- "I think it's Boulder wanting us to go away."
- ― Rusty
Rusty and the Boulder is the twenty-fifth episode of the fifth series. In the US, it aired with Stepney Gets Lost in an episode of Storytime with Thomas.
Plot
High up in the mountains of Sodor, there is a giant boulder that has stood mysteriously alone for a long time. One day, a new quarry is built near the mines on the land below and Rusty is afraid the boulder will fall onto the line. He confesses his fears to Thomas and Percy. Percy says that boulders don't have eyes, but Rusty is convinced there is something mysterious about the boulder. Edward arrives with a new machine named Thumper to help with the mining process. Thumper soon starts working, which the men are pleased with, but nobody bothers to check the boulder. However, it starts raining and the workmen leave. Rusty gazes up and shivers at the boulder above. Suddenly, a large slab of rock lands on the tracks. Rusty's driver says that they should leave until the weather gets better because some of the rock was loosened by the rain, but Rusty believes the boulder is telling them to go away. As they leave, a mysterious face briefly appears on the boulder and glares hatefully at Rusty.
The next day, Thumper begins working harder than ever. Suddenly, Rusty sees the Boulder starting to move, but his driver does not believe him until the Boulder falls down and lands in front of them with a thud and begins rolling along the tracks as Rusty quickly rolls backwards to get away from it. Rusty and his driver stop at a junction and wait for the Boulder to pass by, but it is nowhere to be seen. Then, they soon realise that the Boulder is suddenly behind them and continues to pursue them. Just ahead, they see a small junction with a line that goes uphill, so Rusty takes it while the Boulder thunders past them.
Meanwhile, Skarloey is on his way to the quarry shunting some trucks, but he sees the Boulder heading for him and immediately reverses. He soon slips into a siding, while the Boulder passes by, destroying the water tower in between the tracks. Skarloey tells Rusty that they have to warn the yards; Rusty agrees, but is unsure how to do it. The Boulder rounds a bend and charges towards Rheneas, who races back across the viaduct as fast as he can to get away from the Boulder until he crashes into a siding with the Boulder just passing by him, much to the relief of his mildly injured driver. At the yards, Percy is collecting trucks when he hears and sees the Boulder approaching. Thinking the Boulder is about to crush him, Percy shuts his eyes and his crew jumps out. The Boulder rolls past, narrowly missing Percy and crashes into the standard gauge sheds, demolishing them in the process with a large fiery explosion and finally coming to a stop.
When the Fat Controller inspects the aftermath, he decides to close the mine. While looking at the Boulder amidst the destruction he had caused, he lamentably concludes that they should have left this part of the island alone. Later that night, the Boulder is moved to the top of a small hill close by the yards so he will never harm anyone or anything on the island anymore. Rusty is sure that, on a clear night, he is gazing high up at the mountains in the distance and that his sighs are being carried on to the wind where he once used to stand, proud and silent.
Characters
- Thomas
- Edward
- Percy
- Skarloey
- Rheneas
- Rusty
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Thumper (does not speak)
- Boulder (does not speak)
- Terence (cameo)
- George (cameo)
- Butch (cameo)
- The Horrid Lorries (faceless; cameo)
Locations
Trivia
- Going by production order, this is the twenty-sixth episode of the fifth series and the series finale of the fifth series.
- According to a film slate, the scenes on the Boulder Quarry set were filmed on the 14th of April 1998. The scene where Skarloey diverts into a siding was filmed on the 17th. The film slates also refer to the episode as "Episode X", indicating episode 24.
- Boulder's face is based on Gordon's annoyed face.
- This marks the last episode of a few things:
- The last appearance of Rusty's small-scale suspicious, sad and surprised faces as well as his smiling face.
- The last appearance of Percy's smiling face in an episode. It would appear for the final time ever in specially shot footage from the next episode, Snow (or previous by production order).
- The last appearance of Percy's original wincing face. A new one will be gained in the eighth series episode, Percy's New Whistle.
- The last episode to use the straining metal sound effect for the engines' brakes.
- This is the second and last episode of the fifth series where a building catches fire (after Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach).
- The same model for Boulder is used for both the large-scale and normal-scale sets.
- This is the only episode of a few things:
- The only appearances of Thumper and Boulder and their only appearances in the fifth series.
- The only episode where Terence appears without his driver.
- Rheneas' only speaking role in the fifth series in the US dub.
- This is the first episode in where George appears, but does not speak.
- The scenes where Boulder chases after Rusty, Skarloey and Rheneas are references to the boulder chasing scene in the Indiana Jones film, Raiders of the Lost Ark. This reference was later used again in the Thomas' YouTube World Tour short, Thomas Goes for Gold, as well as the twenty-third series episode, Mines of Mystery.
- Rusty's small-scale model is used at the beginning and end of the episode, whilst his large-scale model is used for the remainder of it.
- Rheneas' small-scale model is used when he is crossing the viaduct, whilst his large-scale model is used for when he starts escaping from the Boulder and crashes. In addition with the small-scale model, Rheneas' unused fourth series horrified face is used which was the first and only episode to feature the face mask.
- As shown in a film slate, Rheneas would have backed away from Boulder and eventually off the set that is shown. He is, however, caught by a male crew member.
- A small connector is attached to Rheneas when the camera gets close-ups of him, while the boulder chases after him.
- This is one of Davey Moore's favourite episodes alongside the first series episode, Thomas' Train and the seventeenth series episode, Luke's New Friend.
- This is one of the three episodes to feature Thomas' unused third series jolly face, the other two being Something in the Air and Snow.
- In the US and international dubs:
- Music can be heard when Edward introduces Rusty to Thumper, during the runaway when Boulder is behind Rusty and after the broken water tower pieces fall on Skarloey.
- The sound of Boulder thudding on the ground is much different than in the UK dub of this episode. Also a second thud was heard only in the US dub.
- The sound of Skarloey braking when he sees Boulder is different.
- The sound of Boulder destroying the water tower beside Skarloey is less audible than the UK dub of this episode.
- The crash sound is heard when Rheneas crashes into a siding with Boulder just passing by him.
- In the UK dub, James' line "EYYOIIIKES!!!" was re-used from the fifth series episode, Busy Going Backwards for Skarloey and Rheneas, when Boulder charges after them.
- Butch gains a face in this episode, as in his other appearances besides Horrid Lorry, he faced away from the camera.
- Despite not being seen or featured in this episode, Oliver is in the Wooden Railway set based on this episode.
- After the boulder crashes into the sheds, a fireworks shot and explosion sound effect is heard.
- The title is shortened to just Boulder on The Roku Channel.
- A blooper shows that when Boulder hits Rheneas, his face comes off. The face was actually revealed to be his large scale wincing/sleeping face.
- There are some scenes that went unused in the final cut of the episode. These include:
- A deleted scene of Edward bringing Thumper to the quarry.
- A close-up shot of Thumper.
- A deleted shot of Thumper's drills crushing the rocks.
- A deleted scene of the rock dust dropping from the mountain.
- An alternate and deleted take of Thumper crushing the rocks.
- An upper shot of Rusty and Boulder.
- Rusty getting bumped into the camera when Boulder hits him.
- A deleted scene of Rusty reversing when Boulder wants him and his driver to go away.
- An extended scene of Rusty getting away from Boulder
- An alternate scene of the water tower’s parts landing on Skarloey's roof and cab.
- Skarloey wearing his horrified face while telling Rusty about Boulder.
- A deleted scene of Rusty wearing his large-scale sad face while worrying about Boulder.
- A deleted shot of Rheneas diverting into the siding away from Boulder.
- A scene of Rheneas stopping as opposed to crashing into the siding. Usually that take was originally going to be used, but was cut.
- A deleted close-up of Percy's driver.
- Alternate shots of Boulder demolishing the sheds.
- A deleted and alternate scene of Boulder coming while the camera is on Percy's roof.
- A deleted scene of Percy looking shocked after Boulder destroyed the sheds. It ended up being shown as a mirrored picture on the North American Spills and Chills and Other Thomas Thrills VHS/DVD front cover.
Goofs
- Due to his model being changed, Rusty's face constantly changes size throughout the episode.
- In the close-up of Rheneas' driver after the crash, his right (viewer's left) pupil appears to be sloppily painted. Also, he appears to be in Rusty's cab instead of Rheneas'. That was seen in the storyboard of Rheneas' driver in Rheneas.
- In the second close-up of Percy when Boulder is approaching, it appears that the shed has already been destroyed as the wood from the shed is laying on Percy's trucks. Also, the loads in Percy’s trucks change.
- When Rusty says "It's rolling along our line!" Terence and some pipes can be seen behind him, but they disappear in the shots following.
- Terence is missing a patch of his orange paint when Thumper starts working at the quarry.
- In the Latin American Spanish dub, when Boulder chases Skarloey, the narrator says that Rusty veered into a siding, when it was Skarloey.
Quotes
- Percy: Where's all this rock coming from?
- Rusty: The new quarry. This mountain rock is good for many things, although it's dangerous up there.
- Thomas: Why?
- Rusty: Because of a big boulder. I think it's watching me.
- Percy: How can it be? Boulders don't have eyes!
- Rusty: That's as may be, Percy, there's something strange about this one.
- [Edward arrives with a machine named Thumper for the quarry]
- Rusty: What's that?
- Edward: It's called Thumper. Apparently, it helps collect the rock faster.
- Rusty: [to himself] I think it's Boulder wanting us to go away.
- Rusty: [looks up at the boulder] Boulder's moving!
- Driver: Don't be so daft. It can't!
- Narrator: But it could.
- (Skarloey makes his way up to the quarry with some trucks, but encounters Boulder)
- Skarloey: (reverses to safety) EYYOIIIKES!!! (US: Help!)
- Narrator: Boulder was catching up to them fast, but they veered into a siding. (US: Boulder was catching up fast!)
- (Boulder catches up fast, destroying a water tower in the process but Skarloey safely reaches a siding)
- Skarloey: We must warn the yards!
- Rusty: Yes, but how?!
- [Boulder rounds a bend and charges for Rheneas]
- Rheneas: It's running loose! EYYOIIIKES!!! (US: Hurry!)
- [Rheneas races in reverse as the boulder chases him and then manages to safely race into a siding but crash backwards]
- Rheneas' Driver: (relieved) Rather a smash than a squash! (US: Better a smash than a squash!)
- The Fat Controller: [about the boulder] We should've left this part of the Island alone.
In Other Languages
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Home Video Releases
Reference
| #01 Cranky Bugs | #10 Toby and the Flood | #19 Happy Ever After |
| #02 Horrid Lorry | #11 Haunted Henry | #20 Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday |
| #03 A Better View for Gordon | #12 Double Teething Troubles | #21 A Surprise for Percy |
| #04 Lady Hatt's Birthday Party | #13 Stepney Gets Lost | #22 Make Someone Happy |
| #05 James and the Trouble with Trees | #14 Toby's Discovery | #23 Busy Going Backwards |
| #06 Gordon and the Gremlin | #15 Something in the Air | #24 Duncan Gets Spooked |
| #07 Bye George! | #16 Thomas, Percy and Old Slow Coach | #25 Rusty and the Boulder |
| #08 Baa! | #17 Thomas and the Rumours | #26 Snow |
| #09 Put Upon Percy | #18 Oliver's Find | |