Calling All Engines!

Calling All Engines! is a feature-length Thomas & Friends special. It was distributed by HiT Entertainment in 2005. It was re-released by Lionsgate in 2009. It was later re-released again by Universal in 2014.

Plot
Summer is coming and the engines are looking forward to taking holidaymakers around the Island of Sodor. One day, the Fat Controller announces that an airport is to be built on Sodor, which will bring more holidaymakers than ever. However, when the steam engines and diesels can't get along and no work is getting done, the engines are in a terrible mess. Can the engines save the day by working together?

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Edward
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Lady
 * Emily
 * Diesel
 * Mavis
 * 'Arry and Bert
 * Diesel 10
 * Harold
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * The Coaling Plant Manager
 * Toby (does not speak)
 * Harvey (does not speak)
 * Daisy (does not speak)
 * Salty (does not speak)
 * Rusty (does not speak)
 * Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)
 * George (does not speak)
 * Farmer McColl (does not speak)
 * Henrietta (cameo)
 * Caroline (cameo)
 * Butch (cameo)
 * Cranky (cameo)
 * Big Mickey (cameo)
 * Stephen Hatt (cameo)
 * Bridget Hatt (cameo)
 * Jem Cole (cameo)
 * Sodor Brass Band (cameo)
 * Bill and Ben (music video cameo)
 * Derek (music video cameo)
 * Toad (faceless; music video cameo)
 * Refreshment Lady (music video cameo)
 * Mr. Jolly (factory logo cameo; music video)

Characters Introduced

 * The Airport Manager

Locations

 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * The Coaling Plant
 * Sodor Suspension Bridge
 * Sodor Ironworks
 * Centre Island Quarry
 * The Lumber Mill
 * The Washdown
 * Sodor Airport
 * Gordon's Hill
 * Kellsthorpe
 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * Tidmouth Tunnel
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Office
 * The Windmill
 * Knapford Sheds
 * Toby's Shed
 * Dryaw School
 * Knapford (stock footage)
 * Hackenbeck Bridge (stock footage)
 * Henry's Tunnel (stock footage)
 * Ffarquhar (music video)
 * Bulgy's Bridge (music video)
 * Maithwaite (music video)
 * Mr. Jolly's Chocolate Factory (music video)

Songs

 * Busy
 * Trying
 * Together
 * Engine Roll Call (Calling All Engines! version)
 * Dream Song (bonus feature)

UK/AUS

 * Learn with Thomas - Which Things are the Same? and Differences
 * Exclusive Song - The Dream Song
 * Deleted Scenes - Biffed Again, Bert n' Arry Tease Thomas and The Windmill
 * Day Out with Thomas preview (Only featured in the UK release)

US
(2005 Release only)
 * Calling All Engines! game
 * Diesel 10 Means Trouble - Read along
 * Character Gallery
 * Deleted Scenes
 * Music Video - Busy, Trying, Together and Dream Song
 * Web Fun
 * HiT Extras

Trivia

 * This special marked the first of several things:
 * The first full-length, one hour special released directly on home-media.
 * The first special narrated by Jon Kabira in Japan as well as a brand new voice cast.
 * This is the first special filmed interlaced on Digibeta technology.
 * The first appearances of Edward, Bill, Ben, Emily, Harvey, Diesel, Mavis, Derek, 'Arry, Bert, Salty, Rusty, George, Sir Topham Hatt, Stephen Hatt, Bridget Hatt, Farmer McColl, Jem Cole, the Sodor Brass Band and the Refreshment Lady in a special.
 * The first special to adapt the standard storytelling style of narration seen in the TV series, as Thomas and the Magic Railroad was primarily dialogue and script acting.
 * Daisy's first appearance since the fourth series episode Bulls Eyes, Derek's since his debut in the fifth series and Lady and Diesel 10's first appearances since Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
 * The first special to feature a narrow gauge engine (Rusty).
 * The first DVD/VHS to be released by 2Entertain though a VCI version of the VHS exists.
 * The first Thomas & Friends production to acknowledge the Steam Team.
 * This special also marked a few one-time things:
 * The only special written by Paul Larson.
 * To date, the only special not to introduce any new characters.
 * The only special that features stock footage from Learning Segments incorporated into the narrative and the storyline.
 * The only special to have a different Logo Design for the US And UK.
 * The only special until The Adventure Begins to celebrate the franchise's anniversary.
 * The only special until The Great Race in which the narrator does not read the title and Toby appears, but does not speak.
 * Daisy's only appearance in the HiT Entertainment model era.
 * The only special to be released on VHS.
 * The only special where Rusty's gender is neutral.
 * This special marked the last of a few things:
 * Daisy's last appearance until Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure.
 * Lady and Derek's last appearances to date.
 * George's last non-cameo appearance to date.
 * The last VHS release in the UK.
 * The last time where Rusty's gender is neutral.
 * Stock footage from Fish, Thomas and the Circus, Emily's Adventure, Percy's New Whistle, Thomas and the Firework Display, James Gets a New Coat, Edward the Great, Emily's New Route & some Learning Segments such as Being Blue, How Does Emily Get to the Station?, Toby is Surprised to see... & How Does Thomas Get to the Timber Yards? as well as alternate footage from Percy's Scary Tale is used.
 * Almost four years after the release, the songs were re-released with extended versions with lyrics on the Songs from Sodor UK DVD.
 * This special aired on Channel Five's Milkshake in the UK in 2008 and then again on Christmas Eve 2009.
 * This special was made to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the franchise.
 * This special was originally going to be released on VHS in Australia, but it got cancelled due to VHS releases no longer available in Australia from late 2005 onwards.
 * This is the only DVD Special in Australia to feature its own interactive menu instead of copying the UK release.
 * This is the second time an engine has been pushed onto the coal tipper. The first time was in the sixth series episode, Middle Engine.
 * A blackboard in the airport manager's office shows flights from Athens, Madrid, Brussels, Paris, Istanbul, Milan, Canterbury, Bristol and London.
 * Toad's scrap model from Escape is seen when Henry and Percy are at the smelter's yard.
 * This special takes place between the eighth and ninth series.
 * Several props including one of the paint cans were sold to The Coffey Man Preservation from The Prop Store.
 * Mavis receives a new horn sound starting with this special.
 * Rusty's small scale model is used.
 * This special was shown for one week only in Cinemax cinemas in Germany in September 2006.
 * In the Greek version, James' English name is used once by accident.
 * An edited image from Toby's Windmill is on the back cover of the UK DVD, with Toby's face changed from sad to happy.
 * The US cover of this special was reused for a box of fruit snacks based on the series and included a mail-away offer for a Wooden Railway Paint Splattered Thomas. One box of them made a background appearance in the CBS television show, The Big Bang Theory in an episode called "The Terminator Decoupling" in the second series.
 * In the close-up of Percy sleeping, his sleeping face was edited to make him look like he is frowning.
 * During Percy's nightmare, he is wearing goggles.
 * When re-released in 2014, the bonus features were removed for unknown reasons.
 * When the special was shown on Nick Jr. UK, the learning segments and songs were removed.
 * This was the last DVD to feature a bonus episode of the children's television series Kipper.
 * The original US DVD back cover says the film is 150 minutes. This was later fixed on the Lionsgate and Universal releases.
 * In the Calling All Engines game, Diesel 10's animated picture was illustrated by Richard Courtney, the same man who illustrated the book Diesel 10 Means Trouble.
 * Thomas and the Magic Railroad was never shown in Norway, Finland, Denmark and Poland, so the Norwegian and Polish audiences would not know who Lady and Diesel 10 are.
 * All the Scandinavian DVD Menus uses an image from A Friend in Need and the Classic Series theme was used in the background.

Goofs

 * At the beginning when Emily passes the Windmill, the middle wheel of the rear coach has been pushed out of its housing.
 * The narrator says Thomas and Diesel 10 puffed as fast as they could, but Diesel 10 is a diesel and therefore does not puff.
 * In the third interactive segment, Annie is facing backwards.
 * When Diesel says "You gave me bananas!" his eyes are wonky.
 * Wires are visible through Daisy's windows.
 * Percy is smiling in his dream before he says "Bust my buffers!".
 * Lady's wheels stop moving in the close-up shot of her.
 * In the scene of Rusty and Lady, Rusty's eyes are wonky.
 * When the diesel engines honk their horns at the end of the film, Salty's sixth series horn sound is heard, but he is not present at the airport.
 * When Thomas pushes 'Arry into the pile of gravel, his face gets covered in dust. But in the next scene when 'Arry pushes James under the coal hopper, the dust disappears. It reappears later when he pushes Henry under the broken pipe.
 * During Diesel 10's second scene, his pupils become smaller.
 * Due to stock footage being used, when the narrator says "Soon all the engines on the island knew about the meeting," a fish can be seen on Thomas' boiler.
 * Edward's whistle is bent when he is on his way to the Coaling Plant.
 * Due to faces being reused from Thomas and the Magic Railroad and having new faces in the special, the size of Diesel 10's face changes throughout the special.
 * When Diesel was preparing to biff the paint cans, his eyes popped out for a few seconds.
 * When Thomas and Percy pass each other at Brendam Docks, the truck in front of Thomas wobbles.
 * On the Taiwanese DVD back cover, it shows a picture of Thomas and the Treasure, but that episode is not on the DVD.
 * On the Taiwanese DVD main menu, it shows an image of Thomas from Thomas and the Magic Railroad.