Thomas & Friends: Season 5 (1998) in Retrospect - The Thomas Retrospective
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- čas přidán 10. 07. 2024
- *THIS VIDEO IS A RE-UPLOAD OF THE ORIGINAL posted on November 11, 2022.
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CHAPTERS:
0:00 Intro
1:29 Production History
6:53 Overview
17:51 Characters
26:39 Episodes
31:11 Conclusion
♫ MUSIC
/0:09 A Tale of Sea Dragons - Marcus Warner
/1:28 Double Time (Tumble) - Gareth Coker
/2:26 NSR Approach Megamix - Cliqtrack
/6:52 Autumn in Virbank - Snivys
/10:27 Toby's Discovery Instrumental - Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell, Instrumental by Oliver11GWR
/10:44 Happy Ever After Instrumental - Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell, Instrumental by Oliver11GWR
/10:52 Toby and the Flood - AceofTrains Music
/11:04 Duncan Gets Spooked - AceofTrains Music
/11:21 Thomas' Theme S1 - AceofTrains Music
/11:44 Thomas' Theme S3 - AceofTrains Music
/11:52 Thomas' Theme S5 - AceofTrains Music
/12:21 Dispersion Relation - Kevin MacLeod
/16:28 Moonsong (Curly's Deep House Remix) - GameChops
/17:51 Tee Time - Vulfpeck
/22:21 Game Over - Jonas Munk Lindbo, GameChops
/26:38 If God Didn't Want Us to Snort Worms He Wouldn't Have Made Them Cylindrical! - Mimideath Looped
/28:48 Gordon's Theme S5 - AceofTrains Music
/30:15 Percy's Theme S5 - AceofTrains Music
/30:42 Duncan Gets Spooked - AceofTrains Music
/31:16 Moonsong (Curly's Deep House Remix) - GameChops
/32:33 Transforming the Thomas the Tank Engine Theme Into Fast Bebop Jazz - insaneintherainmusic
/34:34 Night Train - Mavis M
Fun Fact: Before Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Alec Baldwin was often approached by parents who recognized him as the narrator, while their children, who only knew his voice, would merely be confused.
Goes to show you that they really hit the mark on appealing to all ages.
I met George Carlin when I was very very little at an airport in Chicago, I don’t remember it but I like to imagine I pissed him off 😂😂
@@RJMachinegunu
@@RJMachinegunHow so?
@@TrainsCatsOtherStories Just by being a little kid and my mom bugging him at an airport
My parents and I still say "nice paint job James, pity about your face though!" to each other and it makes us laugh every time 😂
LOL, classic
"You call yourself a car? You're a disgrace to the road." is such a legendary line.
Loved that whole episode, definitely my favorite of the season.
George gets 3 notable roles and all 3 of them are some of the funniest episodes ever 😂
"Your color's nice james, pity about your face, though" is also great
When I was a child, I expected George to be a one-off character after seeing Steam Roller and was shocked when he reappeared in Lady Hatt's Birthday Party, and then he later returned in Bye, George. Same thing with Cranky, as I expected him to be another one-off but was pleasantly surprised when he returned for multiple reappearances.
I loved how Alec Baldwin said it
"find yourself a scrapyard" is so vicious it caught me off guard
I actually really enjoyed Alec Baldwin as the narrator. He really brought a lot of life to many characters and I especially enjoyed the voices he did for Sir Topham Hatt and Gordon.
I mostly agree. I wished he had given Donald & Douglas Scottish accents.
That was more of an issue with season 6 as neither character spoke in season 5.
@@alexklepp6479 The one appearance they have are two separate cameos, one is a bird-eye view from the sky when The Fat Controller is riding with Mrs Kyndley in Harold the helicopter in "Make Someone Happy" (we see it's Donald because he's n°9) and the other is in a cloud of a flashback seen in the episode "Horrid Lorry" recounting the events of the one that broke down with overload of flour.
@@marcusbierman5310If Donald and Douglas did speak this season, it’d be much more likely he’d even be attempting a Scottish accent behind the MIC
Season 1 - The Classic, Storybook Season ❤
Season 2 - The Gritty, Sequel Season 🤎
Season 3 - The Bright, Naturistic Season 💚
Season 4 - The Cosy, Atmospheric Season 💙
Season 5 - The Cinematic, Dark Season 🖤
Can you image if season 5 should’ve been in books of railway series
@@vanessasandoval96 If Christopher or Wilburt made more ideas and created a cinematic masterpiece with thomas in it, instead of show it became a movie.
That is a PERFECT summary of the first five seasons. Amen.
@@vanessasandoval96 Toby & The Flood, Put Upon Percy & Duncan Gets Spooked would've had some epic! illustrations for sure.
Season 5 - The Micheal Bay Season
*NAAAAHHHHHHHHH* “Call yourself a car? You’re a disgrace to the road. Find yourself a scrapyard” matched with the cadence has to be the most savage line I’ve ever heard from a Thomas episode 💀💀💀
Also, "You're too fat. You need exercise."
@@armorpro573sadly, here in the states, we got stuck with “You’re too slow.”
@@olivermensinger6022 Was that from Horrid Lorries?
@@olivermensinger6022that's sonic the hedgehogs line
14:48 I love how Alec Baldwin made Gordon sound like he's all brawn, and not too much brains. Like a big lummox, on wheels.
14:48
Well, he is mostly brawn, but he has a lot of brains too.
@@selinapersaud7629 That's true. But his brains are overshadowed by his pompous attitude.
14:58
Seasons 1-5 and 17-21 are the best years of Thomas. The Golden Age and it’s Renaissance
I’d go so far as to add seasons 6 and 7 too as they are still good (unless you disagree).
@@joshuaW5621 The Andrew Brenner renaissance
Season 1-7 and 17-21 are the best season's
Yes...
*But Seasons 6 & 7 + Jack and the Pack is also AMAZING!*
THE BRENAISSANCE
“Dear Christopher, here is your friend Thomas the Tank Engine, he wanted to come out of his Station Yard and see the world. These stories tell you how he did it.”
Greatest Intro of a series ever.
Don’t think he’d be a fan of this season though tbh.
@@joshuaW5621 why?
@@peter19426 it’s unrealistic at times. I don’t think Wilbert would be a fan of Toby floating down a river near a dam or Rusty being chased by a boulder.
@@joshuaW5621 Thomas goes fishing
@@thecoolbroscoolman4672 yeah, I don’t know how he was okay with writing a story like that but was against Henry’s Forest for breaching railway practice.
Alec Baldwin’s James voice in season 5 was perfect. I love the queerness and just really compliments james character. Like it’s comparable to knockouts voice in transformers prime. Made me sad he got rid of it in season 6
Ayyy, Knockout! We love our iconic automobile enthusiast.
Tbh George Carlin is my favorite narrator
Angelis had more snark in James, but that's just my bias.
Yes it was great
@@fluffyrock2345I liked his voice for dunkin
It's kinda funny how the Boulder from rusty and the Boulder still appears in merchandise even though it appeared in one episode and never again.
Bulstrode the barge says hi.
Cause he’s so iconic
Michael Angelis giving The Fat Controller a Yorkshire accent in this season was brilliant.
Angelis (and the UK version in general) is far superior to the US dub - hearing the US one just sounds like the crappy CGI that comes along later and pulls me out of it / sounds wrong
I grew up with the UK dub mostly and I wholeheartedly agree.
@@richardchantlerrico CGI Brenner era is fine.
The amount of effort it took to makes this season as dramatic and action packed as it is cannot be overstated. While season 4 is my favorite, season 5 still has some of my favorite episodes. "Cranky Bugs", "Duncan Gets Spooked", and of course "Rusty and the Boulder" are all here. And I'm still amazed that they got Alec Baldwin to narrate the U.S. dubs. His voice just fits this season so perfectly.
My thoughts exactly. Season four will always be my favorite and the best for me, but this season was truly amazing.
Season 5 really was the golden age of the show.
Yeah when is unlucky tug gonna do season 6 and jacks and the pack he was even planning on doing this
@@vanessasandoval96 He'll do Season 6 once he's done with all the reuploads and the pack season presumably after Season 7 at least.
So were seasons 1-4
True, This was when Thomas because it's own and was in a golden age
I remember after rewatching Rusty and the Boulder as a kid, I started wondering just how many takes it took to get all of those perfect shots for the episode.
I was overjoyed when I saw the season 5 blooper reel included many from that episode. This season alone was so memorable.
I think Percy became the crew's favorite to make stories for. Thomas had to be in a decent amount of them since it's his name in the title and he's the most popular, but seeing how much love Percy got really makes me believe it.
I loved the character interactions and savage lines in this season so, so much, they crack me up. And Alec Baldwin's narration delivery makes them even more hilarious.
Ah, Alec. He really gave James....a lot of heart when he voiced him. 😂
The lorry barge line has never left me.
Season 5 may have the most cinematic and adventurous episodes of the whole series
Yeah, pity the CGI Brenner era didn't have that in at least one season.
You know I’d say Season 5 is the Golden Era.
Its crazy how if you had asked me wether I was a thomas fan, I would say "sure, why not, its a good show" and yet so many of the clips you grabbed just activated a core memory for me and I can vividly recall the episode.
Season 5 was a crazy but an epic season of the entire show ever to exist
Season 5 really had a great mix of action and wholesome episodes. Won't lie, I think there's quite a few forgettable episodes, but the ones that slap REALLY slap!
3:26 Well done to David Maidment; he made sure the show kept the Awdry spirit in series 5.
“Your paints nice James, pity about your face though!”
😂😂😂😂still kills me at 23 years old
Just the birthday present I was hoping for.
I’m looking forward to watching this again, Tug.
Happy birthday!
Thank you
Happy Bday!
@@TheSilliestGoose655 thank you
Happy Birthday!
Ah yes my favorite season absolutely has some of the best crashes, chases, and all kinds of insanity
Season 5 is one of few seasons of the show that has phenomenal narration in BOTH English speaking dubs. Alec Baldwin and Michael Angelis both knock it out of the ball park here!
Interesting how this came out the day after Mike O'Donnell revealed that he considers seasons 6 and 7 classic, suggesting this is not the end of the classic era.
He’s not wrong.
Original upload:
Season 1 - Complete
Season 2 - Innovative
Season 3 - BIG
Season 4 - Comfy
Season 5 - Peak
Sounds about right!
-
Re-upload: *Happy 25th Anniversary, Season 5!!!*
This is one of only *2* seasons I’ve seen every episode as a kid (the other being season 8)!
Now, I’m *really* looking forward to the rest of the model series (season 6-7, The Pack, 8-11)!!!
Same here, I honestly cannot wait that much longer lol
I mean S12 ia also a model season.
Season 6 - Cute
Season 7 - Eye of the Storm
Jack and the Pack- Quaint
Season 8 - Milktoast
Season 5.
Peak atmosphere.
Peak modelwork.
Peak soundtrack.
Peak characters.
Peak Thomas.
The one thing it didn’t peak with is the new characters. A lot of them were just used to sell toys.
@@joshuaW5621 Oh, yeah, that's a good point.
Why didn't they make it so Toby found Smudger instead of some new narrow gauge engine that no one had heard about?
It was also the first season to have original stories not based on the RWS
S5 is both experimental and risky, taking a different path from the railway series. But still capturing the feel I David Maidment being the railway consultant did a really good job also nice of him to donate his salary for railway preservation!
36:33 Ending the vid with Michael Angelis going "a-woof-woof" still cracks me up. 😂
I will stand by this until the day I die
Sir Topham Hatt's most chilling, memorable, and most STERN line will always be...
"We should've left this part of the Island.... A L O N E..."
God that line sends shivers down my spine.
Gosh the Project Tiger Moth teaser at the end still gives me chills
And with that, all of the old retrospective videos have been uploaded! See you in Season 6!
Wait so he made s6 retrospective
I like to call this season the Micheal Bay season. loads of cool explosions, demolitions and effects etc.
the creators went all out on this season, coming up with all their own stories, while still remaining faithful to Awdry's vision.
Also their were loads of "Dark" episodes, like Duncan gets Spooked, which CZcams Trainz fans have done to death at this point!
It's like a Michael Bay film with actually good writing.
By faithful to Awdry’s vision do you mean a giant round boulder running down the railway and blowing up the sheds? Because that sounds like something Awdry would not be happy about.
Jk, but tbf, I don’t think Wilbert would be a fan of this season.
Alec Baldwin was in a Michael Bay Film. Pearl Harbor 2001
@@joshuaW5621the fact they got a railway consultant for some episodes speaks to the Awdry vision
@@Thomasmemoryscentral true but this doesn’t mean that that Awdry would like this season. I can’t see him being too happy about Toby and the Flood or Rusty and the Boulder.
This season was my childhood. I was born during its production, so it was the first one I saw as a child.
My favorite Thomas season, my favorite Thomas retrospective episode!🙂
There are so many things that makes this season so brilliant: the large production scale, the episodes, the lighting, the music, the characters, etc. While Season 4 has the best sets, Season 5 has the best lighting. But both of them and the other seasons never forgotten one thing: world-building, and that's an important key part to learning more about Sodor and its history. I will admit, I like many other fans was creeped out by some episodes in childhood (most notably from the VHS tapes Spills & Chills and Races Rescues & Runaways), but watching them again up to now growing up, I actually found them both action-packed and awesome!
As for David Maidment, I'd like to point out that he is truly my favorite railway consultant for Thomas. Yeah, no offense to Sam Wilkinson for there are a few things I appreciate him during the first half of the Brenner era, but David actually handles the task very well not only to ensure there are no howlers, but with stories he had written based on real railway incidents which actually have strong Railway Series vibes to them (mostly A Better View for Gordon, James & the Trouble with Trees, Baa!, Double Teething Troubles and Duncan Gets Spooked) with that unique-Awdry charm that I'm surprised the original creator never thought of himself. While being a first full non-Awdry season, this does feel as if these stories would've taken place in the early 1970s and fit within the book series. It's a shame HiT didn't let him stay on the show because it would've been more cool to hear what stories he have in mind.
As for narration, I never cared for Michael Angelis' take on the season (minus the "YIOKES!" quote). He sounded mostly unenthusiastic. Whereas for Alec Baldwin, I always love his narrations, bringing his dramatic but cheerful tone that brings the episodes to life (and from most of the VHS tapes I had in childhood, those are the ones I grew up with). Both he and George Carlin are tied as my favorite US narrators while Ringo Starr is my favorite UK narrator.
And finally for new characters, I do like some of them like Derek, Cranky, Dowager Hatt, Old Slow Coach, 'Arry & Bert (before they got toned down later on sadly), The Horrid Lorries and Old Bailey. And for the oldie characters, it's great to see some have more development like Percy, Oliver, George, James, Thomas (with his maturity yet cheeky persona) and Toad. Overall, this does feel like a finale to Classic Thomas and holds a special place in my heart.
Yeah you speak my mind. Seasons 1-5 will forever be my favorite
I said it on the original upload, and I'll say it again:
Man, I love the concept art for this season; looks like a proper comic book! The artist didn't have to go this hard on them, but there's perspective, fantastic implied movement and impact, the works.
Amazing video! Season 5 is a wonderful season. Rusty and The Boulder is epic. Seeing that boulder chasing those narrow gauge engines and then destroyed a shed was dark and very action packed. Toby and The Flood is excellent. All of the episodes are classics in Season 5.
I am so glad that these Thomas retrospective videos have been reposted.
Honestly this is my favorite season.
Also season 3
unlucky tug seems to have had a blast recording this
Why wouldn't he?
@@armorpro573 true
Season 1 The Storybook One
Season 2 The Gritty One
Season 3 The beautiful One
Season 4 The Cosy One
Season 5 The Adventure one
Season 6 the cute One
Season 7 The New One
The Golden Era of Thomas
I still remember seeing this for the first time and being utterly excited because The Good Old Days came out 3 days after my birthday, so seeing classic thomas return after all this time was amazing
Alec Baldwin is atleast 50% of why I loved season 5 so much
You ever wonder if someone years from now, who just discovered this channel, has ever single date in every video wrong?
“How nice of him for advertising something that’s… been out for months”
I find it wild how people think that this is the end of the classic Thomas. Honestly I still think it has a shine on later seasons
It's the end of the golden years of Thomas
Really love the fact you put in a track from No Straight Roads! Never thought I'd see two of my favorite franchises come together like this, but I am happy for it! Cheers!
Oh yes, this season was easily where quality for Thomas was at its best. I think when creating an epic fan-series of Thomas, than you gotta take inspiration from S5. Even though S4 is my favorite season, I just love and everything it has to offer, as this season was at its peak. Shame there will never be another season of Thomas like this
I love season 5 solely because the writers weren't afraid to take risks. They had to write completely original storylines without ruining the overall aesthetic of the show.
Yeah, even in CGI which would be cool on a cinematic and darker scale.
Good job for getting your vids reuploaded for your remade channel tug
This is the best season of Thomas and friends. In fact, I think you could make a good argument. This might be the best thing to ever come out of the entire franchise, it could legitimately rival the railway series. (I’m not saying it’s better than the books, I’m just saying it’s up there in quality where it would be a pretty close match..)
Pity the CGI series didn't do a season in the same way as Series 5. Would be more epic.
Oh, it could never be matched. But seasons four and five comes very close to it. I mean the earlier part of season four and all of season five.
What a season. Glad this is back.
33:07 THANK YOU FOR KEEPING THIS! I LOVE THIS TEASER!
Thanks for these videos. Sucks it got posted down
The season of crashes and explosions along with much darker stories
While the current reboot of Thomas was born out of playing safe with the marketing options for the franchise, Season 5 was born out of venturing boldly into new territory for the franchise, yet while 'All Engines Go' deviates from established canon, Season 5, despite not being based on stories Wilbert Awdry had written, conveyed respect for the intentions of the original author. Regards, Samuel Farris.
As a little kid that boulder scene gave me nightmares haha. I don’t have much experience with the franchise but it was nice seeing one of my childhood memories being explored (:
My spookiest episode has to be Percy's Ghostly Trick
Am I the only one suddenly craving a Sodor’s Finest on Sir Topham Hatt?
15:14 to 16:19 had me dying, great work. sidenote: i love how George just trundles away with a smile on his face.
"The two decided to stray away from The Railway Series once and for all."
This is Arlesdale erasure.
Holy @@@@ this is good! Well done Nick, I am just laughing my own guts out over here!!
Happy 25 years to Thomas & Friends' 5th series (1998-2023)!🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
LOL, 25 years already? Man, how much times has passed
@@armorpro573 Yeah, it's been 25 years since the fifth series was aired on 14th Septmber 1998 on Cartoon Network in the UK.
The same year I was born on 9th March 1998.
@@TheVisualMediaArchive98 Yeah I know
17:56 Henry when the Welsh coal hits
If Carlin is my favorite narrator, Baldwin is a super close second. His energy and characterizations were all so much fun. Sure, stuff like his take on James absolutely would not fly today, but we can't deny it's become pretty iconic and you can see where he may have gotten it from based on his personality and vanity. His snot-nosed shrill of Bill and Ben, the prim and proper take on Oliver with Toad sounding like his butler being such an interesting contrast to Carlin's more New York-accented take on the engine with Toad having an Igor-ish tone. Would have loved to hear his Duke if the character wasn't dropped after S4.
I still get a little excited whenever I see the project tiger mouth trailer love it tug can’t wait for other installments
I used to get chills as a kid when the Fat Controller said “We should have left this part of the island… alone.” Sent my little head running wild with all sorts of ideas about what we weren’t being told about Sodor.
When talking about tone, you cracked me up by the point you say “holy shit, a giant boulder”, it sounded like you got more intense with each one
Series 5 really is a great Thomas season to play with darker tones and exciting stuff. Pity The CGI series didn't get to do that as well. It would be awesome. I suppose the adult straight man side of Thomas can be shown in CGI Brenner era sometimes despite remaining cheeky.
Tbh i feel is overatted
@@chavopatyfanstudios2005 Not to most fans. They loved it for a reason.
This season has been always my favorite, loved all the disasters and darker story lines in some of the episodes
Me too
Season 5 is the big one! It’s the coolest of the cool. The greatest of the great. Everything about Season 5 is amazing. It’s also the only season without Knapford Station, and the dark tone, action pack, humor and great music. If anything I’d say this was where Thomas started and ended. it is hands down the greatest of the little blue tank engine.
I agree
Hearing the song "Dispersion Relation" unironically not in a Jobbythehong setting. It fits so well but caught me so off guard.
Also nice video!
Were almost caught up on everything Unlucky Tug, now Season 6 retrospective please, after the Magic Railroad overview.
Season 4 is still my favorite, but season 5 is inches behind it. "Rusty and The Boulder" and "Haunted Henry" (such a criminally underrated episode) remain all time favorites. Season 5 was a force to be reckoned with. Sadly, season 6 just couldn't keep the momentum. The stories/sets felt bland, Baldwin's voice acting was substantially lazier...sans for a few bright spots I never returned to it as much. Looking forward to that Retrospective in the future. So glad to see all of these coming back, Tug!
The roasting was so funny that everytime I watched this I can’t helped but to laughed
17:57 look who just got back on the welsh coal again
So ready for the Season 6 recap
“I deserve a new paint job, look at me!”
“I’d rather not!”
15:34 George literally just said the family friendly version of kys to Caroline lmao
The session of burns and insults 🤣💕 love this season so much!
The season that's as old as me!
Can't wait for the S6+7 retrospective I probably like those more than the average Thomas fan!
Man, you look at Series 3, 4 and 5 and you think, “they had it.” The sets, the props, the score, the writing - it was all perfect here. Series 6 and 7 are good but definitely effected by the movie.
It makes you wonder what HiT were thinking, they had a winning formula here. As a child I was just used to this level of quality, I was too young to realise that I was taking the craftsmanship, talent and passion for granted
HIT didn't really care about the show's quality. All they cared about was another cash grab like many other kids shows at the time
I agree with you, I was a little bit older probably than you were, at the age of eight, but back then I was just looking for something to watch. It wasn’t until now when I am really focused on character analysis that I noticed all the quality I was missing all those years.
@@armorpro573you meant modern hit entertainment which they first butchered angelina ballerina after that they butchered in season 8 a bit, but they completely butchered in season 9 to 15, to a lesser extent season 16
15:41 is the best and funniest savage comment. "Your color's nice, James. Pity about your face, though!!"
Am I the only one out of here, who NEVER realized Mr. Conductor in magic railroad, was the same person who narrated season 5 of Thomas? Idk I thought that was funny
Definitely my favorite installment so far.
is no one gonna acknowledge the fact that Henery's eyes are going different directions at 17:56 in the video
Finally, it’s back up.
Can’t wait for Season 6 retrospective
My favourite episodes are cranky bugs, horrible lorries, Oliver find and teething troubles. It was a exiting season!
As much as I love season 5, I always felt sad that Edward didn’t get a starring episode. Even when I was a kid I felt the same way. I really wish that Thomas was swapped out with Edward in Thomas, Percy, and old slow coach and the episode was instead called Edward, Percy, and old slow coach. I also really wish that Percy was swapped out with Edward and Thomas was swapped out with Percy in Happy Ever After and the episode was instead called Edward and the wedding.
Yeah that would be kind of nice.
That would’ve been sweet. Also an interesting dynamic that we haven’t really seen since season 1.
Personally I'd swap Percy out with Edward in that episode Thomas and Edward always felt like best friends in the Railway Series
@@fanofeverything30465 I disagree, Edward wouldn’t tease James about his tankers catching fire. If you were to to swap out Thomas with Edward, then Edward would still stay perfectly in character and the dialogue would be the same. Percy also should’ve been swapped out with Edward in Happy Ever After, have Thomas be swapped out with Percy and have the episode retitled as Edward and the wedding. I believe that if Percy was female instead of male (but still have her be named Percy and have her look and sound identical to her male counterpart in every single way) then this would’ve been the case.
@@Woodenrailwayoliver20 Why would this have been the case if Percy was female
this came at the perfect time bc im doing a s5 rewatch atm lol
I've been going through all these videos trying to figure out which season of Thomas we had as I was growing up, because those discs are LONG gone now, and finally figuring out it was this one legitimately explains a lot about the type of person I grew up as in hindsight 💀the sense of humor and random harrowing moments really does meld with me well
Ikr? This was the epitome of Thomas
THE THOMAS RETROSPECTIVE IS BACK, BABY!
4:51 OH MAH GAW !!!!!!!!!11 HIS FACE FLEW OFF!!!!!!!!!!1
Seasons 4 and 5 are my favorite classic seasons of Thomas.
Said it before, Michel Angelis had his best season in Season 5 with how he nails all the narration throughout from the serious bits, to the comedy and characters voices, especially his James voice.
The Fat Controller winning the MVP award is like Mr McMahon winning the Royal Rumble or WWE Championship.
16:45 mixed tone in a nutshell
Just on your comment about the changing score for a character over a season.. I think this is a very British tv thing from 90s modern Dr who (until the last season) did this really well.
I'm a bit mixed in my opinion of Thomas's 5th season. While I think it was pretty good for the most part, I feel like it was when the show started getting sillier than it had been previously for better and for worse. Story elements of episodes like Snow and Rusty and the Boulder exemplify this (Snow was where we got the first instance of a steam engine "having an engine"). Deviating from the strict realism of the Railway Series was not a bad thing for the show to do. It afforded a bit more leeway in terms of storytelling. However, the show sometimes stretched credibility a bit beyond reason and this season was where that started happening more. Don't get me wrong. The good still far outweighs the bad in this season. I just feel that in comparison to seasons 3-4, season 5 falls slightly short in terms of quality. Compared with what was to come, however, this was still good Thomas & Friends material.
Well, it might not be exactly Awdry-based style but season 5 was handled a lot better than both HIT and CGI combined. We got several amazing soundtrack from O'Donnell and Campbell, decent narration from two well-known individuals, and unique set designs that play a huge role in worldbuilding. Not to mention the darker tones associated with episodes like Haunted Henry, Duncan Gets Spooked, etc.
The characters still act in accordance to their true selves, and we even get to hear some funny interactions. The color levels are honestly the best I've seen coupled with the variety of tone. You never know what you might get with each episode, which is important for a kids show.
Don't get me started on the amount of action and thriller scenes. This goes to show how dedicated the producers were at keeping us entertained. Sure some of the episodes like Rusty and the Boulder may seem unrealistic, but they were still handled with a bit of maturity. You would hardly get any of that in modern days.
That's why season 5 remains as one of my top favorites alongside season 3.
17:58 Henry's eyes are wonky 😅
I had Make Someone Happy on VHS. That was my introduction to season 5