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- “Why? What did he do?!"
"He turned him into a generator! He's still there behind our shed. He'll never move again.” - ― Duke telling the story of Smudger to Stuart and Falcon
Granpuff is the first episode of the fourth series. It is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book Duke the Lost Engine.
Plot
One cold winter night on the Island of Sodor, the howling wind keeps the engines in the shed awake. Toby decides that the engines need to listen to a mysterious story, though Duck wishes to hear a story with a happy ending. Thomas then tells the others a story his driver had told him recently of three little engines who lived on a little railway in their own sheds. The story features a green engine named Stuart, a blue one named Falcon and an old brown tender engine named Duke. He was the oldest engine on the line and named after the Duke of Sodor.
Duke felt very proud of this and decided it was his responsibility to keep the younger engines in order. While other engines came and went, Duke outlasted all of them. Stuart and Falcon gave Duke the nickname "Granpuff". The two were very fond of him but they did sometimes tire of hearing about "His Grace" and would occasionally tease him.
One day, Duke soon warned Stuart and Falcon that, if they did not behave, they would end up like Smudger, an engine he used to work with. Smudger was very cocky, conceited and a careless showoff, who ran roughly and often derailed, spilling his loads. Duke tried to warn him but Smudger simply did not care about some spills and laughed at Duke. However, he stopped laughing one day when the manager told him they were going to make him useful at last by taking his wheels away. From then on, the only running Smudger did was as a generator behind the shed and he was never able to move again.
Stuart and Falcon began behaving better after hearing about Smudger. They both became very useful and all three remained happy friends for years. However, over time, the mines in the hills closed and the railway closed as well. As a result, the engines were all put up for sale. Stuart and Falcon were bought but no one wanted to buy an old engine like Duke. Stuart promised Duke that he and Falcon would find another railway for him to run on.
Duke's crew oiled and greased him one last time, put tarpaulins on him and bade him a final goodbye as they locked him in his shed and left to find new jobs. Duke went to sleep, waiting for the day he would be able to run again. As time went by, torrents of rain washed soil down from the mountains and plants grew all around. Nobody would know that a small shed was there nor an engine asleep inside it.
Percy is disappointed that the story does not have a happy ending. Thomas assures Percy that there is one but it will have to wait for another night.
Characters
- Thomas
- Percy
- Toby
- Duck
- Duke
- Falcon/Sir Handel
- Stuart/Peter Sam
- Smudger
- The Mid Sodor Railway Manager (does not speak)
- Henry (cameo)
- Gordon (cameo)
- Skarloey (cameo)
- Rheneas (cameo)
- Narrow Gauge Coaches (cameos)
- Jeremiah Jobling (cameo)
- The Duke of Sodor (mentioned)
- Other Mid Sodor Railway Engines (indirectly mentioned)
Locations
Trivia
- Duke's nickname "Granpuff" originated from a nickname Wilbert Awdry's grandchildren gave to him because of the smoke from his pipe looking like that of a steam engine.
- This episode was broadcast the same day that Story and Song Collection was released.
- This episode marks the first of a few things:
- The first appearance of the narrow gauge engines in the television series from both the Skarloey Railway and the Mid Sodor Railway in the form of Duke, Peter Sam (as Stuart), Sir Handel (as Falcon) and Skarloey and Rheneas as background characters.
- The first and only appearance of Smudger (who fills Stanley's role from the original Railway Series story). It also marks the first episode to introduce a television series-exclusive character.
- The first episode narrated by Zoltán Csankó in Hungary, Bohuslav Kalva in Czech Republic and Guan Zhihong in Taiwan (as well as the first episode dubbed into Taiwanese Mandarin). This is also the first episode that Michael Angelis narrated in New Zealand without having the US dub released prior.
- The first episode video edited by Kang Hyun-gi for JEI TV since second series episode Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree in South Korea.
- The first appearance of Henry's depressed face since the second series episode Dirty Work.
- The first and only mention of the other Mid Sodor Railway engines in the television series.
- The first on-screen use of a few faces, all of which from the standard gauge engines were unused faces made during the third series:
- Thomas' depressed face, which would later be frequently used between the fifth and eleventh series, excluding Jack and the Sodor Construction Company and Thomas and the Magic Railroad. It is also one of the only three times the face is used in the Britt Allcroft Company era.
- Thomas' content face.
- Toby's angry face, not counting promotional material.
- This episode also marks the only appearance of Peter Sam's shocked and horrified faces.
- In the original UK dub, the lines, "Their names were Duke, Stuart and Falcon," and "Whenever they did anything that Duke thought wrong, he would say 'That would never suit His Grace,'" are heard earlier.
- In the original UK dub and US dub, when the narrator said "On their own little railway," the music is heard later.
- The UK version of Smudger's laugh became an internet meme.
- Falcon and Stuart's nameplates were placed over the much larger "Sir Handel" and "Peter Sam" nameplates covered with black tape. This is because the post-Mid Sodor scenes were filmed first.
- Most of the whistle sounds were omitted in the original UK dub and the US dub.
- The cab roof from a scrap Thomas model can be seen.
- A K'Nex stick can be seen poking out of Duke's Shed in poor condition.
- A model of a bulldozer from Tugs is visible when Stuart and Falcon bash into each other.
- In the US and original UK dubs, the crash sound of Stuart and Falcon bashing their trucks into each other is different from the later UK dub and international dubs.
- The Korean title of this episode is the same as Duke's name.
Goofs
- The episode is mistitled as "Grandpuff" in the credits for the Shining Time Station episode Second Chances.
- Duck's handrail is loose on the front of his smokebox and a crack can be seen in his face mask next to his eye.
- Thomas has some scratches on the side of his boiler.
- In the close-up of Henry, his face is tilted forward a bit.
- In the UK and international dubs, Skarloey and Falcon have Rheneas' whistle sound in some scenes and Rheneas also has Skarloey's whistle sound.
- For most of the English dubs, Falcon has Duke's original whistle sound.
- Duke's eyes are misaligned in some scenes.
- Wires from the servos can be seen coming out from under Skarloey and going into the red coach.
- Immediately after the narrator says "Duke was proud of this and loved to keep the little engines in order", Duke's eyes appear to shift further back into his face mask.
- In an alternate shot of Stuart and Falcon bashing into each other, the props and mountain can be seen through their cabs.
- As "other engines came and went", Stuart is wearing his new nameplate as "Peter Sam".
- In the shot of Smudger's second on-screen crash, the front truck shakes.
- When the narrator says "Smudger stopped laughing then," his crew have black marker on them.
- When Stuart and Falcon ask what happened to Smudger, their eyes are misaligned and the former's eyes also jitter for a brief second.
- Some of Rheneas' orange paintwork is still visible on Smudger's model, particularly on the inside of his cab.
In Other Languages
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Merchandise
Home Video Releases
Episode
US narrationReference
| #01 Granpuff | #10 Rock 'n' Roll | #19 Henry and the Elephant |
| #02 Sleeping Beauty | #11 Special Funnel | #20 Toad Stands By |
| #03 Bulldog | #12 Steam Roller | #21 Bulls Eyes |
| #04 You Can't Win | #13 Passengers and Polish | #22 Thomas and the Special Letter |
| #05 Four Little Engines | #14 Gallant Old Engine | #23 Paint Pots and Queens |
| #06 A Bad Day for Sir Handel | #15 Rusty to the Rescue | #24 Fish |
| #07 Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady | #16 Thomas and Stepney | #25 Special Attraction |
| #08 Trucks | #17 Train Stops Play | #26 Mind that Bike |
| #09 Home at Last | #18 Bowled Out | |