Creaky Cranky (episode)

"I'm sorry, sir. I was..." "You are causing confusion and delay! The Duke and Duchess have no wood, straw bales, or eggs. Now I see you have them all here. Cranky is broken and you, Thomas, think it's a good time to try being a bird!"

- Thomas and Sir Topham Hatt

Creaky Cranky is the first episode of the thirteenth season.

Plot
It is the day of the spring party at the Duke and Duchess of Boxford's Summer House. Thomas arrives at Brendam Docks to collect eggs for the children to paint when he sees James and Henry leaving with their loads for the party. Once Cranky unloads the box of eggs, Thomas teases Cranky by calling him "Creaky Cranky", and Cranky teases Thomas back by calling him "Tiny Thomas". Thomas decides to prove Cranky that he can pull heavy loads by collecting James' load of timber and Henry's load of straw bales and taking them back to the Docks. In return, Cranky lifts the respective loads one at a time proving to Thomas that he is not creaky. However, when Thomas tells Cranky to lift him, Cranky only succeeds in breaking his cable and damaging his gearing system. The Fat Controller arrives and scolds both Thomas and Cranky for causing delay and being very silly. Once Thomas is back on the rails again, he asks Spencer to take the heavy loads to the party whilst he helps Cranky by collecting new parts from the Sodor Steamworks. When Thomas returns with the new parts, he knows that Cranky is not creaky and, in return, Cranky knows that Thomas is not tiny at all.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * James
 * Spencer
 * Victor
 * Cranky
 * Kevin
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Gordon (cameo)
 * Percy (cameo)
 * The Duke and Duchess of Boxford (mentioned)

Locations

 * Brendam
 * Sodor Steamworks
 * The Duke and Duchess of Boxford's Summer House
 * The Coal Hopper
 * The Washdown

Trivia

 * This is the first episode directed by Greg Tiernan.
 * This is Marion Edwards' first episode as executive producer.
 * This is the first episode to be narrated by Óscar Gómez in Latin America and Michiel de Jong in the Netherlands.
 * The scene in the original Hero of the Rails trailer where Victor says, "You have come to the right place, my friend" is from this episode.
 * Buster's theme from Thomas and the Moles when he flattens the molehills reappears in this episode when Thomas is on his way to the Steamworks.
 * In Germany, this episode is called "Crunching Cranky". The Swedish title is "Squeaking Cranky". The Finnish and Danish title is "Creaking Cranky". In Welsh, it is called "Cranky the Creaky Crane". The Japanese title is "Rattled Cranky".
 * This episode may have been inspired from the magazine story, Swing King Cranky.
 * This is the first episode in the television seires to be fully animated in CGI.

Goofs

 * At the beginning of the episode, when Henry says he is taking straw bales to the Duke and Duchess's summer house, he is missing his right (viewer left) lampiron.
 * Henry is said to be waiting for his special coal but since the episode The Flying Kipper, he doesn't need special coal anymore.
 * Cranky has lifted engines and other heavy loads before.
 * The lemonade should not have been carried in barrels.
 * When Cranky lowers Thomas back onto the track, he is on the middle track. Then when Thomas says "Thank you!" to Spencer, he is on the track closest to Cranky.
 * The workmen should have known better than to let Cranky lift the flatbeds and Thomas.
 * Thomas has trouble moving the truck of hay at first, but in Thomas and the Pigs he moves a truck of hay with no difficulty.
 * Why would James stop for a wash down whilst pulling a flatbed?
 * Thomas' flatbed disappears when he arrives at the Steamworks.
 * When Thomas returns to Brendam, Cranky isn't tilted.
 * Thomas isn't secured properly when Cranky lifts him.
 * In the first view of the wash down, James' flatbed is empty.
 * Brakevans should have been added to Percy, Thomas, Henry, and James' trains.

Quotes

 * Kevin: Give Cranky my best!


 * Sir Topham Hatt: (to Cranky)...and you're as silly as Thomas!
 * Cranky: The shame to be as silly as a steamie!

Merchandise

 * Books - Creaky Cranky