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“He's whistling at my funfair special!”
― Rosie thinking that Stepney is whistling at her

Rosie's Funfair Special, retitled Rosie's Carnival Special in North American releases, is the third episode of the twelfth series.

Plot

Emily and Rosie have to take a funfair train at Brendam Docks. Rosie excitedly hopes that the Fat Controller will ask her to pull it, but is disappointed when he gives the job to Emily and chooses Rosie to be her back engine. Meanwhile, Rosie is sadly puffing along the line when an idea flies into her funnel; if she arrives at the docks before Emily, she will take the funfair train instead, making Emily go straight to High Farm, hoping it will help her.

Soon, Rosie arrives at the docks and gasps as she sees how long the train is. Then she couples up, but does not know that Emily is already coupled up on the other end of the train, waiting for Rosie. Rosie starts to pull as hard as she can, but this causes a coupling to break. Rosie leaves with the train, but does not realise that she has left half of it behind with Emily.

Meanwhile, Rosie chuffs happily along, but then there is trouble: another coupling breaks and the coconut truck on the end crashes into the level crossing where Bertie is waiting, blocking him there. It is not long before another coupling breaks, which makes the sugar truck crash into Stepney when the points switch. Rosie continues puffing along but as she climbs Gordon's hill, another coupling breaks once again and the flatbed with the Ferris Wheel seats crashes into Emily behind her, who is bringing the rest of the train, causing her to become stuck.

Rosie cheerfully arrives at Maithwaite Station, but her mood changes when she sees the Fat Controller, who scolds her for leaving half of the train behind and causing confusion and delay. Rosie then promises to set things right. She fetches Rocky and brings him to Emily, who is still stuck. Rosie apologises for her silly behaviour and tells Emily that she will take the other trucks when Rocky clears the line. Soon, the two engines are coupled up and arrive at Maithwaite just in time.

That evening, Rosie and Emily are watching the happy children at the funfair. Rosie hopes that she and Emily could work together again and admits that this is best of all.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • According to writer Andrew Viner's website, this episode was commissioned/written in 2007.[1]
  • This is the first episode since the seventh series episode, Fergus Breaks the Rules to feature a standard gauge engine outside of the Steam Team as a lead, and the only model series episode produced entirely under HiT Entertainment to do so.
  • This episode marks the last of a few things:
    • The last episode to feature Rosie as the main character until the twenty-second series episode, Rosie is Red. It is also her only appearance in the twelfth series, her last speaking role until the thirteenth series and her last appearance in the model series.
    • The last appearance of the Sodor Ironworks, although it is mentioned a few times after this episode.
    • The last appearance of Emily's content face, Rosie's happy face, Bertie's shocked face and Stepney's happy and startled faces.
  • In this episode, Stepney's whistle sound is Thomas' but in a higher pitch.
  • The coconuts that were in the last truck behind Rosie's train are actually coffee beans.
  • This episode marks a few milestones for Stepney:
    • His first appearance since the seventh series episode, Trusty Rusty.
    • His first speaking role in the US dub since the fifth series episode, Stepney Gets Lost.
    • His first appearance in new footage since the sixth series episode, Edward the Very Useful Engine, as both of his appearances in the seventh series were via stock footage.
    • His only appearance in the twelfth series.
    • His only appearance in the HiT Entertainment model era.
    • His final appearance.
  • Stepney does not have a CGI face when the truck hits him. However, in a rare picture, he does. This is presumably due to how hard it would have been to convincingly give him a CGI face when he was covered in sugar.
  • It is possible that Stepney's appearance in this episode was inspired by the fact that writer Andrew Viner's favourite Railway Series book was Stepney the "Bluebell" Engine.[2]
  • This episode marks the only time Rosie visits the Smelter's yard.

Goofs

  • In the beginning, Emily says "High Farm," but Rosie calls it "Hill Farm" while she puffs to Brendam.
  • Bertie's driver and his passengers are not in full CGI.
  • When the points change so Stepney can go to the mainline, a string can be seen changing the points.
  • In the UK dub, when Rosie tries to pull the funfair special, the narrator mistakenly calls her Roadie.
  • In the US dub, Stepney's mouth is not animated to say "Oh, my!"
  • The French title has Toby's name in it, despite the fact that Rosie is the main character in this episode.
    • However, during the French-speaking Canadian airings, the goof is fixed.
  • When the camera zooms out after the coconut truck crashes into the level crossing, Bertie disappears.
  • On the Milkshake! airing, the subtitles referred to Cranky as "Frankie."
  • In the shot of Rocky, after he has lifted all the seats back onto the flatbed, the flatbed is missing its right buffer.
  • When Rosie backs up to the funfair special, her steam platform can be seen.
  • Rosie's right lamp iron is crooked after the scene where the sugar truck crashes into Stepney.

Merchandise

In Other Languages

Language Title
Brazilian Portuguese Rosie e o Especial
Chinese Mandarin 罗西与游园会
Czech Rosie a Zvláštní Pouťový Náklad
Finnish Roosan Tivolijuna
French Toby et la Fête Foraine
Rosie et le Foraine d'Fête
German Übereifrige Rosie
Indonesian Kereta Taman Hiburan Istimewa Rosie
Italian Il Trasporto Speciale di Rosie per la Fiera
Korean 맡은 일을 열심히 해요 (Kids 1)
로지의 특급열차 (EBS)
Latin American Spanish Rosie y el Especial de la Feria
Polish Przesyłka Specjalna Rózi

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References

  1. Andrew Viner's official website
  2. Letter from November 2008



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