Flying Scotsman

So I held a Twitter poll a couple of days ago and, since the majority were supportive, my next two posts will be analysing the other two important international engines from The Great Race. Next time I'll be focusing on Ashima, but this one will be focusing on a TV series returnee... kind of. Anyway, Flying Scotsman!

NOTE: This blog post contains spoilers. Reader discretion is advised

First off, the fact this was another Railway Series character appearing (properly as a character, rather than a plot device), it's made me wonder whether this is becoming tradition to include a once book exclusive character each year. If so, I'm hoping for Bear, if only to boost large diesel numbers.

Secondly, the more I reflect on his personality in the books, the more I think that it's really dry. It feels like Awdry focuses on the fact he's still around, as well as having a catch up with Gordon, rather than actually giving him his own character. That said, at least it's better than what he was given in series 3 of the show.

Now I'm not going to rant about series 3 like I did in 2011 as I've realised that I was way too harsh towards it. However, I do still believe that Tender Engines isn't really the best from that series. Even discounting the fact that the first half completely lacked the emotion that the original had, Scotsman's appearance was very disappointing. Only showing his rear end (which, weirdly, modelled him with two coal tenders rather than one for coal and another for water while lacking the corridor compartments) and a bit of the cab was a let down, especially in a series that included a beautiful model of City of Truro. I know that they lacked the budget to finish the model, but if you're going to include something that's major to a story, wouldn't you put the money aside for it?

Another disappointment is that Flying Scotsman was treated more as an outsider rather than Gordon's relative. Whatever the reason is for that is unknown, but considering the series ended up in a "magical universe" by the time Britt left, I can't really say I'm surprised; relating one of the world's most famous real life locomotives with a fictional one would screw up her vision (not having a go, just hypothesising).

In The Great Race, though, I feel that the team actually had him live up to the potential that he has as a character, rather than just there to reminisce or to be a plot point. His exposition gets the plot going and, even though he's missing for around half an hour after that, they don't drop the ball with him, even if they do with the actual plot.

His main characteristic is having a sibling rivalry with Gordon, although he still has a gentle, caring side like an actual big brother. It made me really gravitate towards the dynamic as I know that my brother and I have a similar one. Granted, it took me two watches to figure this out, but after the first one, my head was so scrambled that I couldn't really put my feelings of the special into words.

I think the only negative that I have towards his character is that, when Gordon breaks down (which loses all significance as he manages to get back to Sodor under his own power regardless), Scotsman doesn't stop to help his brother out, which is a huge shame as, a few seconds before, he was warning Gordon that something was wrong. So it leads to a confusing turn for his character: does he only care for Gordon up to a point? Did he care more about winning the race solely for bragging rights? If so, that seems rather immature for a bigger brother... I really do think he should have gone back, rescued Gordon, then let the two have a heart to heart on the way back to the yard. I feel that it could have led to great character development for both whilst providing another great moral for kids.

The other issue I have is with his design. And before anyone says it, I've no issue with the smoke deflector/double tender combo. There have been some complaints about it because "the real thing never had that", but I really don't care. It's quite nice that they decided to add two different eras of the locomotive into one render. Oh, and I've no problem with the smoke deflectors moving either. If I complained about that, I'd probably have to complain about the fact he has a face. It's Thomas & Friends for goodness sake; there has to be some suspension of disbelief somewhere.

No, my real problem is that his livery application and tender design feel rather... slapdash. Both tenders have only 6 wheels rather than 8, and while I love the green livery, it feels like he was modelled to be a TV series character rather than an actual locomotive. Compare the render to the Railway Series illustrations of him and you'll see where I'm coming from. The plain white lining that feels straight from the ERTL toy, the plain red running board, the plain green wheels. All of it seems more like a work in progress rather than a finished render. Also, as a nitpick, why was there a tail lamp where the corridor compartment should be? Couldn't they have put two on either side of it or something?

Overall though, I'm really happy that they decided to include Flying Scotsman in the whole spectacle, and I'm delighted that they gave him a bit of character. Sure, his design isn't as great as it could be, but if his TV series-style design choices mean that he'll be the only international engine from The Great Race to actually appear more as time goes on, I can live with them.

Except the 6 wheeled tenders. They need an extra axle...

Philip (After the Fact)

When the Start Your Engines! DVD trailer was revealed, I wrote a post (now removed) about my initial thoughts on this little boxcab. But now that I've seen his two episodes and The Great Race, I think it's time to see just how much my opinion on little Philip has changed!

NOTE: This blog post contains spoilers. Reader discretion is advised

In the old post, I praised Philip for being a diesel shunter that looked a bit different, and considering there were three new class 08s seen in The Gtrat Race, that opinion has only strengthened. Yes, class 08s were in abundance on BR's books back in the day, and there are still quite a few around today, but it's becoming tedious for the writers to rely on them when thinking of new diesel shunters for the show. So seeing a little boxcab like Philip is a breath of fresh air, even if the show would benefit more with a couple of larger diesels here and there.

Another aspect that I praised was his voice and, again, I still believe that it's very fitting for the kind of character Philip is. Rasmus Hardinker does an excellent job bringing out Philip's childlike wonder and excitement in his voice in the same way the animators do a great job bringing that out visually.

However, the poor little guy came crashing down with The Little Engine who Raced Ahead, where he spends the majority annoying Gordon (and the audience) whist the other engines just appease his whims because... he's a childlike character? It's like I said in the review of this episode; Philip seems to have been based on the average child from this generation: one that still has a wonder about them, but they seem much more "in your face" due to lack of discipline or consequence for their actions. Granted, he was called out for being unsafe, something he took to heart, but his other traits remained the same.

His attitude didn't improve in Philip to the Rescue either. I'm not going to say that he was fully responsible for the accident that took place, as James should have known better than to let a little engine get to him after 32 years. However, I will say that he was a major catalyst for James' actions due to his annoying temperament. Had he been taught better, he would have mellowed out by the time this episode came around.

And then The Great Race came around. And, while I don't necessarily forgive his personality in his episodes, it made me realise exactly what the problem was: he has been written terribly throughout the show, as if Andrew Brenner doesn't really understand childlike characters (and, considering he played a huge part in The Cramp Twins, it's not a far-fetched assumption). Yes, he did a great job with Thomas in The Adventure Begins, but you can't really go wrong when you have the source material at your disposal.

So in TGR, Philip makes snide remarks about Ashima saying "she'll be trouble" - although, in fairness, some kids do end up making remarks when it comes to new (or existing) friends and family. This is resolved when she helps him against Vinnie, which was some nice, subtle development.

I also quite liked that the one time his "race" against Gordon was brought up, Percy remarks that Gordon didn't actually race, forcing him to get defensive. It feels very childlike without feeling too annoying, which is something that would have hugely benefited his episodes.

But... his positive developments are completely stifled by his confrontation with Vinnie. I won't go into too much detail with the climax of that little screw up, and the unfortunate implications that came from it, because I've already written a post about that. However, I will state that, throughout the story, the only reason Vinnie goes after him is because he accidentally gets in the way. And I mean legitimate accidents. And the sad thing is that he doesn't retaliate. Like I've said, I get the fear, but I think the overall moral would have been stronger if he'd have stood up for himself before he was helped out.

Overall, I think that Philip is a character with great potential and, in all honesty, there is a charm to him when they get him right. But each positive gets cancelled out with some huge missteps which end up making fans feeling more annoyed with him than drawn to him. I just hope that they iron out all of his flaws in the next series before it's too late and he becomes truly irredeemable...

Vinnie

I don't usually do a full on critique of a future character like this, but because The Great Race has been shown in cinemas, and I don't think I can keep my feelings towards this character bottled up until September, here's what I think of Vinnie!

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for The Great Race, as well as strong language. Reader discretion is advised

I want to say from the get go that I'm not against the idea of a steam engine antagonist. In fact, with all of the goody goody steamers on the show, a dedicated antagonist would be a huge breath of fresh air. However, what I'm against is a villain (any sort of villain) doing evil deeds for little to no reason. That's why I've always thought that Diesel has been the best antagonist the franchise has had: nine times out of ten, his actions have solid reasoning behind them (Dirty Work and Diesel Does it Again being prime examples).

It's also why I've never been a fan of Diesel 10; his main antagonistic roles have either been stupid (if he'd have destroyed Lady, he'd have surely killed himself, too) or downright petty (The Missing Christmas Decorations). The only time he was a threatening villain was in Day of the Diesels, but that was stifled by so many other problems that he couldn't have been savoured there, either.

The only time they tried with a steam powered antagonist was Spencer in Hero of the Rails which was, actually, almost there. The only problem there was that we're never told anywhere why he wants Hiro scrapped, and his cold, calculating behaviour is only really there because the plot demanded it as they didn't want to put in more resources to make a new character to fit that role. At least Sailor John's vendetta was explained in his character bio on the official website.

And then we come to Vinnie.

I'm gonna be frank, Vinnie is an arsehole. Not the kind that you love to hate like Diesel, nor a comedic villain like Diesel 10. Every time I see him on screen, I just imagine him burning in a fire. No other character ever has gotten that reaction out of me, and the fact he's a one-off is a huge relief as I don't think I could handle any more of him.

Look, I hate characters who throw their weight around, bullying smaller ones constantly, as it is. But with Vinnie, the feeling surrounding him is much worse than any other character of this type. Simply put, he's an American stereotype that seems to have been written by a Brit whose opinion of Americans stems from bad TV shows and tabloid newspapers rather than actually talking to some real Americans. Only it was written by a man who was born in Florida.

Not only that, but his whole character arc leads to nothing. With the way he acts in the trailer towards Thomas, you'd think that he'd end up learning something about how useful smaller engines can be. But no. His nastiness in the trailer only leads to him bullying Philip. And it was their conflict that made me realise the problem with the little boxcab: he's been written so poorly throughout his time on the show, to the point where I feel sympathy for him. But I may end up doing a post about that in the future.

Anyway, at the show, Vinnie competes in the strength test (which means that the Wooden Railway line referring to him as "Racing" Vinnie is stupid, but that's beside the point) and, once that's over - by the way, we never know who won that competition, only that Henry came last - he ends up tormenting Philip and almost forces him into a turntable well. And it's here where the moral (which, in every other area, has great execution) loses some of its oomph, to the point where it could lead to some unfortunate implications.

Now I'm not going to say that Philip's reactions to Vinnie aren't understandable; the boxcab's almost ant-sized compared to Vinnie. However, if they wanted to teach kids to be proud of who you are and not let anything get to you, the logical thing to do would be to have Philip stand up for himself and, at the very least, try and force him back. But no, it had to be Thomas and Ashima doing all the work whilst Philip cowered and, once he was out of the way, trundled off taunting the huge engine despite doing nothing. What would he have done if they weren't there? Hell, what would that teach kids to do if they were in a similar situation when there's no one else around?

Yes, Vinnie does end up getting some sort of comeuppance (hitting an electronic pylon), but his attitude remains exactly the same, meaning he's learned nothing either. Then again, why should he? The only reason he left Philip alone was because two other engines saved him and the boxcab ran off. Maybe if Philip had been more brave, there would've been a better pay off than a slight tap into a pylon?

Overall, Vinnie is one of the worst characters the show has ever produced, if not the worst. At least Lady has some charm to her when you take a step back. Vinnie's just a hateful, American stereotype.

DVD Reviews: Whale of a Tale and Other Sodor Adventures

May 23rd saw the release of Whale of a Tale! I'll be honest, with The Great Race showing in cinemas and the fact that I went on a weekend break to London on the 20th to the 23rd, I completely forgot this had been released. But here's my review of it!

Episodes

Series 19 returns in this release with 6 episodes.

1. Toad & the Whale
2. Who's Geoffrey?
3. The Truth About Toby
4. Lost Property
5. Henry Spots Trouble
6. Salty All at Sea

Considering there's only one episode on this release that I'm not keen on (ironically, it's the additional one for the UK release), I'd say this was a very good release... if it wasn't another example of a DVD released in the UK almost a whole year after the US. This really needs to stop. If it meant that we'd get the exact same content as the US, I don't care; HiT needs to do more to get every DVD released in both territories at a similar time. The only time this actually happens is with the hour long specials and the DVD exclusive episodic releases. These long waits just put people off getting these DVDs as they'll have either aired the episodes on TV or they'll have seen them on YouTube or Demand 5. There's very little incentive to pay for them. This release is even worse for incentivising parents to part with their cash because... well...

Bonus Features

40% of the bonus features on this DVD are recycled from The Thomas Way. I'm not even kidding.

The Perkins' Story Time segment consists of him re-telling the story of Trucks!, edited images and all. Not only that...

Yep, Perkins' Postcards this time around focused on the Blue Mountain Quarry... again. Now I'm all for Mr Perkins segments, but if HiT don't have any new ones to put on a DVD, they shouldn't put any on! It just feel pointless to do so, especially considering most parents usually get every release for their kids until they end up growing out of the show.

All that said, not all of the bonus features are repeats. Really Useful Engines features Edward and Emily this time around. The characters were described really well and it was nice to have the mention of Edward having the Welolsworth-Brendam branch... even though he's hardly seen there and Edward's branch is pretty much irrelevant these days as everyone goes to Brendam docks. Still, a nice little mention.

The Earl's Quiz was fine. It featured Pingy Pongy Pick Up and Double Trouble. It follows the same formula as usual and... like I said, it's fine. Itt's not for me, but it's a nice segment for kids. That's all I really have.

Who's That Engine? featured Toby this time. I've always rather liked these segments even though they're basically those really badly segments from series 8-10 where they slowly revealed the engine. Here though, they're far less condescending and far better in the animation department. The only gripes I have here is that they don't mention his cowcatchers and sideplates by name (which is kind of inexcusable when a) Andrew Brenner really likes Toby and b) they have a railway consultant) and Henrietta is nowhere to be seen. It could've been so as not to completely give it away in the same way Thomas didn't pull Annie and Clarabel in his segment, but it's still a tad disappointing.

The episode after the reveal was Signals Crossed, which I like. Not only was the description for it better than the episode itself, but it's still one of his better episodes since HiT took over.

There's also an actual trailer for The Great Race, which will be released on DVD here on September 5th. Or, if you're from the UK, it's in cinemas now. And... it's OK. I'll post a full length review when the DVD is released and I've written my initial thoughts here, but all I'll say here is that the story is a tale of two halves; one being superb and the other bad, most of the newbies have no character to speak of, Ashima's the best female character of the lot, Vinnie's in line for top spot of the worst characters ever and the songs are great.

Presentation

Like Start Your Engines!, this DVD features some of Arc's best animation up to that point (The Great Race has since improved on it even further). The glossy models are stunning and the camera angles show off their amazing work so well. However, the pacing on the DVD feels very wonky as, like last time, every episode includes the intro and end credits. It would be nice if, in future, the intro and end credits appeared on the start and end respectively in future as it would improve the flow of the programming.

Price

The RRP for this DVD is £9.99. Most retailers sell it at £5.99. If you wish to get these episodes in HD, iTunes is offering them all (not the bonus features) for £7.99.

Final Thoughts

This release annoys me. Yes, the episodes are good for the most part, but there's literally zero incentive to get it as they're all online somewhere. Some may have kept recordings of them as they aired. The year long gap really hurts these releases in the long run and while, yes, they will sell copies, they probably won't sell as many as they probably should because of the year long wait!

Also, why is it called Whale of a Tale & Other Sodor Adventures? No such episode exists on the DVD. Why didn't they just call it Toad & the Whale & Other Sodor Adventures? Or just cut the ...and Other Sodor Adventures bit and call it Whale of a Tale?

Bubbling Boilers

So, HiT have collaborated with a 4D entertainment studio called SimEx-Iwerks to create something special for 4D cinemas in, at least, the UK and US. And it's been called... Bubbling Boilers... OK. Anyway, SimEx have released a 2D version on their Vimeo Pro account, so I thought I'd give it a look over.

This is basically a tale of two elements: the story and the animation.

Let's be frank here, the story sucks. And I'm rather glad, for its sake, that this isn't made for TV otherwise it would have been thoroughly destroyed without mercy. While I will tear this apart... I do feel kind of guilty as this is an experimental project away from the actual show.

For all intents and purposes, this conflict should not happen. At all. Even if Thomas' sandboxes were empty (this is never explained, by the way), the fact that a steam engine is running on bubble liquid is farcical.

The mine scene was also pretty bad. Discounting the fact that the trucks probably wouldn't have rolled that far, it goes on for such a long time that it ends up being a bit dull. Also, where was this mine? Regardless of whether it's the one under Ulfstead Castle or near Great Waterton, it's inexplicably grown (for no other reason than to add more action) since either were last seen.

I also got major Great Discovery flashbacks with the shot at the waterfall. At least with the 4D, this has more of a purpose, but it's still ridiculous.

And that's not to mention the fact that Thomas manages to move immediately after being put back on the track. It happened in series 19, and it was rather annoying there as well. But with the bubbly 4D the shot will create, at least it makes sense here.

That said, there were a few tidbits I liked. Cranky being able to communicate with his seagull friend (which could be similar to the one from Percy's New Friends). It's an interesting trait that, even in the episode I mentioned, was never really focused on. It'll make Cranky a lot more interesting as a character if they decide to expand upon it, rather than just being a grump with no other traits going for him.

It was also nice that the main railway was referenced as the North Western again, and I'm hoping that this becomes frequent from series 20. It's not a big thing, but it makes it feel more real. Also, the shot above with Gordon really interests me. I'd love to see the express make it to Barrow soon.

And then there's this special's biggest strength: the animation is the best of the franchise so far. As a project that relies on the strength of its visuals in order to make the 4D effects feel real, this does an absolutely excellent job of that.

Final Thoughts

This feels a lot like Rusty and the Boulder and Thomas the Jet Engine: the story is utterly terrible, but it's just so much fun to watch that it's rather likeable in some way. The only reason I don't like those episodes as much is that they're part of the actual series and this is just a side project. I do wish that the story was better, but I hope this does well.

DVD Reviews: Start Your Engines!

The first of two DVDs featuring never seen on TV episodes from series 19 arrived last Monday, and since I've reviewed the episodes (finally), time to get to the DVD itself!

Episodes

This release includes six new episodes:

1. Two Wheels Good
2. Reds vs Blues
3. Slow Stephen
4. The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead
5. Best Engine Ever
6. Philip to the Rescue

Like last year's exclusive release, this one has a real mixed bag. However, on the whole, I feel like this is the weaker of the two. Regardless of how mixed Dinos and Discoveries was, at least each episode sticks with the theme (or, at least, the majority do). This one doesn't. In fact, only two have a natural focus (and even then, one of those only had that focus in the second half) on the supposed theme of the DVD, while two had the theme shoehorned in.

I don't mind yearly releases like these having a theme. Heck, this whole year revolves around a "racing" theme. But when you have one with such restrictive story potential to the point where barely a third of the main content on a DVD supposedly promoting said theme has nothing to do with it, that's where my issue lies.

Bonus Features

This release has a combination of recurring segments and some brand new ones.

Really Useful Engines featured Bill, Ben and Marion this time around. They were really good descriptions of some great characters. There's little else I can say, really.

There was an abundance of The Earl's Quizzes, focusing on The Lost Puff, Percy's Parcel, Pop Goes Thomas, Percy's Lucky Day and colours. They were all OK; they were challenging enough for children, but I have a weird feeling that, since there were so many of these on one release, they could be replaced in the future. If so, that would be a shame as, although I'm not too keen on them, they were a good, fun way to test a child's memory.

Two new segments made their début on this release; the first of which being The Fat Controller's Tales, in which the North Western Railway's manager tells a story about a certain character. It's a bit like Mr Perkins Story Time, only the focus is on TV series episodes, not Railway Series stories. This one focus on Cranky, and his conflict in Kevin's Cranky Friend. It was a nice telling of a good episode.

And then, there came Landmarks of Sodor, which is like Mr Perkins' Postcards only in the style of an old documentary, and it's absolutely fantastic. These are my favourite segments that the team have done. This one focused on Whiff's Waste Dump and the scrayard, and they're both explained really well.

There was also a trailer for this year's special, The Great Race. I'm really uninterested in this one. If descriptions are anything to go by, it'll be a mish mash of previous concepts, 12 new characters for kids to wrap their heads around and a real, grand appearance for the Flying Scotsman.

Presentation

The animation in this release is extremely high quality. With a new intro, Roll Call and end credit sequence, they haven't looked better than this. However, the fact that the intro and end sequences follow every episode, it just doesn't flow that well. It's more forgiveable with complete series releases as they don't feel like they're meant to be watched in their entirety in one sitting, but these do, so hearing the same song over again can get annoying.

Not only that, but the visuals for the segments (minus the trailer for The Great Race) are a bit smaller than the episodes, leaving a small black box on the outside. It feels rather odd, and makes them seem out of place when watching the DVD in one go.

Price

The RRP for this DVD is £9.99. Most retailers sell it at £7.99, but Asda are selling it at £6. If you wish to get these episodes in HD, iTunes is offering the episodes (not the bonus features) for £7.99.

Final Thoughts

Even though the theme of the DVD wasn't followed at all for the most part, it's still a good release set at a good price (if you can get it for the best price to suit you). The episode quality is mixed, but the good episodes are probably some of the best of the show. I do recommend it, however, solely because they're DVD exclusive episodes. For now, at least.