Dirty Objects

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“Look here, Percy. Whatever is that dirty object?"
"That's James, didn't you know?"
"It's James' shape, but James is a splendid red engine, and you never see his paint dirty!”

― Toby and Percy teasing James

Dirty Objects, retitled James in a Mess in American releases, is the twenty-third episode of the first season. In the US, it aired on the Shining Time Station episodes Finders Keepers in 1989 and A Dog's Life in 1991.

Plot

Toby and Henrietta are settling into their new lives on the Island of Sodor, but they still look very old-fashioned and could use new paint. Due to their bad paintwork, the two become a subject of scorn for James who calls them "dirty objects." When Toby asks why James is red, James says that it is because he is a splendid engine who is never dirty and ready for anything. Toby then reminds James of the bootlace incident, causing James to become angry.

Later, James leaves his coaches and picks up a line of trucks for a slow goods train. James' bad mood is made even worse due to his hate of slow goods trains. Although the trucks start off behaving well, James is so rough with them that they vow to pay him out. As he climbs Gordon's Hill, James is supposed to stop and have his brakes pinned down. James, who had an accident with trucks before, should have remembered this, but forgets as he is too busy thinking of what he will say to Toby next time they meet. Seizing their chance, the trucks push James down the hill. Unable to stop, James runs through the station and crashes into some tar tankers.

Although James is not badly hurt, he is covered from smoke box to cab in tar, leaving him looking very dirty. Percy and Toby come to help clean up the mess and Toby makes fun of James reminding him that, as a red engine, he is supposed to look splendid and ready for anything. Percy and Toby take James back to the sheds where the Fat Controller is waiting. He thanks Percy and Toby for their hard work and tells James that he needs to be cleaned.

The Fat Controller awards Toby a new coat of paint and agrees when Toby requests one for Henrietta too. Toby happily runs off to tell his coach the good news while James remains silent, knowing full well that today he is the "dirty object."

Characters

James
Percy
Toby
Sir Topham Hatt
Henrietta (does not speak)
Gordon (mentioned)
Henry (incorrectly mentioned in Latin American version)

Locations

Trivia

This episode is based on the story of the same name from The Railway Series book, Toby the Tram Engine.
When James races down the hill, the footage is sped up.
A deleted scene of James crashing into the tar tankers is used in the song, Troublesome Trucks.
Extended stock footage from Troublesome Trucks and edited stock footage from Thomas and the Breakdown Train are used.
On its original broadcast, this episode was paired with Thomas' Christmas Party. However, early VHS releases have it paired with Off the Rails, as do Norwegian and Swedish broadcasts.
In the Shining Time Station episode, "A Dog's Life," a few seconds of the beginning got cut.
When James crashes into the tar wagons, the crash sound is louder in the Ringo Starr version than in the George Carlin version.
In George Carlin's narration, the narrator does not say that James is thundering through the station. Also in George Carlin's narration, Percy whistles after Toby's bell. It is absent in both of the Ringo Starr narrations.

Goofs

When James leaves Elsbridge, his brake coach is at the rear of his train, but when James arrives at Knapford, his brake coach has moved to the middle of his train.
During the stock footage, when James is on Gordon's Hill with the trucks, a piece of string can be seen pulling him up.
When James races through Maron his brake van becomes brown.
In the shot of the tar wagons, look back at the station; James is not there.
When James crashes, the truck at the front is missing its buffers and face and a stagehand is seen pushing James. In addition, the alternate shot reveals the coupler to attach James to his tender appear to be black and red wires.
In the scene prior to James rushing through the station, a signal tower can be seen and it shows "all clear" even though the train of tar wagons was on the line, the signal before Maron also shows "all clear"
In Ringo Starr's US narration, when Sir Topham Hatt says "Fancy letting your cars run away, I am surprised", there is an echo in the background. This is audio from the UK version.
In the Latin American version, when the narrator's line "they run into their buffers and pushed him down off the hill!" is spoken, James is incorrectly referred to as Henry.
The covered object in James' first truck is replaced with coal.
When James crashes into the tar wagons he comes off the rails. When Toby and Percy come to help, his position of derailment changes.
When Toby says, "...and you never see his paint dirty!" the edge of the set is visible.
When James, Percy and Toby arrive at the yards the man next to the Fat Controller has blu-tak on his feet.
When Toby asks James why he is red, he is missing his eyebrows.
When James says "Dirty trucks!" his eyes are wonky.
In a picture of Percy and Toby teasing James, one of the workmen can be seen laying on the ground.
The narrator says James had run into two tar wagons, but there were more than two.
When James was ready to pull the trucks, chuffing sounds are heard before he even left.

Merchandise

In Other Languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Spanish	Objeto Sucios / James en Problemas	Dirty Objects / James in Trouble
Norwegian	Møkkete saker	Dirty Things
Welsh	James a'r Tryciau	James and the Trucks
Danish	Gamle Dårligt	Old Rubbish
Hebrew	חפצים מלוכלכים	Dirty Objects
German	Dreckige Dinger	Dirty Things
Dutch	Een vervelende zaak	A Nasty Case
Finnish	Sottaiset surkimukset	Sloppy Losers
Japanese	きたないきかんしゃ	Dirty Engine
French	Des objets sales	Dirty Objects
Hungarian	Piszkos vonatok	Dirty Trains
Polish	Brudne Pojazdy	Dirty Vehicles
Chinese	脏东西	Dirty Things
Korean	강등이가 된 제입스	This Has Been Relegated James
Russian	Грязнули	Dirt
Ukrainian	Брудні предмети	Dirty Items
Czech	Špinavé věci	Dirty Things
Slovenian	Umazančki	Dirty Things
Italian	Che Sporcizia!	What a Dirt!
Romanian	Obiecte Murdare	Dirty Objects
Swedish	Smutsig Last	Dirty Load
Slovak	Spinavé predmety	Dirty Objects
Serbian	Prljave lokomotive	Dirty Locomotives
Brazilian Portuguese	James em problemas	James in Trouble
Croatian	Prljave predmeti	Dirty Objects
Thai	เจมส์มอมแมม	James Ragged