THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE
DEN & DART
Davey Moore
Directed by
Dianna Basso
Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT)
Jennifer Hill (Arc)
Air Date
2/1/16 - AUS
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.
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
