Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree

"Hush! I can hear something!" "Probably the wind." "No, listen!" "Och! It's Thomas! Come on, the poor wee engine must be frozen to the frames in there!"

- Donald and Douglas

Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree is the twenty-sixth episode of the second season. In the US, this episode was first released on the VHS release of Shining Time Station's 1990 Christmas special 'Tis a Gift.

Plot
It's the twenty-third of December and the final preparations are being made for a carol party to be held at Tidmouth. All the engines are working hard setting up the decorations. This year, the Fat Controller wants this carol party to be extra special.

The Fat Controller is waiting very impatiently when Thomas arrives. The Fat Controller tells Thomas that their Christmas tree has came and Thomas has to fetch it while Duck watches over Annie and Clarabel. Thomas is very excited and rushes off, collecting the tree safely, but on the way home, crashes into a snow drift and gets stuck. Thomas knows that he must get back in time, and whistles, but can't get out of the heavy snow. Suddenly, an avalanche erupts and buries Thomas and the tree.

Back at the yards, the engine are waiting for Thomas. His delay begins to make them cross. The Fat Controller quiets them down and tells them that snow has knocked the telephone lines down, and they must assume that he is stranded. Everyone now feels sorry, and Donald and Douglas puff away to save him. They soon reach a snow drift much deeper than the rest. A cry for help is heard, but Douglas thinks it's the wind. Hearing the cry again, they realize that they are at the drift where Thomas is buried.

Time passes as the workmen decide to free him. Thomas' driver and fireman, who had taken shelter in a nearby cottage, join the rescue, and Thomas is freed from the snow. Thomas follows the twins home, and arrive just as night falls. The Fat Controller rewards the engines by granting permission to sing carols. The engines happily chuff away to the station. Lights come on, and The Fat Controller declares three cheers for Thomas and his friends.

Harold soon joins the party and drops off Father Christmas, much to everyone's joy. As the carols begin, Thomas tells Percy that it's no fun getting stuck in snow, but it was all worth it for the celebration. Thomas then wishes everyone a Happy Christmas.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Donald and Douglas
 * Sir Topham Hatt (not named in Ringo US narration)
 * Percy (does not speak)
 * Toby (does not speak)
 * Duck (does not speak)
 * Harold (does not speak)
 * Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
 * Father Christmas (does not speak)
 * Edward (cameo)
 * Henry (cameo)
 * Gordon (cameo)
 * James (cameo)
 * Bill and Ben (cameo)
 * Diesel (cameo)
 * BoCo (cameo)
 * Terence (cameo)
 * Bertie (cameo)
 * Trevor (cameo)
 * Jem Cole (cameo)
 * The Policeman (cameo)

Locations

 * Tidmouth
 * Ffarquhar Sheds
 * Suddery Castle
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * The Watermill
 * Shunting Yards
 * Wellsworth (deleted scene)

Trivia

 * This episode is based on the story of the same name, released alongside the series in 1986.
 * Father Christmas seems to be a dressed up model of the Fat Controller.
 * Stock footage from Thomas, Terence and the Snow is used, as is mirrored stock footage from Thomas' Train.
 * This is the last episode of the following:
 * Narrated by Ringo Starr in the UK and US and Louise Raeder in Sweden.
 * Produced by Robert D. Cardona.
 * Made by Clearwater Features.
 * Britt Allcroft's last episode as executive producer until Salty's Secret.
 * The last episode until the seventeenth season to have the same narrator for both the UK and US, excluding the episodes on New Friends for Thomas and Other Adventures and the original cut of the twelfth season.
 * Where Donald and Douglas' nameplates are on their smokeboxes until Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure.
 * This is the only Ringo Starr narrated episode to be released in the US without him formally re-recording certain lines. Thus, all lines mentioning the Fat Controller were simply omitted rather than changed to mention Sir Topham Hatt as had been done for Ringo's other US releases.
 * Deleted scenes show that Henry, Gordon and Duck may have been intended to play larger roles in this episode.
 * A deleted scene shows Thomas smiling when he is pulled out of the snow drift.
 * A deleted scene shows Thomas next to Henry and Gordon at Tidmouth instead of BoCo.
 * George Carlin's narration of this episode was never featured on an episode of Shining Time Station. It first appeared on Thomas' Christmas Party and Other Favorite Stories.

Goofs

 * As Thomas crashes into the snow, he looks more annoyed than surprised.
 * When the engines whistle loudly, Henry and Gordon are smiling and Donald has Edward's cross face.
 * When the narrator says "Then they set off once more to finish their long journey", on the left side of the screen the space between the leaves and the tree is green.
 * In the aerial shot of the station when the lights come on, Bertie is stationary, at the back of the shot and missing a Christmas hat. Not long after there's a close-up of him with Trevor and Terence, now wearing a hat.
 * In the aerial shot of the station, Annie and Clarabel don't have hats on, but later gain them.
 * A wire was used to hold Harold when he lands.
 * BoCo's left eye is scratched.
 * When the narrator says "Everyone cheered and the party began", Thomas was now next to Harold instead of in front of the station. Then, at the end of the episode, he is in his original position again. Edward is also seen in the station instead of in front of the station and Henry, Gordon, and BoCo have disappeared.
 * Donald and Douglas' nameplates are missing in several scenes.
 * In the restored version, a camera tripod is seen when Donald and Douglas set off to find Thomas.
 * When the engines head to the Christmas party, Thomas' head lamp isn't on and the other engines are not wearing head lamps at all.
 * In the restored version, in the shot of Thomas and Percy towards the end, a blue light behind them was covered up. This is likely to be a crew member standing in the background.
 * Thomas' eyes are wonky throughout the episode.
 * In the shot of Bill and Ben with Diesel, Ben's nameplate was loose.
 * While the "'Tis a Gift" VHS features Ringo Starr's US narration with all lines mentioning the Fat Controller omitted, the footage remains unchanged.  As a result, some of the scenes of the Fat Controller appear to be longer than necessary, and one shot of him is shown with no accompanying dialogue.
 * In the overhead shot of the station, Terence's eyes are wonky.
 * When Sir Topham Hatt tells the engines they can go enjoy the carols, Donald and Douglas are missing their nameplates, Donald's left eyebrow (viewers perspective right) is missing, and Thomas' face was crooked.
 * In the overhead shot of the station, none of the trucks next to Annie and Clarabel have faces, but when we see the shot of Trevor, Terence, Bertie, Annie and Clarabel, a truck next to Annie gains a face.
 * When Donald and Douglas set off to rescue Thomas, the Fat Controller was standing by the track opposite them. In the next shot, the Fat Controller has already gotten back to his car on the other side of the turntable long before the twins run round it.
 * Thomas' face moves when he says "Happy Christmas, Percy".

Home Media Releases
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UK

 * The Deputation and other Stories
 * The Best of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends
 * Thomas' Christmas Party and 17 other stories
 * Ghost Train and other stories/Time for Trouble and other stories
 * Your Favourite Story Collection
 * The Biggest Ever Christmas Collection
 * Seasonal Scrapes
 * Christmas Collection
 * The Complete Second Series
 * Classic Collection
 * Children's Christmas Favourites
 * Thomas Comes To Breakfast and Other Stories (UK)

US

 * 'Tis a Gift
 * Thomas' Christmas Party and Other Favorite Stories
 * Thomas' Christmas Wonderland and other Thomas Adventures
 * Thomas' Snowy Surprise and Other Adventures
 * Ultimate Christmas

DVD Boxsets

 * Celebrate with Thomas
 * Holiday Favorites
 * Sodor Friends Holiday Collection

AUS

 * The Complete Second Series
 * The Deputation and other Stories

DVD Boxsets

 * Complete Series 1-10 (Boxset)

NZ

 * Bumper Video Collection Volume 3

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Volume 11
 * The Complete Works of Thomas the Tank Engine 1 Vol.6
 * Thomas's Christmas
 * The Complete DVD Box 1

GER

 * The 9 Best Christmas Stories
 * Thomas and His Friends Vol. 6
 * Lots of Little Helpers

NOR

 * Ghost Train (Norwegian VHS)
 * Thomas-Festival (Norwegian VHS)
 * Thomas Celebrates Christmas (Norwegian VHS/DVD)

PHL

 * Edward's Exploit (DVD)

IN

 * Ghost Train and Other Stories

UKR

 * A Train Thomas and Friends

BRA

 * Christmas in the Beautiful Land of Thomas

NL

 * Merry Christmas!

SA

 * Volume 4 (VHS)

ITA

 * On Christmas Eve

MYS

 * Edward's Exploit and Other Thomas Adventures
 * The Deputation and Other Adventures
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