Yes, here it is. Like many Thomas
fans, I saw it last Saturday, at my local Vue Cinema, and pre-ordered the DVD,
and then had to wait for it in the post after it had came out, as well as just
before seeing it, ordering Wooden Railway Yellow Victor off amazon, and getting
it quicker than the long ago ordered DVD, but now, I’m finally writing my very own
review of Blue Mountain Mystery. For I only thought that after nearly reviewing
the whole of series 16, I might as well review this year’s Thomas special. So
what did I think about it?
Warning: Contains SPOILERS!!!!!!
So
let’s start at the beginning. It’s fair to say it started differently than from
what we were expecting. It started off with us, seeing the Blue Mountain Quarry
for the very first time. We see 5 of the 6 principal engines of the Skarloey
Railway, working with Paxton, and our 2 new friends, Merrick and Owen. But
then, disaster strikes when Blondin
Bridge begins to fall down, just before Rheneas comes down with his heavy
train, and as expected, it wasn’t at all realistic how he managed to cross the
bridge, but you still hoped nothing very bad happened to Rheneas, and of
course, nothing did, but it explained how poor Paxton had his accident.
And then, we had the normal 2d intro, very good as normal, but I
was hoping that because the special was about the narrow gauge engines,
Nitrogen would do something clever when it came to when it said; ‘Based on The
Railway Series by The Rev. W. Awdry,’ Maybe having it written on some trucks and
a guard’s van, behind one of the narrow gauge engines, with the guard looking
like Thomas’s creator himself, but I’m sure that’s what Greg Tiernan would have
liked to have done.
And then, we find ourselves on Thomas’s
branch line, with Annie and Clarabel, like he should be, and it was almost like
old times, seeing them trying to keep Thomas in order. I must say they sound
very alike to how they did back when they last had their own voices in Thomas
and The Magic Railroad.
To think when it opens, with us seeing the
leaves on the tree, before watching the screen tilt down to see Thomas’s branch
line, and following Thomas as he runs with his two coaches, really does just
show what Nitrogen can do, and that’s why it’s been so brilliant to have had
Thomas in their hands in the past 4 years, and to have had them bring him into
the world of CGI.
We are then introduced (properly) to Winston,
who brings the Fat Controller to tell Thomas about his new job at the Blue
Mountain Quarry. It’s fair to say Winston has a rightful existence as the Sodor
track inspection car, something that I know British Railways had a few of, back
in the day. I thought Thomas and Winston’s secret joke was a good thing to see,
and I suppose you could say it’s a nod to continuity in the Fat Controller
being a bad driver, because of when his driving capability was last brought up
in the series 6 episode, Elizabeth the Vintage Lorry.
Thomas arrives at the Blue Mountain Quarry, which I must say, really is
a testament to just how much love and respect Nitrogen have for Thomas, and
Greg Tiernan’s especially for narrow gauge railway, for it’s probably the most
detailed we’ve ever seen a brand new destination, since one introduced in the
original series, and far more than just the basis for the new playset that will
be on every child’s Christmas wish list this year.
Rheneas begins to go on about having a coat
of paint, I don’t think I can say it for him in this special, but I think
Skarloey breaths much more of his original personality than he has done in
previous years. But I must say for a special that surrounds the narrow gauge
railway, it didn’t focus as much as I hoped on Skarloey, Rheneas, Sir Handel,
Peter Sam, and Rusty. They all look great in CGI, being given features that
they were never given on their models. Many other people have already pointed
out Peter Sam’s special funnel, being the same as how it was in The Railway
Series and on his old Ertl model, and despite being just as familiar to his
original funnel in the TV series, I must admit how great it is having a nod
like that to The Railway Series after all these years.
The montage of work at the Blue Mountain
Quarry, put to the new song, ‘Working Together’ was also a surprise, despite
the wonder in whether there would be more than one new song in the special. And
so afterwards, Thomas takes his train of slate to the docks, and then goes back
to Tidmouth for the night. The next day, Thomas begins to see a little green
engine, he has never seen before, running in and out of tunnels. The narrow
gauge engines’ secret is reviled, and so, Thomas is told about Luke, who is
hiding at the quarry, after doing; ‘something very bad,’ believing if anyone
found him, he would be sent away from Sodor forever!
So what are my opinions on Thomas’ new
friend? Well, he’s probably one of the best characters introduced in the CGI
series for me, ranking with Hiro and Victor. I think Nitrogen used the right
prototype for him, he’s based on the Kerr
Stuart 'Wren' class 0-4-0ST "Peter Pan" of which any Thomas fan, who
was lucky to be at Railfest 2012 at the National Railway Museum, a few months
beforehand, would have seen, and I admit his voice does suit him, even though
he’s not an Irish engine.
I’m sure most of us who were children of Thomas’ heyday,
would say the next bit in the special was their favourite, and was completely
unexpected, for when Thomas asked the other engines what did they think was the
worst thing an engine could do, I thought; “No, no, no, it’s a Sharon Miller
script, they won’t say of anything that happened in the original Thomas series”.
But then, Percy’s flashback began, and I saw Percy, on a snowy day, chugging
towards the platform, while two porters where crossing the track with a baggage
trolley. I couldn’t believe it, I almost wanted to jump up and down in the
greatest of delight, but that would have spoilt it from everyone else in the
cinema. It was A Scarf for Percy, reanimated in CGI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Of
course, nothing will ever beat the original Thomas, no matter how good the CGI
can be, but I’m SO glad Nitrogen got to re-enact some of the stories we know as
second nature, and I’m sure no one thinks of it as destroying their childhood,
after all the things HiT have done to Thomas in the last 8 years.
Henry’s flashback was next, but I wasn’t completely sure if
it was going to be The Sad Story of Henry, because it’s probably the famous
Thomas story of all, because whenever someone talks to you, knowing you’re a
huge Thomas the Tank Engine fan, they always say something on the lines of;
‘the episode I always remember from when I was a child was the one when the
green engine got stuck in the tunnel,’ BUT IT WAS!!!!!!!!!!! Made to look very
alike to the original episode, even though when they bricked Henry up in the
original episode is a great textbook example of why it could never be bettered
by CGI.
Then we had
Thomas’s, of which, I admit, didn’t know what episode it was going to be, but Down
the Mine was the first to spring to mind, and it was, made to look like the
original as we know so well, but made to look more of the CGI series. But of
course, if you had a conversation on what engine has done the worst thing in
Thomas history, you’re mind would go to Diesel, and you would properly say,
within the Duck and the Diesel trilogy being 3 of the most loved and remembered
Thomas episodes of all time, and because it probably was, the worst thing he’s
ever done was when he told lies about Duck, and Greg Tiernan has admitted that
if he could redo any of Awdry’s stories, he would do Pop Goes the Diesel and
Dirty Work, but no, the worst thing Diesel has ever done, was in Misty Island
Rescue, when he lost the Jobi logs. Poor Greg Tiernan, for of course, Diesel was
sent away for telling lies about Duck (and Henry, if you have also read the
Railway Series), but one of the engines could have brought it up, so to make us
wonder if what Luke did was as bad as something Diesel would ever do.
The next day, Thomas stops Skarloey from being hit by
Rocky, and thanks him for saving him from losing my cab, but not for saving his
driver and fireman from getting whiplash. Even thought if Skarloey did lose his
cab, we would see him as he looked back in Very Old Engines.
But then, Luke comes out to say sorry to Thomas for hiding
from him, and asks to be his friend, and then we see another montage put to
Working Together, with Thomas and Luke actually working together, but would it
have hurt to have had some more lyrics to the song, or to have thought up
another song for the special? But it yet again gave you a chance to see how
much detail Nitrogen has put into the BMQ.
Then afterwards, Winston brings the Fat Controller and the
Thin Controller, to tell Thomas that Paxton is fixed, and he can return to his
branch line. After they leave, Thomas finally asks Luke what he did, without
realising Paxton had arrived and was listening to what they were saying. Luke
tells Thomas of how he came to Sodor, on a boat with a yellow engine from far
away, and when being unloaded, knocked the other engine off into the sea.
Then they realise Paxton was listening the whole time, and
Luke goes back into the tunnel, without saying goodbye to Thomas. The next day,
Thomas is back on his branch line, but then leaves Toby to look after Annie and
Clarabel again, so to let him solve the mystery of what happened to the yellow
engine. Yes, even in this, we still have the same old error of Thomas going
off, away from his work, to do something else, but maybe I ask for too much.
Thomas looks for the yellow engine, all over the island, at
Knapford, the shunting yards, Bluff’s Cove, and Whiff's Waste Dump. All of which, Thomas has been to many times since
whenever Luke and Victor arrived on the island.
Thomas then takes Edward’s advice, and goes to the Dieselworks
to find the yellow engine. There is a great surprise for Thomas fans as he
comes into it, for I knew what engine that was, that formed part of the scrap
of old engine parts, it was Marklin!!!!!!!! Thomas then hears Paxton talking to
Diesel about Luke. Diesel fools Paxton into thinking that the Fat Controller
should be told about Luke, so that he can be sent away from Sodor. I’m sure
everyone thought this was go to see, within how many people thought that
Diesel, within meant to be being the main villain in the world of Thomas,
should have had Spencer’s role in Hero of the Rails. Thomas then goes to
Brendem, and asks Cranky about the yellow engine, and is told that all he can
remember of him, was he had a broken lamp, so Thomas races to the Steamworks, and
asks Victor if he knows anything about the yellow engine, to find out it actually
was Victor, and we are given his side of the story.
I always knew after we saw Hiro’s back story in the first
CGI special, we would probably hear Victor’s. To think it’s the first time, in
the history of the Thomas TV series that we are told a story that revolves
around an engine’s back story, I dare say I was hoping we would see Victor
working on the Cuban railways, but people might have thought of it as stereotyped,
and after Clarkson, we don’t want Thomas to be the next British icon to upset
the Hispanics, though I was quite surprised to hear Victor actually speak
Spanish. I won’t be surprised if HiT soon brings out the Take ‘n’ Play Talking
Yellow Victor that says his lines in Spanish, and I wonder what they will do
when Blue Mountain Mystery is actually translated in Spanish. But I do ask why
we had Victor’s US voice in the UK dub? Because for those who arn’t famillier
with his US voice, like the young Thomas fans of Britain, would be left in
wonder to why he has a different voice?
Back to the story, Thomas hurries off back to the Blue
Mountain Quarry to tell the narrow gauge engines the good news, but is worried
to see Diesel trying to tell the Fat Controller about Luke, before shunting
Mavis off to the Dieselworks. Thomas gets to the quarry to tell Luke that he
had talked to Victor about him. When only hearing the first part of what he had
to say, the narrow gauge engines are cross with Thomas, and then when they hear
Diesel coming, Luke hides back into the tunnel, and runs away with the other
narrow gauge engines to the upper terraces of the quarry. Thomas feels he’s let
Luke down.
Unfortunately, what happens next is what every Thomas fan
didn’t want to see, something we had hoped wouldn’t happen, but it did. Thomas
asks Rocky to put him onto Owen’s platform, and is lifted up, to then go onto the
narrow gauge lines to try to get to Luke. OH NO!!!!!!!! Why Sharon Miller? Why?
Everyone who knows anything about Thomas the Tank Engine, or indeed railways or
common sense knows that it can’t happen, but then again, you don’t know
anything about Thomas.
Thomas knocks into some buffers and finds himself on the
edge of a cliff. Luke puffs over, and drags Thomas to safety, and pushes him
back onto Owen’s platform. But Thomas is too heavy and goes down, dragging Luke
behind him, but the two engines get down safely, though not sure if there would
be as little damage as there was. But then, the Fat and Thin Controllers arrive
for the last time in Winston, and Rocky is ordered by Mr. Percival to bring Thomas
and Luke down. Diesel is about to tell the Fat Controller that he should send Luke
away, but then, Paxton comes in with Victor on a flatbed, to see the little
green engine he met, long ago, and explains that it wasn’t Luke’s fault for his
mishap, meaning Luke could come out of hiding at the quarry.
And so we come to the end of the story, with Luke being
officially enrolled as a member of the Skarloey Railway, Diesel being told off,
and Thomas and Luke remaining friends. Then, it’s time to hear the Blue
Mountain Mystery song; of which I must say, was very different from what we’ve
gotten the past few times. But of course it wasn’t over yet, for before the
credits played, we saw Thomas, at the Steamworks with Victor and Luke, ready to
finally meet the yellow engine, and it turns out to be Rheneas. A very clever
way of making a whole special lead up to another new toy in Take ‘n’play,
Wooden Railway and Trackmaster, of which us loyal Thomas collectors still fallfor, admittedly.
My finial thoughts:
The big question, was it the best Thomas special ever? Yes!
It had a much better story than usual, it referred back to the old Thomas
stories, no rhyming, and Thomas wasn’t made to look as stupid as he usually is.
I never thought I would say this all about a script written by Sharon Miller,
but as many have pointed out, the script editor for the special was her replacement
and veteran of Thomas’ heyday, Andrew Brenner, of which I, with the rest of the Thomas fandom, wish the
very best of luck to, and good luck in filling big shoes to Arc, who will
replace Nitrogen as the animation studio.
Blue Mountain Mystery just showed how far the CGI change has
gone. The narrow gauge engines looked brilliant in CGI, and there was soooooo
much attention to detail, and am I the only one to realise that the drivers of
the narrow gauge engines actually had grey uniforms just like they did back in
series 4? It really is what us Thomas fans have been waiting for, thank you
Nitrogen, for all you have done for our number one engine! And I wish Greg
Tiernan and his team, in what Skarloey might say, in having dry rails and good
running for the future!
