Season 16 - Episode 20: The Christmas Tree Express

December 2012 saw the twentieth episode of Season 16 of Thomas & Friends...

...but before the review, the usual disclaimer:

The views below are entirely those of the author and not representative of the Sodor Island Forums as a whole.

On that note, it's time to get this review underway...

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The Christmas Tree Express

Writer: Sharon Miller

Rheneas wants to find the best Christmas Tree of all for the Blue Mountain Quarry, but Toby is terrified on Misty Island.

Guest Review by Ryan

Overall Thoughts

The sad fact of the matter is that they chose to end Series 16 with the weakest episode of the entire season, and probably one of the worst episodes of the entire series as a whole – holding this episode back from the initial run to air on Christmas Day 2012.

Basic plot is that Rheneas wants a Christmas Tree to brighten up the Blue Mountain Quarry, and so Toby is more or less coerced into taking him to Misty Island to fetch a tree, but is so terrified of being there due to strange stories that Salty’s told him, that they shoot through the forests and miss umpteen worthy trees to take back with them to the Quarry.

The main core of the episode is so repetitive throughout with the same dialogue and narrative repeated over and over, seemingly giving us a grand tour of Misty Island as we go.  Strangely as well, there’s nothing to suggest we’re in the throes of winter either – everything’s strangely still green and flourishing, nothing’s dulled or turned brown / gold with the effects of the winter or autumnal weather.  Even the sky doesn’t appear dark or heavy to suggest that it is wintry here.  One of the great strengths of the model unit under HIT Entertainment was capturing the effects of autumn and winter in their set dressing, with the early scenes of Thomas, Emily & The Snowplough from Series 8 being one of the best examples of light snow, and numerous others capturing the colours of autumn brilliantly.  Nitrogen’s winter scenes are usually excellent as well, but likely the expense of redressing Misty Island for one episode would have been both difficult and time-consuming. Possibly, making the trees there look bare and black?  Letting the ground turn brown and dull?  It’d make Misty Island look more sinister than it already is...

That said, the lighting effects used in the episode are superb – the scenes at the Search & Rescue Centre are a particular delight, adding depth and realism to the character models as they wait in the early morning sun.  It was the same sort of scene that impressed me during Hero of the Rails, when Thomas and the others were in the Goods Yard waiting for the race with Spencer to begin.  The lighting that Nitrogen do is one thing that the model series could never compete with, as it looks so natural and brings so much to the production.

Returning to the story, I find it absurd that Toby would be scared to tread wheel on Misty Island, given that he has paid numerous visits there previously on screen.  The way the episode is written suggests that a lot of Misty Island is new to Toby – he approaches the Hollow Tree Tunnel, seeing it for the very first time, and doesn’t know what to make of it.  Does this imply that he’s travelled a different route on the occasions he’s visited previously?  I also find it equally as ridiculous that he would choose to steam around the island in a circle at full speed with his eyes closed to avoid seeing anything strange or mysterious, when they are there with the specific intention of finding something – hence eyes are required to be opened.

Both Rheneas and Toby are hopelessly out of character here.  I really despair for Toby’s portrayal here, he’s gone from being a wise old tram engine who stands no nonsense from young engines or trucks to a feeble old man, who most likely would be scared of his own shadow.  However, I do enjoy Rheneas’s enthusiasm here – the determination of the character is reminiscent of the ‘Gallant Old Engine’ from Awdry’s stories who was adamant he would not let anyone down no matter what the circumstances, and leads nicely to his portrayal in Blue Mountain Mystery.  Not sure if this was done with any faith to the original character traits, but it is a small redeeming feature within the writing.  That said, he didn’t do it with any great logic whatsoever, instead preferring to let Toby go round in a huge circle as opposed to carefully to find the right tree for the Quarry.

In terms of the narrative differences – the way that they flipped-flopped between Christmas and ‘Winter Holidays’ for the US version was jarring in the extreme.  With the UK version, there was a clear sense of continuity throughout – a ‘Christmas Tree for the Christmas Holidays’, as opposed to a ‘Christmas Tree for the Winter Holidays’, here it doesn’t sound entirely natural.  That said though, the USA continues to try and encompass every faith, whereas the UK is keener to return emphasis to the idea of Christmas instead.

The episode overall is a huge letdown.  Now, impressive as Nitrogen Studios have made Misty Island, it’s probably the worst invention of the Thomas & Friends universe with its inhabitants being the main source of irritation.  This episode was basically a ‘grand tour’ prior to Sharon Miller’s departure as Head Writer.  Sadly, it will also be the last piece of new animation done by Nitrogen for Thomas & Friends that we will see on screen.  The constant repetition of dialogue and narrative is a hallmark of the lazy writing we’ve been subjected to over the last few years, and not a worthy follow-up to Blue Mountain Mystery at all.

I will say this much, it was a joy to see Ben Small take near-enough sole vocal talent throughout, (voicing four characters, and the two main players in the UK version) and providing such distinctive and individual voices for each of the engines which made it work so well.

Thoughts From Other SiF Members

Cornish:

The use of the term “little engines.” Thomas has been described as a “little engine” so this might be confusing for small children. It does not take much to explain the differences between narrow gauge, and standard gauge.

I do wish Rheneas had a bit more emotion when Thomas seems to have reminded Rheneas that it is Christmas, and Thomas is going to fetch a tree. The writer's have ruined Toby's character, Toby was always nice, and wise, a bit like Edward, but now they have turned him into a coward, which is infuriating as a fan of the model series. I do like the fact that Rheneas can't go on standard gauge, I just wish there was more explanation for the younger viewers who might not know why Rheneas has to go on a flat bed.  Surely it would have been better if Bash, Dash or Ferdinand showed Toby, and Rheneas around Misty Island?

A tree trunk, which happens to be a tunnel is somewhat strange, but Toby can see through to the other side, I'm not entirely sure how Toby can be scared. If we go back to the model series, the driver would be talking to Toby, and reassuring him, now we just have Rheneas telling Toby what to do, and he is just going along with it, again I am infuriated.

Now, the Shake-Shake Bridge, I agree with Toby, that bridge is scary, and not fit for purpose. Can I hope for an episode where the bridge is repaired, or re-built with stone? “Rheneas could see the morning sun shine brighter, and brighter.” I hate to point this out, but it had been morning for quite a while now in the episode. The animation and the script just aren't matching up this season.

Toby, being scared of mist, it is not strange, it is called weather, also how does Toby think Misty Island got its name? Toby has encountered mist, and fog before, so he should not be scared by mist. I am feeling a little angry at what the writers have done with Toby's personality.

The frustration I feel at this episode is indescribable, this episode could have been a lot more interesting if Bash, Dash and Ferdinand showed Toby and Rheneas around Misty Island, got the tree, and found themselves in difficulty, maybe with the Shake-Shake bridge.

I wonder if Rheneas was told off by the Thin Controller for turning up late, or sending a search party when it is discovered that Rheneas has disappeared.

I have to admit, the scenery is beautiful in this episode, but as I have come to expect from Thomas and Friends recently, the writing left a lot to be desired.

Christopher (ERS Admin):

Going by the quality of the writing there, it didn't seem worth holding it back till Christmas at all

It's also an example of how big a disadvantage it is of "writing in the future" when continuity gets thrown out the window. Seems as though Toby's previous visit to Mis-Fit Isle in S15 must have been a dream...

The only redeeming factors here were, naturally, the animation and voice work (or at least those by Ben Small in the UK). Although it's either a hitch in Demand 5's iPlayer, or I'm certain there were a few cuts made in the dialogue. Replacing "winter holidays" with "Christmas" was an obvious one, but there seemed to be more in Toby and Rheneas' dialogue here and there - perhaps further removal of rhyming and alliteration...?

All I can say, however, is that I hope this time - after the stunning quality of BMM - the old writing format (and the Logging Locos) will "wiggle and giggle" off into the sunset for good.

Old Square Wheels (SiF Mod):

...really? They made us wait 7 months for this? Why do I feel they're discontinuing the Misty Island play sets soon, and they wanted to get one last toy commercial out of it.

There's the usual awful US voices for Toby B,D&F, repetiveness and HIT-Toby acting as annoying as ever. But considering they post-poned this for so long, they could've surely used that time to fix the narration, in response to the 'Winter Holidays' controversy last year. Maybe HIT were confident that it was a non-story (that was 10 years too late), that the parents/kids would forget about it once the media coverage died down.

Oh well, at least now we're officially at the end of this era

Final Conclusions

Sharon Miller is an outstanding voice director for the TV Series, and is possibly a contributory factor to why the likes of Ben Small, Keith Wickham, Matt Wilkinson and the other UK voice team can perform the dialogue and narrative so well and so entertaining.  However, but it was really about the only redeeming feature of the entire production.

This was probably the first time I had felt let down by Nitrogen Studios in terms of animation.  This did not feel like Winter, never mind Christmas.  The stage wasn’t set for that specific need, and it’s really quite disappointing.  That said, with the overall writing of the episode, you found yourself distracted enough to ignore and forgive what was or wasn’t happening on the screen.  Dull, repetitive and completely uninspired.

I’ve been assured of good things in 2013 with King of the Railway and Series 17 in terms of the writing, and going by Blue Mountain Mystery, I’m confident that Andrew Brenner and Ian McCue will deliver.  I’m just sorry that so many of the production team have ended their time with Thomas & Friends on such a poor episode as this.

Individual Episode Score: 1/10 - Fiery Flynn 3/10 – Ol’ Wheezy Wobbles 7/10 - Express Coming Through 3/10 - Percy & The Monster of Brendam 2/10 - Ho Ho Snowman 8/10 - Flash Bang Wallop! 2/10 - Thomas & The Rubbish Train 1/10 - Thomas Toots The Crows 1/10 - Bust My Buffers 9/10 - Percy & The Calliope 2/10 – Thomas & The Sounds of Sodor 5/10 – Salty’s Surprise 1/10 - Sodor Surprise Day 1/10 - Emily's Winter Holiday Special 2/10 – Muddy Matters 4/10 – Whiff’s Wish 4/10 – Welcome Stafford 2/10 – Don’t Bother Victor 2/10 – Happy Birthday Sir 1/10 – The Christmas Tree Express

Total Season Score So Far: 61/200

Average Season Score So Far: 3/10

Quick Character Stats

Speaking Roles:

Toby, Rheneas, Thomas, Bash, Dash, Ferdinand, Skarloey, Rusty

Cameos:

Peter Sam, Sir Handel, Luke, Victor, Merrick, Owen