIES

Review Date
5/07/17

As usual the DVD showcases 26 episodes and an added bonus disc of 'Dinos and Discoveries'. The problem that the series collection dvds have is the lack of episode titles on the rear cover. Of course there wouldn't be enough room to showcase 26 episodes given the room on the rear. So I think the DVDs should be provided with a booklet with a list of 26 episodes and maybe HIT Entertainment and Mattel might add advertisements for their products and other DVDs within the Thomas & Friends brand. 

Rating:
7/10

TEAM UP WITH THOMAS

Review Date
24/08/17

Looking back, the first three episodes of this DVD are pretty much the bad apples in my opinion. Buckled Tracks should've cut out Belle and Flynn as they weren't really needed, Mucking About has the moral about ignoring others despite that in real life they would pressure you more and more and Blown Away really felt like a repeat of Helen Farrall's previous work such as 'Toad and The Whale' and 'Slow Stephen'. 

But despite that there are some good ones here too, despite 'Pouty James' and it was great seeing two classic songs been given the CGI series treatment. The editing feels a bit choppy but I loved them in the end. Although Mattel and HIT should work on better DVD titles and have them with the episode titles with the tag '& Other Stories' beneath it. 

Rating:
8/10

JOURNEY BEYOND SODOR

Review Date

4/10/17

The special did miles better than what 'The Great Race' had done. The story is focused on one thing rather than a bunch of subplots. The songs are fun and catchy and the newbies are pretty interesting such as Lexie, Theo and Merlin. Three of these characters have a great dynamic and balance with Lexie and Theo's pessimistic attitude and Merlin's confident and positivity. The villains, Hurricane and Frankie are a breath of fresh air. Instead of being the typical bad guys, they were villains that need sympathy since they are the only two engines who work at the steelworks and no one else wants to work there. However they do have some flaws and I think one of them is Beresford. He was not terrible but he didn't really add much to the story especially his song 'Who's Thomas' felt unnecessary although it was quite catchy. There were some things such as the movement of the engines and I do have to admit it was awkward in some places but I see where it works such as in the songs and it was subtle when the engines have dialogue. Plus the who the favourite squabble from Thomas and James feels like it came out of nowhere too and there some consistency issues, especially with Percy feeling scared about going onto the mainland despite that we had a whole special dedicated to him about feel scared but be brave. It's not the best special but it is one of the good ones in my opinion.

However with the news of the new revamped series and that S21 is building up to it with 'A Shed for Edward', I feel now like this special is more like what S19 was. It was filler, it was just there. In the first Cranky episode of S21, Thomas had already been to the mainland despite that S21 was set before JBS. It was really confusing.

Rating:

8/10


CHRISTMAS ON SODOR

Review Date
13/11/17

For the first time we have a new Thomas DVD, that is outside of the movies and the tent pole releases, that are in sync with the UK and US. I will say that the episodes like 'Terence Breaks the Ice' is probably one of Lee Pressman's best stories as it feels like there is more story than comedy and the episode feels like something Christopher Awdry would write, like his annual story 'Terence Takes a Bath'. The other episodes are good too such as 'Confused Coaches', 'Emily in the Middle' and 'Daisy's Perfect Christmas'. I will say that 'The Big Freeze' could've been better with frozen water towers than the steam engines having a lack of coal, I pretty much hate that they stop working when they have no coal whereas they have more in their firebox to keep on steaming. But in the end it was a good episode still. 

Of course you have the three S20 episodes, 'Cautious Connor' was good despite some loss of potential and that it's story is not on par with the likes of Edward's or Rheneas'. But 'Tit for Tat' and 'All In Vain' still hold up as great! 

Rating:
8/10

---

And so here we are, the end of 2017! I had this post released early instead of New Years Eve as I will be heading over to America once again to see my sister and her new family. So this will be my last post for the year. 

So what will 2018 bring for Thomas and Friends? I don't know except for the new 'refreshed' series 'Big World! Big Adventure!'. I will be cautiously optimistic about it as the current production staff are still working on the little blue engine and I believe it might have some potential when it comes to the different railways.

But whatever happens will happen and we'll be there to see it. So in the end:

MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

-NWR1991.

Movie & DVD Review: Journey Beyond Sodor (SPOILERS)

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

THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS

JOURNEY BEYOND SODOR

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by

David Stoten

Produced by

Micaela Winter

Ian McCue

Special Features

Who's Thomas?

The Hottest Place in Town

What Can't We Do

Somebody Has to Be the Favourite

Top 5 Funniest Moments

Landmarks of Sodor - Travelling to the Mainland 

Release Date

25/08/17 - US

4/10/17 - AUS

4/10/17 - NL

16/10/17 - UK

Distributed by

HIT Entertainment (US/UK/AUS/NL)

Mattel Creations (UK/US/AUS/NL)

Universal (US/NL)

ABC Kids (AUS)

It's that time of year again, the annual Thomas & Friends DVD special. This year we go to the mainland once again as Thomas meets new friends whom are experimental engines and two steelworks engines. 

This year another big name had joined the cast, BBC's 'Downtown Abbey' and star of the 2014 film and its upcoming sequel, 'Paddington', Hugh Bonneville who plays as Merlin. Other new voice actors joined in too as the newbies as well.

Even though 'The Great Race' didn't please fans due to its missed opportunities and overhype. Would 'Journey Beyond Sodor' be a success or another dud? Let's find out!

PLOT

We open up to, like we had in 'The Adventure Begins' and the 4D movie 'Bubbling Boilers', another beautiful view of the Island of Sodor and all of the Fat Controller's engines were working hard on various lines such as the harbours, quarries, coastal towns, farmland and historic places. We then see the main line with Gordon taking the express from Kanpford to Vicarstown (with a nice cameo from Flying Scotsman) where the rolling river bridge will take them to the mainland. The opening shot in those first few minutes was fantastic to watch especially with Chris Renshaw's music.

We then see Henry pulling an important goods train that was to be taken to Bridlington goods yards, and yes the location is a real life place in England around the Yorkshire area, although the goods yard is now a Tescos. But the trucks were being troublesome to Henry and he had missed a signal, which was faulty, and Hiro was waiting on the same line and it resulted into a crash in slow motion and derailing himself and dangling on the side of the bridge.

After our creative intro of the steelworks, we then see Thomas travelling along the line with his two coaches saying hello and good morning to everyone such as rabbits, squirrels, trees, sky and to Toby as well with some bouncing along the way, I'll discuss that a little later.

Thomas felt bright and cheerful and he felt that days like this makes you want to burst into song and as he was about sing, James cut him and sang instead. Which I find pretty funny. As James was singing 'Somebody Has To Be The Favourite', Thomas was annoyed that James claimed it was himself because he's given the best jobs unlike Thomas. To be honest, the whole who's the Fat Controller's favourite plot really just came out of nowhere. There was never really any context on the reason. Why not have Thomas being late with his passengers due to things like sheep or cows on the tracks and with James boasting about being on time is the reason why he was given the special jobs and thinks that he's the Fat Controller's favourite. It would give plenty of context on what's going between him and Thomas. Although I do like how James act smug and boastful, pretty much like he was in the classic series around Season 5 it does parallel with him character in 'James and The Trouble With Trees'.

While Thomas was collecting pigs at Farmer Trotter, James is seen passing through with people playing Steelpans (steel drums which originated from The Republican of Trinidad and Tobago). I love in some scenes we weren't given wall to wall music and it was just the sounds of nature. It feels so subtle like out of a Pokemon movie before TPCI (The Pokemon Company International) decided to create some unneeded music in the movies to avoid the emptiness.

Later Henry was loaded onto Judy and Jerome and the Fat Controller was making arrangements in his office with his wooden trains and he had assigned James to take Henry's trucks first thing in the morning while Thomas thought up a cheeky plan. When Thomas told James about it, James was in disgust until he realised what Thomas had meant and thought it was a great job! Much to Thomas' dismay and James still carried on with his boasting about being the favourite. 

Thomas throughly dismayed whined to the Fat Controller about James having the important and the Fat Controller pointed out to him about other important jobs such as the Flying Kipper, mail train, milk train and his branch line. While Thomas was still whining, he then had an idea.

Early the next morning, James arrived at the goods yard in Vicarstown and here we see the brand new painted and newly developed Rosie! While it was only a few second cameo of her, she said to James that Thomas took Henry's trucks much to James' surprise and we see Thomas rolling over the bridge and onto the mainland. 

Back on Sodor, Henry was being repaired while James went towards the Fat Controller and complained that Thomas had taken his train while the Fat Controller didn't seem to be cross about Thomas taking a train without permission, he then said to James that he has to take Thomas' passengers instead on his branch line. 

Meanwhile over on the mainland, Thomas was having the time of his life as he crossed through the hills and countryside. While the troublesome trucks were laughing and teasing and causing Thomas a headache as he arrived at the junction. The troublesome trucks were probably one of the best things to happen in the movie. They weren't just one-dimensional pranksters that would push engines down hill or running away. They have some persona such as being scared or annoyed. Although I do wish they were given British accents in the UK dub as it felt out place when you have US voices in a dub full of UK voices whereas in the US dub it blends in well. Meanwhile James was seen charging through Thomas' branch line with Annie and Clarabel and of course James was causing problems such as him overshooting the platform at Maithwate.

Back on the mainland, Thomas arrived at a canal and there we meet our first new character Beresford who sang 'Who's Thomas' with the trucks' wacky behaviour and from what we see from Beresford is that he just wanted a friend. During this scene however the US version had really bugged me. When Thomas said 'They're all right', the US dub sound like Thomas saying they were 'alright' instead of the former. The UK dub did a much more better job at phrasing the 'alright' into two  words 'all right' and it just feels right. I don't hate Joseph May but I feel like he sort gives Thomas awkward delivery with his lines in the US dub when it comes to phrasing the words. After the song, we see Thomas puffing through a large forest and we see that he ran out of coal and steam.

In the large forest we see more new characters such as Lexie and Theo who are experimental engines with a mention of Merlin, who we'll see later on in the movie and a bad pun from the trucks, seriously there was no need for that, I personally am not a fan of puns. I never liked the yards that the experimental engines lived in, it's just bland and uninteresting and it feels like something out of Misty Island. I wonder why can't they make an actual rail yard? With sheds, sidings etc. You can still make it abandoned and forgotten or an old forgotten branch line? It would reflect on what Awdry was telling in his books about branch line closures on the mainland (England) during the 50's and 60's. You could still have Thomas being diverted away from the junction on the mainland and make him go to the old branch line and meet the experimental engines and Beresford along the way. Beresford could be an abandoned crane too only for his happy ending, he works at the steelworks. 

After being filled up on coal and water, Thomas is on his way again to Bridlington until he he arrived at the steelworks with a reference to 'The Wizard of Oz' and as Thomas and the trucks marvelled at the sight we then meet our other new characters Hurricane and Frankie, who both work at the steelworks. 

Thomas asked them where Bridlington is and as luck would have it, Hurricane offered to take them there as he delivered trucks there all the time. Then we have our next song 'The Hottest Place In Town'. Afterwards the engines on Sodor were worried about Thomas with two references from 'Down the Mine' and 'Thomas Comes to Breakfast' coming from James. Yeah it's fan service but I quite like these references since there is some continuity but you think Brenner might understand his own continuity when it comes to Percy. While James was complaining that Thomas shouldn't have taken his job, Percy offered James to go and look for him.

Percy said he be scared to do that, even though he should put his friendship first rather then being scared. The movie though could've worked with Percy, when it comes to the friendship moral. His naive character would work very well when it comes to characters like Frankie and Hurricane. Seriously this has been a problem since last year with 'The Great Race' and 'Three Steam Engines Gruff'. There was the song 'Let's Be Brave' that mentions 'You can be brave and still be scared.' So why can't Percy do that? The next morning, Thomas, Hurricane and Frankie start working at the steel works. Even though it was by force. 

Thomas started work by shunting ladle trucks and taking molten slag out to the slag heap. While Thomas was working, he accidentally bumped into some slag trucks which were full of molten slag. Hurricane and Frankie warned Thomas that the slag is really hot and can melt an engine's wheel. Back on Sodor, we see that the Fat Controller had spilt his tea and is missing Thomas and there hadn't been any news of Thomas. James offered to go but the Fat Controller can't spare another engine despite James' protest. Percy was even more worried that his friend is delayed and thought he only got lost. To be honest that was the weirdest thing hearing from Percy, wouldn't he be more worried that his friend was lost rather than being delayed? 

Back on the mainland, Thomas was tired and said the work is thirsty work. Frankie and Hurricane are pleased with his work so far but Thomas told them that he needs to get home to Sodor now. Despite the protesting, Thomas is now trapped at the Steelworks, which is pretty much slave labour when you look at it.

As Thomas was at the steelworks we come to the next song which is about Thomas wanting to go home and I think that was suppose to be the 'right in the feels' moment as I did feel sad for Thomas and I can understand his pain. So no it wasn't about Thomas having a death experience, who on earth would be expecting that? The strange thing is that the song wasn't given a title in the bonus feature or not even shown on it! But all in all it was a nice and a bit of emotional song and it had a good line of characters that Thomas missed, except for Duck for some reason.

As Thomas sings his plea to go home, he saw an open fence and was free until he was derailed because of an unfinished track. Back on Sodor, James was having trouble with sheep. 

Hurricane and Frankie helped Thomas back onto the track and back on Sodor, James had have enough of Thomas' branch line and decided to go to the mainland and look for Thomas and to be a hero! Back at the steelworks, Thomas decided to break out and runaway while Frankie and Hurricane are a sleep in their shed while a storm was brewing.

However Thomas was caught out and Frankie and Hurricane charged their way to catch him. But he was at last hiding away from them in a siding and he heard the voice of Merlin who was 'invisible'. To be honest, I love how he mention his class' name 'King Arthur'. The railway enthusiast side of me was a little bit excited when that was mentioned, I love it! Plus it might get kids to research on what his basis looks like. Some think it was fan service or fan fiction, but I disagree. Rev.W.Awdry did that similar thing back in the Railway Series book 'Main Line Engines' by having Edward mentioning BoCo's basis to Bill and Ben and the episode kept that in as well. Can Awdry's own work be considered as fan fiction despite that he created the series in the first place? 

As the sun rose up, Thomas went to find Merlin. Meanwhile James was at Bridlington Goods Yard and surprise, surprise they've recycled the set of the large yard that was seen in 'The Great Race' and the EWS livered diesels are in it again and they've talked! I find it brilliant, a nice string of continuity. Although it was strange to hear one with a US accent in a UK dub despite that their basis is from the UK. 

Although they said they haven't seen Thomas until the trucks told James that he was at the steelworks and of course Hurricane happens to be at the yards too! Meanwhile Thomas arrived back at the experimental engines' yard again. However though Thomas felt hopeless and silly for making mistakes.

This is where we come to our next song 'What Can't We Do' where the engines tell Thomas how everyone makes mistakes and this is where we see Merlin all in the flesh. Merlin thinks they should try and get Thomas home. Although Theo said they could get lost and offered Thomas to stay with them. Although Thomas politely rejected the idea and made his own way home.

We then see Thomas puffing near the canal until he was stopped by Beresford in the most unrealistic way, although I take that over a stupid bridge jump since it wasn't built up to become pointless to the plot as Beresford would later hide Thomas behind the boats to avoid Hurricane and Frankie. 

But then he saw Hurricane and Frankie coming into view and told Beresford to hide him. Although I think the logical thing to do is hide him on one of the boats and I'm questioning about the directions from Bridlington goods yard and the steelworks. Thomas also discovered that they've got James as well and have to help him with help of the experimental engines! 

Back at the Steelworks, Frankie and Hurricane started to sing 'Hottest Place in Town' again and James  was fed up and wants to know where's Thomas. Frankie and Hurricane though made James work at the steelworks. Back the yards, plans were made to rescue James.

The plan was to have Lexi and Theo to create a diversion so Thomas can sneak in and get James. For Merlin though he's to keep a sharp eye from the distance. Theo and Lexie created a 'derailment' which was Theo spilling cogs and gears all over the place and Thomas puffed towards the steelworks. Meanwhile Merlin was worried and raced away to help Thomas and uses the power of 'invisibility'. Until he was found out. 

At the steelworks, James pushed the slag trucks to the slag heap and of course he was cross for doing such a job. Thomas arrived to collect him while James was cross with Thomas but then Merlin arrived to warn Thomas that the steelworks engines were coming back until they did. 

The chase is on. Although the music wasn't as epic as I thought it would be. But just then Theo's trucks were derailed and had launched a giant magnet to Thomas and transferred him to a pool of molten slag. James was free but Thomas was in need of help.

Thomas was saved and although his fall was a bit ridiculous, I still don't find it as bad as the bridge jump. However Thomas had once again knocked over some slag trucks and this time Hurricane's wheels had melted after saving Thomas. Merlin came and saved the day by pushing him out of the way. Maybe it could've been better to have him coupled up? 

So after the chase, Frankie was very upset that Hurricane can't make deliveries and that she's on her own. It turns out they just want help and Thomas said to Frankie all she has to do was ask. To make matters better, the experimental engines offered to help and after that Thomas and James head back for home to the Island of Sodor.

This is where we come to our final song 'The Most Important Thing Is Being Friends' and we get a funny line from Henry.

THE END. 

CHARACTERS

MERLIN

One thing that made me quite interested in Merlin is his basis. The reason he thinks he's invisible is because his actual basis was given three funnels during the second world war and the steam would cover the entire engine to hide away from war planes. However, his actual counterpart didn't work and so it was revert back to a single funnel. 

The strange thing about his presence is that he wasn't in the special for that long and was in it for a few minutes despite the hype of him being voiced by celebrity back in May 2017 when they've released the trailer. We do see his persona such as him being confident and optimistic and that's pretty much it, not a really interesting character really. Hugh Bonneville who is the voice of this engine really put energy into this character and I can tell he was having the time of his life. I hope we see more of him soon in the future. 

THEO

Theo is the character that autistic traits and of course there is the shaking as children with autism can flap there hands which is a symptom. He's very charming too with his shyness but he also posses a bit of a pessimistic persona as well with his doubtful nature and anxiety, which I can understand from him as I too can have some anxiety over things that I find frightful, and it shows throughout the movie.  

LEXI

Lexi is pretty much a fun character with her jovial nature and her changing voices, great range of voices by her voice actor, while she has a conversation. I love the voice actress as she, like Hugh Bonneville, felt like she was having some fun with her character too.

HURRICANE & FRANKIE

There isn't much of Hurricane and Frankie I can say other than they're not your typical bad guy but just a villain that needs sympathy. All he and Frankie want is another engine to help them with the steelworks and it's a breath of fresh air to see that, although there isn't much point on why Frankie and Hurricane need help is it a backlog? Or are they lazy? But they were brilliant and memorable characters Frankie was cunning, funny and intelligent and Hurricane was this big friendly giant who cares about Thomas. Hurricane would have to be the most complex out of all the characters. The voice actors though were really great and I can see they have a fun time voicing these characters and I think they were the best singers in the special.

BERESFORD

Beresford's role was small but he can be funny at times and of course all he wants is a friend and I do feel sorry for him. It's nice to see that from a crane's perspective and I think he should've been explored more. Like maybe have him being this big tough crane and that's why engines always avoid him. But he's just trying to be friends that is until Thomas teaches him about how to make friends, that is if more time was put into him (Beresford). His voice actor was pretty good though with his acting and delivery of lines.

SONGS & MUSIC

Like 'The Great Race' and 'Sodor's Legend of The Lost Treasure', we are once again given another musical. One of the songs 'Who's Thomas' feels unnecessary to me and felt more like filler to fill in the time between Thomas and Beresford. However the bouncing of the troublesome trucks was pretty wacky and funny to look at. 

'The Hottest Place in Town' was my favourite among the songs of the special. The voice actors of Hurricane and Frankie were amazing with their singing and the music brings it a nice beat.

Another song that I like was 'We Can't Do Anything' although a bit pessimistic, Merlin's bit brings a bit of positivity about give something a try and it shows a bit that not every can be perfect of course. 

Another song which was 'The Most Important Thing Is Being Friends'. Although a generic song about friendship it was not a really bad song. The lyrics were nice and catchy and the music is good too. 

ANIMATION

Of course there were some on and off with the animation from Jam Filled. But I think I can forgive them. The layouts along the mainland do look unfinished but I believe from the words of CalleyFan and his 'Thomas Talk' series that the movie was a month behind production because of Arc Productions' unexpected bankruptcy back in August 2016 and had to finish it for a deadline when Jam Filled Productions took over. Yes, I do agree that there are errors here and there such as the flat ground and lack of trees and I do hope Jam Filled do better for next year's special. But despite the bare ground around the junction on the mainland, Jam Filled had done a terrific job with the animation as well as the layout for the Steelworks. 

SPECIAL FEATURES (DVD)

The DVD consists the four songs from the movie and two new segment intervals. One is the 'Landmarks of Sodor' interval about travelling to the mainland. With some nice Railway Series references of the engines going to Barrow-In-Furness and crossing over the Walney Channel which are, as many Thomas fans would know, other real life locations in the UK. They even mentioned the infamous bridge jump from 'The Great Race' and said how dangerous it was. It was funny to me because at least the production team were acknowledging its stupidity. 

Another segment is 'Top 5 Funny Moments' and to be honest it really didn't interest me but it was fun hearing Sam and Nigel again but I think it might be a new YouTube video for the offical channel.

And there are four songs from the movie. 

OVERALL

I think one of the negatives I have with this special is how the way the movie markets that Thomas is leaving Sodor for the first time, when in the past he had left Sodor several times. He went to London in 'Thomas and the Special Letter', that was even mentioned in last year's special, Misty Island in 'Misty Island Rescue', if that bares any importance, York (if you count the books) in 'Thomas and the Great Railway Show' and 'The Great Race'. I guess it's Mattel's way of adding hype to the movie? But why repeat it again when kids would already know that he went there before (the mainland), I guess maybe in Mattel's views kids might not be interested if they mention that Thomas is going to the mainland again? I don't know, but kids would know after watching last year's special. They aren't dumb! But then again with the next special possibly being the upcoming 'refreshed' series & movie next year, 'Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventure!' we might hear that tag line again.

Big World! Big Adventure! Poster with Thomas, The Fat Controller, Yong Bao & the new engine, Nia the African Engine

Speaking about the upcoming movie/series next year, I believe it's a one-off attempt by Mattel as I don't see that lasting a long time and judging by the new information that we've gotten recently with the new African engine Nia, it sounds like a one-off with Thomas going to five continents to head for home. The movie serves as the pilot and then we get the 26 episodic series sometime in autumn months. I like the idea and it's good for competition against 'Paw Patrol', but I'm going to be cautiously optimistic. 

Paw Patrol maybe dominating right now, but for how long?

I understand that ratings are involved, although if that's the case why not demand the TV stations in the UK and US to put Thomas at a better time slot? The UK barely plays an entire season at times, despite that 'milkshake' had played 13 episodes of S21, and the US plays it at 6:00 am in the morning, after seeing it while I was in San Fransisco in June 2017 and they barely play any new episodes unlike other countries, I digress here, but with this and that Thomas has competition with 'Paw Patrol' at the moment along with other pre-school brands and yes that show's toys (Paw Patrol) are pretty much dominating toy shelves at the moment and that the conceptual idea works since kids love action and dogs at the same time. I understand that Mattel can see the potential in Thomas more than Disney could, which by the way for the latter might be terrible to see considering that Disney didn't have great successes, outside of 'Marvel', 'Star Wars' and their own brands ,with other brands in the past such as 'Doug' and 'Power Rangers' and even Disney are trying to make something out of 'The Muppets' and just because Disney has trains at their parks, it doesn't mean Thomas would have any great success with Disney as well, but I digress. Mattel is pretty much suffering with low sales on their products as well as their 'Cars 3' range, which has better detailing.

I don't know how long 'Paw Patrol' will keep up with its popularity but I don't think it'll last the many years that Thomas has. When you look at 'Yokai Watch' in Japan, it had been dominating a long living franchise in that country, 'Pokemon', since 2014. But the popularity of the former didn't last too well, heck it's not even in the top 10 ratings anymore with its show even during the 'Sun and Moon' saga from 'Pokemon'. Even the game which the show (Yokai) is based on had sold less than 'Sun and Moon'. Thomas had went through competition before in 2012 with 'Jake and The Neverland Pirates' and that was a Disney Junior show but the Disney Junior show had ended last year and Thomas is still going on. But despite that, I'm not going to be those people who think it's the end of the world because something new and different is going to happen. I'm just going to wait and see what the outcome is. It might be good or it might be bad, I don't know what's going to happen nor am I going to be pessimistic about it. 

Rob Rackshaw is now James' UK voice

The movie had one voice actor change and that's Rob Rackshaw being the voice of James for the UK/AUS audience. To be honest, I was never a big fan of his US voice since he debuted in 'The Adventure Begins'. I thought he sound like Kerry Shale's Henry, which should change by the way considering that Henry's persona had changed, but worse. But as time went on, I was warmed to his US voice and after hearing some of his UK voices in the UK dub, he was really talented and despite that you know it was him it can be quite distinct and to me his James is more distinct than his US voice. When I heard a sample of his UK voice I thought it was OK and I was being cautiously optimistic as I felt his voice was his US one with a British accent. But after watching the whole movie, his voice was really good and I look forward to be hearing it again in future. I'm sad that Keith Wickham had stopped as James, I do like his cockney voice, but despite the talent it was very high pitched and I just can't see him singing all of James' songs in this movie. He sang a bit for James in last year's movie, but it was minor and it didn't sound too well in my opinion. 

One thing that I'm very pleased with is the distributing of the special, despite the early release on Digital Download earlier in August over in the US. America had got the DVD on August 25th and the UK got it in the cinemas two days later and Australia got it in the cinemas the next week on the 31st for Village Cinemas and Sep.1st in Hoyts cinemas. So kudos to the distributors for the release dates of this special. Much more better than how the way 'The Great Race' and 'Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure' were released in previous years. This DVD special's release is more fair and balanced in my opinion and I hope they keep up with it. It's much better this way rather than having one country seeing all the spoilers and posting pictures or recorded clips up on social media from the cinema as it damages the experience of it. You can say, 'oh but we were waiting!' It's still an illegal move to film a movie on a phone in a cinema, so it's no excuse.

Another thing that I love is that the plot was focusing on one thing rather than several subplots. 'Journey Beyond Sodor' was pretty much focused on Thomas and him wanting to have an adventure and wants to go home with James having a bit of a side plot. But it wasn't like last year's special where it was Thomas learning to be himself, Gordon trying to better than his brother (which I think would be a much better main plot) and the useless third subplot which was Diesel's hope of being part of the show. 

A lot of people have been saying that this movie had a less marketable push than its predecessor and I think it's good that this special didn't have very big exposure. 'The Great Race' was pretty much overhyped with the YouTube channel promoting the international engines despite that they were background fodder to make the railway show look busy in the final product, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) did as well by promoting Shane on the front cover, plus they had the media on their side and their 'controversy' of implementing international engines, as well as hyping up Flying Scotsman since the real locomotive returned to service in the British press, lots of promotional things like the Hilton providing a specially decorated room and so on. Plus at the time, the special was made to cash out of the Rio Olympics and that was the intention for that special. Before the 2016 special, 'Tale of the Brave', 'Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure', despite the 70th anniversary, nor 'King of the Railway' didn't receive any big marketing push in the same way as 'The Great Race'. In the end though, I'm glad that this movie didn't get that big marketing push as hype culture can be bad at times. You expect something to be good but when you see the final outcome it could either be good or bad in the end, take a look at the Pokemon fandom a few months back when the live feed didn't announce 'Diamond and Pearl' remakes although I do wish that for those myself. 

Chuggington's movements are far more worse than what 

Journey Beyond Sodor had done.

Of course the most infamous moment that is 'controversial' is the body movement. I understand that it breaks the rules of railway realism but let's be honest. In the past there had been many rule breaking moments in the series as far as back as the classic series. In 'Daisy' we had her shaking violently while her driver was outside, Henry for not following Rule 55 in S3 and of course in S5 we had characters like Toby floating on a wooden bridge, a boulder that rolled over a narrow gauge viaduct that didn't crumble it yet can smash down an engine shed and a water tower, a truck flying high into the air after Gordon rammed right into it and trucks running away at 100mph with heavy loads inside of them. Heck even 'Thomas & the Tragic FailRoad' had some unrealistic stuff in it like Gordon shaking at the sight of Diesel 10, an engine pumping magic dust out her pistons and a huge diesel having a claw and using it to hold himself from falling of a dangerous viaduct. Even though I like 'Thomas the Jet Engine' for being stupid yet fun, it was still unrealistic with Thomas going at full speed with a jet engine behind him and of course we had Kevin in 'Snow Place Like Home' who had also some movement when he speaks and yet no complaints about these. Plus even previous specials in this era had some rule breaking moments too such as 'Tale of the Brave', 'The Great Race' and even 'Sodor's Legend of The Lost Treasure', such as the rockslide at the clay pits, Thomas balancing and dangling on steel tracks while he fell into a hole, even chasing a pirate ship that can balance well on a flatbed despite tipping over on a tight curve later on and of course Thomas jumping across a bridge and land perfectly despite that the special before showed us what happens when Thomas lands on the ground hard. 

We even have engines moving off by themselves despite them having engine crews in the background. So why do these rule breaking moments get the free pass, apart from the pointless bridge jump, and yet the subtle movements are a bad thing? It's just coming to the point where we just have to accept it for what it is for it to make the show more successful and entertaining, after all, like I said before, 'Paw Patrol' has more toys and their are plenty of other shows that are competing than Thomas in plenty of shops so they have to be in competition and that means sacrifices are to be made to make the audience at least engaged to the TV show. 

I'm not a big fan of the movement myself but I can see them working in places such in song and a way to expressive themselves when they talk to other engines and like Kevin in S19, it feels subtle. Plus some are comparing the movements to 'Chuggington' and if you don't know what that show is, even though it is now obscure at the moment except in North America and Japan, it's a pre-school show about three 'trainees' learning about friendship, loyalty etc. and of course they jump up and down and sway from side to side but far more worse in my opinion. The movement in Thomas feels, like I said before, subtle.

Another problem I see is with the Fat Controller for not being authoritative enough. When Thomas left with the goods train that was meant for James to take he didn't get angry over it, he just brushed it off and carried on like it was normal. This was also a problem with him in 'The Great Race' when he hadn't disciplined Thomas for neglecting his duties so he can be part of the Great Railway Show. I guess they don't want him to be too authoritative but maybe the writers are worried that they might get criticism for the Fat Controller being a dictator which is all lies made up by stupid journalists in The Guardian who are really overanalysing the show so they can complain about it, I digress. But I think it is important to showcase an authority figure like the Fat Controller to get cross at his engines and punish them for not following his orders like kids doing the wrong thing despite their parents warning them at first, heck that was shown in 'Pouty James' an episode that I don't like! The Fat Controller should've scolded Thomas for taking something without asking. It could teach kids that you can't do everything you like and that was shown in 'Tale of The Brave'. After all in this day and age we hear a lot about bad parenting in the media and question on why they are parents in the first place. His authoritative figure shows so well in 'Sodor's Legend of The Lost Treasure' and 'Tale of The Brave' and in a few episodes of this era. Him lacking the authoritative nature is just bad consistency for his character.

Even though an article from May 2017 had stated that Lexi is the first transgender engine, there was nothing that felt like she is one. I'm not hating the idea really of an engine with those traits to showcase the unique things about people. The special's moral. The way some people in this fanbase have treated the story and the mention about transgenderism it was at all not pleasant in my views.

Another thing too is the response this movie is getting from parents on Amazon US. Here they've been saying that there kids are scared because of the movie's premise and while yes I can see why but from the words of one of animation's greats, Don Bluth:

 ' [If] you don’t show the darkness, you don’t appreciate the light. If it weren’t for December no one would appreciate May. It’s just important that you see both sides of that. As far as a happy ending…when you walk out of the theatre there’s [got to be] something that you have that you get to take home. What did it teach me? Am I a better person for having watched it?'*

Whether it's sadness or something dark, kids should learn from what the movie is trying to say. Even if the message that you should ask for help, there's no other way to showcase someone to force the main character to do something. Not everything is all sunshine and rainbows where nothing bad happens in the world. Yes I understand that the current situation we are facing on this planet right now is bad but it'll showcase to kids something to get ready for when they are older and they need to be toughen up for all the obstacles that lies ahead for them and parents need to understand that you can't protect your kids forever. Plus one of the Amazon parents said, 'This probably isn't what Awdry had in mind.' If they are reading this, I highly suggest reading his stories like 'Bluebells of England', 'Escape' and 'Granpuff'. You'll be surprised. 

Parents need to understand that they can't keep their kids wrapped in cotton wool and hearing these kinds of complaints is like hearing from parents on 'Common Sense Media'. They're worried about what their kids should be watching and complain about everything. Heck they're worried that kids might think adults are stupid because a kid was doing all the work in 'Paw Patrol', yeah Thomas' rival, without any parents in the show. Kids are smarter than that, they know the differences between reality and fantasy. Quite ironic considering there's a website with the two words Common Sense. 

In the end I'm glad that this special didn't get so much hype unlike last year's special because it really kept the expectations low and it got some positive feed back among many fans since its release in the US. I do feel that Beresford's role was not really worth it considering he didn't do much for the movie and I think they should've focused more on the experimental and steelworks engines but in the end, the story is good, the movement is not the worse thing and the plot focuses only one thing rather than focusing on plot after plot after plot which where 'The Great Race' failed at. This is not on par with 'Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure', 'The Adventure Begins' and 'Tale of the Brave'. But on its own it was a good movie but not brilliant nor ground breaking.

OVERALL RATING

8/10 

*Quote came from 'Film School Reject'