Customer Reviews

Thomas the Tank Engine And Friends - Make Someone Happy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My son - 3 yrs now - has enjoyed Thomas stories & videos for about 1.5 years. But I have to say I'm often torn ... these engines really are quite crabby & cranky & rude to each other. It all comes out in the wash, & everyone makes up in the end, but ... gee they're rude. And I spend a lot of time encouraging my little tyke NOT to be rude. To be kind & compassionate! So what's a mother to do?

It's interesting that now, he will not watch any of the story videos, prefering those with only songs. If a story comes on, he insists that we forward FAST to the next song. I guess he's also tired of the crabbing & back-biting! (Sounds awful, but they really do!)

These videos cannot be beaten for the sheer beauty of the world they create - can I PLEASE go live on the Island of Sodor?! I just wish the Rev. Awbrey (sp!) had made his engines a little kinder!

It's been awhile since I did a Thomas review but i've had this one thought out for awhile. Let me start off with the fact that James used be be a moderatly good character. Now all he can do is whine. James has never been a nice engine but he was considered a tough guy. Now Salty with his two major roles is now a tough guy. I think before making new characters they should use the old ones that are never mentioned. Duck has not had a major role since Alec Bladwin took over. Niether has Daisy, Bertie, Terence, BoCo, Duke, or Sir Handel. The engines that have had bad major roles are Edward, Gordon, Henry, Toby, Donald, Douglas, Mavis, or Oliver. I never like Bill and Ben from the start so I didn't list them. If anyone from Hit Entertainment ever reads this have them fire Alec Baldwin.

My 22 month old son loves the Thomas series. In all we have The Best of Thomas, The Best of James and this one. Although my son doesn't seem to mind the narrator's voice, I find Alec Baldwin's narration horrible. The narrator in the Best of Thomas video is much better. Alec Baldwin narrates the Best of James video as well, and that is my son's favorite one of the three. So, he doesn't seem to mind. I can also understand those parents who are concerned about the rude comments, despite things working out in the end. I find the same in the Best of James video as well. (I don't much care for James.) However, my son loves it nonetheless, and I don't think he is learning bad habits as a result. Quite the opposite--I think he wants to watch to see how things resolve in the end.

Make Someone Happy is a decent video with a few decent episodes. Alec Baldwin narrates, and his narration has pros and cons. The pros are the narration itself, is rather good and Baldwin does give characters creative character voices but the cons are that some episodes aren't that exciting and Baldwin does make James sound like a sterotypical gay man. But those Chinese Dragon and eye rolling complaints or full of crap. The Chinese dragon never said anything and all the engines roll their eyes to make up for the fact that their mouthes don't move! Also, not to sound rude but those complaints about the lack of a strong female character are just annoying. Mrs. Kindly needs help in about 2 episodes in the entire show, and in her first appearance she saves Thomas and is rewarded with a Christmas party. A female steam engine wouldn't be needed, because Mavis is a strong female character and an engine. Though it seems like HIT listened because Emily was introduced a few seasons later. Happy Ever After, James and the Trouble with Trees, and A Suprise For Percy are the best episodes on this Thomas & Friends release.

this is my son's favorite thomas tape (he has 7 of them!), and it would be mine as well if alec baldwin was not the narrator. i find it offensive and annoying that he chooses to verbalize james as an over-the-top, effeminate, gay character and he does so in a very mocking way. james' exultations of "oh puhleeze!" and "oh heyulp (help)" and numerous inferred eye rolls are ridiculous. i find this akin to his portraying the chinese dragon as saying "ah so, me so solly...." i so wish they would rerelease this video without mr. baldwin's narration, not only because it is annoying and offensive but because it is a well-written script with interesting situations for little kids that would otherwise be valuable.

Personally, this is one of my favorite Thomas videos. It is better than all the other Thomas videos that came out around that time like Cranky Bugs; Races, rescues, and runaways; and Spills & Chills. Some overprotective parents have said that there is to much nasty words exchanged from the engines. So what. It's not even close to being "nasty" and besides, kids will here stuff like that someday. Most of these stories focus on Percy but they are still very good anyway. My favorite is Thomas and the Rumours. Here are the stories:

Make Someone Happy A:
Thomas is tired of James bragging about how good he is and saying that he's to important to pull messy coal cars. He tells James that if he makes someone else happy for a change, he'll make himself happier too, but James refuses to believe him. Meanwhile, Mrs. Kindly is looking forward to her sister coming up to visit her but finds out that she can't come, so she is sad now. Will James cheer her up, or will he just keep trying to feel important?

A Big Surprise for Percy B:

Pushing and pulling cars back and forth all day, that's what Percy has to do every day and he is very board; he longs for a surprising thing to happen. Well he gets it soon enough when the cars break free from his train and start running away.

Happy Ever After A:
Mrs. Kindly daughter is getting married and Percy is on a mission to find the good luck package which must contain: something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. But just where does he find those things Percy is wondering. With some help along the way, Percy will soon find the good luck package.

Thomas & the Rumours A:
When the children tell Thomas that their playground has been closed down, Thomas tries to help them. Then, when Sir Topham Hatt has Harold take a visitor around the island instead of the engines, the big engines get mad because they think that Harold is taking over their work. Now Thomas has two problems to solve, but maybe they are connected somehow.

James & the Trouble with Trees A:
When Sir Topham Hatt sends James to help Thomas and Percy clear the line of fallen trees, they warn James how dangerous trees can be and James doen't listen to them. But who will come an help him when he encounters a giant tree?
Baa! A:
Percy is sent to Maithwate station with some flowers for the "Best Dressed Station" award and runs into a hungry ram. Luckly, his driver is able to lure the ram away with some food.
Then later, the station gets trashed and everyone thinks it can only be one thing, the ram. But come to find out, the ram isn't the culprit, he is just making sure the real suspects do no more damage.

Again, great Thomas video. Even the music video, "It's Great to be an Engine," is good. I'd recommend that you buy this Thomas video to add to your collection today. If you don't, you're missing out.

Make Someone Happy is a decent video with a few decent episodes. Alec Baldwin narrates, and his narration has pros and cons. The pros are the narration itself, is rather good and Baldwin does give characters creative character voices but the cons are that some episodes aren't that exciting and Baldwin does make James sound like a sterotypical gay man. But those Chinese Dragon and eye rolling complaints or full of crap. The Chinese dragon never said anything and all the engines roll their eyes to make up for the fact that their mouthes don't move! Happy Ever After, James and the Trouble with Trees, and A Suprise For Percy are the best episodes on this Thomas & Friends release.

I read some of the reviews. The one where it says that there all male charecters is not right. There is Mavis,Lady,Daisy, and Caroline and probally more on the way but it's the story that counts. Any way this video is really good. Of course it's not my favorite but good. If your going to buy this tape you'll be enjoyed as well as your child or children, and quite funny.

positive first: alec Baldwin speaks very good and understandable for my 3 year old.
negative:the thomas the tank engine dvds are very simple made. Especially the people have only one or two expressions.
negative: on the whole dvd is no acting female engine and one acting lady, Mrs. kimbal. She really is a helpless lady in distress, who needs the support of all the male engines and sir topham hatt.
I hope, not even ladys 100 years ago where as the reverent pictures them.

This definitely isn't one of the best Thomas tapes. "Baa" and "Happy Ever After" are alright, purely because the music in them is really good, but the other episodes are some of the worst in the series, particularly "Thomas and the Rumours." Alec Baldwin's narration is at an all-time low here; his James voice is bad in most episodes, but on this tape it's so awful you might want to cover your ears whenever James starts talking! So, with a combination of weak storylines and terrible narration, this shouldn't be on your must-have list of Thomas items.

PS. I'm getting really annoyed with all this reviews saying that there are no female characters in the series except Mrs Kyndley, and that Mrs Kyndley always has to be rescued. She's had three episodes devoted to her; in her first episode, she did have to be rescued, but she saved Thomas first; in her second episode, she needed the engines' help to make a good luck package, and that hardly counts as being rescued, does it? In her third episode, the Fat Controller and the engines tried to cheer her up, and that doesn't count as being rescued either! The "no female characters except Mrs Kyndley" comment is absolutely garbage. I can count at least eleven other characters in the series who are female. So will you please stop trying to complain that the series is sexist? It's people like you who are ruining the world for the rest of us, chaining yourself to gates and demanding that words like "manhole" are changed to "personhole!" The only thing that's even remotely sexist about this tape is Alec Baldwin giving Mrs Kyndley a falsetto, and that's not bad enough to get worked up about, is it?