ThomasNATION Classic Reviews - Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree
December 02, 2023
You know, I love Christmas and Christmas has always been a big part of Thomas The Tank Engine in both The Railway Series and the television series and that's no surprise as The Railway Series itself was penned by an Anglican vicar. Thomas' Christmas history started back in 1952 in the book Toby The Tram Engine with the story "Mrs. Kyndley's Christmas". Interestingly enough, this was the only Christmas story to ever be featured in a Railway Series book. Then, the television series came along and Britt Allcroft asked the Reverend W. Awdry to write a Christmas story for the final episode of the first season set to air on Christmas Day. The result was "Thomas' Christmas Party". The tradition of the Railway Series spin-offs to coincide with the television series continued into the second season with "Thomas And The Missing Christmas Tree", this time written by Christopher Awdry. After Season Two, the episodes were written by the writing staff and remained fairly good for the most part...and with only two days to go until the most wonderful time of the year, we may be in for a blue Christmas unless someone comes to the rescue of "Thomas And The Missing Christmas Tree"!
THOMAS AND THE MISSING CHRISTMAS TREE: Thomas is sent to collect a Christmas tree, but when he ends up getting lost along the way home, Donald and Douglas set off to rescue him in time for the Christmas celebrations.
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Sweet holy Moses, what a gathering! Not only did The Island of Sodor step up their game in fanfare, but they have truly added a lot to their railway. Just look at all these characters! It's quite impressive actually, Sir Topham Hatt's net worth must be going up with all this expansion going on.
This was a decent episode. It didn't focus on the usual tropes that a Christmas special has like giving to others and such and I'm not saying those themes shouldn't be mentioned at some point, but it's nice that the first couple of specials like these haven't been so cliche. The overall use of characters was not as uniting as "Thomas' Christmas Party" either, but it was still good to see everyone in a good mood and bless Donald and Douglas for being so cool about things. As for why Thomas didn't have a snowplow before collecting the tree, I don't know. As to why Diesel was in on this exclusive hangout, I don't know either. That does bug me, but whatever. They're just questionable decisions, that's all I can say. Since this was Christmas themed, there were multiple holiday renditions of various motifs like the twins', Thomas' and the watermill, all awesome when heard. The areas shown are well decorated too. The prettiest of sets goes to The Watermill, Suddery Castle and the Tidmouth Station party. Kudos to you, set designers!
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But yeah, what a way to exit out on Season 2 and that's why I'm giving "Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree" a rating of 4.5/5.
Final Rating: 4.5/5
About the Author: True Blue
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