Thomas and Friends Specials: The Great Race

Finally, after almost a year's worth of waiting, I finally tackle the 2016 special for Thomas and Friends - The Great Race. Why it's taken this long is because of moving to Oregon, other projects, and more recently, a scandal involving some MLP fans on DeviantArt (and people wonder why I've made the decision to leave both the Thomas and Brony fandoms). Also, I want to focus on improving the quality of my reviews, especially the first five seasons of MLP where, for some reason, I made some huge mistakes on certain episodes.

That being said, here's the first monkey I've chosen to shake off my back.

I must state from the get-go that I like the idea of an international railway show for a Thomas and Friends story. I had some ideas on how it'd go, but I never got around to fully forming a story based on the concept. Then The Great Race came by and I was eager to see how it would play off. After watching it again for the sake of reviewing, how does it stack up?

Frankly, The Great Race is just downright stupid, even for a kid's film. The basic gist is that Thomas is whining because he feels he isn't good enough to go to the Great Railway Show on the mainland, so he tries to prove himself worthy but his plans all backfire, yet he ends up going to the show because Gordon doesn't have his safety valve. Couple that with some North American jerk attacking Philip, a plethora of pointless internationals, one who contributes bugger-all to a cliched plot, an actually somewhat entertaining Diesel subplot, and a brother rivalry that has wasted potential of being expanded upon, you get the Thomas and Friends equivalent to Friendship Games, Legend of Everfree, and the 22-minute "special" Mirror Magic all rolled into one.

Let's start with Thomas' story - a.k.a. the main plot. It's boring. He wants to be faster, he wants to look better, and he wants to prove his strength. This is basically season 11's Dream On all over again, except it was way better written, didn't need a runtime longer than seven minutes, and it came from the Barlow Era! Thomas is also terribly written in the special; for some reason, we're supposed to root for him, but all he does is whine about not going to the show (even though the promotional material says he'll be here anyway, but I digress) and even goes through the same tropes we've seen before when he meets Ashima - she bumps into him, nearly causing him to fall into the sea, and he acts like she caused a wreck on his branchline! Oh, and he gets mad when she takes Annie and Clarabel cause that's never happened before...

Actually, that brings me onto Ashima. Sure, her render looks lovely and Tina Desai is talented, but there's an elephant in the room regarding her - she's pointless. Her character's bland and she does nothing that other female engines (probably except for Daisy) couldn't have. Say what you want about Emily during seasons 8-12, but at least being bossy and sometimes rude gave her something to work with in her own episodes. Ashima? She's bubbly, positive, and a good shunter - not a lot of story-telling potential with that, is there? And what does she gain from Thomas when she helps him out? At least with Gator in Tale of the Brave, he taught Percy how to be brave, and in return, the latter helped the former face his fear of heights. Their relationship felt very genuine and it was a tear jerker when Gator left for his home. In The Great Race, Thomas and Ashima's relationship is forced; she's basically the Timber Spruce of the Thomas universe.

Speaking of which, there's Vinnie. Like Timber Spruce, Vinnie is a complete jerk and has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. His subplot with Philip is also terribly written; the little guy doesn't even stand up for himself, and when Vinnie crashes into the pylon, Philip laughs at him even though it was Thomas and Ashima who helped him out! (He's also ungrateful toward the latter as she wins the shunting competition, even after she saved him from Vinnie's wrath.) Also, why does Sodor need a flag carrier, especially when no other country has one? And what reason does Vinnie have to pick on Philip? If he lost the Strength Competition and wanted to vent his anger on someone, then I'd understand. But no, Vinnie's a bully because... of course he is.

While I'm on the subject of international engines (excluding Flying Scotsman, who's fantastic), they barely have any personality between them. All I can get out of them is that Axel's a bit dense, Frieda's rather touchy, and Yong Bao gets jealous when he doesn't get the spotlight, but that's it. All twelve of them are the Thomas equivalent of the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts, only there's more than twice as many. Their introduction is also a complete mess; how did their ship's captain not realize Sodor wasn't the right stop? That's not even mentioning it was also a half-arsed way to set up Thomas and Ashima's "dynamic".

This bit's rather nitpicky as well, but I'll comment on it anyway; how could Ashima not know how to get to Vicarstown, especially when Thomas was coming from there? Would it really have hurt for her crew to check a map? Here, it feels like padding.

Actually, that's one of the biggest problems with the special; it tries to build up to the Great Railway Show, but it takes half of the run time to even get to that point, and even then, it's contrived as heck. You could easily remove all that half-arsed build up and "tension" (Thomas and Norman's crash - that we never see - that stupid, infamous bridge jump, just to name a few), and then spend forty-five minutes showcasing the main events (they don't even showcase the winner of the strength competition, for goodness' sake!). But apparently, that's not important as Thomas' story...

Another legitimate issue is the movie's moral. Don't get me wrong, being yourself is a good lesson, but it's shoved down your throat to the point you think that was what the movie was based around! Either that, or the toys, or a combination of both. (Not helping is that it's become a generic message by this point; why do you think The Emoji Movie has negative reviews?) At this point, characters should build the story, which in turn builds the moral. Instead, it's the other way around that the moral becomes the story's basis, which writes Thomas' character.

To further prove my point, there's Percy. Like, what happened to the poor little guy? It was only in Tale of the Brave that he learned to be brave, and later regained his confidence in Missing Gator, and suddenly, it's all taken away from him just to make Thomas look good, despite coming off as unsympathetic in the first half. Well, chronologically speaking, Percy was already there with Three Steam Engines Gruff, but again, I digress.

If there was one character I thought was very well written in the special, it's Diesel. I've really liked his portrayal and character development in recent years. He may not be as devious as he was during seasons two and three, but he's grown to the point he's a comic villain with a soft side. I'd rather have this portrayal of Diesel than the one the Thomas Creator Collective gave him as an over the top baddie. No, Diesel is cocky, and the reason he got back at Duck was because he thought the pannier tank humiliated him on purpose and wanted to get his own back. As it turned out, Duck hadn't been very specific about what trucks Diesel was to take, so both were at fault here.

I'm getting sidetracked. I have no issues with Diesel's subplot for what it is, but do we need to shoehorn the steam vs. diesel conflict just for the sake of toys? I think not. It's hilarious, yes, but it barely even affected the story. Sure, Thomas had his accident, but he still goes to the show anyway despite the damage he got. Heck, he still could've gone to the show (Gordon without his safety valve) and nothing would change. That being said, his musical number is funny and the mid-credits scene brings his story to a fun end, even if it's pointless in the long run.

I can't discuss The Great Race without bringing up the Flying Scotsman. It's great to see him in CGI - though the livery is a bit disappointing - and I like the persona he's given. Looks like Gordon got his own Gordon to put up with on a regular basis. :P In the books, Scotsman's character felt kinda bland, but in CGI, he's cocky and loves annoying his brother, which is way more interesting to see. I really wish that had been the main focus of the special; it'd give Gordon a different shade to his character (a bit like Gordon and Spencer in season seven), as well as justification for wanting to be streamlined despite disliking the treatment in the past. That being said, it is a shame that Scotsman chose to try and win the race and leave his brother to die...

As for what else I liked (which wasn't much), the animation is solid throughout. Sure, there's silly mistakes, but keep in mind that there's always going to be imperfections in the visuals, even if you're the best director in the world. It's a shame that Arc closed down, but lucky for them they were taken over by Jam Filled. If you ignore the lackluster story, it's among Arc's best animation, and it shows how far they've gone with animation since King of the Railway.

For his first Thomas production, Chris Renshaw did an amazing job with the music. He definitely captures the Hartshornes' music whilst adding his own flavor. "Will You Won't You" is a great start, "Streamlining" is something of a guilty pleasure, "I'm Full of Surprises" is hilarious, but "You Can Only Be You" and its partial reprise just come off as generic and preachy (though when Thomas sings in the first version, it does leave some suicidal implications), even if they have the best intentions at heart, and I appreciate that. Still, it's not a song I'd put in my top ten.

Final Thoughts

They are going to be personal, of course. The Great Race had all the potential to be... ahem, great. The premise is promising, the new characters could've had a chance to shine, but none of it mattered because Mattel wanted Thomas to have yet another lead role, despite that he's already got too many specials with him as the main character. I get that the show is called Thomas and Friends, but it's as much about his friends as it is him.

What's also sad is that, despite being made for toys, Tale of the Brave and Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure were actually successful at telling a solid story. Why they couldn't do so for The Great Race is beyond me. I know that Brenner and co. have to work with some restrictions, but if they can't do so, that's on them. (The same applies to the TCC.)

But perhaps the most frustrating thing about The Great Race is that season 20 comes way too late for us Thomas fans. Seriously, season 19 did not feature any of the newbies from Lost Treasure, and the newbies from The Great Race (except for Scotsman, who will most likely appear in the future) won't be appearing in future seasons except (possibly) for Big World, Big Adventures! (More on that in a bit.) If season 20 was going to feature the Lost Treasure newbies and returnees, why would you have a completely unrelated special come before it? Just to remind us all, this is the timeline for the Arc/Jam Filled productions: (the last two are kinda debatable by this point; the letters indicate order of release)

1. The Adventure Begins (E)
2. King of the Railway (A)
3. Season 17 (B)
4. Tale of the Brave (C)
5. Season 18 (D)
6. Season 19 (G)
7. Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure (F)
8. Season 20 (I)
9. The Great Race (H)
10. Journey Beyond Sodor (J)
11. Season 21 (K)

With the over-promotion of The Great Race, there was a chance that kids won't even remember Lost Treasure or even care about the characters from said special featured in season 20, expecting to see the international engines. Then, when Big World, Big Adventures! is released in 2018 (apparently), two years after The Great Race, will kids even remember the international engines, let alone their names? This also reminds me; Dance Magic featured the Shadowbolts from Friendship Games, and the former came out in 2017, two years after the latter did; since the specials take place after Legend of Everfree, will kids even remember the Shadowbolts? I bring that up because, from what I heard, Dance Magic was meant to take place between Friendship Games and Legend of Everfree, but dialogue was tweaked so the special took place after the latter rather than before.

Never mind being yourself; I think the lesson we can take from here is that we should always plan ahead. There may be confusion and negative reviews if we don't.

As for The Great Race? I can say with confidence that this is the worst Thomas special. Yes, Calling All Engines is rather dull, yes, Misty Island Rescue is stupid, and yes, Day of the Diesels contained racist implications... but all three of them came from an era where you expected generic, poor writing. With specials like Tale of the Brave and Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, you expect Brenner and co. to know better, especially with Thomas' character, who went through some great development in the latter!

If you want this plot done right, try either Best Engine Ever or Disney's Wreck-It Ralph. Both focused on the relationships between Emily and Caitlin and Ralph and Vanellope, respectively, and they had a stronger emphasis on storytelling and character development. The Great Race didn't do either, and even if it did well in UK theaters, it doesn't change the fact that the special's a total mess and it felt like Andrew Brenner bowed to Mattel's demands than actually do what he wanted.

Rating: 0 out of 10