I can! Great short film. After watching it, my 2 year old started saying "I can, I can" when he is climbing on the playground. It's got a great message that says believe in yourself even when everyone around you is trying to put you down. I like the music soundtrack a lot too. Overall a great production.
Welsh classic Not many people know this timeless film was made in my homeland and originally dubbed in Welsh. Even now at the age of 18 I look back fondly on the adventures of Tillie the Little Engine that Could. Any adults reading this are encouraged to purchase the English dub as a wonderful conterpart to any of their kids Thomas collections. Trust me, you'll love it.
And for the record, my favourite character was Pete the freight engine.
Don't expect the book Do expect fun My 3 year old loves the video and doesn't seem to mind it isn't the same as his story book. His die hard Mom wishes more of the original story was evident. Some of the embellishments seem unnecessary and harsh like the signal's attitude toward Tillie and the argumentative chicken. I am most disappointed that the helpful clown was turned into a buffoon. A lot of the characters changed and are hard to identify. I do like the Doc who helps Georgia. All that said it is a fun tape and your child will enjoy it. I did have to assure my son that the scary face was just snow that was falling down not a monster,
Distorts the story and the message Expecting a faithful rendition of Watty Piper's immortal book, I was appalled by this video. Not only does it add a lot of gratuitous material, but it undermines the main lessons in the book.
Here's a quick synopsis so you know what I'm talking about: Chili, the little blue switch engine, desperately wants to pull a train of her own but she is mocked for being too little by the mean dispatcher (in the form of a talking control tower). When the engine pulling the Birthday Train breaks down, Chili see's her chance to sneak past the sleeping tower and pull the train over the mountain herself. The results are nearly catatrophic as a storm washes away part of a bridge and the caboose plumets into the ravine. After the train get buried in an avalanche, Chili gives it one more try and saves the day.
In the original book, the little blue engine doesn't know about the broken-down train until she stumbles upon it. She agrees to help out of kindness even though she's not entirely sure she can do it. In this video, the message is entirely reversed. Chili wants to pull the train out of self interest in order to prove herself and she is quite sure of herself. She defies authority to do what she wants, at great peril to herself and the train. Do you want your 4-year-old to sneak past you and cross the street without supervision, just because she really believes she can do it? This video says it's OK to do that.
Not to leave bad enough alone, we also have a tower that yells and a big sister that taunts her little brother. What about "I think I can?" It's in there, but so distorted as to be unrecognizable.
This video does teach one good lesson, though: never trust a video based on a beloved book love until you've viewed it yourself.
Better for an older child My five year old son who loves trains really likes this one. He really likes Tillie the heroine of the story. He likes the little bird, and Georgia, the train who needs help. Of course some of the other trains are not as nice, but isn't that really like life? Not everyone your child will run into will be kind, unfortunately. You can help them understand this. The cave part was a little scarier than I'd like to have seen, but even as tender-hearted as my son is, he didn't get scared. He seemed to see that the little engine was trying to help someone do something good even if the "tower" hadn't given him permission. Overall, it's a sweet story.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
