Why Cranky Has The Most Consistent Character Arc In Thomas!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ก.พ. 2025
- In this video I explain why Cranky could be one of the best characters in the way he is written throughout the show!
MainlineEngine112's channel: / @mainlineengine112
Twitter: / cbirtwhistle
Have I ever seen an episode of Thomas the Tank Engine? Nope. Am I gonna watch a full analysis of one of its characters, his motivations and how he changes? Absolutely!
I am glad my thumbnail (and hopefully the video) has made you want to watch it! I would be very interested to know your thoughts after watching the video.
@@railwaysparrow I thought it was really interesting! It's a very relatable character and you presented it in a compelling way! It's definitely made me more interested in Thomas as a series :)
@@hex1lexi88 there is more than this but this is one of the biggest one for sure :>
@@hex1lexi88 glad you love it!
@@hex1lexi88 j o i n u s
This is exactly why I love Cranky so much. He's a perfectly complex and fascinating character that feels like he's from the RWS especially with his character arc
even in the reboot, he still doesn't goes too far from his original personality
It has fascinated me that almost everytime the show made a new change between seasons, Cranky got the first episode of the season. Season 5 strayed from the RWS and Cranky got the first ep. Season 13 was the show changing to CGI , Cranky got the first ep. Season 17 went from the Nitrogen era to the Brenner era, Cranky got the first ep.
Woah I never realised that. Mind blown 🤯
Same
Wow
Hmmm they probably found a character they really like?
Considering most cranes in the show have just been made for merchandise, it’s really interesting to see how much character there is to Cranky.
I don't think there's any merch of Colin or Kobe my man from BWBA.
Big Mickey certainly wasn't made for merchandise.
This is such a good character study. It's so weird that a character that was entirely original to the show, not being based on any of the books, has a full-fledged character arc. It's also funny how a stationary character has so much personality and growth, despite the fact that stories with him can be quite limited.
I love how cranky went from being a bit annoying and antagonistic character to showing that he actually has a good heart and always helps where he can, he has become one of my favorites
This is really something special, never thought there was so much depth to this character hiding in plain sight.
if they planned about a story about cranky being separate by carly due to her being an engine that would make sense of cranky being lonely
This is why Cranky is my favourite character. His arc is so interesting to witness throughout the show (even from the subtle but important moments)
I deleted my comment from before but I wanna show my appreciation for this video, it’s just nicely put together and the research put into this is great!~
14:44 this part just wants me to cry it really did the Music and how you Said it sparrow and this gotta be the best video i have seen of cranky great job man
Ive always loved cranky, he resonates with me.
He gets so frustrated when he gets ignored, he feels so paranoid of his uselessness
But he's still our cranky
Our big old rusty dock box crane
I noticed this, TOO! He starts out like Squidward, but then becomes an actual friend to the other engines!
The first video I've ever watched from you,and I must say, it left me with a good impression! Really liked the way you portrayed Cranky, he's one of my favourite characters from the show, and it's awesome to see that he finally gets some well deserved love!
Thank you for doing this! I've always felt that Cranky has had the most consistent Arc, and he was always my favorite.
He's like the Squidward equivalent of the series even more than Gordon
I still have both as the squidward equivalent especially in case of gordon Spencer is basically the squilliam 😂
@@LegendaryCaptainJames is Squidward in my eyes most of the time. 😂
Same with Thomas and Percy as I see them as SpongeBob and Patrick.
Thomas is a mix between smart, mature and sometimes dumb while Percy is mostly braindead.
Salty could be Mr. Krabs since he is red after all.
Great video! I never realized cranky had this big of a character arc until now!
Now just realizing this arch, gotten say I’m happy that Cranky gotten through the show considering how some characters are pretty much forgotten or hold less prevalent once cgi came to be, looking at you Boco (sad he never did see the day), better example Harvey. Side note what music theme is 2:55?
2:55 - the music is from Trouble on the Tracks
@@SrMechaGojira93 thank you
Crancky has always been my favorite , even more than diesel or gordon. I just love his attitud and how you mentioned , his consistent personality in all the version of the shows (AND his constent appearence in the show. wow , i never realized how many screentime he has)
Good job on this video! I always liked Cranky, and this video just makes me love him even more. He’s one of the few characters whose appearances in every season could be considered the same arc. And he strikes the balance between being consistent and growing over time. I love him and many episodes I like feature him. Cranky Bugs, Something in the Air, and No Sleep for Cranky are some of my favorites. And his moment in TOTB is just epic
Wow! Cranky is deep!
I honestly thought last night how interesting it is that he isn’t even a Awdry character. Yet he has a great ark.
awesome work, cranky is the best character introduced in the series
I see myself more and more relating to Cranky. He's basically the Squidward of Thomas & Friends.
Now that is Called the character ark, Duck you never deserved the Spotlight Cranky did
The Thomas fandom is definitely one of the most interesting I've seen and that's not a bad thing.
While I've lost interest in most of Thomas, I've got a new appreciation for Cranky. He's such an underrated and complex character, I relate to him the most out of all characters. Awesome video.
I started crying in this video several times and then you started playing deltarune music and I started crying more
& here’s one thing that stuck out to me. Both Kevin & Carly. Are yellow
true
And victor was yellow when he first arrived. (Although that’s less symbolism and coincidence)
This was fantastic Chris! I really enjoyed this style of video! I really enjoyed it from beginning to end, I have never realized how Cranky had an arc, and that makes me love him than what I already do, fantastic work as always Chris!
Glad you enjoyed it!
And as much as I hate the all engines go reboot as much as the next Thomas fan I've noticed that they kept Cranky consistent with his personality from the original series
Cranky has stuck around as a character we can relate to a lot in the fifth season-twenty-first season.
@@islesofforeignrails7917 indeed
Imagine a fan put this in Cranky's Trivia Cranky has the longest character arc
i LOVE this video! amazing! cranky is REEAALLYY underrated
Wow i have never realised that cranky had a arc so far from s5
Cranky is the Big Mickey of Thomas. By Big Mickey, I mean the one in TUGS.
"Creaky Cranky" and "Tickled Pink" have always been my favorite S13 episodes from growing up. :)
Last year when I got the new 2022 Wooden Railway Cranky I would remake "Creaky Cranky" with the engine hoist with Thomas on it. 😊
Carly's first 2 episodes were absolute gold in my opinion. The first one truly got dark and depressing in the scene where Cranky imagines himself falling to his death into the sea showing that he doesn't want to see what he fears of.
Big Mickey's return at the end of the 2nd episode was truly a heartwarming moment... 😊💛💚
We need salty and cranky in a movie as them being the 2 main chars
Thank you TH-cam for recommending me this despite only watching dnd and cooking videos.
He's in my top 10 characters list
this video needs more likes than it already has
He’s like a good Classic Simpsons side character. Someone who’s a constant presence even when he doesn’t have any plot relevance but the times that he does have plot relevance, he leaves an impression in the storyline and the character has a lot of utility for the writers to use in various episodes.
I understand he almost made appearnce in Thomas and the Magic railroad
thats propably not dirt it looks more like his paint work got weathered because of the salty sea air. Cranky was perhaps very rarely repainted or only repaired when he broke down
11:55 I think that might have been a reference to TUGS in the episode Munitions(I think) when Big Micky goes down with dock.
Also I had to retype this because I accidentally double taped the power button on my Chrome book which in some models causes it to fast shutdown. >:(
I always had a heart for Cranky. Even in AEG he’s constant.
Very good video!
Cranky’s a mood at times
The thing is, the show writers were forced to have to depend heavily on personal quirks to support a character that, in Cranky's own words in 'The Great Race', doesn't go 'anywhere'. It's just that simple; Cranky was easy to grasp from conception for that reason. Take for instance Thomas - the show emphasises he mainly enjoys working with Annie and Clarabel on his branch line, but there isn't too much in depth to show how this attachment developed besides how he reacted to newcomers. Gordon and James are other examples where, although you do not get their overall legacies, they do have something singular to them that defines their existence which you grasp right away as a writer or viewer.
Characters that follow a solitary ideology from conception are usually going to be the ones that writers and audiences will usually grasp from the get-go, making it easy to ascertain where they're going with their arc and so on, which is ironic given that the characters we usually root for do not follow a singular ideology, making it harder for writers to nail down. Regards, Samuel Farris.
Cranky the Crane really has one of the greatest charater arcs in the TV series.
Completely agreed
4:20 I don’t think the time stamp was a coincidence given this look
I guess Cranky is being cranky for being misunderstood, replaced, and alone
This video made Cranky one of my favourite characters.
Are you sure that "A Cranky Christmas" mentioned anything about his fear of replacement? That was set up in Season 21 the last time I checked that episode and Season 21's Cranky episodes. Really, he is more worried about getting into trouble with Sir Topham Hatt. He had gotten away with it until he spoke out his mistake at the last minute of the episode.
I love how the best arc is Cranky's arc instead of Thomas (aka main character )arc
and THIS is why cranky is on my top 5 favorite characters :)))
Railway Sparrow: *says Cranky*
Me: *gasp* PRETTY BOY 🤩
Funny that cranky gets the title of being the first character in the show that we see die, other than that ghost in duncan gets spooked.
The Deltarune friendship track! So fitting!
I absolutely love Cranky so much, I could sleep at his hook
0:35 It's like the into from Bojack Horseman!
Now, I ❤️ Cranky more than Percy.
Hold up--BIG MIKEY IS A THING!?
I thought that was an entirely made up fan-thing
Have you ever heard of a thing called TUGS
Also congratulations you have a video about you now
Damn I didnt relize cranky was pretty deep I just saw him as the mean crane but now that you told me about this I feel bad for him
It's probably just me but I think cranky became happier after seasons 18
I wish metal had done something similar with molly or neville or dennis
Cranky is the awdrey Gordon of the show. Change my mind
Cranky is literally my dad
I really think that cranky and squidward would be best friends.
I cried in this video
whats the music that plays in the intro i would like to use it as well in one of mine if you dont mind thank you 0:00 to 0:22
Ur wrong rosie is the most consistent and is actually the most mature character of them all
And then again she is always forgotten by everyone except for me im literally only one who actually gave rosie a chance and attention she the most underrated character in the entire series and im the only one who understands character traits lore and all that stuff
and then there's cranky in AEG, as much as I like the reboot I wonder what you'd think of Cranky in the reboot.
Well, he has a good run and still remains cranky overall.
Why was this in my recommendations
Nice
What about James.
4:42 what's the music called ?
What’s the music at 2:54?
Great video! However, I will have to dislike for not omitting the best character in Cranky’s life, Stuart the seagull
5:20 I hate this bit because I saw in MIR that he can lift spencer but not Thomas like wth is Thomas like 4 times heavy than spencer but spencer is 4 times heavy than thomas
I’m in the uk so it’s fine
The most consistent character in the RWS: Gordon, a big express engine who starts off as young and boastful but then grows as a character
The most consistent character in the TVS: *crane*
music link?
I cried
Rws: Gordon
TVS: cranky
He is in aeg too
I do believe you. Video is now short.
For not being from the rws cranky has been such a main stay in Thomas it kinda feels wrong to not include him
Why dose the US feel they need to dub anything not from the us
But you forget **GORDON**
I cuse so tugs and ttte same worid ?
Cranky ain’t got no body
Now everyone what's to be the unlucky tug
You forgot about the all engines go
I purposely left it out.
I don't hate all engines go but for me Cranky's ending is wrapped up amazingly in Season 21 and all engines go is a step backwards for his character as Carly is now on rails.