| This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the magazine story or James Sorts It Out. |
- “James is silly, James is slow! James has got us stuck in snow!”
- ― A truck taunting James
James Works it Out is the twelfth episode of the twelfth series. It is also the 300th episode of Thomas & Friends.
Plot
One winter day, Thomas, James and Stanley are shunting trucks in the yard to take to Great Waterton. James soon shunts his trucks - which includes Hector - into line when it starts to snow, for which Hector advises that they ask the yard manager for a weather report. James, however, dislikes being told what to do by a truck and sets off. James soon runs into Harold who tells him that bad weather is ahead, but he still refuses to listen to Hector's advice that they go through Henry's Tunnel and instead decides to take a short cut through Shen Valley. Unfortunately, the snow is so thick that James cannot see where he is going and accidently goes through the snowy hills.
When Edward sees James, Edward informs him that it will be hard to shunt his train up the hill and that he has cleared snow from lots of lines. Seeing that Edward can help them, Hector attempts to advise that they have him come with them. However, James is still adamant that he knows best and they head off on their own. It is very heavy work going up the hill, but they're able to get to the top and go fast down the other side. When Hector sees that there is a snowslide at the bottom, he tries to tell James that they should go quickly down the hill, but James still believes he knows best, breaks hard at the bottom and they get stuck.
Now seeing that Hector was right, James asks him for advice and he tells James to go back up the hill and charge down to get through the snowslide. They get through and James congratulates Hector for his good advice. Together, James and Hector are able to get through the snow and into Great Waterton where Thomas and Stanley are already waiting. James tells them that Hector helped him and states how glad he is to take advice from a good truck, which Hector is very proud of.
Characters
- Thomas
- Edward
- James
- Stanley
- Hector
- Troublesome Trucks
- Harold
- Henry (mentioned)
- The Knapford Yards Manager (mentioned)
- Salty (mistakenly mentioned in the German dub)
Locations
- Knapford Yards
- Great Waterton
- Shen Valley (mentioned)
- Henry's Tunnel (mentioned)
Trivia
- In the US dub, Hector gains a Spanish accent and no longer has a deep voice.
- This episode marks:
- Stanley's first appearance in an episode.
- Edward and James' last speaking roles in the model series.
- Hector's last appearance.
- Harold's last appearance until Misty Island Rescue, his last full appearance in an episode until the fourteenth series episode, Merry Misty Island, and his last appearance in the model series.
- The last appearance of James' happy (not counting a stock footage appearance in Percy and the Bandstand), annoyed and disappointed/unamused faces, Hector's sad/worried and happy faces and the troublesome trucks laughing face.
- The Ket Programming website says that this episode, along with the twelfth series episode, Tram Trouble, aired on 5th December 2009, but that could have somewhere around the time when this aired on Nick Jr. UK.
- This episode aired before the eleventh series episode, Hector the Horrid! in Australia and Canada, so the audience would not know who Hector is.
- This episode aired on Milkshake! before The Great Discovery premiered in the UK, so the audience may have not known who Stanley or what Great Waterton are.
- This is the only episode of the series to be a hundredth one (in this case, the 300th episode) in both chronological and production order.
Goofs
- The TrackMaster set said this episode can be found in the Railway Friends DVD, but that episode is not featured on that release.
- After James biffs his trucks into line, a steam platform is visible when he backs up.
- In the German dub of this episode, Stanley is mistakenly referred as Salty in one scene.
- The truck in front of Hector keeps gaining and losing his face.
- When James meets Harold at a signal, he does not appear to be coupled to Hector as the trucks continue moving for about a second after James stops.
- When James reaches the top of Gordon's Hill, his wheels stop moving.
- When James applies his brakes going downhill, he does not appear to have a crew in his cab.
- When the trucks hit the snowdrift, some of them derail.
- When Hector tells James to start rolling down the hill, the latter is already starting to move before the former tells him to do so.
- As Harold flies in to warn James about the snow, his lips already begin to move before, which is before he speaks in the next shot when he actually warns James.
In Other Languages
| Language | Title |
|---|---|
| Brazilian Portuguese | James Resolve |
| Chinese Mandarin | 詹姆士成功了 |
| Croatian | Jurica je poslušao |
| Czech | Jakubovi už to došlo |
| Finnish | Kyllä Jaska Tietää |
| French | James n'écoute rien |
| German | Auf einen guten Waggon ist Verlass |
| Indonesian | James Bisa Membereskannya |
| Italian | I Consigli di un Amico |
| Japanese | ジェームスのたいあたり |
| Korean | 귀를 귀울여요 (Kids 1) 힘을 모으자! (EBS) |
| Latin American Spanish | James lo Soluciona |
| Polish | Kuba Da Sobie Radę |
Merchandise
- Take Along (discontinued)
- TrackMaster (discontinued)
- Magazine Stories - James Works it Out
Home Media Releases
UKDVD BoxsetsUS/CAN/ZA/LATAMUS DVD BoxsetsAUS
DVD BoxsetsMYSFRATHA
JPN
KORTWNHK
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| #01 Thomas and the Billboard | #08 Excellent Emily | #15 Gordon Takes a Shortcut |
| #02 Steady Eddie | #09 The Party Surprise | #16 The Man in the Hills |
| #03 Rosie's Funfair Special | #10 Saved You! | #17 Thomas Puts the Brakes On |
| #04 Mountain Marvel | #11 Duncan and the Hot Air Balloon | #18 Percy and the Bandstand |
| #05 Henry Gets It Wrong | #12 James Works It Out | #19 Push Me, Pull You |
| #06 Heave Ho Thomas! | #13 Tram Trouble | #20 Best Friends |
| #07 Toby's Special Surprise | #14 Don't Go Back | |