OPINIONS IN THIS BLOG ARE SOLELY MY OWN; THEY DON'T REFLECT ON THOSE BY THE THOMAS FANDOM ON WHOLE
The last of the three winter-themed CGI Thomas DVDs is getting a lookover! I won't be doing The Christmas Engines until next year when the UK version is out. So let's look at last year's Christmas release!
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Santa's Little Engine
Released October 29, 2013 (US)/October 27, 2014 (UK)
Directed by David Baas and Greg Tiernan (US only)
Episodes Written by Andrew Brenner, Paul Larson and Laura Beaumont, and Alan Hescott (US only)
Episodes Featured (US/UK)
Santa's Little Engine
No Snow for Thomas
The Frozen Turntable
The Missing Christmas Decorations
Episodes Featured (US Only)
Snow Tracks
Bonus Episodes (UK Only)
Too Many Fire Engines
Henry's Hero
The Phantom Express
Definitely a good step up from the previous Christmas-themed DVDs we got and I'm so glad they changed Winter/Christmas Holiday to just plain Christmas. For the season 17 winter episodes, we have the title episode with the Fat Controller having trouble with going on a sleigh while dressed as Santa Claus. Definitely a humorous slapstick episode with Winston as a "sleigh" and the chase scene. How did Thomas rescue him, I'd like to know? In No Snow for Thomas, it was nice to see Emily back the way she was introduced, and it was a nice callback to Emily's New Coaches. The Frozen Turntable had a bit of wasted potential with James pulling the express, mentioned but not seen, but the moral about not being selfish was nice, and Gordon got consequences for it. The Missing Christmas Decorations is obviously my favorite of the lot; Diesel 10's return, the use of Sidney and Norman, and the Grinch-like story.
For the US, the last episode to make up five was Snow Tracks from season 13. Why on earth would they renarrate a story from the dark ages? Then again, it fits the winter theme so I'm not complaining. For the UK, they got three bonus episodes; the best of them was Too Many Fire Engines - about time Flynn and Belle were given the proper treatment. For Henry's Hero, the story was nice, but Duck's role could've gone to anyone, even Charlie or the Logging Locos. The Phantom Express was a little weak, but we get humorous dialogue from Stephen.
On the US DVD, some segments are shown in between the episodes; the first is Calling All Engines (no, not the special) talking about Thomas and Gordon. The Earl's Quiz features Toby's New Whistle and Tickled Pink; not a big fan of the former, but the latter is really good. Who's That Engine features Percy and his adventure in Percy the Snowman, which, despite the poor writing, perfectly fit the theme of the DVD. As for our friend Mr. Perkins, he now tells stories from the original Railway Series books and writes postcards to passengers. His story was The Flying Kipper, a very good choice to fit the theme, and his postcard was about Ulfstead Castle. These features also appear on the UK DVD.
The remaining US DVD features are Sir Topham Hatt's Frosty Friend, and the Guess Who puzzles are of Rocky, the Fat Controller, and Thomas.
Which version would I buy?
Both versions are pretty good in their own right, but not without flaws; the US is in fullscreen, as was The Thomas Way, but it was finally rectified with Spills and Thrills. As for the UK, it has less episodes on the main feature, but the episodes are in much higher quality compared to Curious Cargo or Up, Up and Away. If I had to choose, I'd say the UK is better in terms of aspect ratio (16:9 as opposed to 4:3) and number of episodes. I certainly recommend it for UK Thomas fans.
US DVD Rating:
7.5/10
UK DVD Rating:
9/10
Tomorrow: Thomas and Friends Season 18 Reviews - The Christmas Engines
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