Thomas' Tall Friend

"Will he blow over?" "Why's he so spotty?" "Does he sit down?"

- Gordon, Edward, and Percy upon seeing the giraffe

Thomas' Tall Friend is the first episode of the fourteenth season.

Plot
A new animal park is being built on Sodor & Thomas is called upon to deliver a giraffe to the Animal Park as Percy delivers leaves, Edward delivers apple & Gordon to take The Mayor and Sir Topham to open the park. Cranky tells Thomas to wait for the giraffe's keeper but Thomas wanted to show the giraffe to the children and leaves without waiting for the giraffe's keeper. Thomas runs into trouble when The giraffe will not follow Thomas' orders when he couldn't lay down to go under a bridge. Gordon comes from behind with The Mayor and Sir Topham Hatt on his express, seeing the giraffe blocking his way, Gordon tells Thomas to go back to the Docks for the keeper, but Thomas thinks the giraffe will do what he tells him & went to a siding to let Gordon pass.

Edward arrives & Thomas asked him if the giraffe eat some of his apples so he would lay down, but as soon as the giraffe ate all the apples, he didn't lay down. Edward wasn't happy about this and tells Thomas to go back to the Docks for the giraffe keeper, but Thomas still thinks the giraffe will do as he says & Edward leaves. Then Percy arrives & Thomas asked him if the giraffe could has some leaves & Percy was happy to help his best friend. After playing & eating the leaves, the giraffe finally layed down & Thomas & Percy chuffed to the animal park.

But when they arrived, The Mayor & Sir Topham Hatt were cross after waiting a long time for the giraffe, but the giraffe wouldn't not wake up. Thomas knows what must be done and goes back to the docks to collect the keeper. After taking him to the animal park, Thomas goes to get fresh leaves and apples to replace the ones the giraffe ate, and returns to the Animal Park with them. The giraffe immediately follows its keeper's orders, and even turns its attention to Thomas when Thomas whistles in joy at seeing it awake. Thomas gets his photograph taken with his new tall friend.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Gordon
 * Percy
 * Cranky
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Farmer McColl (does not speak)
 * The Mayor of Sodor (does not speak)
 * Henry (cameo)
 * James (cameo)
 * Emily (cameo)
 * Stanley (cameo)
 * Hiro (cameo)
 * Diesel (cameo)
 * The Photographer (cameo)
 * The Tree Specialists (cameo)
 * The Teacher (cameo)
 * The Ginger-haired Boy (cameo)

Locations

 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * Animal Park
 * McColl Farm
 * Chestnut Orchard
 * Farmer McColl's Field

Trivia

 * The photo album at the end of the episode contains photos from the episodes, Thomas and the Runaway Kite and Creaky Cranky and one from the special, Hero of the Rails.
 * This marks the debut of the Animal Park.

Goofs

 * After Thomas goes back to the docks, the giraffe's flatbed somehow switches tracks at the Animal Park.
 * During the scene at Brendam Docks, Gordon's coaches move positions; one disappears, and later one is not rendered properly, as it goes through Gordon's tender.
 * Percy went with Thomas to the Animal Park, then Thomas leaves, but when he came back, Percy disappeared.

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway - Thomas' Tall Friends 3-pack
 * Books - The Tall Friend and Holiday Gift Set
 * Take-n-Play

UK

 * The Complete Fourteenth Series
 * Curious Cargo

DVD Packs

 * 10 DVD Boxset (2014)
 * Friends Together

US

 * Animals Aboard!
 * Curious Cargo

AUS/Sweden/Norway/Denmark/Finland

 * Curious Cargo

CHN

 * Snow Tracks (Chinese DVD)