S20 Ep.14: Mucking About

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

PLEASE NOTE FROM 'MUCKING ABOUT' ONWARDS THESE REVIEWS ARE BEING RELEASED DURING THE JAPANESE AIRING OF THE SEASON. SOME EPISODES THAT AIRED IN JAPAN MAY HAVE ALREADY BEEN REVIEWED.

MUCKING ABOUT

Written by

Davey Moore

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Air Date

5/12/16 - CAN
19/02/17 - JPN

Plot

Max and Monty are being so dangerous, they damage Oliver's arm and treads and cause Thomas to derail.

PRO

- I like how Oliver feels like the leader

- Max and Monty feeling sorry for Oliver, for a bit

- Moral: Don't muck about 

- Max and Monty's theme

CON

- Be good to see Mrs. Jenny scolding Max and Monty

So we finally got our first episode with the Pack over ten years after the 'Thomas' Trusty Friends' and 'On Site With Thomas' DVDs. Even though they had appeared in previous Thomas material it was great to finally see them having an episode for themselves in the CG era. 

To me the episode is good, I really like how Davey Moore had given a bit of personality towards Oliver. He feels more like the leader of the pack and the one that reassures everyone, like he did in this episode when his piston was damaged. Hope we see more of that in the future. I also like Max and Monty having a bit of depth as well. They weren't just one dimensional bully characters they do feel sorry for Oliver's damage even if it was shown for a short second of course you see Moore balancing out there dimwitted attitude which keeps them in total character.

The episode to me at least feels like this should've be called 'Saving Time' as Max and Monty dumped there rubbish onto Thomas' branch line to save time and that was some conflict in this episode too unlike the Samson episode. The moral was good too which is of course the title of the episode. It tells kids not to be foolish or getting carried away. Although I think it would've been great if we've seen Mrs. Jenny, it had been nine years since we've last seen her in S12 and you think it would've been better if it were her scolding the two dump trucks. But the policeman works as well too.

Both dubs, UK & US, have different voices and TBH looking at the UK dub that had aired in Japan when this review was published, I much prefer their UK voices as they sound tough whereas the US just make them sound like typical goofballs. The US voices aren't bad but they just don't suitable for them.

I know that Thomas had double side rods when he was derailed but let's be honest, errors are errors. The animators would've had deadlines to meet and much work to make for HIT Entertainment as well as their other clients. They're human beings and pointing out the errors are just nitpicks plus these types of errors are just a blink and you miss it kind of thing. 

I could go on and on and on about how great Renshaw's composition is but every time when there's a new theme for an episode, Renshaw delivered it very well that it deserves a full amount of praise. I pretty much like it more than his Diesel theme, Max and Monty's theme. In the end the episode was good and entertaining to watch.

Episode Ratings:

Sidney Sings - 8/10

Toby's New Friend - 7/10
Henry Gets the Express - 10/10
Diesel and the Ducklings - 8/10
Bradford the Brake Van - 10/10
Saving Time - 6/10
Ryan and Daisy - 7/10
Pouty James - 5/10

Blown Away - 9/10

The Way She Does It - 9/10

Letters To Santa - 8/10
Love Me Tender - 7/10
The Railcar & The Coaches - 9/10

Mucking About - 9/10

Overall Rating:

112/140