- "He's whistling at my funfair special!"
- ― Rosie thinking that Stepney is whistling at her
Rosie's Funfair Special, retitled Rosie's Carnival Special on North American releases, is the third episode of the twelfth series.
Plot
Emily and Rosie have to take a funfair train at Brendam Docks. Rosie excitedly hopes that the Fat Controller will ask her to pull it, but is disappointed when he gives the job to Emily and chooses Rosie to be her back engine. Meanwhile, Rosie is sadly puffing along the line when an idea flies into her funnel; if she arrives at the docks before Emily, she will take the funfair train instead, making Emily go straight to High Farm, hoping it will help her.
Soon, Rosie arrives at the docks and gasps as she sees how long the train is. Then she couples up, but does not know that Emily is already coupled up on the other end of the train, waiting for Rosie. Rosie starts to pull as hard as she can, but this causes a coupling to break. Rosie leaves with the train, but does not realise that she has left half of it behind with Emily.
Meanwhile, Rosie chuffs happily along, but then there is trouble: another coupling breaks and the coconut truck on the end crashes into the level crossing where Bertie, who is taking children to Maithwaite, is waiting until the truck blocks him. It is not long before another coupling breaks, which makes the sugar truck crash into Stepney when the points switch. Rosie continues puffing along but as she climbs Gordon's hill, another coupling breaks once again and the flatbed with the Ferris Wheel seats crashes into Emily behind her, who is bringing the rest of the train, causing her to become stuck.
Rosie cheerfully arrives at Maithwaite Station, but her mood changes when she sees the Fat Controller, who sternly scolds her for leaving half of the train behind and causing confusion and delay. Rosie then promises to set things right. She fetches Rocky and brings him to Emily, who is still stuck. Rosie apologises for her silly behaviour and tells Emily that she will take the other trucks when Rocky clears the line. Soon, the two engines are coupled up and arrive at Maithwaite just in time.
That evening, Rosie and Emily are watching the happy children at the funfair. Rosie hopes that she and Emily could work together again and admits that this is best of all.
Characters
- Emily
- Rosie
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Stepney (speaks only in the US dub; does not speak in UK and other dubs)
- Rocky (does not speak)
- Bertie (does not speak)
- Trevor (cameo)
- Cranky (cameo)
- Lady Hatt (cameo)
- Mr. Giggles (cameo)
- Sir Topham Hatt's Assistants (cameos)
- The Ginger-haired Boy (cameo)
- The Blond-haired Boy (cameo)
- The Dark Uniformed Boy (cameo)
- The Tidmouth Sheds Carpenters (cameos)
- Big Mickey (faceless, cameo)
- Gordon (mentioned)
- Thomas (dropped; role replaced by Rosie)[1]
Locations
- Crosby Washdown
- The Smelter's Yard
- Knapford
- Brendam Docks
- Gordon's Hill
- Maithwaite
- High Farm (mentioned)
- Tower Windmill (deleted scene)
- Rail Under Road Bridge and Signal Box (deleted scene)
Trivia
- According to writer Andrew Viner's website, this episode was commissioned/written in 2007.[2]
- This episode marks a few things for Rosie:
- Her only appearance in the twelfth series.
- Her last appearance in the model series.
- This is last appearance of the Sodor Ironworks (though it was mentioned a few times after this episode), and the last appearance of four faces:
- Rosie's happy face.
- Bertie's shocked face.
- Stepney's happy and startled faces.
- In this episode, Stepney's whistle sound is Thomas', but in a higher pitch.
- The coconuts that were in the last truck behind Rosie's train are actually coffee beans.
- This episode marks a few milestones for Stepney:
- His first appearance since the seventh series episode, Trusty Rusty.
- His first speaking role in the US dub since the fifth series episode, Stepney Gets Lost.
- His first appearance in new footage since the sixth series episode, Edward the Very Useful Engine, as both of his appearances in the seventh series were via stock footage.
- His only appearance in the twelfth series.
- His only appearance in the HiT Entertainment model era.
- His only appearance where he has a CGI face.
- His final appearance.
- This is the only episode of two things:
- The only time that Rosie visits the Smelter's yard.
- The only time that the Fat Controller says his catchphrase, "You have caused confusion and delay!", in the twelfth series.
- Stepney doesn't have a CGI face when the truck hits him. However, in a rare picture, he does. This is presumably due to how hard it would've been to convincingly give him a CGI face when he was covered in sugar.
- Stepney's appearance in this episode was inspired by the fact that writer Andrew Viner's favourite book of The Railway Series was Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine.[1]
- According to Andrew Viner, Thomas was originally going to be the main character of this episode, but he was asked to make it a Rosie episode instead. He also stated that the episode was going to have a fairground tug-of-war at the beginning or the end of the episode. The tug-of-war was cut since either there was not any room for the tug-of-war, or it was not necessary for the story.[1]
Goofs
- At the beginning of the episode, Emily says "High Farm," but Rosie calls it "Hill Farm" while she puffs to Brendam Docks.
- Bertie's driver and his passengers aren't in full CGI.
- When the points change to let Stepney go to the mainline, a string can be seen changing the points.
- In the UK dub, when Rosie tries to pull the funfair special, the narrator Michael Angelis mistakenly calls her Roadie.
- In the US dub, Stepney's mouth isn't animated to say "Oh, my!"
- The French title has Toby's name in it, despite the fact that Rosie is the main character of this episode. However, during the French-speaking Canadian airings, the goof is fixed.
- When the camera zooms out after the coconut truck crashes into the level crossing, Bertie disappears.
- On the Milkshake! airing, the subtitles referred to Cranky as "Frankie."
- In the shot of Rocky, after he has lifted all the seats back onto the flatbed, the flatbed is missing its right buffer.
- When Rosie backs up to the funfair special, her steam platform can be seen.
- Rosie's right lamp iron is crooked after the scene where the sugar truck crashes into Stepney.
Merchandise
TrackMaster - Rosie's Fun Fair Special and Sodor Carnival (discontinued)
Books - Rosie and the Special- Magazine Stories - Fun at the Carnival!
In Other Languages
| Language | Title |
|---|---|
| Czech | Rosie a Zvláštní Pouťový Náklad |
| Finnish | Roosan Tivolijuna |
| French | Toby et la Fête Foraine Rosie et le Foraine d'Fête |
| German | Übereifrige Rosie |
| Hebrew | רוזי ורכבת היריד |
| Indonesian | Kereta Taman Hiburan Istimewa Rosie |
| Italian | Il Trasporto Speciale di Rosie per la Fiera |
| Korean | 맡은 일을 열심히 해요 (Kids 1) 로지의 특급열차 (EBS) |
| Mandarin (China) | 罗西与游园会 |
| Polish | Przesyłka Specjalna Rózi |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Rosie e o Especial |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Rosie y el Especial de la Feria |
| Vietnamese | Chuyến Hàng Đặc Biệt của Rosie |
Home Video Releases
|
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 2025 Contact with Andrew Viner
- ↑ Andrew Viner's official website (archived)
| #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 | |