Plot Details: This opinion reveals everything about the movie's plot.

The newest addition to the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends VHS and DVD library, and first release of 2002 from Anchor Bay Entertainment, is the Collector's Edition Video titled "The Best of James." Released on March 5th, 2002, you can purchase it in both media forms, and if your store carries it, you can also purchase the VHS with Learning Curve's version of the James toy train!

This was exciting to me to be able to get this video, and especially the toy train that came with it. While James is not the most favorite train here, he is in the top 5 with my oldest son, especially in the storybooks. What makes his so exciting? It can't be his cross patch attitude. It is probably his scarlet paint, and brass dome that gets the most attention here. This has also caused much debate in our household too. The version of the James toy train that we bought for my son a year ago from Learning Curve did not have the brass dome, and now my son did not believe that the brass domed red engine really was James, and there was a hot debate over whether or not it was true.

Above all things, this video has provided a welcome end to the debate, and just pure enjoyment on the part of both my son and myself when it comes to James.


So what is this video all about, then?

This is the third in a line of videos highlighting the stories deemed to show the best of James the Red Engine. Previous videos in this line are The Best of Thomas and The Best of Percy. (http://www.epinions.com/content_60105592452)

So, just who is this James? He is a medium-sized mixed traffic engine. He has six driving wheels that are not as large as Gordon's and not as little as Thomas. He has a scarlet coat of paint and a brass dome, and likes to think of himself as a really splendid engine. This can lead him to lots of huff and puff about the sort of work suitable for such a 'noble creature,' but it usually lands him in trouble. (For more on James' background, please see my review of the Learning Curve toy train of James: http://www.epinions.com/content_60021902980)

This video is made up of eight stories that are mostly about James, and one music video at the end. The stories included were the following:

A Proud Day for James
James in a Mess
Old Iron
No Joke for James
James Learns a Lesson
Percy, James and the Fruitful Day
James Goes Buzz Buzz
Time for Trouble

The first story, A Proud Day for James, can be found in the video titled "James Learns a Lesson," #1202 in the series. In this story, Gordon, as usual, is expounding on how great he is, and how he is the only engine that can pull the express train by himself, and how he knows his way by instinct. He also gets in a poke about how James once needed a bootlace to pull his train (see story #5). The next day, the switches were not set right the next day, and Gordon gets 'lost' on his way with the express train, and ends up on the loop right back to the main station! To satisfy the passengers, Sir Topham Hatt has a new train hooked to the coaches and it is James. With a great big grin, James takes the express train by himself, and gets it to the station in time! Now Gordon will be given some days off every so often, and James can take the train for him.

The second story, James in a Mess, and third story, Old Iron, can both be found in the videos titled "Thomas Breaks The Rules," #1204 in the series, and in "Thomas & His Friends Get Along," #1220 in the series. James in a Mess is about the day when James drives by Toby, and makes fun of him and his coach Henrietta, because they look dirty and need new paint. He is so proud of his paint, and tells them too! Not too long after that event, James gets into trouble with the freight cars he is pulling (and complaining about their cleanliness too!), and smashes into some tar tankers, and gets into a mess himself. And who should come to his rescue? None other than Toby. As a reward, Toby and Henrietta are given new coats of paint.

The story Old Iron is a great one about James making fun of Edward the blue engine, and then learning in the end that he was wrong. James, being himself - that is, full of huff and puff - complains that Edward is slow, and a lot of old iron. The other engines protested this description of the elder engine, Edward, and said that Edward could beat James anyday. Later, James gets into trouble, as he is out of control with no operators, going down the main line. Edward is sent to stop him, with the help of the train inspector. Edward is able to catch up to James, and they lasso his buffer, and are able to get his fireman over onto James and apply his brakes. James learns that he was wrong, and finds respect for Edward.

The fourth story, No Joke for James, is also found on the video titled "Trust Thomas," #1206 in the series. When James is told by Gordon for the umpteenth time that he is better because he pulls only coaches, and that James is just a goods engine, a lower level than him, James decides to do something to teach Gordon a lesson. James finds Thomas shunting new coaches for the next train, and then to work on a freight train. He tells Thomas that Sir Topham Hatt asked him to take the coaches, and Gordon to take the freight cars. Thomas gets the coaches for him, and then he takes off on his run. Gordon comes to get his coaches from Thomas, only to find out what James has done. When Sir Topham Hatt finds out, he is waiting for James when he arrives at the station. He sends him to the sheds, not to come out until he is wanted. James takes his freight cars the next day, and feels a lot better about his job and position, especially after the train inspector he gives a lift to tells Sir Topham Hatt what a fine clever engine that James is!

The fifth story, James Learns a Lesson, is found on the video of the same title, #1202 in the series. Many days, it seems as if James is just a cranky toddler, I think! In this story, he gets upset because he gets reprimanded by Sir Topham Hatt for not controlling himself; the day before, he was excited and let off steam, and the water went all over Sir Topham Hatt's new Top Hat! Being the cross patch that he can be, he bangs around his coaches when he has to fetch them for himself, and then clanks them around as he pulls them on his way. Because of this, his coaches protest the whole time, until they say that they are coming to a stop. Once stopped, James and his operators find that they can not go anymore, because in all of the clanking that James did, a connection broke, and it had to be repaired with some newspaper and a bootlace from a passenger. This bit alone has been giggled about by the other engines in other stories! James learns his lesson from this, and has learned to respect his coaches and treat them well.

I can't find the sixth story, Percy, James and the Fruitful Day, on any other video that has been released, so this is a special story indeed! This one is where James complains to Percy, and all other engines he meets along the way, that Percy is too slow. Percy didn't mean to be slow, but his freight cars were being problematic. He caught up and made up the time lost when he was shunting cars in the yard later. One of James' main arguments was that engines on this line needed to be reliable, and on time. Well, James turns out to not be, when Percy is called out of the yard to go help James by taking his fruit laden train, as his brakes had become stuck, and he couldn't move any more until fixed. That was a great moment for Percy, to say the same things back to James. But in his haste to appear better than James, he doesn't listen to his operators, or see that there are cars on the line ahead, and ends up smashing right into them - and because he was pushing the cars, not pulling them, he goes face first into the fruit! What a sticky jam! (boo! hiss! Yes, they made bad puns about this too in the video!) Both James and Percy were sad in the sheds that night, but Thomas spoke up (not singling out any one engine), and they all decided that everyone was really useful, as they tried to help each other out. And yes, the puns continued all the way to the end!

The seventh story, James Goes Buzz Buzz, is found on the video titled "James Goes Buzz Buzz," #1210 in the series, and in the video titled "10 Years of Thomas," #1235 in the series. There is a toy train set put out by Learning Curve that was based on this story. It has just been retired now, and sells at about $80. It is the only way to get James the Red Nosed Engine, as well as Boco. This story is about a time when the vicar has sent some of his bee hives to the station, to be given to some of his friends. While the passengers are boarding the coaches James is to pull, the porter accidentally knocks over the hive, and the bees come flying out! They are looking for where to go, and want their hive fixed. They end up settling for James' boiler, but one bee gets a hot foot, and in return (and this is the only drawn animation I've seen in the series) he stings James right in the nose! He looks just like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!! They try all sorts of things to remove the bees, but in the end, they don't leave James until they see their new hives in the Vicar's orchard. Whew!

The last story, Time for Trouble, can be found on the video titled "Percy And The Dragon," #1208 in the series. This one is about Toby getting in trouble when he is sent to the Works to be mended. Due to Toby being older, and having smaller water tanks, he needs to fill up more often than other engines. On his way to the Works, he needs to stop for water, but only gets half a drink before he is told to move on, as James is coming on that main line with the express train. Toby gets half way to the next water stop, and is out of water, and can go no further. James must come to his rescue, and pull the express and push Toby at the same time! Quite a feat of strength and fortitude for James! They make it to the next station, and James is visibily red cheeked and worn out. Some children make fun of James, thinking that Toby pulled them all, but Toby reassures James that he did a good job, and they made friends with each other.

The music video is titled Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover. It is also found on the video titled "Thomas & The Special Letter ," #1214 in the series. This song is about the obvious. You should not take things at face value, since things are not necessarily what they appear to be! A catchy tune with a good message.


Okay, so now that I've told you the whole story, what do we think about this tape?

Needless to say, the moment my son saw that Grandma had given him the tape in his Easter basket, he was ecstatic! He begged for it to be opened to get the James train out of it, and remark about his brass dome (of course, he thought it was silver...and then gold! Either way, it was precious!). He waited until after church to get to watch the video, because his brother had already insisted on watching his new video first, "Sing-Along and Stories." (http://www.epinions.com/content_60171718276)

Once it was on, he sat and enjoyed every minute of it. He and his brother both watched it at least half a dozen times in the first week, and I anticipate more viewings as time goes on. And since I've been trying to understand more of the history of these characters, I have even found myself wanting to view it at night when they are asleep, so I can rewind bits, or go past bits, and pick up as much as I can. Of course, the kids do not get the awful puns in some of the stories, but it can be very funny to an adult - or a big groan!


Technical Details

You should be able to find this video at your local video seller, although I've found K-Mart and sometimes Target to be the best bets. I definitely recommend buying the videos as they are coming out now, with toy trains as an extra bonus gift. The train that should come with this one, James the Red Engine of course, is worth at least $15. So you are getting a two for one deal here.

This release has George Carlin as the narrator throughout it, even though it is a compilation. The video runs for about 46 minutes. It is available in both VHS and DVD. This is the fourth DVD in the Thomas the Tank Engine library. I have found that the DVD comes with other exclusives that the VHS does not, but does not have an option to come with the toy train. If you are into buying DVD's, this is what you can find with it:


3 Exclusive Fun-Filled DVD Games:
-"Best of James Trivia"
-"Build An Engine"
-"Where Do I Belong?"
"Hooray for Thomas" Read-Along Story
Bios of Your Favorite Friends
4 Sing-Along Songs
Web Site Fun
12-Page Commemorative Booklet


Final Recommendation

This, like all the rest of the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends library, is a wonderful edition to your library at home. There is little out there that you can find that is better for children to watch. My pet peeve as of late - the 12-15 minutes of commercials on the videos BEFORE the actual substance you bought it for - is **non-existent** in this series of tapes. You get a screen shot of the company logo, and then you go into the actual intro song, and the story! That is just so welcome here, I can not express it enough. Then the stories are so wonderful, with simple lessons and morals. Sure, the style of animation is not fancy - the characters do not move their lips, you do not have multiple voices known for each individual character, so the whole thing is like someone is reading the story, as you would at home. No flashy animation to cause seizures, nothing suggestive, just good wholesome entertainment.

So what is left? Just you finding the $13 to buy the VHS, or $18 for the DVD, and then driving to the store, picking up the product that is red with James on the front cover, and making your children very happy. These, like the other videos in this library, are fun for the whole family to enjoy!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For more information on Anchor Bay Entertainment, and their products, go to:
http://www.anchorbayentertainment.com/childrens/thomas

On the site above, you can also find more on the history of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends on television, and the companies responsible for bringing these stories to life from the storybooks, as well as the many awards that they have one for doing this, which is astounding.

You can find this video specifically at this link:
http://www.anchorbayentertainment.com/james/

For more information on Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, go to:
http://www.thomasthetankengine.com/home/homepage.html

(As for suitability for Children, it is really great for the entire family, but as it does not give me that option, I have picked the group of children that would be the most interested in it.)



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8