The Great Discovery

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"The Great Discovery" is a direct-to-DVD special, it is the second special since "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" and the first to be shown in theaters since.

This special is expected to be released in autumn of 2008 and set in 2007. It is the first "Thomas and Friends" production to be narrated by Pierce Brosnan.

Plot
The railway is preparing for the celebration of the Sodor Day holiday, and Thomas and James are racing to the wharf to be given a special job by Mr. Percival. Thomas wins, and is sent into the hills to collect lumber with Duncan. Thomas teases the little engine, who decides to pay Thomas out by sending him on a fool's errand - telling him that an old, disused line will lead him back to the wharf faster. After avoiding an old, collapsing bridge, Thomas takes another route at the old junction, and as he journeys farther down the line, he comes across an old overgrown town.

The news of Thomas' discovery spreads, and eventually reaches the Fat Controller. He tells Thomas that the town is Great Waterton - the largest town on Sodor when steam engines first came to the island. The Fat Controller decides that the restoration of the legendary lost town would be perfect for the celebration of Sodor Day, and calls the Pack to help with the process. Thomas is told to take charge of the engines working on the lines around the town. Meanwhile, a shiny new tank engine named Stanley is brought to the railway to perform Thomas' regular jobs.

All of the engines take to Stanley, who does a good job and has fun as well. When Thomas sees Stanley doing his jobs and fraternizing with his friends, he becomes jealous. Thomas is furious when Stanley takes his place at Tidmouth Sheds, and the final straw comes when Thomas has a bad accident and Stanley takes his place as the leader of the Great Waterton operation.

When Thomas is mended, he is shunting trucks of stone for Stanley to take away. He decides to make Stanley look foolish by shunting too many trucks, hoping that Stanley would not be able to climb the hill out of the town and look foolish in front of the other engines. The plan backfires, however - as Stanley ascends the hill, a coupling breaks, and the trucks race down the hill. They veer into a siding and crash into the newly-finished standpipe tower, which collapses. The Fat Controller states that this will likely set back the restoration past Sodor Day. Thomas is blamed for giving Stanley too many trucks to pull, and the engines are angry when they realize Thomas does not like Stanley. Stanley, however, realizes that Thomas merely missed his friends, and wants to set things right.

At night, Thomas decides to clear the trucks of rubble out of the way at Great Waterton. He is almost finished when he accidentally bumps a truck into an old mine shaft. Racing in after it, Thomas races down the shaft, until he crashes onto a wooden platform and floats down an underground waterway. The engines soon realize that Thomas is missing, and the Fat Controller organizes a search effort. Meanwhile, Thomas continues floating until he reaches an opening to the mine, and is flung across a canyon and down a hill.

Stanley decides to make another search effort by himself before he has to return to work. Thomas, with the bit of steam he has left, sounds a loud, long whistle. Stanley hears it and hurries to where Thomas is stranded beside the track. The two make up for their quarrel and Stanley pulls Thomas back onto the rails. The strain is too much for Stanley, and a valve in his cab bursts. In an effort to return, Thomas is given some dry coal and his fire is started. Thomas pushes Stanley back to Great Waterton, and the word travels across the Sodor that Thomas has been found.

The standpipe tower is rebuilt, meaning that Great Waterton is restored in time for Sodor Day. As a sign of friendship, Thomas offers Stanley his last job - to bring the mayor to the Sodor Day festivities at Great Waterton. The engines gather at the town for the celebration, and Thomas realizes just how important his friends are, that's because all the engines are leaders of the track, Thomas' Friends are more important than him, but without them, he's nothing and he has learnt that every single are the leaders of the track.

Theatrical Release
"The Great Discovery: The Movie" was shown in select theaters in the US throughout July, in the UK throughout September and in Australia throughout November.

Special Features
HiT Entertainment has announced that several new "Great Discovery" interactive features will be included on the DVD release, as well as a "Behind the Scenes" featurette starring Pierce Brosnan.


 * Behind the Scenes with Pierce Brosnan (interview)
 * Spot the Difference (learning activity)
 * Tough Trucks! (learning activity)
 * Thomas' Puzzle Parts (learning activity)
 * Trailers

Merchandising
An audio CD of "The Great Discovery" was released in the UK in September 2008.

A Take-Along model of Stanley and a Morgan's Mine Set will be introduced.

Learning Curve Wooden models of Stanley, a mud-covered Thomas and Sodor Day Thomas and Stanley will be introduced.

A Learning Curve Wooden "Great Discovery" set will be introduced into the Talking Railway Series range.

Hornby is to release a "Great Discovery" set with a weathered, tired-looking Thomas. There will also be some Great Waterton buildings.

Trackmaster released "Thomas at Action Canyon" that includes a steep mountain track, a tumbling bridge, and a bursting waterfall, Stanley and "thomas at morgans mine" in September 2008/early 2009.

Featured characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Toby
 * Emily
 * Harvey
 * Arthur
 * Stanley
 * Skarloey
 * Rheneas
 * Sir Handel
 * Peter Sam
 * Rusty
 * Duncan
 * Freddie
 * Mighty Mac
 * Jack
 * Alfie
 * Oliver (The Pack)
 * Max and Monty
 * Ned
 * Buster
 * Madge
 * Harold
 * Cranky
 * The Fat Controller
 * Lady Hatt
 * Miss Jenny
 * Mr. Percival
 * Bill and Ben (do not speak)
 * Molly (does not speak)
 * Mavis (does not speak) (image)
 * Salty (does not speak)
 * Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
 * Rocky (does not speak)
 * Troublesome Trucks (do not speak)
 * Terence (does not speak)
 * Bertie (does not speak)
 * Trevor (does not speak)
 * Jeremy (does not speak)
 * Mayor of Sodor (does not speak)
 * Rosie (cameo)
 * Whiff (music video cameo)
 * Diesel (cameo)
 * 'Arry and Bert (cameos)
 * Diesel 10 (cameo)
 * Dennis (cameo)
 * George (cameo)
 * Butch (cameo)
 * Kelly (music video cameo)
 * Henrietta (music video cameo)
 * Elizabeth (music video cameo)
 * The Refreshment Lady (cameo)
 * Sodor Brass Band (cameo)
 * Caroline (horn

Goofs

 * Thomas is facing away from the hill when he shunts the trucks, but when Stanley's trucks crash into the standpipe Thomas is facing towards the hill.
 * Stanley's siderods are out of alignment when his wheels are spinning when he is struggling with the long line of trucks.
 * Stanley pulls the long line of trucks from the main track up the hill, but when the trucks break away and go downhill they go into a siding. As there is no mention of the points being changed, the trucks should've collided with Toby and Percy.
 * When Stanley returns to Great Waterton after the accident he's on the track to Thomas' left. In the next scene, when Thomas is alone in a siding, Stanley is on the track to Thomas' right.
 * When Thomas sees the barrier in the disused mine he brakes, but before he smashes through the barrier his wheels move.
 * Thomas should be too heavy to float through the underground waterway.
 * When Thomas falls off the bank in the mine the planks of wood that fall are bigger than him.
 * When Thomas comes to a stop at the bottom of the hill the grass goes over his face, but in the next scene it's at the bottom of his face.
 * Thomas blows his whistle after Stanley cracks a cylinder in his cab, but the narrator said that Thomas has no steam left in his boiler.
 * At the grand opening of Great Waterton Gordon and Henry swap places twice by the standpipe.
 * Bertie has Caroline's horn sound at the end.
 * When Stanley leaves Great Waterton to look for Thomas, James is seen at the back of the group of engines. After Stanley realises that Thomas has being feeling upset James is seen behind the line of stone trucks.
 * When Arthur tells Emily Thomas is found, Emily was one of the first engines to know Thomas was found in the first place.

Songs

 * Thomas and James are Racing
 * There's a Job for Everyone
 * Where, oh Where is Thomas?
 * Engine Rollcall
 * Thomas, You're the Leader