The Sad Story of Henry

The Sad Story of Henry, retitled Come Out, Henry! in American releases, is the third episode of the first series. It is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, The Three Railway Engines.

Plot

It is a very rainy day on Sodor and a big green engine named Henry is pulling some coaches full of passengers. He runs into a tunnel and stops in it, unwilling to go any further.

Henry's driver and fireman argue with him but find that he refuses to come out, claiming that the rain will spoil his green paint with red stripes. The guard tries blowing his whistle and waving his flag, but Henry instead blows steam at him.

Just then, an important man arrives on the next train; it is Sir Topham Hatt, better known as the Fat Controller. He decides that Henry will be pulled out of the tunnel. Attaching a rope to Henry, all the passengers try and pull him except for the Fat Controller, citing it is his doctor's orders. When Henry does not move, the passengers move to the other end of the tunnel and then they try to push Henry out, again without the Fat Controller's help, but with the same results.

The passengers point out to Henry that the rain has stopped, but Henry still refuses to move, believing that the rain will start again. Thomas arrives to help and tries to push Henry out, but even with another engine pushing, Henry remains in the tunnel. Finally, the Fat Controller admits defeat and, having had enough of Henry's stubbornness, tells him that they will leave him there. Soon, the rails are taken up and a brick wall is erected in front of Henry.

Now Henry can only sit and watch the other engines pass through the other tunnel. He soon regrets his actions as he sees Edward and Gordon pass by. Edward always toots hello with his whistle, while Gordon always laughs at Henry, saying it serves him right. Henry has no steam to answer them and the soot and dirt from the tunnel ruin his paint anyway.

Henry is left in the tunnel cold, dirty, and very sad, wondering if he will ever be let out to pull trains again.

Characters

• Edward
• Henry
• Gordon
• Sir Topham Hatt
• Thomas (does not speak)
• James (cameo)
• Troublesome Trucks (cameos)
• Mrs. Kyndley (cameo)
• Sir Topham Hatt's Blond-haired Assistant (cameo)
• The Storyteller (cameo)

Locations

• Henry's Tunnel
• The Pond Runby

Trivia

• The scene featuring Henry being bricked up was recreated in full CGI for Blue Mountain Mystery. The story was later re-adapted for The Adventure Begins. This is the only episode remade in CGI twice.
• Four recreated scenes of this episode were produced in 1988 for the ladybird book, The Sad Story of Henry/Thomas's Train/Thomas and the Guard.
• In the Nick Jr. version of the Shining Time Station episode, Mysterious Stranger, the sequence of Henry being bricked up is shortened.
• The UK narration stays true to the original format from the Railway Series where the Fat Controller intended to leave Henry in the tunnel indefinitely. In both US narrations, Henry being shut up in the tunnel was said to be temporary until he was ready to come out and the wall was to prevent other engines from bumping into him. The narration change was so viewers would understand the context of the story-line better, so they could predict what happens later.
• This is the first episode where the narrator breaks the fourth wall as he addresses the viewers in regards to the lesson of the story.
• This is also the first episode to have a punctuation mark in the title in the US dub.
• This is the first episode to feature just one location as a central part of its narrative (not counting the Pond Runby).

Goofs

• In a few close-ups of Henry in the tunnel, the tracks in front of him have already been taken up.
• In the first scene of Henry having stopped at the other end of the tunnel, the points in front of him appear misaligned from the connector track. They are properly connected in subsequent scenes, however.
• In some shots, purple marks are visible on the Fat Controller's hand, such as when he says, that his doctor has forbidden him to pull.
• When the passengers try to pull Henry out of the tunnel, almost all of them have blu-tack on their feet.
• At some stages, the level of the wall decreases and Henry changes position.
• When the guard tries to get Henry out by blowing his whistle and waving his flags, the scene is played forward and then backward.
• At first, the buffers of Henry's last coach are at their normal height. But when Thomas comes to push, the buffers have been lowered to accommodate Thomas' buffers. Also, in the close-up of Thomas buffering up to the coaches, his buffer housing is black instead of red and the detail of his buffer housing is different, he is also missing his headlamp lens.
• When the workmen are walling up the tunnel, the buffers have no track connected to them. But in the last close-up, there is.
• When James leaves after bringing the Fat Controller, the puffing noise can be heard before James starts to move.
• In the close-up of Edward, his whistle is crooked.
• When James leaves, at the top of the screen, the edge of the set can be seen. There's also ruffles in the sky.

In Other Languages

Merchandise

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Wooden Railway Name Released Discontinued Highlights Image Come Out, Henry Story Pack 1998 1998 Includes exclusive sad-faced Henry and Henry's Tunnel Books Name Published Publisher Highlights Photo Henry's Bad Day 2006 Random House Step Into Reading book Henry and the Tunnel 1997 Egmont Random House My First Thomas book

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