Tickled Pink

This article is about 'the episode'. You may be looking for 'the 2010 magazine story or the 2011 magazine story'.

“What are you doing James? You're a big pink steamie!”

― Diesel

Tickled Pink is the third episode of the thirteenth season.

Plot

The Fat Controller sends James to the Sodor Steamworks for a new coat of paint. Emily has broken down while picking up Bridget Hatt to take her to a birthday party and no other engine is available, so Sir Topham Hatt has to send James, who is still painted in his pink undercoat. First Emily laughs at James, so to prevent the others from doing the same, James decides to hide.

He sees Toby coming down the line and hides beneath a willow tree but Gordon rushes past and blows the tree branches up and Toby sees him and laughs.

Then he sees Diesel who is shunting trucks. James really does not want to be seen by Diesel so he hides behind the waiting trucks. Eventually, Diesel shunts them all and James and his pink paint are revealed. Diesel laughs at James.

Finally, James tries to hide from Gordon in a tunnel. Thomas and Percy arrive to see what is going on. Gordon insists that the engine in the tunnel reveal himself so that the express can get through. So, James is left with no choice but to reveal himself and after James is laughed at, he realises he is running late. So he steams to Maithwaite passing Henry and Spencer who also laugh, but James does not mind; he just wants to be a really useful engine.

James thinks Bridget and her friends will laugh at him, but they do not. Pink is their favourite colour.

Characters

Locations

Trivia

The plot is similar to Henry Sees Red from the Railway Series.
A deleted scene from this episode can be seen in Percy's Parcel and Being Percy.
In some shots of Maithwaite you can see an adult by the children, talking to a stationmaster. This could be Stephen and Bridget's mother.
In Norway, this episode is called "Blushing Pink". In Germany, it is called "Piggy Pink". In Sweden, it is called "On Pink Clouds". The Japanese title is "James Pink". In Finland it is called "James Changes Colour". The Danish title is "What a Funny Colour!". In Welsh it is "The Pink Marvel". In French, it is titled "An Annoying Colour".

Goofs

Diesel somehow changes directions when shunting his coal trucks.
James' undercoat is only applied on the surfaces of his red paintwork when it should have been applied all over him including his smokebox, cab roof, number, and lining.
Diesel's bufferbeam is black in one scene.
The willow tree is placed very close to the line.
In real life, it would take longer than a morning for James to have his old paint scraped off and his undercoat painted on.
James came to the Steamworks under his own steam, so it would've been dangerous to repaint him while his boiler was still hot.
Diesel could have easily seen James when he was hiding behind the trucks.
James could have simply puffed quickly away when Diesel passed him the first time, instead of hiding behind more trucks.
Gordon should have been on the left track going through the tunnel.
How does Gordon get in front of James when he passed him earlier?
When James meets Emily, the narrator says that she was waiting for a workman. Most logically, Emily would be waiting for an engine to take her to the Steamworks.
What is Spencer doing on Sodor?
Why were James and Gordon traveling along the same track in different directions?
In the scene with Spencer, the brake coach of James' train is at the front.
If the pink paint was an undercoat, then why did the workmen paint James' number and the black stripes on his splashers, cab, and tender? Should they not go on last?
When Gordon races past Toby, the brake coach is at the back of the express and facing the wrong way, but in the next shot, the brake coach is in the middle and facing the right way.