Thomas' Frosty Friend

"Thomas, why do you have a giant balloon tied to your buffers?"

- James, Farmer McColl and Emily asking Thomas

Thomas' Frosty Friend is the twentieth episode of the tenth series.

Plot
It is Christmas on the Island of Sodor, and all the engines are very busy. One morning, Thomas is on his way to Brendam Docks to collect logs for Farmer McColl when stops at a signal where Percy is waiting. Thomas looks in the field nearby, and there is a big snowman with children all around it. The two engines are surprised to see a snowman so big, and just then, the signal changes and Thomas steams off. But as he puffs away, a gust of wind lifts the snowman off the ground and towards Thomas, revealing it is only a balloon. The balloon's guide ropes get caught on Thomas's rear buffers, causing the balloon to follow him.

Thomas stops at the level crossing, and the snowman drifts in front of Thomas. Thomas asks the snowman what he is doing there, but Mr. Snowman says nothing, and Thomas tells him to head back to the children. The wind blows the snowman back behind Thomas, and he races off to the Docks. He hopes the snowman does not follow him, unaware that it is a balloon.

Thomas reaches the Docks and reverses to his flatbed trucks loaded with logs. James is delivering coal, and asks Thomas why he has a snowman with him. Thomas is surprised to see Mr. Snowman again, and tells him to go back to the children again. Thomas steams off, pulling his flatbed and the snowman. James asks why Thomas has a giant balloon tied to his buffers, but Thomas does not hear him.

Thomas arrives at Farmer McColl's who is also surprised to see the giant snowman. Thomas once again tells the snowman to go back to the children, and he does not know what to say to Farmer McColl. So, Thomas steams off again. Then, Farmer McColl asks the same question as James did, but Thomas does not hear him, either.

Thomas stops at Maithwaite where Emily is collecting passengers and she laughs at the snowman, and asks Thomas about it. Once more, Thomas tells the snowman to go back to the children, and then he steams away. Emily also attempts to question about the giant balloon, but Thomas does not hear her, either. By now, Thomas does not know what else to do, so he decides to hide so Mr. Snowman cannot find him. So, Thomas steams into a lonely siding. There is no one else around, and Thomas feels relieved... until he sees Mr. Snowman once more. Realising the snowman is not going back to the children, Thomas decides to ask the Fat Controller for help, so he steams away.

Back at Maithwaite Station, he finds Farmer McColl and the Fat Controller, whom Thomas tells about Mr. Snowman. The Fat Controller laughs, and he reveals that Mr. Snowman is really a balloon, and his guide ropes are caught on his buffers. Therefore, Thomas is pulling the balloon. Thomas is surprised to realise this, and now he understands what to do; he sets off for the children's field, pulling the balloon behind him.

Thomas soon arrives back at the field with the balloon, and the children are happy to see them again. Thomas is happy to have returned Mr. Snowman, and the balloon even shifts its arms and head as if it is waving at them.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * James
 * Percy
 * Emily
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Farmer McColl
 * Gordon
 * Edward
 * Charlie Sand
 * Sidney Hever
 * Cyril the Fogman

Locations

 * Gordon's Hill
 * Crosby Tunnel
 * Brendam Docks
 * McColl Farm
 * Maithwaite

Trivia

 * Going by production order, this is the nineteenth episode of the tenth series.
 * Stock footage from James Goes Too Far is used.
 * In the last shot, the snowman has been adjusted so that he is waving at the children.
 * In a rare picture still, the snowman does not have the ropes attached to it.
 * Thomas' Jack and the Sodor Construction Company model is used during the close-up of his rear buffer-beam being accidentally hooked up by the inflatable snowman's guide ropes.
 * Two bloopers for this episode are out there:
 * At the scene where Thomas leaves Farmer McColl's, the snowman balloon knocks over Farmer McColl.
 * Another blooper in the same scene, the invisible string holding the snowman balloon from above (to make it seem like it's floating in the air) gets caught in a tree and the balloon falls to the ground.

Goofs

 * When the snowman is first seen being pulled out, the camera closes in on a hook holding it down being pulled out of the snow, and yet the ends of the rope do not have any hook whatsoever when it catches Thomas' buffers.
 * The guide ropes are often depicted as chains, most evidently when the balloon dances in front of Thomas.
 * In the close up of Emily at Maithwaite, she is seen with the platform on her right. But in the last shot, she was seen with the adjacent platform on her left.

Merchandise

 * Wooden Railway - Thomas and the Snowman
 * Capsule Plarail
 * Magazine Stories - Thomas' Frosty Friend

Home Media Releases
{{Scroll box|

UK

 * The Complete Series 10
 * Christmas Express

DVD Boxsets

 * Classic Collection
 * Ultimate Christmas Gift Set

AUS

 * The Complete Series 10

DVD Boxsets

 * Complete Series 1-10
 * The Essential Collection
 * Series Nine and Series Ten Double Pack
 * The Complete Series Ten and Hero of the Rails Double Pack

US/CAN

 * Carnival Capers
 * Holiday Express

DVD Boxsets

 * Whistle Express Collection!
 * Celebrate with Thomas
 * Holiday Favorites
 * Thomas' Holiday Collection

SPN

 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 11

DVD Boxsets

 * Second Season

GER

 * Where is the Christmas Tree?

NOR

 * Christmas Special
 * Toby Gets a New Roof

SWE/DK/FIN

 * Toby Gets a New Roof

DVD Boxsets

 * Danish DVD Boxset

HUN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine 14 - The New Comer

MYS

 * Toby's New Shed and Other Adventures
 * Big Strong Henry and Other Adventures
 * Holiday Express
 * Thomas & Friends - 65 Years - Making Tracks to Great Destinations

THA

 * Thomas & Friends - 65 Years - Making Tracks to Great Destinations
 * Thomas and Friends - Volume 44

ARA

 * Fearless Freddie

DVD Boxsets

 * Hero of the Rails

JPN

 * Thomas the Tank Engine Series 10 Vol.3
 * Thomas and the Toy Store
 * Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

KOR

 * Thomas the Little Engine and Friends Season 5 Vol. 2

HK/CHN

 * Thomas & Friends - 65 Years - Making Tracks to Great Destinations

TWN
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 * Thomas and Friends Volume 20

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