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Donald and Douglas (T&F)/Behind the Scenes

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This is a behind the scenes subpage for Donald and Douglas (T&F).
 This subpage contains all behind the scenes material relating to said article.

Background Information[]

Donald and Douglas are fictional Scottish twin standard gauge tender locomotives created by the Rev. W. Awdry. They carry the numbers 9 and 10 respectively.

Donald and Douglas first appeared in the second series episode, Break Van, which first aired in 1986. Their last appearance was in the special Big World! Big Adventures!, which was released in 2018.

The episode The Missing Coach was originally meant to be Donald and Douglas' introductory, but was cancelled due to the belief of the plot being too complicated for young children to follow. Break Van was the episode that introduced them instead. They were also noted as possible candidates to take the role of Percy's friends in the television adaptation of Percy Takes the Plunge - which would have marked their first appearance in the television series, albeit unnamed. Bill and Ben were ultimately chosen for this role instead. [1]

Unlike The Railway Series, where the twins were painted blue since they were allowed to stay, they remained black since their introduction. According to Robert Gauld-Galliers there were never any plans to repaint Donald and Douglas blue. This was most likely done to make it easier for the viewer to identify each engine from one another.

Donald and Douglas appeared as major characters throughout the second to seventh series, appearing as the most iconic twin engine characters along with Bill and Ben, although only Donald appeared in the fifth series, albeit without speaking. Since the sixth series, they were described as nearly always working together.

Since the eighth series, due to the stories focusing primarily on the Steam Team, Donald and Douglas were widely neglected along with many other characters and left absent for the majority of episodes from the eighth to the nineteenth series, although they were due to have a role in the eighth series episode Edward the Great, before the scene they appeared in was cut and were mentioned in the eighth series episode You Can Do it, Toby!

They had supporting roles in the eleventh series episode, Gordon and the Engineer and had minor roles in the twelfth series episode, Saved You, but became absent again for five years when the series moved from live-action model to Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI). It would not be until the special, Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure that they would return as major characters.

Since their return to CGI, Donald and Douglas' episodes mainly involve them getting into quarrels and arguments with a common sibling rivalry much like Bill and Ben, and they are described as brothers rather than twins.

As a result of the stories from the show's twenty-second series onwards focusing primarily on the Steam Team and only occasionally some side characters, Donald and Douglas have not appeared in the television series since 2018.

Voices[]

In almost all English speaking narrations, Donald and Douglas have Scottish accents; reflecting their basis' origins. However, in the narration of the sixth series, Alec Baldwin portrayed Donald and Douglas with American accents. When Donald and Douglas returned in 2015, Joe Mills provided the voices for both twins in both the British English and American English dubs of the series. The following year Rob Rackstraw took over the role of Donald in the twentieth series, leaving the role of Douglas to Mills, presumably to help viewers tell them apart without only using sight. Joe Mills and Rob Rackstraw both maintain Scottish accents for the twins.

Behind the Scenes[]

Gauge 1 models[]

MainDonaldModel
DonaldModelRear
MainDouglasModel
DouglasModelRear

Donald and Douglas were custom built with a plastic body shell and used a Märklin locomotive as a donor for the chassis and various parts. They were painted using automotive paint and lined with red and white automotive pinstripe tape with the numbers being custom cut vinyl stickers.

Their chassis and tender wheels were sourced from the Märklin gauge 1 locomotive, the BR 55. The buffer beams and funnels were also from the BR 55.

The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket, and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired. In the eleventh series, Donald would be given a new JR Propo X2610 remote control for his eyes, and Donald's new eye mechanism remote control was also used for Madge.

In the second series episode, Break Van, Douglas mistakenly has his nameplate during the last part of the episode. Therefore, in the original version of this episode, he had the nameplate covered with a black censor bar. These were unedited in the restored version and the nameplate can be seen clearly.

In the following episode, The Deputation, both Donald and Douglas mistakenly have their nameplates on.

At one point, in the second series episode Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree, Donald and Douglas were missing their nameplates.

In the third series episode, Donald's Duck, a British 1p coin (repainted black) was used as Donald's water tank lid.

In the sixth series episode, Scaredy Engines, one of the twin's models (without its tender and nameplate) was reused as Edward's Ghost Engine.

In the sixth series episode Twin Trouble, seventh series episode Percy Gets it Right, and the eleventh series episode Gordon and the Engineer, Donald and Douglas were seen wearing lamps. They were powered by a hidden battery pack.

Reference Sheets[]

Series 2 (Douglas)[]
Series 8 (Donald)[]
Series 8 (Douglas)[]

Faces[]

Eleven different facial expressions were sculpted for both Donald and Douglas and used on-screen. The faces were first sculpted in clay, and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould. Some of Donald and Douglas' faces were duplicated in case they needed to wear the same facial expression in the same shot.

Reference Sheets[]
Usage and Evolution[]

Donald was mistakenly given Edward's angry face in Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree.

Edward has also been mistakenly given Donald and Douglas' worried face in the second series episode, Saved from Scrap.

Present Day[]

Donald and Douglas' happy face was put on display at the 'History of Thomas & Friends' exhibition at the Midland Railway Centre in May 2019. A production made cast of Donald and Douglas' content face is also currently owned by Twitter user SeansModels.

CGI Face[]

The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into CGI and the characters' faces were animated through CGI with the aid of motion capture animation. The physical models' moulded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production.

Fonts[]

The following fonts were used on Donald and Douglas' Gauge 1 models:

  • Times New Roman Bold Condensed (nameplates)

Model Changes[]

Donald and Douglas have had modifications throughout the model era. These include:

  • Series 3:
    • Their nameplates were moved from their smokeboxes closer to the centre of their boilers.
    • Their brake pipes were moved from their left (viewers' right) to their right side.
    • Douglas shared Donald's whistle sound.
    • In Donald's Duck, Donald's brake pipe faced upwards in a few scenes.
  • Series 4:
    • Their pupils became smaller.
    • Their nameplates were moved precisely to the centre of their boilers.
    • Their whistle sounds changed:
      • Donald's whistle sound changed pitch and shared Duck's whistle sound.
      • Douglas had Thomas' whistle at ten steps lower-pitched (although he also used Duck's whistle sound in the UK version of the fourth series episodes, Thomas and Stepney and in one scene in Toad Stands By). Although their original whistle sounds can be heard when other engines are whistling.
  • Series 6:
    • Their pupils returned to their original size.
    • Their paint was given a matte finish.
    • Their brake pipes now face upwards.
    • Their coupling rod bolts became black.
    • Donald regained his original whistle sound.
    • Douglas' whistle sound is the same as Donald again.
  • Series 11:
    • They both regained Duck's whistle sound.
  • Series 12:
    • Their cheekbones disappeared.

Present Day[]

After production of the model series wrapped in 2008, most of the models and sets would be put into storage, with some being put on display at Drayton Manor Theme Park. All other models would be logged and referenced from 2010 until early 2011 by HiT Entertainment. From this, HiT would decide on which models were to enter storage once again, which would be given to crew members and which would be disposed off. Due to only having one set of models made in gauge 1 scale, Donald and Douglas' models would stay under HiT and later Mattel's ownership.

Donald and Douglas' models are currently on display at the Hara Model Railway Museum in Japan. Additionally Donald's new eye mechanism remote control (after being sold by The Prop Gallery in 2022), is owned by Twitter user SkarloeyRailwayAdventure. One of their snowploughs would also be displayed at the second Clearwater Event in 2022.

Additionally, a spare unused number decal for Douglas would be sold by The Prop Gallery; this was sourced from a spare unused larger decal sheet from the production of the eleventh series, which was then cut up and sold individually. Duplicate copies of this sheet are also currently owned by Twitter user TomsProps, and a set of spare unused sixth series nameplates for Donald and Douglas are also currently owned by Twitter user TomsProps.

Close-up model[]

A close-up model of Donald and Douglas was required for scenes where they had to interact with close-up scale figures. The model was not complete and only the tender was built. The close-up model was made with a filler-cap, something their regular models did not have. Donald and Douglas' close-up model only appeared in the third series.

A close-up model of the cab was not built with the tender, so the interior of James' close up model was reused for Donald in the third series episode, Donald's Duck.

CGI models[]

MainDonaldCGI
DonaldCGIRear
MainDouglasCGI
DouglasCGIRear

In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. In 2014, Donald and Douglas were recreated from scratch in CGI by Arc Productions for production of the 2015 special Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure. Their models were "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software. Photographs of Donald and Douglas' Gauge 1 models were used for referencing. Aside from minor facial differences, nameplates and textures, their CGI models are identical.

Donald and Douglas have had modifications throughout the CGI series. These include:

  • Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure:
    • Their nameplates became smaller and were moved back to the sides of their smokeboxes, like in the second series. Their nameplates also became curved to their smokeboxes rather than just being flat plates.
    • The boiler band in line with their domes was removed.
    • They gained rivets on their buffer beams and smokeboxes.
    • Their handrails became thicker.
    • Their cheekbones were restored, though somewhat less prominent compared to earlier appearances.
    • Both twins gained permanent lamps and tail lamps.
    • Their funnels and cabs became more accurate to their basis.
    • They gained a stepladder in the middle of their running boards, like in the Railway Series.
    • Their whistle sounds changed to Stephen's at four and seven steps lower-pitched.
    • They became slightly smaller in size.
    • Their buffer beams were lowered closer to the track.
    • Their tenders slightly decreased in height, so that the lining matched that of the lining on their cabs.
    • Their backheads in their cabs are reused from Thomas'.
    • The design of their numbers was changed slightly.
    • The end of their buffer housings was changed from squares to circles, much like Thomas'.

Texture variants[]

In addition to their standard liveries, a few other texture variants exist of Donald and Douglas' CGI models. These texture variants include:

Fonts[]

The following fonts were used on Donald and Douglas' CGI models:

  • Times New Roman Bold Condensed (nameplates)
  • Trebuchet MS Bold (numbers)

Voice Actors[]

Both[]

  • Joe Mills (UK/US; Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure and The Great Race for Donald and until the twenty-first series for Douglas)
  • Yūki Satō (Japan; second - seventh series for Donald and Thomas Comes to Breakfast and Thomas and the Special Letter only for Douglas)
  • Kyousei Tsukui (Japan; eleventh - twenty-first series, excluding The Great Race)
  • Nozomu Sasaki (Japan; The Great Race and Big World! Big Adventures! only)
  • Fabrice Trojani (France and French speaking Canada; sixth series onwards for Donald and Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure onwards for Douglas)
  • Fred Meijer (The Netherlands; Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure onwards)
  • Alexander Horlin (Russia; The Great Race onwards)

Donald[]

Douglas[]

References[]

  1. ↑ https://twitter.com/tehflyingkipper/status/1059847211033485317
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