The Trouble with Trains 3

"The Trouble with Trains 3" is the final series of the LEGO film that is made by two finished movies. This film is made in the UK. You waited patiently (in some cases, impatiently), and now the final part of the trilogy is here! Thomas arrives on the railway, and there's trouble ahead... EDIT! For more information about the custom locomotives, visit this website:
Plot
This movie holds several records: Longest movie (31 minutes long), longest to produce (one year and one month since the script was started), the first to be filmed in High Definition, the movie to have been rewritten the most (there are three versions of the script), the first to include guest stars and (possibly) the most emotional ending. The ‘TurboJ Productions’ ident at the very beginning is based on one used by the BBC. The house is actually Toad Hall from Cosgrove Hall’s “Wind in the Willows.”
This is the first Trouble with Trains movie to have a ‘cold opening’ O Hell Magazine ==== one for the anagram fans. It’s tricky! The title sequence is directly based on the 1997 series ‘' The Desk Railway has acquired another coach: each TTWT movie has had a different number of coaches to reflect where it is in the series. The Desk Railway has acquired another coach: each TTWT movie has had a different number of coaches to reflect where it is in the series.
The scene in Top Hatt’s new office contains references to the movie ‘Groundhog Day’: The music and Phil Punxatrelawney/ groundhog Punxatawny Phil. Richard = Richard Branson. He owns lots of Pendolinos. H5N1. Can steam locomotives catch Bird Flu? Yes! Between each day mentioned is a blatant reference to ‘24’. Sir Clarence McArthur and his locomotive have changed since TTWT2. Sir Clarence now has a red cap. Thomas the Tank Engine now has a smaller cab roof, a whistle, and a number on the side of his water tank.
The Tidmouth engine sheds make their debut in TTWT, having already appeared in the two previous animations. It is also revealed that there are more people working on the line. Earl Grey sounds a lot like a locomotive used by the Great Western Railway. Tea cannot be grown in lots of fiber or sugar. Aero and Eric is the GeoTrax’s first appearance makes reference to TTWT2; the same horn and Gordon’s theme playing. Mr Crockret is a mix of two names: Mr Crockett from Camberwick Green (who also owned a tow truck) and Mr Crocker from Fairly Odd Parents.
The primary locomotives have their own model cabs. Thomas’s cab was built in a matter of minutes from any green pieces lying around, is sparsely detailed, and is 8 studs wide. Gordon’s cab was built in a matter of hours, is modelled after a proper British locomotive cab, heavily detailed and is 12 studs wide (twice as big as the locomotive).
The character standing next to The Thief is Plex, who was previously seen in The Talent Show (with an old model). Gordon’s whistle changes at the end of the ninth scene (Max on the footplate of Gordon the Big Engine). It is still that of LNER A4 Pacific ‘Mallard’, but is different to the traditional sound of its previous occurrences. The remark about enlarging the fire hole refers to when TurboJ’s grandfather was training as a fireman on the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. He too shovelled much of the coal onto the cab floor in one of the early days. The fire effects were made in Macromedia Flash using a masking layer to simulate the fire doors/bucket/woodbin. The entire scene involving the firemen directly parodies Fireman Sam, right down to lines, music and sound effects! Let’s see what’s around the city:
* Club SpongeBob SquarePants
* Number 5 talking/swearing at Wonder Red and Super Why.
* A billboard (“TurboJ Productions. Bringing you quality claymations since 2005)
* The Monster and Kevin the Rainbow-Colored Guy
* Some kinda jet car and Biff in Racer X's Car (barely visible)
* A 24 hour Maxi Mart
* Rainbow chatting with Bowser
* Midge and a toy train
The male staff of Knapford Station seem to have connections with The Bash Street Kids (Danny/Danny, Doug/Plug, Smithy/Smiffy). For such an important character, it’s strange that Stephanie should only have one line.
Doug is animated in the same style that his voice actor (Ash Sowerby) animates. He also seems to resemble Michael George Hartley...
Reggie and Max are talking about Lego Locomotives that ran on The Desk back in the Golden Age of Steam. Without this knowledge the dialogue can be meaningless. Neon’s chat-up line is one used by Viz’s ‘Sid the Sexist’. It’s very fortunate he didn’t reach the punchline. The landlord is the same man that owned the car in Trouble With Trains 2! It looks like he got out of jail and got a new voice. Ooooh. Larry got himself a Thai bride. A silver four-pint tea mug would be perfect in any home. Pratchett’s Four-Ecks is an obvious reference to the author Terry Pratchett and the beer from Wadworth’s brewery in Devizes Wiltshire, 6X. Doc Emmett L. Brown makes another Viz reference. He is quoting from ‘Roger Mellie, the Man on the Telly’. Soylent Green isn’t people mushed up for food as it is in the movie of the same name; here Soylent Green is cannabis resin! Neon would love some of that... The landlord’s quote “You don’t have to go home but you can’t stay here” refers to both the song playing in the background (Closing Time by Semisonic) and a line in The Blues Brothers.
It is revealed that Marty and Doc share a flat. As flatmates though, I know what you’re thinking! Yes: What if one of them snores? Yes! Doc makes yet another Viz reference, but this time it’s Eight Ace (“Lerruz in the ******* house you ******* *****”) The apartment is probably the most detailed non-Lego set. It has all 4 walls, is furnished, windows and doors drawn on (and labelled) and pictures on the wall (including a signed photo of comedy leg-end Rik Mayall). Doc is doing the traditional drunken cry of “I love you and I’m norra poof”. Rise up against Political Correctness! Doc’s next line (“...Shall never kneel before thee Skeletor”) refers to an incident involving Coffin Bob, a police officer, who once arrested a mentally ill person who said the line. Various things play on the TV, such as
* A reference to Big Brother, and to Insanitations; a film company run by friends of TurboJ
* Casey Jones in Lego
* WordGirl
* WordWorld
* Super Why!
* Adventures of the Mini-goddess
* Thomas the tank engine
The Cornetto line is taken from Shaun of the Dead. And Hot Fuzz
The shots of Thomas' in reverse were outtakes from earlier in the movie. They were abandoned due to timing constraints in the scene. It seems the trains on the Desk Railway can be different lengths. Gordon is pulling a one coach train.
T.K.Maxx is a chain of clothes store. Thor Kemada refers to Torquemada, leader of the Spanish Inquisition, hence the reference to Monty Python’s Spanish Inquisition sketch in the following scene. Stephenson’s Rocket was built in 1829. He passed someone who was driving that, not the 1970’s replica. Thor Kemada’s voice was based off Severus Snape. This is very clear when he says ‘Porter’ in the accident scene. Is Gordon an inside cylinder locomotive? All of the oiling goes on between the frames. It seems that since the signalling system was installed, several point levers have been removed. Originally the braking sounds were made completely by TurboJ. However they were not satisfactory so the squealing brakes sound from Thomas the Tank Engine was placed over them. They can, to an extent, still be heard though.
Aero and Eric received many numbers before 40 196 was decided on. The script originally numbered it 40 252, while random drawings of it dating from several years before show it being 400 873. The rear unit is numbered 40 169. Aero’s headlights are not on. Another engine stole them... Eric is wearing his glasses so his eyebrows can be seen. TK was meant to say “And” as part of his sentence. But he didn’t sound right afterwards so the word was given to Reggie. HAL 9000 signalling system? 2001 A Space Odyssey. Can’t be that good. It wouldn’t be Trouble with Trains without the Narrator and Repairs Theme. The big express locomotive at the end is Hank the American Engine; the same locomotive Reggie was talking about back in the pub.
The redesigned TurboJ Hedgehog appears in Flash form, having appeared in old sprite form in the ident and new form on the TJP billboard. The end credits music constantly went out of sync with the credits, meaning that an emergency splicing had to be done to get the end right. The red locomotive at the very end is another engine that now runs on the Desk Railway, Dame Fisherton. He is a privately owned loco, unlike the others which are owned by the railway. The whistles in order:
*Andew Barclay 0-4-0ST 'Lady Nan' as Arthur the Big Tank Engine
*GWR 56XX 6695 as Thomas the Tank Engine
*GWR 101 (from Wind in the Willows) as Percy the Small Engine
*LNER A4 Pacific 'Mallard' as Gordon the Big Engine
*BR Standard 8 Pacific ‘Duke of Gloucester as Flying Scotsman’
The use of both Thomas' and 6695’s whistles is a reference to the Island of Sodor’s “Spring Into Steam Gala” of 2007, where both engines whistled to each other using those exact sounds.
Characters
Reggie
"Reggie" is a train engieer of Gordon's Driver. He loves to drive in Gordon, but things got wrong. Reggie crashes the train in the first movie that is nine minutes and thirty seconds. He is in The Trouble with Trains. We'll meet Gordon the Big Engine and the White Metroliner.
Mario and Long John
"Mario" is a train engineer of James' Driver. He is the man with a red train cap and yellow Oshkosh overalls. He wore a moustache just like TopHatt's. Long John is the coal shoveler who is James' Fireman. He sung the songs of "Chigley" like "Time Flys By" and "England Song."
TopHatt
TopHatt is the Father of "Sir Topham Hatt." He is kitted out in "The Trouble with Trains 2" and "The Trouble with Trains 3." He sat in the Judge's table just well as known as Judge TopHatt. He took care of Thomas, Percy and James and the rest of the Island of Sodor.
Danny
"Danny" is the carrier who carries the luggage and the cargo inside trains and out. He wore the blue cap and a light yellow shirt with buttons. He is kitted out in "The Trouble with Trains 3" and voiced by Blue Pioneer.
Doug
"Doug" is the stationmaster who carries the baggage and cargo. He wore a vest and red khaki pants. He's got a moustache just like TopHatt's. He is kitted out in "The Trouble with Trains 3" and voiced by Ash Sowerby.
Smithy
"Smithy" is the person who does nothing but watches TV. He is the man with the moustache and has the vest and dark gray khaki pants. He is kitted out in "The Trouble with Trains 3" and voiced by S57Firebox.
Stephenie
"Stephienie" is known as "Stephenie Speck." She likes to work at the cafe and sells the drinks. She wore a red cap, a blue shirt and green pants. Max loves Stephenie but to fall in love. She is kitted out in "The Trouble with Trains 3" and voiced by Herostar and Ally Sheedy.
Maxwell McArthur
"Max" is the fourteen year old boy who lives wtih his father, Sir Clearence McArthur. He is Voiced by TurboJUSA and kitted out in "The Trouble with Trains 3." He wore the red coat and black pants.
Sir Clearence McArthur
"Sir Clearence McArthur" is the father of Max. He is with Max and his tank engine named Thomas. He was kitted in "The Trouble with Trains 2" and "The Trouble with Trains 3." Fourtunately, He is voiced by Coffin Bob.
T. K.
"T. K." is the chief examiner. He is not evil, but he is friends with Max. T. K. would like being in the Stevenson's Rocket and not so sure about the Flying Scotsman. He is voiced by Coffin Bob.
Goofs
Yes, even the grand finale had it's mistakes...
In the establishing shot of the station, fingerprints can be seen on the dusty roof. Whenever someone moves inside Top Hatt’s office, the roof seems to move as well... Danny changes position every time the camera angle changes. First he is standing at an angle to Doug. Next he is right up against him. Then he is right up against the desk. In the close up of Thomas’s wheels, the lighting keep changing, clearly indicating the camera cuts. When Thomas sets off for Maron Station, he is initially perfectly still. Then when he starts off, he is a few centimetres behind the place he previously was! The entire train stopped momentarily, as shown by the brake van during the fade. Similarly, Thomas stopped at the very edge of the screen when he arrived at the station. When Thomas comes to a halt, the image size changes. This is because the video was filmed in megapixel size (which probably explains the low frame-rates) and the stop-motion was converted to 640x480 size images for easier animating. This also happens when Aero passes.
The black parts of the carriages reflect the camera’s ‘ring of fire’ (it doesn’t have the same meaning as the Xbox one). As with Sir Topham Hatt's Father’s office, when Reggie moves the cab roof does. Look out of Reggie’s window. They clearly aren’t moving. When Max lights the rag, there is no flame. The light changes when Max says “Oh good Lord!” The flying bucket is very clearly blue-tacked to a paperclip. The flames appear before the sound effect does. For a single frame when the firemen are leaving, Conductor Krusty appears on top of the Tower. A luggage trolley can also be seen during the early stages of departure. The cable for the camera can be seen reflected in the door to the shed. It’s odd how the station is deserted when Thomas arrives, but is busy when Reggie and Max get off.
When Danny says “We heard you’re really setting this place alight”, track can be seen in the background. The shot in Thomas’s cab suggests they aren’t moving at all. Plus the bricks move around a lot. Neon’s reflection in Thomas shows that he is taken off the set as soon as he is out of sight. Reggie’s reflection in Gordon shows that he’s actually smiling. When his face was altered to give expression, the reflection wasn’t. The tender moves a lot when Max walks up. As Gordon leaves Maron Station, the coaches keep bumping into the camera. When Smithy says “Ah”, an arm can be seen very low down in the background. In the final scene, people move around a lot. Sir Clarence starts off standing on the bench, but then he moves to the other side of Top Hatt. Max also moves over to the other side of Reggie. Track can be seen through the door when Reggie says “And?”
Top Hatt’s mouth is strange. Closed, it smiles. Open, it doesn’t. This goof is not so much to do with the movie, but with the viewers. It is VERY widely believed that the last locomotive to appear during the narrator’s sequence is a diesel due to the wheel arrangement. HOWEVER! If you stop the movie and look very closely at the engine, you can plainly see a black smokebox against the green boiler. The wheel arrangement is just so it can go around corners (TurboJ does not use ‘Big Ben Wheels’). Plus, it whistles. End of story. - Ian Lawson’s name in the credits is spelt with a lower case L. Also, Mike O’Donnell’s surname is spelt with only one L.
Cast Crew
* TurboJ as Reggie/Max
* Blue Pioneer as Danny
* Ash Sowerby as Doug
* S57 Firebox as Smithy
* Herostar as Stephenie
* Coffin Bob as Sir Clearence McArthur

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See Also

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