Series 1 - Episode 1 - Thomas and Gordon

The opening scene of Thomas and Gordon shows the viewer that he is in for a story about mainly one engine as Thomas is described thoroughly. His shape and other physical characteristics are mentioned, whereas Gordon's are not described thoroughly apart from the fact that he is big and proud.

The opening scene also displays the technical achievements of the model makers through the custom Thomas model and its moving eyes.

The music starts off very cheery and playful, which allows the viewer to relax and enter the charming world that these characters live in: Sodor.

Already, we see the cheekiness and eagerness of Thomas and how this can get him into sticky situations. The story for this episode is rather simple, but still effective. Its simplicity allows us to be prepared for more complex story lines in the future. The script for this episode is a fairly good adaptation of the original story by Reverend Wilbert Awdry.

I think that it was wise for the filmmakers to focus on only two of the characters in this episode and add more characters as the series progressed. That choice helped to keep the first series fresh.

The episode was a great choice for the first episode as it provided the opportunity to showcase many locales across Sodor, such as the Viaduct, Wellsworth Station, Knapford Station, Tidmouth Sheds, and (soon-to-be) Henry's Tunnel. The standout piece of music in this episode is the theme played while Thomas is spinning around on the turntable. It just really captures the humiliation of Thomas and his realization that cheekiness can hurt him in the end. The theme also displays the "dizziness" of the turntable.

The episode concludes with a beautiful shot of Thomas crossing the Viaduct, which serves as a metaphor for his maturity, although he still has a long way to go. The background placed behind the Viaduct really "sells" that scene for me.

Rating:

4/4