S11 Ep.21: Duncan Does It All

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

These episodes are from the DVD release 'Engines and Escapades', despite that they were aired with the other S11 episodes after 2007. 

DUNCAN DOES IT ALL

Written by

Wayne Jackman 

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Plot

Duncan does the other engines' jobs for a change, but causes several muddles.

PRO:

- N/A

CON:

- Jobs are meant to be serious not exciting.

- The other engines abandoning their own job since Duncan took them and no discipline was made 

There's nothing exciting about this episode, jobs aren't suppose to be exciting they're there to be serious, what ever the job is, it is serious. Plus the other engines, who gave their jobs to Duncan had no punishment. In the older series, if the engines were being naughty or bad they get punished, here they get told off, great way for teaching kids about not doing jobs. 

Rating: 1/5 

S17 Ep.2: Scruff's Makeover

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

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILER, CAUTION IS ADVISE 

SCRUFF'S MAKEOVER

Written by

Lee Pressman

Directed by

David Baas

Produced by

Kallan Kagan (Arc)

Ian McCue & Halim Jabbour (HIT)

Air Date:

4/06/13 (UK)

Plot:

Scruff was against of having a new coat of paint at first but after receiving one, his vanity got in the way and resist doing rubbish work so not to get his paint dirty.

PRO:
- Gordon, Henry and James screen time 
- Moral: Appearances don't matter 

CON:
- Scruff's US voice
- Victor's jaws was too big 

At the time this review was made, I was watching the US version of the episode from the exclusive DVD 'Railway Mischief'. The episode is good, I actually enjoyed it. I love it how Gordon, Henry and James had more screen time then Thomas! Yes, even though Thomas was seen once he usually has a lot of screen time in episodes before. The angle that was shown when Gordon says 'Dear oh dear..' reminds me of the shot seen in 'Trouble In The Shed':

and it has a nice moral about that appearances don't matter. 

But while I was watching the US, I have a few cons for the episode as well. One is Scruff's US voice, it is horrendous! It sounds like he was smoking for years (no pun intended) and even though the animation is good there are some flaws and one thing is Victor's jaws, it's too big. Nitrogen manage to make it more better, not hating on Arc's animation. Yes, I know it's there first time animating the show, but they do need to see the flaws so it might not happen again.

But in the end, the episode is good and enjoyable. 

Rating: 4/5      

S11 Ep.20: Percy and The Left Luggage

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

PERCY AND THE LEFT LUGGAGE 

Written by

Abi Grant

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Air Date:

12/09/07

Plot:

Percy was given many jobs and one of them was to take Dowager Hatt's luggage to the airport. But Percy realised that he should be taking the luggage first.

PRO:

- N/A

CON:

- Three repetitive strikes

I find this episode to be boring and the only problem is of course the three strikes and repetitive lines from Percy about taking the luggage is an easy job. Taking luggage is of course an important job and more important then the other jobs Percy has gotten in this episode, including taking children to a party.

Rating: 1/5

S17 Ep.1: Kevin's Cranky Friend

2013 has brought some exciting changes to the Thomas & Friends franchise. In 2010, Sharon Miller had stepped down as head writer, after years of criticism, from the fans and parents, of the writing of the CGI series from S13-16, for the series and was replaced by Andrew Brenner, who has written his own series 'Humf' and was writer for other series such as 'Tractor Tom', the CGI version of 'Fireman Sam' and 'Angelina Ballerina' and 'The Cramp Twins'. Andrew Brenner is familiar with the Thomas series as he adapted episodes of the first two seasons of the series for Marvel comic (1987 - 1992) and had written his own stories which were turned into eleven episodes for the third season, which one of them was the infamous 'Henry's Forest' which was despised by the Rev.W.Awdry due to ignoring railway logic. In 2011, Nitrogen Studios, who had weened in the hearts of many Thomas fans young and old, had finished their contribution to the series and the animation has been transferred to Arc Productions who had produced films such as 'Gnomeo and Juliet' and '9' and also contributed to television like 'The Simpsons'. This also lead to a very big surprise back in April when 'Wal*Mart' released an exclusive DVD 'Railway Mischief' of the five S17 episodes. A new narrator! The new narrator is Mark Moraghan, in the line of other fellow famous Liverpudllian narrators such as Ringo Starr and Michael Angelis. Mark had been in the UK drama shows such as 'Brookside' and reality shows like 'Celebrity Masterchef UK'. This meant that Michael Angelis and Brandon's last contribution was S16 and 'Blue Mountain Mystery' for both the UK and US audience respectfully. The new series will bring new characters which will make their debut in the upcoming DVD special 'King of The Railway' which will make its worldwide debut in Australia in July.

So let's take a look at the first week of the new and improved series of the Thomas & Friends series with the episodes that made its debut to the American audiences on the exclusive DVD. 

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

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILER, CAUTION IS ADVISE 

KEVIN'S CRANKY FRIEND

Written by

Lee Pressman 

Directed by

David Baas

Produced by

Kallan Kagan (Arc)

Ian McCue & Halim Jabbour (HIT)

Air Date:

3/06/13 (UK)

Plot:

The Fat Controller enlists Kevin to help Cranky at the docks. But Cranky refuses help and so loads are everywhere! 

PRO:
- Kevin's persona 
- The little crab
Moral: Deep down someone there's a heart of gold.

CON:
- Kevin being way overexcited at the end

I can really see some improvement from Kevin in this episode, like Luke, you can feel sorry for him. For Kevin you can feel how small and useless he thinks he is. Plus there was not even a bit where he caused a huge mess, he's just overexcited to do be doing something special and wants to help. Plus I like how after when Kevin was lifted out from the water, the little crab was crawling around, some nice little comedic thing there from the animators. The moral was actually good too, deep down anyone there is a heart of gold in some people or things when it comes to Thomas. But to be honest, despite that Kevin has a good persona in this episode , I think he was way too over excited at the end with his cheeriness, that would be my opinion on the US version at the time this review was made. But in the end, it's an OK episode and it's enjoyable. 

Rating: 4/5 

S11 Ep.19: Thomas and The Stinky Cheese

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

THOMAS AND THE STINKY CHEESE

Written by

Paul Larson 

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Air Date:

12/09/07

Plot:

Diesel, 'Arry and Bert were teasing Thomas for being 'stinky' but their teasing backfired when 'Arry and Bert collied with Thomas' flatbed.

PRO:

- Two strikes 

CON:

- I find the 'steamies vs. diesel' plot to be repetitive through the years

The episode was OK and it's better then the first three Thomas themed episodes that we have earlier in the season. What I like about this episode is the two strikes, the three strikes formula in the model series were not all annoying and dreadful like in the CGI stories. But to be honest, I really find the whole 'Steam engines vs. diesel engines' plot to repetitive over the years when HIT took over the series. I know steam and diesel have their rivalry, but what about road vehicles? Sure I said about rivalry's in the Jeremy episode but this is on the focus of road vehicles. They've been a threat to the railway system over the years with passengers and goods and its rare to see that happening in a Thomas episode. The last time we have an episode like that was in Season 5's 'Horrid Lorries'. If Andrew Brenner or any writer from HIT Entertainment reads this, please make an episode focusing on road vs. rail. 

Plus, this episode was the test for the CGI switchover six years ago and I have to say, granted that it was a CGI test, some of the CGI make the engines look plastic and the people, like the workmen look creepy with their mouths open. As I said, it was a CGI test, but it does look creepy and plastic in my opinion. 

Rating: 3/5 

S11 Ep.18: Thomas In Trouble

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

THOMAS IN TROUBLE

Written by

Wayne Jackman 

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Air Date:

11/09/07

Plot:

Thomas was waiting for his final inspection at the repair yards. He was excited, he was going to take the school choir their concert. But trouble was made when he pretended to be repaired

PRO:

- Railway realism with Thomas being inspected

- The way Thomas was breaking down was a site. 

CON:

- I don't think steam engines produce black smoke if they're not repaired. 

The episode is another OK. I do like it how Thomas was being inspected before he's fit to start work and the way Thomas was breaking down was a site to look at, such as the black smoke, though I don't think steam engines produce that when they're breaking down for no reason, maybe due to bad quality coal? After all that has been explained in RWS story 'Out of Puff'. The episode is OK to me.

Rating: 3/5

S11 Ep.17: Thomas and The Runaway Car

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

THOMAS AND THE RUNAWAY CAR

Written by

Sharon Miller

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Air Date:

11/09/07

Plot:

Thomas and Gordon decided race to the 'Sodor Show'. Gordon was taking the new bandstand and Thomas is to take the Fat Controller's new car. But trouble lay ahead for the new car. 

PRO:

- Arthur and Rosie's appearance

- Another nice modern day Thomas and Gordon 'rivalry' 

CON:

- N/A

The episode is good. Despite that I say character returns don't make the episode great, only the story, Arthur and Rosie's apperance were the good things about the episode. The story was nice, though the narrator constantly saying 'The runaway new hatt blue car' all the time. Just say 'the runaway car'. Plus, I do like the modern rivalry Thomas and Gordon have with each other, pretty much a friendly rivalry. 

Rating: 4/5