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Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover, retitled You Can't Judge a Book by Its Cover on CD releases, is a song from the fourth series which is based on Terence's theme and is dedicated to how Thomas first met Terence. It aired in the US on the Shining Time Station spin-off Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales episode, For the Birds. The song had two versions for two airings of Storytime with Thomas in 1999.

Lyrics

Original version

Thomas first saw Terence the Tractor...
...ploughing in a field one day...
...and he said, "My oh my, you do look funny.
Where are your wheels, are your wheels, are your wheels?
However do you move along?
You really do look funny."
"Don't be so rude," said Terence the Tractor
"I don't have wheels like you
Because my caterpillar tracks are so much better.
And I can go anywhere, anywhere, anywhere
I don't need rails like you.
One day I will prove it, show you how I do it
Then you will understand..."
(Chorus)
That you don't judge a book by its cover
Don't make your mind up too soon
Things aren't necessarily...
...always what they appear to be
Don't judge a book by its cover
Don't make your mind up too soon
Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never
Never judge a book by its cover.

Sure enough, one winter's day
When the snow lay deep and hard
Thomas got stuck, he was in trouble
And who do you think came along, came along
And rescued him that day
The snow didn't matter to Terence the Tractor
Now Thomas understands...
(Chorus)
That you don't judge a book by its cover
Don't make your mind up too soon
Things aren't necessarily...
...always what they appear to be
Don't judge a book by its cover
Don't make your mind up too soon
Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never
Never judge a book by its cover.
(Chorus)
Don't judge a book by its cover
Don't make your mind up too soon
Things aren't necessarily...
...always what they appear to be
Don't judge a book by its cover
Just remember the rule!
Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never (x2)
Never judge a book by its cover.

Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales

Thomas first saw Terence the Tractor...
...ploughing in a field one day...
...and he said, "My oh my, you do look funny.
Where are your wheels, are your wheels, are your wheels?
However do you move along?
You really do look funny."
Sure enough, one winter's day
When the snow lay deep and hard
Thomas got stuck, he was in trouble
And who do you think came along, came along
And rescued him that day
The snow didn't matter to Terence the Tractor
Now Thomas understands...
(Chorus)
That you don't judge a book by its cover
Don't make your mind up too soon
Things aren't necessarily...
...always what they appear to be
Don't judge a book by its cover
Don't make your mind up too soon
Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never
Never judge a book by its cover.
(Chorus)
Don't judge a book by its cover
Don't make your mind up too soon
Things aren't necessarily...
...always what they appear to be
Don't judge a book by its cover
Just remember the rule!
Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never (x2)
Never judge a book by its cover.

10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends Version

Don't judge a book by its cover
Don't make your mind up too soon
Things aren't necessarily...
...always what they appear to be
Don't judge a book by its cover
Don't make your mind up too soon
Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never
Never judge a book by its cover.

Best of James Intermission

Don't judge a book by its cover
Don't make your mind up too soon
Things aren't necessarily...
...always what they appear to be
Don't judge a book by its cover
Don't make your mind up too soon
Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never, Never-Never
Never judge a book by its cover.

Characters

Locations

Footage Used

Series 4 Version

Best of James Intermissions

Deleted and Extended Scenes

  • Thomas, Terence and the Snow:
    • Two deleted close-ups of Thomas stuck in the snow.
    • A deleted scene of Terence moving around in the snow.
    • A deleted scene of Thomas puffing past the signal in the snow.
    • An extended ending of Thomas coming out of the tunnel.
    • An alternate scene of Thomas' driver getting covered in steam.
  • A Close Shave - An extended shot of Thomas' wheels.
  • Gordon and the Famous Visitor - The distant shot of Gordon crossing over the viaduct has been extended.
  • Henry's Forest - A non-edited extended beginning of Terence pulling new trees.
  • Trust Thomas:
    • An extended beginning of Thomas passing the cow field.
    • An extended beginning of Thomas heading to the docks.
  • Mavis - An extended beginning of Terence coming to the crossing.
  • Edward, Trevor and the Really Useful Party - An extended scene of Terence pulling Bertie.
  • Percy, James and the Fruitful Day - A shot showing Percy, Gordon and James with their loads puffing through the bridges by the canal river.
  • Thomas and Percy's Christmas Adventure:
    • A distant shot features Thomas puffing past the windmill in snow.
    • An alternate shot of Terence pushing away snow in the village.
  • Sleeping Beauty - An extended shot of Toby rolling his eyes while at Tidmouth Sheds.
  • Thomas and the Special Letter - The overhead shot of the engines at the big city has been extended.
  • Toad Stands By:
    • A deleted shot of some trucks.
    • A deleted shot of Percy and some trucks.
    • A deleted panning shot to the left of Oliver's trucks before S.C. Ruffey is broken.
    • An altered angle of Oliver's view passing the trucks on both sides. (Note: The truck in front of the GWR ventilated van moved slightly forward.)
    • A scene of all the trucks without Oliver.
  • Special Attraction - A deleted scene of Percy rolling his eyes after the crash.
  • Unknown - A scene of Thomas crossing a bridge with the post train in front of a full moon.

Trivia

  • A version without subtitles can be seen on Entertainment to Grow Up With promotional US VHS.
  • The Norwegian version has a slightly different musical arrangement.
  • The first few seconds are cut off the beginning in Thomas and the Best-Kept Station Competition.
  • The font on the cover of the book is the Beton font used for the original opening credits of the first and second series.
  • A ditty can be heard when the book opens in Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales. In the Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales variant, the second half of the first verse and the first chorus are omitted due to time constraints.
  • In the song, Thomas claims to Terence that he looks funny. But in the episode, he only says to Terence that he has ugly wheels.
  • The Japanese version is sung by a children's chorus, with Yasuhiko Kawazu as Terence accompanying them in the refrain.
  • Despite the words "that you" clearly being heard the lyrics strangely omit them.

Goofs

  • During the last chorus, the line "Don't judge a book by it's cover" as Oliver puffs past S.C. Ruffey, the lyrics fade in too late.

In Other Languages

Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese As aparências enganam
Japanese みかけによらないテレンス
Korean 겉모습으로 판단하면 안 돼요
Latin American Spanish No Juzgues a un Libro por su Cubria
Norwegian Døm ikke boken av utseende

Home Video Releases

UK

AUS

DVD Boxsets

NZ

  • Story and Song Collection

US

CAN

  • Thomas and the Special Letter
  • Sing-Along and Stories
  • Best of James

DVD Boxsets

JPN

NOR

KOR

CDS

Music Video


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