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- “What's that, Duck? Are you afraid of bees? They're only insects, after all, so don't let that buzz-box diesel tell you different."
"His name is BoCo and he didn't. We—"
"I wouldn't care if hundreds were swarming around! I'd just blow smoke and make them buzz off."
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!” - ― James and Duck about bees
Buzz, Buzz, retitled James Goes Buzz Buzz on some North American releases, is the seventeenth episode of the third series. It is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book Main Line Engines.
Plot
At the Vicarage Orchard, Trevor is enjoying his work on a beautiful day with birds singing and apples ripening on the trees. James arrives and asks Trevor about a strange noise, which Trevor explains is the sound of the bees that are making honey. Trevor will soon take the beehives to the station as the Vicar is going to give some of his beehives to his friends. When BoCo arrives, he warns the two of them not to make the bees angry or else they might sting. However, James ignores him and both engines set off for the Docks.
Bill and Ben are busy arranging trucks but they leave as BoCo arrives. BoCo then tells Duck about the time he first met the twins and how Edward soon put a stop to their games. Duck agrees that Edward is the only one who can keep Bill and Ben in order and then nicknames them "the bees". BoCo chuckles, finding it a good nickname because of their behaviour and because both of their names begin with "B". James bustles in and interrupts the conversation, thinking that Duck is afraid of bees and boasts that, even if hundreds of bees were swarming around, he would make them buzz off by blowing smoke at them. Duck simply replies by saying, "Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
The next morning, James is preparing to pull the Express and, as the passengers prepare to board the train, the porter is in a hurry and accidentally causes a beehive to fall off the trolley and break open. Like magic, everyone quickly takes cover outside the station whilst a swarm of bees buzz around James' crew, hoping they would mend their hive. However, the crew is more worried that the bees will sting them, so the bees cling onto James' warm boiler instead. One of them burns his foot on the boiler and, in retaliation, gives James a sting right on his nose, resulting in the nose becoming red and swollen. This proves to be James and his crew's final straw and, leaving the coaches behind, they try different methods to get rid of the bees. First, they spin on a turntable, next, they try washing them off and lastly, they run through a tunnel in an attempt to smoke them out but all methods are unsuccessful no matter what. Finally, James' driver realises that they must return to the orchard and fetch another hive. Upon James' arrival at the Vicarage Orchard, the bees fly off to their new hives.
That evening, at the sheds, the Vicar comes by to see James and gives his crew some jars of honey in gratitude for saving the bees. He also jokingly notes that, if it were Christmas, they could call him "James the Red-Nosed Engine", much to James and his crew's amusement. Instead, the crew decides to call him "The Bee's Knees" as a sign of how he is more Useful than ever.
Characters
- James
- Duck
- BoCo
- Trevor
- The Vicar of Wellsworth
- The Bee
- Bill and Ben (do not speak)
- Troublesome Trucks (do not speak)
- Thomas (cameo)
- Bertie (cameo)
- Bridget Hatt (cameo)
- Mrs. Kyndley (cameo)
- Jem Cole (cameo)
- Farmer Trotter (cameo)
- The Boy (cameo)
- One Little Boy (cameo)
- The Mother (cameo)
- Big Mickey (faceless, cameo)
- Edward (mentioned)
Locations
- Wellsworth Vicarage Orchard
- Brendam Docks
- Sodor Trading Co. (deleted scene)
- Tidmouth
- The Waterfall
Trivia
- This episode was filmed on 13 January 1992.
- This episode marks the first of a few things:
- The first third series episode to not originally released on VHS in 1991.
- The first third series episode without an "early narration" for the UK narration.
- The first episode not to use a still of the final shot for the end credits. Instead, a shot of Thomas outside Tidmouth Sheds is used for the end credits for the first time in this episode, which would subsequently continue in use up through the seventh series.
- The first appearance of James' surprised face until Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach as well as the first appearance of a modified version of Duck's grinning face since the second series episode Pop Goes the Diesel.
- The bee that blows out the light from his hands, goes away for a while and comes back to sting James' nose is a cel-animated cartoon, making it the first time that animation was used in the Thomas & Friends series. Hand-drawn animation was later used in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, CGI in the twelfth to the twenty-fourth series and digital ink and paint animation in All Engines Go. It was animated by Peter Chiang of The Magic Camera Company, who was only credited in the 1992 end credits, not in the 1998 remastered or 2004 restored end credits.
- An animation celluloid appeared on eBay and was owned by YouTube/SiF member BlueBerkBoco in 2011, who would sell it to another buyer on eBay four years later. In 2019, three more animation celluloids were sold to Twitter users @FlyingPringle, @IsaacM6991 and @TomsProps respectively.
- The design of the bee would later be used for the two bees that appeared in the Shining Time Station episode Stacy Forgets Her Name.
- This episode also marks the last of a few things:
- James' last episode with a leading role until the fifth series episode James and the Trouble with Trees.
- The Vicar of Wellsworth's last speaking role.
- Trevor's last speaking role until the sixth series episode Twin Trouble.
- The last time that live-action hybrid animation was used in an episode until the twelfth series.
- The last appearance of Wellsworth Vicarage Orchard until the ninth series episode Henry and the Flagpole.
- A reference to the second series episode The Diseasel is made.
- The Vicar tells James, "It's a pity it's not Christmas, then we could call you 'James the Red-Nosed Engine'!" This is a reference to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. A similar reference was later made in the seventeenth series episode Santa's Little Engine and again in the All Engines Go second series episode Whiteout!.
- On the Shining Time Station ending credits of the episode Stacy Cleans Up, 10 Years of Thomas & Friends VHS/DVD, PBS Kids Sprout airings and Thomas & Friends Classic Volume 3, the UK title is only used.
- In the restored version:
- The shot of a male and female passenger staring at the broken hive is omitted.
- The scene of James spinning on the turntable is slowed down.
- S.S. Vienna's model and Big Mickey from Tugs can be seen as Bill and Ben leave. The fire station, the steel company, a three berth garage and a large brown building from Tugs also appear.
- This episode marks Tidmouth Tunnel and the Waterfall's first appearances in the television series.
- The honeycombs inside the broken beehive are actually pieces of foam.
- The bee that stung James' nose after coming back is referred to as a male. However, in real life, only female bees can sting.
- Recasts of two existing expressions for James were made especially for this episode, with the characteristic big red nose applied in place of the original nose. This was to ensure the existing faces would not be spoilt. The faces were repainted in a matte grey coat in 2001 and appeared again in the sixth series music video James the Really Splendid Engine.
- Mrs. Kyndley has the lady with the floppy green hat's body from the second series episode Wrong Road.
- Mrs. Kyndley fills the role of the old lady from The Railway Series story, however the reason for the beehive falling is left unmentioned.
- A limited edition Wooden Railway "James Goes Buzz Buzz" set was released to commemorate this episode. It featured a James with a red nose that, when rubbed, would temporarily go away, as well as BoCo, a turntable, a station with a beehive and the VHS James Goes Buzz Buzz and Other Thomas Stories. When assembled, the track is shaped like a bee.
- This episode, alongside the previous one, aired in the UK exactly forty-seven years after the first book of The Railway Series, The Three Railway Engines, was published. Coincidentally, this was also George Carlin's 55th birthday.
- This episode was shown alongside Tender Engines in an airing of Storytime with Thomas.
- Figures for James' crew in panicked positions were made for the episode but they were also reused in several later episodes:
- In Tender Engines, for one of Gordon's crew holding a hose (small scale).
- In Escape, for one of Douglas' crew coupling Douglas and Oliver (small scale).
- In Rusty to the Rescue, for Stepney's driver huddled in the cab (large scale).
- In A Better View for Gordon, for one of his crew with his arm in a cast (arm only, large scale).
- In Busy Going Backwards, for a guard in some bushes (large scale).
- In Gordon Takes a Tumble, for his crew in a pile of mud (large scale).
- Throughout the HiT Entertainment era, for guard and workmen arms (large scale).
- On the eighth series reference sheets with the knocked out lorry driver's head from Horrid Lorry (large scale).
Goofs
- In some scenes, some black glue can be seen wrapped around James' funnel, which indicates that, at some point, James' funnel had been broken during production.
- In the opening scene at the Vicarage Orchard:
- In the Finnish dub, Trevor is called a "car engine" by mistake.
- Trevor has some small scratches on his face.
- When BoCo arrives, the roof of his brake van is both raised and bent and his buffers are also crooked.
- Before James buzzes away, some scratch marks can be seen below his face and lamp irons.
- In the scene at Brendam Docks:
- When Bill and Ben puff away, one of them is not puffing smoke and both of them also do not make any sounds.
- Studio equipment can be seen in the background when Bill and Ben are at Brendam Docks and when BoCo talks to Duck.
- A small black dot mark is visible on BoCo's face.
- In the scene at Tidmouth Station:
- When James backs on his train before being stung, he moves too far back and hits the coaches. They can also be seen moving backwards after James stops.
- When James arrives at Tidmouth, he stops at the front of the station but, in his point-of-view of the bee, he is suddenly in the middle of the station.
- When the people are racing out of the station to avoid being stung by bees, the platform bounces up in some frames, one of the stone pillars by the entrance moves slightly and in the second of the three frames that were shot for this sequence, a passenger figure has fallen over and is lying face down on the station floor and some of the passengers have black sticky tack under their feet that also leave stains on the platform.
- There appear to be two Mrs. Kyndleys at Tidmouth: one in her first series form and one in her later fifth series form.
- When James tells the bees to buzz off, the bees are not shown on his boiler.
- When the bees fly around James' driver and fireman, his cab roof is white. In the same shot, the station wall behind them is now a blank, grey wall.
- James' red nose smiling face's nose is smaller than his nose on his previous two red nose faces.
In Other Languages
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Home Video Releases
Episode
English
US narrationOther Languages
Russian dubReferences
| #01 A Scarf for Percy | #10 The Trouble with Mud | #19 One Good Turn |
| #02 Percy's Promise | #11 No Joke for James | #20 Tender Engines |
| #03 Time for Trouble | #12 Thomas, Percy and the Post Train | #21 Escape |
| #04 Gordon and the Famous Visitor | #13 Trust Thomas | #22 Oliver Owns Up |
| #05 Donald's Duck | #14 Mavis | #23 Bulgy |
| #06 Thomas Gets Bumped | #15 Toby's Tightrope | #24 Heroes |
| #07 Thomas, Percy and the Dragon | #16 Edward, Trevor and the Really Useful Party | #25 Percy, James and the Fruitful Day |
| #08 Diesel Does It Again | #17 Buzz, Buzz | #26 Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure |
| #09 Henry's Forest | #18 All at Sea | |