Well, here we are at long last. We get to finally discuss two of the three mini-specials of season 23; both of them being released as part of Digs & Discoveries. They first premiered in theaters in the United Kingdom for a week in July, got a premature and unannounced airing in Canada in August, had an actually announced airing in the United States in September, and finally, this month October, they got released on DVD. How do they stack up?
I'm gonna review these two mini-specials together in parts; the first will be about the general over-arching storyline, and the other will be about the new characters introduced in them (and yes, I'll count Gina as new despite being introduced in The Great Race, where she was more of a prop than an actual character there).
Starting off is the fact that they're a pair of 22-minute specials, and along with the yet-to-be released Steam Team to the Rescue!, they seem to be replacing the hour-long specials, which is a fair move as the format of releasing a yearly special has been getting stale. Not to mention that every special post-Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure has the unfortunate - and inevitable - problem with trying to live up to its standard. It's like trying to make a Toy Story film greater than the third; don't attempt it. Just let the next special stand up on its own. But I digress.
In theory, the 22-minute format - at least for international stories - can allow for more time to develop the setting and characters, and the fantasy sequences won't come off as big time wasters, depending on how they play out. The characters introduced in Italy are great for the most part, and I'll get to that later.
The story itself is fairly simplistic; the first half is about Thomas trying to learn about Italian culture and archaeology, and then he learns from Gina and Stefano about the lost engine and wants to find him despite being told that it may not exist. The second half is about Thomas wanting to make a discovery of his own and finding the lost engine for real.
The first half isn't particularly original, especially as it's a story that Thomas has already been through with Outback Thomas, what with him acting like he knows better about a culture he doesn't understand that well. The second half, however, was what I thought to be the more interesting of the two, though not by much, mostly because of Lorenzo. Again, more on that later.
The flashbacks of how Lorenzo and Beppe ended up being lost were really well done with the mosaic art style, fitting given the Italian setting. I thought it was the best bit of animation in the duology. And both fantasy sequences were fun to watch as well.
And after the Pack turn up in Italy aboard Stefano, Jack tells Gina about the time Thomas fell down a mine after she reminds him about his first mine incident in Italy. That I thought was also funny, and gave Thomas a bit of motivation to want appreciation... except this is something he should've outgrown by now. I know he's the main character, but constantly re-learning the same lessons just spits in the face of his character growth.
In fact, that's a problem which plagues the international stories whenever Thomas is the lead character. It would've been great if other Sodor engines went around the world as well, like James going to India, Gordon to Australia, Percy to China, Duck to Brazil, and here, Oliver to Italy. Yes, I know none of them have expressed travelling beyond the United Kingdom and Sodor, but it could've at least resulted in some more interesting storytelling and character moments and those alone would've distracted the audience from the contrivance. That being said, we still got this gem from Gina at the end of the second half:
"Thomas, stop talking."
-Gina; it's also almost what many fans wish Thomas would do as well.
A couple of other nitpicks, though; wouldn't Thomas have had enough time to stop before he went into the second mine? If he had, then he'd have never found Lorenzo and Beppe. Heck, Thomas practically noticed within a few seconds that he was on the wrong track and was in no danger, so surely he'd have stopped and gone back. Also, how did Lorenzo and Beppe get restored to working order in record time? Though I will admit that the ending shot with them was pretty funny.
Now let's talk about the characters introduced here, from least interesting to most. Starting with Ester the excavator; she just seems to be there and almost exists as a plot device to justify the Pack's presence in the second half. Despite that she was announced for Trackmaster Push Along last year, I don't think anyone will remember Ester in a year or so.
Brenda also seemed to come from nowhere and was introduced as the Pack's 24th member and their second bulldozer. I put her above Ester because at least she'll be getting more screentime on Sodor (I'll get to her sort-of debut story Out of Site in the next part).
So now we get to the more interesting characters, beginning with Stefano. I thought he wasn't going to play a huge role at all, but I was kind of surprised. He's a bit of an eccentric storyteller from what I can gather, and he even played a role in Thomas finding Lorenzo and Beppe by telling the blue tank engine the story about the duo. It's also funny how Lorenzo describes him as having the strength of Hercules in his own song, and that in here, they played with Stefano's unusual appearance.
Lorenzo and Beppe are such a fun duo; I bet Vincenzo Nicoli had fun voicing both of them, as well as singing "Lorenzo's Song". The former is wildly eccentric and curious whilst the latter is more reserved and is the straight-coach of the pair. I know some will get annoyed by their singing after a while, but I find it hilarious whenever it happens. I almost want to sing along at times despite that I don't know Italian at all!
But Italy's MVP was truly Gina. I just love her sassy personality and how she chews out Thomas when he gets puffed up in the smokebox. Out of the characters from The Great Race, Gina has perhaps the best personality out of them. She's smart, knowledgeable, proud of her heritage, and adorably hilarious, especially when she makes her pouty expressions. Speaking of which, why wasn't she the one who got stuck on Sodor instead of Ashima? I mean, all the Indian engine did was basically sweet talk Thomas no matter how much he griped and just looks pretty most of the time. Meanwhile, Gina just cuts to the chase and Thomas shuts up almost immediately.
Final Thoughts
This was a really good duology for the most part. It's got problems - namely Thomas acting childish for the umpteenth time - but there's nothing outright major that makes me want to turn it off and never watch it again. After a decade's worth of feature length specials, I think it's a nice breath of fresh air to get a trilogy of 22-minute specials (the third of which I'll review when it comes out) instead alongside a twenty-episode season. If this is how the content for future seasons will be like in the future, I'm game. But maybe an extended break between producing two seasons wouldn't hurt.
Also, can we have Gina come and visit the Island of Sodor in the future? We've seen her chew out Thomas for his behavior, so why not an episode where she has to put up with someone like James or Gordon? I'll bet there's loads of story potential you could create with Gina or another international engine visiting Sodor!
Rating: Good (8/10)
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