Thomas' Animal Friends is the twentieth and final episode of the twenty-fourth series. It is also the final Thomas & Friends episode aired overall, ending the show at 578 episodes across 37 years of airing.
Plot[]
Thomas is asked to help at the animal park for the day and realises that it also involves being decorated as a monkey. After some of the other engines say he looks silly, Rebecca encourages Thomas to imagine them as animals if they laugh at him. Thomas learns that others' opinions should not stop him doing what he loves.
Characters[]
- Thomas
- Gordon
- James
- Percy
- Rebecca
- Diesel
- Salty
- Cranky
- Carly
- Sir Topham Hatt
- Caitlin (cameo)
- Porter (cameo)
- Skarloey (cameo)
- Big Mickey (cameo)
- Albert's Wife (cameo)
- Little Thomas (cameo)
Locations[]
- Island of Sodor
- Brendam Docks
- Sodor Shipping Company
- Brendam Warehouse
- Sodor Animal Park
- Gordon's Hill
- Crovan's Gate
- Vicarstown
- Brendam Docks
- India (mentioned)
Cast[]
UK[]
- John Hasler as Thomas
- Keith Wickham as Gordon, Salty and the Fat Controller
- Rob Rackstraw as James
- Nigel Pilkington as Percy
- Rachael Miller as Rebecca and the Children
- Kerry Shale as Diesel
- Matt Wilkinson as Cranky
- Lucy Montgomery as Carly
US[]
- Joseph May as Thomas
- Kerry Shale as Gordon and Diesel
- Rob Rackstraw as James
- Christopher Ragland as Percy
- Rachael Miller as Rebecca and the Children
- Keith Wickham as Salty and Sir Topham Hatt
- Glenn Wrage as Cranky
- Lucy Montgomery as Carly
Trivia[]
- This episode is the official series finale of the Thomas & Friends (1984–2021) television series, as it was the last episode ever aired.
- Despite this, Thomas and the Royal Engine serves as the series finale in production order, as it was the final episode produced.
- Due to being the final episode of the series aired overall, it is also:
- The final episode animated by Jam Filled Toronto.
- The final episode made using CGI animation.
- The final episode told from Thomas' point of view, and thus the final episode narrated by John Hasler in the UK and Joseph May in the US.
- The final episode of the Big World! Big Adventures! rebrand, as well as the last to fall under the aforementioned subtitle.
- The final episode written by Davey Moore.
- The final episode directed by Ian Cherry.
- The final episode produced by Ian McCue and to have David Stoten as the head writer.
- The final appearances of Caitlin, Porter, Rebecca, Skarloey, Big Mickey, Albert's Wife and Little Thomas.
- The final appearances of Thomas, Gordon, James, Percy, Diesel, Salty, Cranky, Carly and Sir Topham Hatt in the original series.
- The final episode to have all voice actors featured in this episode as part of the voice cast.
- The final episode to feature a fantasy sequence.
- The final episode to feature music composed by Chris Renshaw.
- The final episode to have a runtime of seven minutes.
- The final episode to feature the song, Let's Dream at the end for this series.
- The final episode taking place on Sodor in which Thomas pulls the Red Branchline Coaches instead of Annie and Clarabel, as well as the first time since the eighth series episode, Thomas Saves the Day.
- The events of the episode, Shankar's Makeover are mentioned.
- The Motorized Sodor Safari themed included the animal costumed forms of Thomas, Percy, James and Gordon from this episode. Rebecca, however, was left out. Interestingly, there was a leopard-themed TrackMaster Percy variant based on the twenty-second series episode, Tiger Trouble, despite him not actually appearing in that episode.
- Emily and Nia are the only reformed Steam Team members to not get an animal design due to them not appearing in this episode.
- This episode was never aired in Germany and South Korea.
- In the Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Baltic Russian dubs, the UK dub can be heard in the background as a dubbing track was not used.
Goofs[]
- In the aerial shot of Brendam Docks, Carly's base extends in length.
- In one shot, James' right side is silver in the last shot of Crovan's Gate.