ThomasNATION Reviews - The Tiger Train
April 29, 2023
If you were to ask any long time fan of Thomas The Tank Engine what their thoughts were on the 'Big World, Big Adventures' rebrand of the original television series as a whole, they would more often than not tell you that the objectively biggest problem with the rebrand and the thing I think most fans agree is the least enticing aspect about it is that the international episodes have to exist because of how former series producer Ian McCue pitched the rebrand to Mattel since they wanted to literally take Thomas to the countries in the show they wanted to expand the brand in. A big problem is that none of these characters feel like they were inspired since they feel like they were invented just to give Thomas someone to talk to and the overwhelming majority of them are so one-note, forgettable and dare I say it, a little stereotypical and racist. Why not have episodes that focus on them instead of having Thomas be the main in every single one? Fleshing these characters out would make fans like them a little more and thus make us care a little bit more about the episodes. This is actually something they improved on in Season 24. The episode with Yong Bao and his origins was one of, if not, my favorite of the era, since they wrote him like a character with some depth and it left me wanting to see him again. Why on earth they decided to do this at the very end of the 'Big World, Big Adventures' saga instead of up front in Season 22, I'll never understand. Just incredibly bad decision making, but that's Mattel for ya!
But now that Yong Bao is making his first official visit to The Island of Sodor instead of arriving by accident like he did with the other international engines on their way to the Great Railway Show back in 'The Great Race', was he able to teach Thomas and the audience watching about what it truly means to be brave? Well, while some could argue that the plot for this episode is similar to Season 9's "Skarloey the Brave" in terms of Thomas wanting to prove that he's braver than Yong Bao by racing down Cannonball Curve backwards, it doesn't really become like said episode until the very last shot of the episode when the fireworks scare the two engines "down the hills and round the bends"-see what I did there? Heck, isn't the moral for the episode about how being brave is about what you do even when you do feel scared what Gator used to teach Percy about being brave back in 'Tale of the Brave'? So, you might be wondering "why do I still enjoy this episode?" and I can tell you in two words: intense action.
Remember back in my 'No Power, No Problem' review when I talked about Generation 4 of My Little Pony struggling to find its footing in Season 1 and how Season 2 was stepping up its game with memorable moments? Well, that's exactly what we're getting right now with this second season of All Engines Go since the staff behind the show are seeing how the audience reacts and tweaking things to make the show a little more impactful and that's something I really have to applaud them for thus I am proud to give 'The Tiger Train' a rating of a 4 out of 5. Looks like the rest of this season will be grrrrreat, but we'll just have to wait and see on that!
Final Rating: 4/5
About the Author: True Blue
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