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“So now you speak? You've been standing there silent all these years, Big Mickey, and you've never said a single word!"
"Well, you've never said a single word to me either.”
Cranky & Big Mickey's first interaction[src]

Big Mickey is a large hammerhead crane who works at Brendam Docks, alongside Cranky and Carly. He is the only character to appear in both Tugs and Thomas & Friends.

Biography

Big Mickey works at Brendam Docks. During the early days, he used to unload mail from the mail boat into Thomas and Percy's mail vans, for them to deliver all over the island. Once, Big Mickey was transported to work at Knapford Harbour and had a job which involved using a grapple bucket to lift stone.

Sometime later, he worked alongside Cranky, where he was used to unload cargo from ships. Big Mickey once had to unload a boiler from a ship, but he accidentally swung it and knocked Edward off the tracks onto his side.

Later, when Gator was leaving Sodor, Big Mickey loaded him onto a ship while Cranky was being repaired after his crane arm broke.

In the twenty-first series, he took everyone by surprise after not making communication with anyone for many years and became part of the dockside crew with Cranky and Carly.

Personality

As Big Mickey was silent for a long time, mainly because Cranky has "never said a single word to him", very little is known about him (casting aside his known personality from TUGS), although it can be assumed that he is not the best at communicating, as Salty put it. Lately, he has been shown to be cautious in his work and does care for his friends, as seen when Salty fell into the ocean. He has also been shown as a good worker throughout the series.

Technical Details

Basis

Big Mickey is based on a USN 20t Tower Crane. Kobe, a red crane in Tanzania and a faceless purple crane in Rio De Janeiro are other members of this class.

Livery

During the third, fourth and fifth series, Big Mickey was painted cool grey. Since the sixth series, however, he has been repainted warm grey.

In the magazines, he is depicted as a red-coloured faceless crane. In the Golden Books, he is depicted as a golden yellow-coloured faceless crane.

Origins in TUGS

BigMickeyTUGS

Big Mickey in TUGS

Main article: Big Mickey

Big Mickey's original model was carried over from TUGS. He was voiced by the late Timothy Bateson, who also voiced O.J., Lord Stinker, Eddie, and Little Ditcher.

After the show's cancellation, his model was refurbished and modified with a warmer shade of grey paint, and his megaphone was removed.

In TUGS, Big Mickey was Bigg City Port’s biggest crane. Originally stationed at the Steel Company dock, he was later used by the navy. In the episode "Munitions", a horrific fire caused by the navy tug, Bluenose, causes Big Mickey's dock to collapse, leading to him sinking (his fate differs between the 15 minute and 20 minute versions; in the 20 minute version, the viewer is left to assume he perished, as the dialogue of the characters seem to be in context of the crane having sacrificing himself for them. Meanwhile, in the 15 minute version, there is added narration, stating he survived thanks to falling into shallow waters).

Appearances

Thomas & Friends

Specials

Music Videos

Videos

Books

Faceless

Official Description

From Official Website:[1]

Big Mickey: Big Mickey is a large hammerhead crane who works at Brendam Docks. During the early days, he used to unload mail from the mail boat into Percy's mail vans to deliver all over the Island of Sodor. For many years Big Mickey worked hard without ever talking to anyone. That is until Carly arrived at the docks, and Big Mickey took everyone by surprise by speaking for the first time in years. He is now a happy member of the dockside crew with Cranky and Carly.

Songs

Trivia

  • Big Mickey had many modifications throughout the television series. These include:
    • Series 3 (from TUGS):
      • He had cool grey paintwork.
      • His megaphone was taken away.
      • His top railing became thinner.
      • His walkway received more detailing.
      • He gains windows on his front.
    • Series 6:
      • He gained riveted steel sides.
      • He gained a new hook.
      • His hoist end became covered.
      • His crane arm became longer.
      • His wheelhouse walkway became square.
      • He gained a new base.
      • He became taller.
    • Series 13:
      • His overall size increased exponentially.
      • His wheelhouse became wider.
      • His crane arm became taller.
      • His paintwork became more cream coloured.
    • Series 21 (New Crane on the Dock):
      • He gained a face.
  • Big Mickey is the only TUGS character to have his name carried over to Thomas & Friends.
  • The idea to give Big Mickey a face was suggested by Sam Wilkinson to Lee Pressman at a writer's workshop meeting.
  • In episodes of the twenty-first series prior to New Crane on the Dock, Big Mickey was always positioned facing away from the camera. This was done to hide his face, which was previously absent.
  • Big Mickey is the third character to have been given a face after debuting without one, the first two being Butch and Henrietta.
  • Since the television series switched from live-action to CGI, Big Mickey's model was left in the hands of HiT Entertainment/Mattel Creations. It was later displayed at an Tugs: The Exhibition event from 24-26 August 2019.
  • Although he never had a face until the twenty-first series of Thomas & Friends, a prototype face was originally produced for use on TUGS. This face was from a different design to the one used in Thomas & Friends and covered his full front end. This face was never used but was displayed at the aforementioned exhibition during the same event.
  • A faceless version of Big Mickey's model with a pink version of Kobe's body can be seen in Brazil.
  • A recolour of him appears in the background at Dar es Salaam Docks.
  • In 2020, the Thomas & Friends website updated its Engines page to include Big Mickey and many other characters. For his image, a fan 3D render made to work as a custom model for a Trainz game by User:Ilovetrains323 was erroneously used instead of an official render. Big Mickey's page was removed soon after, for unknown reasons.

Merchandise

See also


--- Dropped | * 1991-1994 maps only | ** 2014 map only
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