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- “We found him! We found our sleeping beauty!"
"Excuse me, are you a vandal? Driver told me vandals break in and smash things.” - ― Duke and the visitors
Sleeping Beauty is the second 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
After a hard day's work, the engines return to the shed and ask Thomas to continue the rest of the story about Duke. Thomas recaps the story and continues with Duke sleeping in the lonely shed for many years but he was not forgotten.
One day, not too long ago, a group of adventurers approached the Fat Controller with a plan to find and rescue Duke. The team was prepared with maps and knew where to look and the Fat Controller agreed. Everyone set off to the mountains in a train with Skarloey and began searching. As the days passed, the search grew harder and there was no sign of Duke but the rescuers were still determined to find him.
The search finally ended when one member accidentally fell through the roof of Duke's shed, as the roof had weakened to the point where it could collapse. Duke woke up and asked the rescuer if he was a vandal. The surprised rescuer assured Duke that he and the others were not vandals but were there to rescue him and reunite him with Stuart and Falcon, much to Duke's delight. After this, the rescuers helped Duke out of the shed and transported him to his new home on the Skarloey Railway.
Stuart and Falcon (who are now renamed "Peter Sam" and "Sir Handel") were ready to greet their old friend but they saw that he was asleep in the shed. They hushed each other but they had already disturbed him, so he complained that they woke him up. Stuart and Falcon laughed and told Duke that they could now keep Duke in order. Duke pretended to be cross but he could not have been happier to be reunited with his friends.
Thomas concludes the story with a smiling Duke dozing the sunlight for the first time in years. All the engines agree that the story had a happy ending before going happily to sleep.
Characters
- Thomas
- Henry
- Gordon
- James
- Percy
- Toby
- Duke
- Falcon/Sir Handel
- Stuart/Peter Sam
- Jem Cole
- The Portly Man
- Farmer Trotter (not named)
- Sir Topham Hatt (does not speak)
- Skarloey (cameo)
- Rheneas (cameo)
- Narrow Gauge Coaches (cameos)
Locations
- Tidmouth Sheds
- Duke's Station
- Skarloey
- Sodor Gold Co.
- Rheneas
- Glennock
- Cros-ny-Cuirn
- Bluebell Valley
- Crovan's Gate
- Elm Farm (map only)
- Valesbridge (map only)
Trivia
- Stock footage from the previous episode is used.
- This episode's title refers to the French fairy tale of the same name by Charles Perrault about a princess who falls asleep for one hundred years due to a curse.
- This episode marks the first of a few things:
- The first episode to use a scale model for a Skarloey Railway engine.
- The first appearance of Henry's unused drowsy face from the third series.
- The first appearance of Gordon's new sleeping face.
- Many whistle sounds are missing in the US and early UK dubs of this episode, including Thomas' whistle at the beginning.
- Duck is the only engine from the previous episode who does not reappear at Tidmouth when Thomas is telling the story; James takes his place.
- The map of the Mid Sodor Railway is actually based on a map of the Isle of Wight's railway network, flipped so that south is up. The line the Portly Man points out is the Isle of Wight Central Railway from the seaside town of Cowes.
- A map of the east of Sodor, which features Crovan's Gate and the Skarloey Railway, is seen alongside other maps inside the Fat Controller's office. It is also seen in the fifth series episodes Bye George!, Oliver's Find and Busy Going Backwards. The map was made in the fourth series and was used as geographical reference for the locations in concept arts.
- Near the end of the episode, Falcon and Stuart are still referred to as such despite clearly having their new nameplates. Additionally, Stuart still has his old funnel in the scene, consistent with Duke's first cameo happening in the fourth series episode Trucks.
- In some promotional images, Thomas and James are wearing their original smiling faces.
- The three berth garage from Tugs is visible at the end of the episode.
- This episode was shown alongside the fifth series episode Duncan Gets Spooked in an airing of Storytime with Thomas.
Goofs
- In the UK and international dubs, Skarloey and Falcon have Rheneas/Stepney's original whistle sound.
- In the original UK dub, Falcon has Duke's original whistle.
- In the US dub, Stuart has Smudger's whistle sound and Falcon has a different whistle sound similar to Lady/Millie's during their reunion to meet Duke on the Skarloey Railway.
- When the journey starts:
- Skarloey is facing forwards but, in every shot after that, he is facing backwards. This was likely done so that his face would not be shown on screen until Four Little Engines.
- The coach's roof is lifted and the brake van's roof is additionally lifted in one scene during the journey.
- When Stuart and Falcon arrive at the sheds, the tracks behind them come to an end and one leads straight into a bush.
- Stuart is tilted slightly in the final scene of him and Falcon.
- Duke's right eye (viewers' left) slightly pops out of his face when he grumbles "You woke me up!"
- Percy's right lamp iron (viewers' left) is crooked at the end of the episode.
In Other Languages
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Merchandise
Sir Handel and Duke (2002 Briarpatch trading card)
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 | |