- “I've got a job for you Splodge."
"Actually it's, uh, Splatter."
"And, and, Dodge."
"I ain't got time to say both names!” - ― Diesel 10, Splatter, and Dodge
Splatter and Dodge, collectively referred to by Diesel 10 as "Splodge", a portmanteau of their names, are two Canadian-accented diesel engines, who served as Diesel 10's bumbling sidekicks before their betrayal. They are the secondary antagonists of Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
Biography
Splatter and Dodge are two diesel shunters who, at one point, worked alongside Diesel 10 who referred to them as "Splodge", claiming he did not have time to say both names. They did not take a liking to their boss when he collectively referred to them as "Splodge" and grew impatient with them when they asked him questions about his scheme. They were also seen moving rolling stock at Tidmouth Sheds.
At Diesel 10's Mountain, Diesel 10 wanted to get rid of the railway's steam engines as well as the lost engine. Splatter and Dodge reminded him that Mr. Conductor was coming, but that didn't bother Diesel 10 because he was in his crosshairs as well. Splatter and Dodge were complacent with his plans, regularly keeping a lookout for their boss and being present when he was scheming. As time went on, Splatter and Dodge spent their time mocking their boss and pointing out the flaws in his scheme. This caused Diesel 10 to lose his temper and cause problems.
They arrived at Tidmouth Sheds and spied on the steam engines, until Harold flew by, spreading sneezing powder, dumped by Diesel 10, over Thomas and them. The next day they arrived at the Smelter's Yard and listened to Diesel 10's plan to destroy the lost engine and the other engines. Toby however overheard their plans and rang his bell to distract Diesel 10, causing his claw to knock the shed over the diesels and trapping them.
They later showed how useful they could be to Diesel 10 when they found the Magic Buffers. But instead of going through them, they decided to tell Diesel 10 the following morning after being frightened by an owl. Percy saw this and went back to warn Thomas.
However, the two eventually grew tired of Diesel 10 and when he tried to chase down Lady and Thomas, they refused to follow him and told him to do his own dirty work.
What happened to them after that is unknown, although it can be assumed they were found out by the Fat Controller.
Personalities
Both engines are simple-minded, awkward, cowardly and tend to banter. Splatter is the more talkative of the two, while Dodge is more intelligent. Although Percy fears them, they do not have the intelligence or villainy to match Diesel 10's. They enjoy watching Diesel 10's plans backfire, but are also prone to making a mess of things. Despite initially siding with Diesel 10, they seem reluctant to destroy a fellow engine, even a steam engine, and eventually abandon Diesel 10 in the end. They also seem to have a poor vocabulary, such as when they used the word "emphatically" as they left Diesel 10 to do the chasing, even though they had no idea what the word meant.
Technical Details
Basis
Splatter and Dodge were originally based on freelance designs. In the final cut of Thomas and the Magic Railroad, Splatter and Dodge are based on British Rail (BR) Class 08 diesel-electric shunters. In the real world, BR Class 08s were in fact the most successful shunting engines in the world with 996 of them built. Over seventy of them are preserved by heritage railways, such as the Dean Forest Railway and museums, such as the National Railway Museum. Around one-hundred BR Class 08s also remain in service on the national rail network.
Diesel, 'Arry, Bert, Paxton, Sidney, Ulli, the Mainland Diesels and Fernando are also based on BR Class 08s along with the international orange, blue and Chinese diesels. Two BR Class 08s also appear in the Railway Series. Unlike these engines, Splatter and Dodge, along with 'Arry and Bert. have been modified without ladders going up on the sides of their fronts.
Livery
Splatter and Dodge are both painted dark grey, but Splatter's cab, utility boxes and front are painted dull purple, while Dodge's are painted olive green. They both have their respective names painted on their sides in white.
Appearances
Thomas & Friends
Specials
- 2000 - Thomas and the Magic Railroad
- 2011 - Day of the Diesels (dropped)
- 2016 - The Great Race (dropped)
Books
Splatter and Dodge also appeared in several Japanese Books related to Thomas and the Magic Railroad. Video Games |
Official Description
| “ | Splatter: Splatter and his brother Dodge are Diesel 10's silly sidekicks. Splatter likes to help out Diesel 10 in his plan to destroy Sir Topham Hatt's Railway, but also gets pleasure watching Diesel 10's plans backfire.
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” |
| “ | Dodge: Dodge and his brother Splatter are Diesel 10's silly sidekicks. Dodge likes to plot and scheme with Diesel 10, but is not nearly as tough as he'd like to think he is.
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” |
| “ | Splatter: Splatter and his brother Dodge are Diesel 10's sidekicks. Splatter likes to help out Diesel 10 in his plan to destroy Sir Topham Hatt's Railway, but also gets pleasure watching Diesel 10's plans backfire.
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” |
| “ | Dodge: Dodge and his brother Splatter are Diesel 10's sidekicks. Dodge likes to help out Diesel 10 in his plan to destroy Sir Topham Hatt's Railway, but also gets pleasure watching Diesel 10's plans backfire.
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” |
| “ | Splatter: Splatter and his twin brother Dodge are part of Diesel 10's crew. They like to help Diesel 10 cause confusion and delay on the Sodor Railway. They also enjoy watching Diesel 10's plans backfire.
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” |
| “ | Dodge: Dodge and his twin brother Splatter are part of Diesel 10's crew. They like to help Diesel 10 cause confusion and delay on the Sodor Railway. They also enjoy watching Diesel 10's plans backfire.
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” |
Audio Files
Themes
Splatter
In Thomas and the Magic Railroad Print Studio only, Splatter reuses Sir Topham Hatt's theme from the first series.
| Only used | Composer | Theme | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas and the Magic Railroad Print Studio | Mike O'Donnell Junior Campbell |
||
Dodge
In Thomas and the Magic Railroad Print Studio only, Dodge reuses an alternate version of Toby's theme from the first series.
| Only used | Composer | Theme | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas and the Magic Railroad Print Studio | Mike O'Donnell Junior Campbell |
||
Trivia
- Splatter and Dodge were the last characters created by Britt Allcroft before she stepped down from the writing team.
- A behind the scenes picture shows Splatter and Dodge without their names.
- Splatter and Dodge are repainted from 'Arry and Bert's fifth series models. The hazard stripes from the latter diesels are even visible under their paintwork in a rare promo (even though they are covered in paint, they are even visible near the top of their fronts throughout the movie). According to an interview with Chris Lloyd, their models never came back from Canada after filming of Thomas and the Magic Railroad was complete.[1] This however is untrue, as the models were reverted back into 'Arry and Bert in the sixth series. The purple is visible under one of them in 'Arry's 2004 promo pic and throughout the eighth series and Calling All Engines!
- Splatter and Dodge's television series models do not have handrails, yet some of their merchandise lines do, possibly modelling after Diesel.
- In one of the original scripts:
- Splatter and Dodge never turned on Diesel 10. Instead, George, who was to be one of Diesel 10's henchmen, turned on them by telling them to destroy the magic buffers themselves when they ordered him to do so. This caused them to rush at him, only to smash into each other and derail. In another version of the script, they were trapped in a siding when Junior, helped by George, pushed a large boulder down into their path.
- Another difference from the original script was that their boss referred to them as "Spladge" instead of "Splodge".
- Early concept artwork shows that Splatter was going to have hazard stripes of some kind along the lower portion of his body, and Dodge was going to have handrails on his running plate. In addition, both were drawn with significantly different facial features to one another.
- Some production made Splatter and Dodge faces are currently in possession of Diesel10TV on Twitter.
- Splatter and Dodge were two characters that were originally going to return in the CGI series, but were dropped. The others being Billy, Dennis, Derek, Colin, George, and Patrick.
- Splatter and Dodge were originally intended to return in Day of the Diesels; however, they were later dropped and replaced by Paxton and Sidney, who were also based on the same engine as them.[2]
- According to series Railway Consultant Sam Wilkinson, Splatter and Dodge were also considered in place of The Mainland Diesels in The Great Race. Just like the Mainland Diesels, Splatter and Dodge's role would have been to help prepare events by shunting trucks during The Great Railway Show, but again, they were dropped.[3]
- Splatter and Dodge both had a total of five facial expressions, and they each had one chuckling face that was not used on-screen. However, their chuckling faces appeared in a deleted scene of Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
- A majority of merchandise of Splatter and Dodge depict them with their prototype faces, most evident by the smaller noses.
Merchandise
- Ertl (discontinued)
- Wooden Railway (reissued 2011, discontinued)
- Thomas Engine Collection Series (discontinued)
- Thomas Town (discontinued)
- Motor Road and Rail (discontinued)
- TrackMaster (discontinued)
- Brio (discontinued)
- Trading Cards (discontinued)
- Nakayoshi (discontinued)
- Capsule Plarail (discontinued outside Japan)
- Pocket Fantasy (discontinued)
References
| Locomotives | Steam | City of Truro | Flying Scotsman | Spencer | Stephen's Competitors | Connor | Caitlin | Samson | Logan | Theo | Lexi | Hurricane | Merlin | Duchess | Flying Thistle | Thirteen |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | Class 40 | The Mainland Diesels | Frankie | |
| Rolling Stock | Connor's Coaches | Caitlin's Coaches | Bradford | |
| Non-Rail Vehicles | 040 BMC | Beresford | Tony | Mitchell | The Hawker Hurricane | |
| People | Elizabeth II | The Duke and Duchess of Boxford | The Thin Clergyman | The Fat Clergyman | Baz and Bernie | |
| Stations | Barrow-in-Furness | Brighton | Crewe | Victoria | |