S19 Ep.13: Helping Hiro

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

HELPING HIRO

Written by
Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler

Directed by
Don Spencer

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT)
Jennifer Hill (Arc)

Plot:

When Thomas' load was accidentally spilt on the tracks, Hiro derailed himself and has to go to the Steamworks for repairs. Thomas ventures to the woods to find some spare parts but he ended up broken down! 

Air Date:

3/1/16 - AUS

PRO:
- Moral: Helping a friend out
- The friendship between Thomas & Hiro
- Thomas caring for Hiro

CON:
- The whole plot could've been replaced with Percy

- The crew could've been added for getting help
- Thomas should know that there aren't spare parts at the hideout
- Why does Thomas need to ask Hiro why is he called master of the railway

I think what could've made this episode better if they've replaced Hiro with Percy, it's obvious with the best friend storyline. The plot can be like this, Thomas and Percy play and joke around while they were working and in the end, Percy has an accident and a nasty crash and Thomas made it as a heavy burden. It's an easy plot line that could work the Thomas and Percy dynamic friendship.

I do understand that crews aren't really that important as they are nowadays as the show is more about the engines. But I think it would be nice to add crew members doing important things like calling for help after all we do see Thomas' crew when he was stuck at Hiro's hideout. I honestly don't mind if the crews aren't in the series, they weren't seen much around the latter years of the classic series either. But it would be nice to see them do important things to give that railway reality theme back to the show.

As of the episode I don't consider this to be the best of season 19, but not a terrible episode as well. I always think Hiro is one of the best characters coming out of the new series era under Sam Barlow and Sharon Miller. 'Hero of The Rails' doesn't much hold up as a great special nowadays in comparison to the ones now, but it did bring some new things to the world of Thomas, heck the villain was another steam engine that's rare! But I digress. I love the friendship between Thomas and Hiro and Thomas acting young here is not all that bad. He looks up to Hiro like a wise old engine and asks questions like why he was called 'Master of the Railway' despite that Hiro didn't know why, it was explained to Thomas when he first found him in the 2009 special. I think there is a hole in the plot when it comes to Thomas and the spare parts at Hiro's hideout. In the special there weren't any parts scattered around the field that would be left as spares and all the old parts that were once on Hiro would've been old and not in working order. Whereas here in the episode, he thinks that there are. I think it'll be better if say the Fat Controller told him that there aren't any parts for Hiro at the hideout and Thomas would feel bad for him that his parts would take weeks but then Hiro told him about the back up parts the Fat Controller ordered. It would've been a good little twist.

But aside from the nitpicks I will say I love that Thomas shows a lot of care for Hiro, heck even in the Sam Barlow era there are times when he shows the caring side even 'The Biggest Present of All', one of my favourite, S13 episodes shows it. This definitely shows the moral help a friend in need and it's one of those episodes where Thomas is not shoe-horned in. This may have some flaws but most of the cons that I put were as I said before were me giving out nitpicks.

Rating: 6/10

Episode Ratings:

Who's Geoffrey - 9/10

The Truth About Toby - 6.5/10

Lost Property - 9/10

Henry Spots Trouble - 7/10

Snow Place Like Home - 7/10

A Cranky Christmas - 6/10

Diesel's Ghostly Christmas - 9.5/10

Toad and The Whale - 9/10

Very Important Sheep - 9/10

The Beast of Sodor - 9/10

Salty All At Sea - 8/10

Den & Dart - 8/10

Helping Hiro - 6/10

Series Rating (So far):

103/130

This'll be my last S19 episode review until March 2nd when 
'Start Your Engines' is out in Australia. Sure the episodes were released in Japan but I'm saving them for the DVD and episode review like I did with 'Dinos & Discoveries' last year. So watch this space!

S19. Ep.12: Den & Dart

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

DEN & DART

Written by

Davey Moore

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Jennifer Hill (Arc)

Air Date
2/1/16 - AUS

Plot:

Mavis had broken down at the quarry and was sent to the Dieselworks for repairs. The Fat Controller had ordered Den to do Mavis' job while she's away and deal with the troublesome trucks.

PRO:

- The trucks having individual voices

- Toby's wise persona really stood out here

- Moral: It's not always scary to work at new places, once you get the hang of it

- Den's character development

CON:

- The trucks US voice in the UK dub feels out of place

I remember when this episode was announced through the 'Tales on the Rails' DVD release in the US, the title was criticised for not being creative enough despite that we had titles in the past like 'Thomas and Gordon', 'Percy and Harold' etc. The titling is actually good because it's about them and not a certain event that they're facing through like in previous episodes.

Speaking of US voices, I felt the trucks having US voices in a UK dub is a bit out of place. In the US dub it's fine with the mixture of US and UK voices but when it comes to a full on UK dub they feel out of place. Sure they've done it with Stanley with this season and no one went off their heads about it, but that was just one second of his voice saying 'scrapped' and I think they didn't bother to change it? I don't hate it that there's a US voice in the UK dub I'm not one of those people who say 'Thomas is British!!!' Thomas has a worldwide appeal but it still retains its Britishness in the series but I think there should be voice actors from the UK to provide for the trucks in order not to be too out of place.  Sure there was the animal park keeper in 'Not Now Charlie!' but as I said on Stanley's voice, that was there for one second and it looks like a mistake as the keeper did have a UK voice in 'Steamie Stafford'. The only UK voice for the trucks was, I believe, Keith Wickham's and I would've liked to hear his voice work on the trucks, hopefully in future.

Speaking of the trucks, I think it's great to give them their own individual voices it does make them stand out when they have normal voices instead of the squeaky voice. The character development of Den really brings out the moral of the story and this is the episode where I think Toby's wise persona stood out. Giving helpful advice for Den to deal with the trucks is like when he was giving advice to Mavis when she was new to the quarry. This is a good episode in the end despite some nitpicks and probably one of the best episodes by Davey Moore.

Rating: 8/10

Episode Ratings:

Who's Geoffrey - 9/10

The Truth About Toby - 6.5/10

Lost Property - 9/10

Henry Spots Trouble - 7/10

Snow Place Like Home - 7/10

A Cranky Christmas - 6/10

Diesel's Ghostly Christmas - 9.5/10

Toad and The Whale - 9/10

Very Important Sheep - 9/10

The Beast of Sodor - 9/10

Salty All At Sea - 8/10

Den & Dart - 8/10

Series Rating (So far):

97/120

S19 Ep.11: Salty All At Sea

HAPPY NEW YEAR 
2016!! 

Welcome to 2016. While fans are looking forward to the 20th season of Thomas & Friends and the upcoming DVD special 'The Great Race', Season 19 is finishing off its run despite hold backs from broadcasting stations in the UK and US. So let us continue S19, but first: 

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

SALTY ALL AT SEA

Written by

Lee Pressman

Directed by

Don Spencer

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Jennifer Hill (Arc)

Air Date
1/1/16 - AUS

Plot:

Salty has a history of telling tales of the sea. But when he's needed to do work on the mainland, he was worried about going on a ship due to his imagination.

PRO:
- Moral: It's good to have an imagination, but you need to control it
- The swooping camera angle at the Suspension bridge

CON:
- Porter seems redundant 
- I think the title should've been better

I will be honest, I wish Porter was given Thomas' role instead of...Thomas. Reading his personality on the Thomas wikia site, you could give him much more potential for his stories such as him being a bit of a perfectionist, which you can teach kids the moral that there's no such thing as perfection and keeping his head cool during a crisis could also teach kids that getting angry won't solve anything during a crisis. Porter is a great character and I do hope the writers give him the spotlight in future, I don't think this season. I think there could be better titles such as 'Salty's Imagination' but I have no big issue with the title that is there currently, just maybe there could've been a bit more work.

Other then those con's overall this is a good episode. It's quite unique that we see this character talking about the sea over the years and learning that he had never been on a ship in his life but it can be relatable to people who have a fear of going on things for the first time. There are people who fear of going on planes after seeing many things on the news about crashes or tragic accidents, but it also tells everyone that while it's good to have an imagination it's best to control it. So it can be a relatable and engaging storyline for viewers. 

One thing I love about Arc Productions is that each year they always give us the visuals when it comes to camera angles. The swopping shot of Salty and Thomas crossing the suspension bridge is fantastic and it definitely is such great improvement from the previous years. I hope we see more of these later on in future. I think out of all the brands from HIT Entertainment, Thomas has the best animation and camera technique. Overall this is a good episode for both kids and adults and despite that Thomas had referenced 'The Monster of Brendam', let's face it we have to accept the fact that the Barlow era is canon.

Rating: 8/10

Episode Rating:

Who's Geoffrey - 9/10

The Truth About Toby - 6.5/10

Lost Property - 9/10

Henry Spots Trouble - 7/10

Snow Place Like Home - 7/10

A Cranky Christmas - 6/10

Diesel's Ghostly Christmas - 9.5/10

Toad and The Whale - 9/10

Very Important Sheep - 9/10

The Beast of Sodor - 9/10

Salty All At Sea - 8/10

Series Rating (So far):

89/110