S17 Ep.11: The Lost Puff

Back in June 2013, the UK had first witnessed ten episodes of the new and improved Series 17. The episodes went on hiatus from June, as I believe it was done for it's autumn release that it was originally planned to do. Click the links below to see my opinions on the first ten episodes:

- Kevin's Cranky Friend
- Scruff's Makeover
- Wayward Winston
- Gordon Runs Dry
- Calm Down Caitlin 
- Steamie Stafford
- Henry's Hero
- Luke's New Friend
- The Switch 
- Not Now, Charlie

So let's us start of the next episodes with 'The Lost Puff', which made its debut in a Thomas & Friends magazine in the UK, please read the warning first:

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

THE LOST PUFF

Written by
Davey Moore

Directed by
David Baas

Produced by
Kallan Kagan (Arc)
Ian McCue & Halim Jabbour 

Air Date:
30/9/13

Plot:

The Fat Controller warns his engines to be careful over broken track. But Paxton the diesel doesn't listen to his instructions and thinks it's fun to go over some wobbly tracks. He persuaded Thomas to try it out but it end up wetting his firebox when he backed into Toby at the water tower. When Paxton overheard from Toby that Thomas 'lost his puff', he misunderstood for what he had said and went around to look for it. Victor explains the misunderstanding and Paxton learns that he should must listen carefully.

PRO:
- 'Has buckled in the hot sun!' a nice possible reference to 'Thomas Gets Bumped'
- The duck
- Stephen's face
- The angles (e.g - Gordon goes under the bridge and Stephen and Paxton looking at the cloud)
- Moral: Paying attention to avoid silliness  

CON:
- The narrow gauge brake vans at Knapford
- Paxton's disappearing brake van
  

This is definitely one of Davey Moore's best written episodes yet. The buckled track reference reminded me of 'Thomas Gets Bumped', as the tracks in that episode suffered the same fate. The use of duck for comedic use was entertaining to see, the angles were fantastic such as Gordon running under the bridge:

Including the scene when Paxton was racing towards Ulfstead Castle, seems that there is a link on that bridge now that we've seen since 'Hero of The Rails' and with him and Stephen looking at the cloud. Stephen's face when he was confused by Paxton's words was priceless to look at as well. However in the end, the episode has a nice moral about paying attention so you can avoid any kind of silliness. But there are some problems with this episode and it's pretty much Arc's use of animation, notice the brake vans that are in a siding are narrow gauge and that after the panning shot, you can see that Paxton has no brake van but when he left, it was there! Arc really need to notice these flaws as they do look unrealistic towards a railway enthusiasts eye, as Thomas the Tank Engine is popular for its realistic charm since the dawn of the Railway Series books. Well, now that we see started with the second half S17, I'm really looking forward for tomorrow's episode, even if it has a certain GWR pannier tank engine in it with a bigger role, which I'm glad to see. 

Rating: 5/5

Movie Review: King of The Railway (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)

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

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS,
THANKS IN ADVANCE

KING OF THE RAILWAY 

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by

Rob Silvestri

Produced by

Kallan Kagan (Arc)

Ian McCue & Halim Jabbour (HIT)

Release Date:

 2/09/13 (UK)
  2/10/13 (AUS)
17/09/13 (US)

After the success with 'Blue Mountain Mystery' in the past year with its DVD sales and TV ratings in the UK and with fans and parents acclaiming the movie, thanks to Andrew Brenner's editing of the script despite some Miller moments, Thomas fans were left thinking of what will Andrew Brenner bring for the movie with new animation and of course new writing. Andrew Brenner has been well-known for creating Thomas stories and adapting episodes from the first and second series for the Marvel comic series between 1987-1992, his years with Marvel, with many of his stories making it as series three and five episodes of the Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends series during the Britt Allcroft and David Mitton era. 'Henry's Forest' is the more notable one, albeit with the criticism of Rev.W.Awdry seeing how the episode ignored railway logic. However Brenner had won the hearts of many Thomas fans with his episode 'Gordon Runs Dry' which has been released in America back in April with the Wal*Mart exclusive DVD 'Railway Mischief' and it also has been broadcasted on UK television back in June. Before the episode was released, the two trailers for this movie came out back in January and March this year, most fans think that movie is another Sharon Miller script but after the episode was released in the two respective countries, there seem to be some positive atmosphere for the special. The animation had been criticised earlier this year saying that the animation looks 'cheap'. But looking at the movie in high quality, it seems that fans should not trust low quality videos on YouTube. So far, the DVD has proven to be a success in children's animation on Amazon UK as the number one best selling DVD, before its initial release.

The movie has been released first in Poland on television unexpectedly, it made its cinema debut in Australia and in the UK and made its debut in Los Angeles, USA and will be on television in the US on PBS Kids in October. The reason why I've published the review on September 18th instead of October is because I've seen the movie on Dailymotion with thanks going to good friend Chris Tomson. 

PLOT:

Thomas is over the moon when the Earl of Sodor chooses him and friends Percy and James to rebuild Ulfstead Castle. During their latest adventure, the Steam Team meets Millie, a bubbly French engine, and Stephen, an older steam locomotive with fascinating stories to tell. Meanwhile, Spencer and Gordon are stunned when they encounter two new engines, Connor and Caitlin, who are even faster than they are!  

But disaster strikes when Stephen goes missing. Will Thomas find Stephen in time for the Grand Opening of Ulfstead Castle, and what is it that lies buried deep in the mine under the Castle…?

OVERALL:

Hands down, this has beaten the likes of 'Blue Mountain Mystery' and 'The Great Discovery' or any Thomas special that has been released since 2005. The story was written well, the new characters have great explanation as to why they're on the island (e.g - Mille being kept in her shed while the Earl was away and Connor and Caitlin coming to the island for time trails before the opening of the castle). I love the introduction of the pre-railway days, it shows that Andrew Brenner had really stuck with his promise of research from the TTTE Wikia. Jack had a nice comeback, it wasn't flashy or a big deal but nice. His new shape, I liked it and it makes him more realistic when I first saw the picture from the Polish dub back in July and to be honest it wasn't a huge problem for me, which in this fan base they see something new and it's out of their comfort zone and go on and blame HIT for it, which is a shame really. The new characters are likeable and, as I stated before, they had explanations of why they're on the island unlike in the Sharon Miller specials such as 'Day of The Diesels', Den and Dart were engines that Percy had never seen before but they have no explanation why they were never seen and the same would go for Belle, there was no reason why they've came to island in the first place and the same can be said for 'Thomas and The Magic Railroad', both in the official and directors cut for Splatter and Dodge.

People had criticised since the second trailer made its debut in America about the basis of Connor and Caitlin, as they are American locomotives on British rails. To be fair I do like to see some British locomotives in the series but when you look at Connor and Caitlin, they both have Irish accents and with Caitlin from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, there were many irish rail workers. I don't know much about Connor, but with his basis being from New York they have irish americans there as well. So its a nice little cultural twist for them. But in the end, Connor and Caitlin's basis had grew on to me and I think they looked rather splendid in their respective basis. Though if they were chosen a British kind of basis and with it being a medieval theme special, Connor should've been a GWR Castle class and Caitlin should've been a Princess class.

Stephen has been a likeable character with a nice sense of humour, more better then Charlie's 'jokes' and I especially love the history he has about himself such as 'The race', which is really the Rainhill trails, a competiton between many locomotives to build the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which plays a big part in British history and culture as it was part of the industrial revolution and it was the first passenger railway line in the world. With Millie her persona has been developed well, showcasing her to be hard working and excited and it was nice that it was shown more in the recently aired episode 'The Switch'.

Sir Robert Norramby is an excellent character that they've introduced, he has such great spirit and sense of humour that he reminds me of British actor Brain Blessed. The songs were OK though but I don't know why 'Working Together' was rehashed with different lines really. But 'It's Gonna Be A Great Day', the second version, is much more better then the original draft version considering that it is Sam Blewitt singing in his own voice rather then the help of auto-tune and the lyrics weren't too childish. But I'm surprised that the song is not focused on the special's title during the CGI period, sure there was 'Go Go Thomas', but they did sing about the movie. 'Searching Everywhere' is a nice song but it has its cliched lyrics about helping one another, which is a good for the target audience to learn and listen too. Plus I like the little jokes they put into the special such as "Don't tell me he needs special coal again?!" "No Gordon that was fixed years ago!" and the three engines one truck jib, a nice joke about the major errors in the Sharon Miller era of the series, as I heard on twitter that Andrew Brenner disliked Sharon Miller's writing and I heard that there were three, I don't know much of the third one really. The voice acting is great as well and it sounds better now with the vocabulary expanding for the characters in the story with the great voice direction of Sharon Miller, really she is! With the animation, it was nice and I think Arc had done a great job, I do love the mouth movement of the characters it's a bit more flexible and smooth and there has been some improvements from Nitrogen such as the gravel and grass, which seems to stand out more, however there were some errors with their animation with a narrow gauge engine hauling standard gauge trucks at the BMQ, I know the tracks are dual gauge, but it is unrealsitic. In the end, the movie stands out well as a DVD special rather then a one hour toy commercial to sell characters and play sets, bar 'Blue Mountain Mystery'. The characters had great development and it's good to see the original characters to have their original personas again such as Percy, James and Thomas. Andrew Brenner had done his homework and had kept his promise and if you ever see a title of a special or an episode and even though it may sound a bit bad (e.g - Monster of Sodor), think about Andrew Brenner, the man who is bringing Thomas & Friends back to his normal roots.

RATING:
5/5

KING OF THE RAILWAY IS AVAILABLE NOW 
IN THE UK AND US. 

IT'LL BE OUT IN AUSTRALIA ON OCTOBER 2ND

BUY IT NOW:
AMAZON US
AMAZON UK

PREORDER
ABC SHOP 

Jack and The Pack - Episode Reviews

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

PLEASE NOTE THAT SOME OF THE EPISODES ARE OUT OF ORDER. 

JACK AND THE PACK 

EPISODE REVIEWS

In 2002, the world was introduced to Jack and the Sodor Construction Company in Series six with just two episodes. This was to be part of a proposed spin off series but was cancelled for some unknown reason, some say that when HIT Entertainment took over that it has the similarity of 'Bob The Builder', one of HIT's most popular brands. The Pack made their comeback in 2007 when HIT Entertainment released a VHS and DVD called 'On Site With Thomas and Other Adventures' in the US and 'Thomas' Trusty Friends' in the UK. They've appeared in 'The Great Discovery' and Season 12's 'Percy and The Bandstand' and Jack has made a comeback in the recent 'King of The Railway', in an all new design. Instead of making each review for an episode, I decided to do a list of episodes to save some time. So let's have a look at the 13 episodes of the 'Jack and The Pack' series. Please read the warning above. 

1. A VISIT FROM THOMAS

Written by

Paul Dawson 

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Produced by

Phil Fehrle 

Plot:

Oliver, the excavator, found a dinosaur, 

while the pack are making the building site for the new school. 

PRO:

- Nice to see the Pack once again as well as some new characters

- The dinosaur bones were impressive 

CON:

- The title is misleading 

The episode is an OK opener, it was nice to see the pack once again after four years of being away from the series and I do like the new characters such as Buster the Steamroller and the bones were impressive but to be honest they weren't as impressive as the ones in 'Rheneas and The Dinosaur'. The story was nice and innocent but too simple, even though I think Thomas the Tank Engine works with simple stories, having it too simple will make it boring. The main criticism for me of this episode is its title. It was to be called 'Oliversaurs'. The title we have now only worked for the first few minutes of the opening scene before Oliver found the bones. In the end the episode is OK in my opinion.

Rating: 3/5

2. JACK OWNS UP

Written by

Paul Larson

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Produced by

Phil Fehrle

Plot:

Jack was over excited to work that he knocked down the slate, by accident of course, but the blame was put onto Ned, who caused accidents and had feared to be sent back to the yard. But in the end Jack owns up to his mistake. 

PRO:

- Moral: Always be brave to own up

- The setting of the warehouse set

CON:

N/A

I like this episode, it still shows Jack being a role model for kids as it shows a great moral about being brave to own up by your actions. Plus the setting of the warehouse was fantastic as well. I do like seeing the sets of Sodor with some industry, it shows that the Island has a working background then just trees and green fields of countryside.

Rating: 4/5

3. ON SITE WITH THOMAS

Written by

Will Ing

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Produced by

Phil Fehrle

Plot:

Patrick has been bragging that he's the most important part of the pack as he's a cement mixer. This causes a stir by Jack and Alfie of who's the most important. 

PRO:

- Moral: Everyone is important as a team

- Patrick's crash

CON:

- The misleading title

The episode is OK, not great though. But I do like Patrick's crash and I have to say the episode does have an important moral about being a team is important not just yourself. But like the first episode, the title is very misleading and that they've should stuck with 'Who's The Boss?' but I think, at the time, HIT has an obsession with the name Thomas so that children will buy the DVD.

Rating: 3.5/5

4. PERCY HELPS OUT

Written by

Brian Trueman 

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Produced by

Phil Fehrle

Plot:

Nelson wished he would be carried. One day Thomas was broken down at Maithwate crossing, his wheel fell off. So Nelson took him to the repair yards and was brought home by Percy. 

PRO:

- Moral: Dreams can come true and rewards are earned.

- Thomas' part reminds me of 'Thomas and The Great Railway Show'

- The repair yard set

CON:

- Misleading title 

I've enjoyed this episode when I first saw it back in 2006 and today it is still good to watch. The story was nice and simple and Thomas being carried onto Nelson did had some reminders of 'Thomas and The Great Railway Show' towards it, 'Not the Ticket'. The moral is nice as well as it shows that dreams can come true and that rewards are earned. Plus the repair yard set looks so much like a real repair yard, unlike the one in S8-11 or 12? But if there is one con and that is of course the title, it's very misleading. Maybe HIT thought kids would want to get it because there favourite characters are in it? After all Percy only had two parts in this episode. But it's a good episode in the end.

Rating: 4/5

5. THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE

Written by

Will Ing

Directed by

Steve Asquith

Produced by

Phil Fehrle

Plot:

Oliver was dreaming what'll be like to win a race as they were building the new racetrack. Max and Monty were teasing him that he's slow and so a race was made, but the two dump trucks fell into a ditch and were stuck and Oliver won the race!

PRO:

- Moral: Slow and steady

CON:

- The story's a bit loosely based on the classic story 'The Tortoise and The Hare', but I know it's play on words.

It was OK but not great. The episode had a nice moral about being slow and steady, but if it were trying to be like 'Tortoise and The Hare' then it would've have referenced the part of the hare sleeping as the turtle was slow, here it's just Max and Monty bashing and arguing. The only reference to the story in a Thomas episode was 'Edward the Great'. But it was OK and I'm sure it would've had a different title. 

Rating: 2.5/5

6. THOMAS' TRUSTY FRIENDS

Written by

Paul Larson 

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Produced by

Phil Fehrle

Plot:

Ned is bored of clearing up rubble. Meanwhile Oliver was trying to demolish a wall, but to no avail.

PRO:

- The crash scene was excellent 

- The transition scene of Oliver's face with the third wrecking ball was spot on

CON:

- Three strikes

- Oliver's wrecking ball seems unrealistic to be placed 

- Thomas' trucks can't be loaded that quick?

- Misleading title

This is not bad, but it has some problems. First off I would say that there are two scenes I like visually, the building crash was shot well and gave a dramatic part towards the story and I do love the transitions of the changing emotions of Oliver. But there was the three strike formula, yes in the classic series there was a three strike formula, but in the end it has been handled well but it did get a bit repetitive. Also there is the misleading title as the whole episode is focused on Ned and Oliver. 

Rating: 3/5

7. A TALE FOR THOMAS

Written by

Paul Larson 

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Produced by

Phil Fehrle

Plot:

Jack and Alfie were taken to the forest to save an old tree that was struck by lighting. But Max and Monty carelessly raced around the forest and crashed into the tree. The machines held the tree as it was about to fall but in the end it was safe. 

PRO:

- Max's line was funny

- Moral: Safety first

CON:

- The title is very misleading

I do like the episode and its moral about safety, even though it was used in previous episodes that are focused on the machines. But of course the title is very misleading and I'm sure it had a different title rather then anything that has the name Thomas or Percy in it. But it's a nice episode in the end.

Rating: 4/5

8. ALFIE HAS KITTENS

Written by

Abi Grant

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Produced by

Phil Fehrle

Plot:

The pack were at a demolition site and Alfie was teased because of his sizes. He later found cats in the demolition site and saved them, thanks to his sizes.

PRO:

- Moral: It doesn't matter what size you are

- The story was intense

CON:

- N/A

I like this episode, it has a very nice moral towards it for the target range about size. It doesn't matter what size you are. Plus the story was intense with Alfie saving the kittens. In the end it's an a enjoyable episode.

Rating: 5/5

9. A HAPPY DAY FOR PERCY

Written by

Paul Larson

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Produced by

Phil Fehrle

Plot:

Byron is disappointed that his hard work is being avoided. But after he saved Alfie, everyone praised him.

PRO:

- You can feel sorry for Byron

CON:

- The title is very misleading

It's a nice episode, but once again it was very misleading, the title. Nothing doesn't even happen to Percy, the episode was never even focused towards him. But in a positive note you can feel sorry for Byron as we all liked to be praised for our work but not many would take much notice. 

Rating: 3.5/5

10. MUD GLORIOUS MUD

Written by

Jonathan Trueman

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Produced by

Phil Fehrle

Plot:

The pack was digging new foundations for a dairy farm, but they all ran out of fuel and Isabella is the only one running on steam. So she has to drive all through the mud to collect the fuel.

PRO:

- Moral: Appearances doesn't matter 

CON:

- N/A

I do like the episode and we do see some more development and screen time for Isabella. The episode has a nice moral visually about appearances when she rolled through the muddy fields to collect the fuel.

Rating: 4/5

11. PERCY'S SCARY TALE

Written by

Jonathan Trueman 

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Produced by

Phil Fehrle

Plot:

On Halloween night, Percy was sent to work with Alfie at Maithwate forest. Later that night Kelly told the story about the 'one-eyed' truck. But Max and Monty claimed that they weren't scared but in the end they were scared of a one bright lamp, but it was not the truck...

PRO:

- The setting of Maithwate forest

CON:

- The title is very misleading

- You think Max and Monty knew it was Thomas' whistle

The episode is average, I do love the model making craftsmanship of the forest. But the title is of course very misleading and I'm sure it would've had the working title 'The One Eyed Truck' since that Percy only had a secondary role in this episode and a little nitpick here, Max and Monty should've known it was Thomas' whistle coming through the forest as he's been in many episodes of the spin off series. But I think that if we have that in the episode then there'll be no plot. But the episode is at a medium standard, it's not scary, but since it's aimed at pre-schoolers it is convincing. 

Rating: 3/5

12. KELLY'S WINDY DAY

Written by

Phil Fehrle

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Produced by

Phil Fehrle

Plot:

Kelly is nervous after he was repaired when he was blown down by the wind. But with Isabella in danger, Kelly bravely saves her.

PRO:

- Moral: Don't loose confidence 

CON:

- How the way Isabella was dangling in danger was unrealistic

- You think after Kelly broke the shed they should think if some workmen could be in there?

The episode has a nice moral for kids to learn from, don't loose confidence. But there are some problems with the episode. Isabella dangling over the road bridge, as seen above, was just unrealistic and that includes Kelly removing the piano and another nitpick is that they should've checked the shed to see if there are any workmen injured? Maybe that wasn't intended and it's no big deal. 

Rating: 3/5

13. THOMAS AND THE MOLES

Written by

Jan Needle

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Produced by

Phil Fehrle 

Plot:

Moles had dug around the football/soccer field at Dryaw and Buster came to the rescue

PRO:

- The idea of Sodor having a football/soccer team

- The way the moles heads were moving

CON:

- Alfie at the back of the low loader seems unsafe, and that will go towards other episodes

I do like this episode, it was nice. I especially like the idea of Sodor having a football team at Dryaw, it would be nice to see all locations of Sodor having a football team and I do love the smooth movement of the moles' heads, wonderful stop motion there. But there is one con, and this will go towards other episodes, the way Alfie was on the flatbed is very unsafe and they should've used a second low loader. 

Rating: 4/5

OVERALL

I don't know why people claim this being to similar towards Bob the Builder, when HIT took over the rights of Thomas & Friends in 2002? This idea was inspired by Jim Henson's Construction Site, I loved that show when I was young, so as I heard. You have Chugginton and some people claim that to be a 'rip off' of Thomas the Tank Engine and it's still on the air today! But other then that, I like the episodes as they are nice and simple and have some great morals and wonderful sets. It also has that vibe of the classic series from the early 2000's despite the 'new series' music. There are episode titles that I find very misleading and that they should've kept the original titles the way they should be. It's a shame that not many were made, as there were some episodes revealed this year but didn't make it towards production. I would've loved to see 'Snow Rescue'. This is not the first idea they had for a TTTE spin off, in 2001 there were plans to have a spin off for Harold the Helicopter and Bertie the Bus, two others that I think would've be incredible to see, shame it had never seen the light of day. In the end, these episodes are great and are still out on DVD, although in full screen and two episodes are in widescreen on Virgin Demand in the UK or some Woolworths promos from years ago. 

OVERALL RATING:

4/5