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“Well, well, well! The Brothers Grimm: 'Smashed', 'Broken' and 'Sunk'!”
― Thomas to the Horrid Lorries

Horrid Lorry is the second episode of the fifth series. In the US, it aired with Cranky Bugs in an episode of Storytime with Thomas.

Plot

It is always a busy time for the engines who are pulling and pushing trucks about to work hard at Brendam Docks. One morning, Percy is late to collect his train. Cranky begins to criticise him that the ships cannot be kept waiting and that Percy needs to show some respect for them, while Percy complains there is too much work for the engines. Cranky suggests it would be better if a lorry did his work. Percy is shocked by this and later at the sheds, he tells the other engines what Cranky said. James and Henry are dismissive, but Percy worries that a lorry might truly come.

Unfortunately, Percy's fear comes true as three of them arrive the next day. While Cranky is overjoyed, they also turn out to be incredibly rude and disrespectful; Lorry 2 calls Percy a lump of steaming scrap iron, which angers him and he puffs away. Later, Percy sees Lorry 1 being rude to Thomas and James. He also calls Percy a little green goblin on wheels and says that he will be scrapped. Thomas and James are both disgusted at the lorry's behaviour, calling him horrid and despicable.

At the quarry, the second lorry runs across Toby and tells him that he belongs in a museum and tells him to toodle off, much to Toby's ire. His driver tells him to ignore the lorry and they go to the flour mill, only to find Lorry 3 who tells Toby that they are doing his work now. The foreman tells Toby's driver that he is sorry for Toby's replacement, but the times are changing. Toby's driver brushes it off and tells the foreman that even though Toby's old, he is still reliable and tells him they will head to the farm (who they hope will still be able to use him). Toby heads to the farm, while the third lorry grins thinking he has won.

As Toby trundles towards the farm, he enters a canyon where he watches the second lorry he met at the quarry having trouble navigating on a treacherous road above with his load of rocks. The lorry then falls off a cliff and crashes onto the rocks below, much to his mildly injured driver's annoyance and Toby's horror.

The smashed lorry is taken to the docks, where Percy begins to laugh at him and calls him a lump of steaming scrap iron like the lorry called him. The lorry swears vengeance on Percy, but Percy just laughs and wheeshes steam at him. Butch the tow truck arrives with the flour mill lorry; Butch's driver explains that the flour lorry was overloaded and broke down at a crossing in front of Donald. Toby teases the two lorries as well claiming they are not so useful now, which makes them growl in rage. James whistles excitedly as he watches men bringing the first lorry in on a barge after he had reversed into the ocean at the Fishing Village. Thomas arrives, laughing at the disgraced lorries and calls them The Brothers Grimm: "Smashed", "Broken" and "Sunk". The lorries vow to return, but the engines commit themselves to work even harder than ever to ensure the lorries never do again.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

  • According to the film slates:
    • All the scenes at Brendam Docks were filmed between 16 and 18 September 1997.
    • The close-up shots of Butch's driver and Toby's driver at Brendam Docks were filmed on 8 October 1997.
    • The scene of Toby and Lorry 2 at Ffarquhar Quarry was filmed on 5 January 1998.
    • The close-up shots of Toby's driver at Ffarquhar Quarry were filmed on 15 January 1998.
    • The shot of Lorry 1 reversing to the sea at the Fishing Village was filmed on 21 January 1998.
    • The scene of Toby and Lorry 3 at the Flour Mill was filmed on 12 February 1998.
    • The close-up shots of Toby's driver and the foreman at the Flour Mill were filmed on 17 February 1998.
    • The shot of Donald and Lorry 3 overloaded with flour at the level crossing was filmed on 18 February 1998.
    • The scene of Lorry 2's crash at the narrow gorge was filmed on 30 April 1998.
  • Lorry 2's crash scene was the last known scene filmed for the fifth series.
  • Mirrored stock footage from Thomas and the Special Letter is used.
  • This is episode marks the Fat Controller’s last non-speaking role until the ninth series episode, Molly's Special Special.
  • This episode marks the third time a non-human character has suffered a physical injury to their face, the first being in the second series episode, Break Van and the second being in the third series episode, Buzz, Buzz. With this in mind, James is the only character to speak in all those episodes, with him being the main character in the latter episode.
  • This episodes marks the first of two things:
  • This is one of three times in the television series that show Thomas without his head lamp, the other being the second series episodes, Thomas Comes to Breakfast due to damage from the crash in this one and the promotional images of Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree, respectively.
  • This episode marks the only time with two things:
  • After Lorry 2 fell off the cliff, music is heard in the US and international dubs but not in the UK dub.
  • There is some indication that a few of the lorries' roles were switched for unknown reasons:
    • A rare picture shows Lorry 3 confronting Thomas and James instead of Lorry 1.
    • In the flashback of Lorry 3 broken down at the crossing, he has a black eye much like the face worn by a "smashed" Lorry 2 (who was also wearing Lorry 3's face).
    • Another rare picture shows Lorry 1 on Butch's flatbed instead of Lorry 3. Behind the Scenes footage reveals Lorry 1 was lowered onto Butch's flatbed after being lifted off the barge.
  • In a rare picture of the first scene, S.C. Ruffey's rebuilt model can be seen next to the S.S. Roxstar, not too far from Big Mickey's location.
  • Thomas' nickname for the Lorries, "The Brothers Grimm" is a reference to two German scholars best known for publishing many well-known folk and fairy tales. The reference being the Lorries suffering the repercussions that would be expected to be found in many of the Brothers Grimm stories.
  • The barrel the foreman stands near is the Best Quality Diesel Oil barrel from the fourth series episode, Bowled Out.
  • S.S. Vienna, Big Mickey and Izzy Gomez from TUGS can be seen at the docks.
  • A rare picture shows Toby going the other way around the gorge and much closer to Lorry 2 who is about to fall off of it.
  • The brick part of the Skarloey Engine Sheds appears at the Flour Mill.
  • The way Alec Baldwin voices the lorries sounds very similar as how he would portray Gordon in the sixth series.
  • The line "times are a-changing" references the Bob Dylan song The Times They Are a-Changin'.
  • Although this episode is called Horrid Lorry in the US, the term lorry is a British term. The word truck is a term often used to describe such vehicles.
  • James has his fourth series whistle sound when he excitedly sees the third lorry arriving on a barge.
  • The Horrid Lorries are the third, fourth and fifth characters who talk about scrapping steam engines and insult the railways, the first being Bulgy and the second being Class 40.
  • The scene where Toby is talking with Lorry 2 at the quarry was inspired by a piece of artwork that was in a book called The Wisbech & Upwell Tramway.
  • Thomas mentions the episode title when he says, "What a horrid lorry!"

Goofs

  • Throughout the episode:
    • Percy, and the lorries eyes are misaligned.
    • All three lorries' mistakenly switch faces:
      • When Lorry 2 meets Percy, he has Lorry 3's smirking face.
      • When Toby arrives at the flour mill, Lorry 3 has Lorry 1's smirking face.
      • When Lorry 2 is taken to the docks, he once again has Lorry 3's smirking face.
      • When Lorry 3 is brought in by Butch, he has Lorry 1's shocked face.
      • When Lorry 1 is brought in on a barge, he has Lorry 2's sad face.
      • When Lorry 3 is dubbed "Broken," he has Lorry 1's sad face.
  • In the opening shot, Thomas incorrectly has Edward's whistle in a higher pitch.
  • In the first two close-ups of Cranky:
    • His nameboards are in the centre of his cranehouse roof.
    • His face is slightly crooked.
  • At Tidmouth Sheds:
    • Henry and James' brake pipe are crooked.
    • Henry's eyes are misaligned.
    • Henry's tender is uncoupled.
  • In the US dub, the line "PAH!" is said by Lorry 2 instead of Percy.
  • When one of the lorries talks to Toby, the lorry's driver moves when the lorry's eyes moves, meaning the driver is on the eye mechanism.
  • The line to the farm was mistakenly referred to as the whole railway.
  • Lorry 2's rear registration plate is missing when he has his accident.
  • When Lorry 2 is at the docks after his accident, his eye mechanism is no longer holding the eyes in properly.
  • When Toby rolls alongside Percy, Duck can be seen in the background pulling a train, but in the next shot, there are trucks on that same line, and Duck and his train are gone.
  • James appears in one location when he points out Lorry 1, then appears in a completely different location after the shot of the lorry on the barge.
  • In the last scene, Clarabel is in front of Annie and the roof of Percy's brake van is also crooked.

Quotes

Lorry 2: (referring to Percy) What's that steaming lump of scrap iron doing here? Be off with you!
Percy: Scrap iron?! Steaming scrap iron?! PAH!

Lorry 1: (referring to Percy) Oh look, its a little green goblin on wheels. You'll be scrapped. Just you wait and see.
Thomas: Well, bust my boiler! What a horrid lorry!
James: Despicable!

Lorry 2: Well, well, well. No wonder this railway's in a mess, you belong in a museum, not working in a quarry.
Toby: I might look old, but I'm very useful.
Lorry 2: Useful?! Pah! Just you toodle off!
Toby: Toodle?!

Percy: (after seeing the wrecked lorry) What's this lump of steaming scrap iron?
Lorry 2: (after being practically destroyed): I'll be back, so you can wipe that silly smile off your smokebox!
Percy: Pah!

Drivers:
Toby's: (after seeing a lorry being pulled by Butch): What happened?
Butch's: He was overloaded with flour and he broke down.
Toby: (teasing the lorries) Not very useful now are you?
Lorries 2 and 3: Grrrrr!

James: They're bringing in the third lorry on a barge! What happened to that one?
Butch's driver: Stupid lorry was reversing and fell straight into the sea.

Thomas: (looks at the damaged lorries) Well, well, well! The Brothers Grimm - Smashed, Broken and Sunk!

Merchandise

ERTL

Name Released Discontinued Highlights Image
Lorry-1 2001 Unknown

Lorry 1 on Flatbed

ERTL Lorry 1 on Flatbed

In Other Languages

View content
Language Title
Albanian Kamionë të Shëmtuar
Brazilian Portuguese Os convencidos
Chinese Mandarin 可恶的洛瑞
Danish Dumme lastbiler
Dutch Nare Vrachtwagens
Finnish Ilkeä autot
French Les Vilains Camions
German Großmäulige Lastwagen
Greek Τα φοβερα λεωφορεία
Hungarian Undok furgon
Italian Odiosi camion
Japanese 3だいのトラック
Korean 불쾌한 화물 트럭
화물 트럭 삼형제 (C4U Media DVD subtitles)
Latin American Spanish Camiones regañones
Norwegian Forferdelige lorry
Polish Te Okropne Ciężarówki (TVP3)
Straszna Ciężarówka (JimJam)
Romanian Autocamionul nesuferit
Russian Ужасный грузовик
Slovenian Nesramni tovornjak
Swedish Fula lastbilar

Home Media Releases

UK

UK DVD Boxset

US

CAN

  • Races, Rescues and Runaways and Other Thomas Adventures

US/CAN DVD Packs

AUS

AUS DVD Packs

NZ

  • Happy Ever After

ZA

MYS

PHL

ITA

GER

GER DVD Boxset

NOR

DK

SWE

SVN

GRC

DVD Boxsets

THA

JPN

KOR

HK

TWN


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