There Once Was an Engine Who Ran Away is a song from the seventh series dedicated to Fergus. It is based on his theme.
Lyrics
- There once was an engine who ran away,
- Just up and went,
- And ran away, ran away.
- Stacked up his tender, and headed down the line,
- Toot toot, farewell, goodbye!
- He overheard the wicked old Diesel say,
- He was heading for the scrapyard any day.
- He didn't wanna wait for the fateful day.
- So the little old engine ran away.
- He huffed and he puffed, his wheels started turning,
- He chuffed and he chuffed, his little firebox burning,
- He slipped his brake, let his whistle fly,
- Toot toot, farewell, goodbye!
- And the little old engine ran away,
- Just up and went,
- And ran away, ran away.
- Didn't feel part of the railway,
- So the little old engine ran away.
(instrumental)
- And when the other engines heard he'd gone,
- They felt so sad, 'cos they knew he had got it wrong.
- No matter what Diesel had to say,
- Sir Topham Hatt has the final say.
- So he thought and he thought,
- Where could he be, could he go?
- Some searched high, the others searched low.
- Where did he run, where did he go?
- We gotta bring the little engine home.
- So they all went out to look around,
- Far and wide, and up and down
- No matter where they searched, no one seemed to know
- Oh where did the little old engine go?
- Thomas finally tracked him down,
- He was cold and blue, and all alone.
- He told him he was needed back urgently.
- "Who me, really?"
- "Yes you, you silly engine!"
- 'Cause he's the pride of the railway!
- So he huffed and he puffed,
- His wheels started turning,
- He chuffed and he chuffed his little firebox burning,
- He slipped his brake and he was on his way,
- Toot toot, hip hip, hooray!
- Now the little old engine's heading home,
- To toots and cheers, hear the whistles blow.
- 'Cause now he's the pride of the railway...
- "Look everybody! Here comes Fergus!"
- "Hooray!"
- ...yes, the little old engine's coming home!
Characters
- Thomas
- Edward
- Henry
- Gordon
- James
- Percy
- Duck
- Donald
- Stepney
- Harvey
- Fergus
- Diesel
- Daisy
- BoCo
- Mavis
- 'Arry and Bert
- Skarloey
- Rheneas
- Rusty
- Harold
- Big Mickey
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Farmer Trotter
Locations
- Sodor Ironworks
- Sodor Cement Works
- Toby's Branch Line
- Castle Loch Causeway
- Maithwaite Quarry Mine
- Tidmouth Sheds
- Gordon's Hill
- Lakeside
- Knapford
- Tidmouth Beach
- Vicarstown Goods Depot
- Ffarquhar Quarry
Footage Used
Classic footage:
- Diesel Does it Again (US only)
- The Trouble with Mud (US only)
- A Bad Day for Sir Handel (US only)]
- Rusty to the Rescue (US only)]
- Thomas and Stepney (US only)
- Fish (US only)
- Harvey to the Rescue (US only)
- A Bad Day for Harold the Helicopter (US only)
- Scaredy Engines (US only)
- Gordon Takes a Tumble (US only)
- Bill, Ben and Fergus (UK only)
- Fergus Breaks the Rules (UK only)
Modern footage:
- Bill, Ben and Fergus (US only)
- Fergus Breaks the Rules (US only)
Deleted and Extended Scenes
- The Trouble with Mud - A deleted scene of Sir Topham Hatt thinking.
- Rusty to the Rescue - An extended beginning of Rusty and Stepney going over the bridge after escaping the scrapyard.
- Fish - An edited deleted scene of Henry going the other way passing the beach with The Flying Kipper.
- Harvey to the Rescue:
- An extended shot of Harvey talking to the engines at Tidmouth Sheds.
- A deleted scene of Thomas and Harvey sad at Tidmouth Sheds.
- A close-up of Henry at Tidmouth Sheds.
- Fergus Breaks the Rules:
- A coloured shot of Fergus and the workmen at the Cement Works.
- Close-ups of Fergus' flywheel and firebox.
- Fergus' driver pulling the lever.
- An alternate wide-shot of Fergus leaving the Smelters.
- A deleted scene of Fergus going under a pipe.
- A deleted scene of Fergus puffing along Toby's line at night.
- A deleted scene of Thomas puffing past the castle.
- An alternate scene of Thomas finding Fergus and chuffing towards him.
- A deleted scene of Thomas and Fergus going under a pipe.
- A deleted scene of Fergus at the Smelters while passing 'Arry and Bert.
- An alternate shot of Thomas and Fergus puffing past the sheep field
Trivia
- This song currently has not been released on VHS/DVD in the UK, although the song was featured on the US VHS/DVD Percy Saves the Day and Other Adventures, Roundhouse Rhythms (the unreleased promotional US VHS), as a part of Sing-a-Long the Malaysian/Chinese/Singaporean DVD/VCD, and in Japan. On 12 February 2014, the song was released on the Official UK Thomas and Friends YouTube channel.
- The song lyrics reference the storyline of Fergus Breaks the Rules.
- Stock footage from "Boo! Boo! Choo-Choo" is used during the instrumental break.
- According to Junior Campbell, the melody was influenced by the works of the late Scott Bradley (1891-1977) and Carl Stalling (1891-1972), both of whom have composed music for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies and Tom and Jerry cartoons.
- Part of Fergus' large scale model was built for the close-up scenes.
- This is the only song sung by the songwriter Mike O'Donnell.
- In the Japanese dub, the voice whistling at the beginning is omitted.
Goofs
- The lyrics say that:
- Fergus "stacked up his tender and headed down the line," but Fergus is a tank engine.
- Fergus overheard Diesel say he was to be scrapped, but in the episode, Diesel directly told Fergus that he has to go work at the smelters.
- Everyone searched for Fergus, but in the episode, Sir Topham Hatt only sent Thomas to find him.
- In the deleted scene of Thomas pulling Fergus under the pipe, Fergus' front wheels are slightly lifted off of the track.
In Other Languages
| Language | Title |
|---|---|
| Japanese | にげたきかんしゃのうた |
Home Media Releases
US
DVD Boxsets
JPN
Malaysia/Singapore/China
KOR
Albums
Music Video
There Once was an Engine who Ran Away - Music Video
