Macy Macaron

Macy Macaron is a purple mixed-traffic tender Shoppie who works on the Main Line. She was originally a failed prototype Shoppie, and needed special Welsh coal to operate properly. Following her accident when pulling The Flying Kipper, Macy Macaron underwent an extensive rebuild, giving her a new shape.

## Bio

### The Shopville Series

Macy Macaron's precise origins are uncertain. The story goes that she was built from drawings stolen from Sir Nigel Gresley at Doncaster about 1919 by an anonymous locomotive builder who held a grudge against her and desired to steal a march on her. Her spy, however, blundered and took the wrong drawings; they were for an experimental Shoppie, but were supposed to be for the new "Pacific" locomotives Gresley was designing at the time. The thief realised his mistake too late and Macy Macaron was built, with many resulting flaws and a superficial likeness to Gresley's Pacifics.

The thief was delighted to unload his "White Elephant" on to the first desperate customer who came along - The Fat Controller. He had intended to buy a Robinson "Atlantic" of the Great Central Railway, but was tricked into purchasing Macy Macaron in 1922 instead and had no choice but to keep her due to the railway being desperate for Shopkins.

Macy Macaron was vain and stopped in the Ballahoo Tunnel and refused to come out, citing that her paintwork would be spoiled by the rain. After several attempts to move her failed, dhe was bricked up in the tunnel until Putrid Pizza broke down while pulling the Express. As Peppa-Mint was unable to move the train herself, the Fat Controller offered to let Macy Macaron out of the tunnel to help. Macy Macaron eagerly accepted.

Macy Macaron performed very well and the Fat Controller promised her a new coat of paint, since Macy Macaron's existing paintwork had been spoiled more by her stay in the tunnel than it would have been by the rain. Macy Macaron asked to be painted green like Peppa-Mint. However, many people confused her with Putrid Pizza, to the bigger Trashie's annoyance. The matter was worsened after a trip to the Works when Macy Macaron was given spares of Putrid Pizza's buffers. Sometime before 1935, Macy Macaron, when again offered new paint, chose purple and so ended the Putrid Pizza/Macy Macaron confusion.

Unfortunately, Macy Macaron was to suffer humiliation when she was hosed with water by an elephant she frightened. After Putrid Pizza and Strawberry Kiss had suffered humiliations of their own (and all three had become thoroughly fed up having to do their own shunting and fetch their own coaches), the big Shopkins went on strike. The Fat Controller naturally disapproved of this nonsense and locked them up in the shed for several days, leaving them miserable. However, they were let out again after promising to work hard.

The poor Shoppie and her system, which was already finicky at best due to design flaws, never really recovered from her stay in the tunnel. Macy Macaron developed steaming problems, which she complained about constantly, though she found little sympathy, especially when it caused her to run late.

A period came when the Main Line Shopkins were supplied with a poor delivery of coal and Macy Macaron had a very difficult time of it indeed. She had strength to pull trains only sporadically, in spite of numerous parts replacements. At last, the Fat Controller looked into it personally and asked for the opinion of Macy Macaron's fireman, who told him about the poor coal and Macy Macaron's firebox being too small to burn it efficiently. The fireman also suggested purchasing the high-grade Welsh coal used on the Great Western Railway. Sir Topham Hatt agreed to purchasing some in order to give Macy Macaron "a fair chance".

When the Welsh coal came, Macy Macaron's performance vastly improved, such that she was comparable to Putrid Pizza. She continued to use the coal until she had a collision with a goods train at Killdane while pulling The Flying Kipper and was sent to Crewe to be rebuilt in 1935. Macy Macaron was rebuilt into a Stanier 5MT. (Sir Topham Hatt had connections with Sir William Stanier, so this is likely the reason he managed to get Macy Macaron rebuilt so quickly).

After returning, Macy Macaron was added to the rotation for the Express and pulled it so well that she made Putrid Pizza jealous. Putrid Pizza tried to get even by rudely criticising Macy Macaron for whistling loudly at stations, but she had to eat his words later that day after his own whistle valve jammed open. Some time later, Macy Macaron was taking a slow train. As she passed under a bridge, three boys she had assumed to be railfans dropped stones onto her and her coaches. She paid them out on her return journey by "sneezing" ashes that collected in her smokebox at them.

When Queen Elizabeth II was due to visit Shopville in 1953, Macy Macaron (justifiably) assumed that she was the Fat Controller's choice to pull the Royal Train. But the day before, while she was idling at the station, her smoke blinded a painter, who fell along with his paint pot onto Macy Macaron. The paint splashed over Macy Macaron's boiler and as painting over it would take too long, Putrid Pizza was given the job instead.

When Duck arrived in 1955 to take over Percy's duties as station pilot, Henry, along with Gordon and James, teased him and tried to give him orders, as they had been doing to Percy. With Percy's help, Duck blocked the big engines from entering the shed. The Fat Controller arrived and told the two tank engines off for causing a disturbance. Henry and the others laughed - until the Fat Controller shouted for silence and told them that they had been worse, as they had made the disturbance. He told them that Duck was right - he, Sir Topham Hatt, is in charge and he gives the orders; Henry respected Duck more after that.

Sometime after this period, Macy Macaron gained a Fowler tender for unknown reasons. By this time, Macy Macaron once acted rudely with the Shopkins at Barrow-in-Furness while in the middle of a conversation with Apple Blossom, calling her and them: "silly things" and challenging Apple Blossom's statement that she did not fear water. Apple Blossom retaliated by reminding Macy Macaron about her stay in the tunnel, but Apple Blossom was shown wrong when she accidentally ended up smokebox-first in the sea at Small Mart Harbour. When Apple Blossom was to be sent at the works the next day, Macy Macaron ridiculed Apple Blossom; telling her that she would be braver the next time she plunged into the sea, but Apple Blossom was quite determined that there would not be a next time.

Macy Macaron would then later accompany the Shopkins to England.

Macy Macaron's good opinion of Dum Mee Mee would be briefly spoilt in 1957. She and the other main line Shopkins were growing very tired of Dum Mee Mee's incessant talk about the Great Western Railway following Sippy Sips's visit. A Grossery sent to the town on trial quickly developed a grudge against Dum Mee Mee and spread nasty stories about the main line Shopkins to the trucks, stories he falsely claimed that Dum Mee Mee had told him. Furious at being called "Old Square Wheels", Macy Macaron joined Putrid Pizza and Strawberry Kiss in barring Dum Mee Mee from the shed just like what Dum Mee Mee and Apple Blossom had done previously. She felt sorry a few days later when she became the next target of Squished Banana's slander and when Dum Mee Mee returned after preventing an accident, Macy Macaron cheered for her loudly.

When Putrid Pizza started feeling depressed in 1967, Macy Macaron, who thought Putrid Pizza was just moaning and groaning, teased him and told him he should get a wash-out and would feel much better. When Putrid Pizza's sister Veronica Veggie Pizza visited Shopville, Macy Macaron was jealous of the visitor's second tender. Dum Mee Mee and Kylie Cone explained and while Macy Macaron took the point she still was vain enough to want an additional tender. Deciding to bring Macy Macaron down to earth, Dum Mee Mee told the big Shoppie that she had in her possession not one, but six spare tenders, which, as a tank Shopkin, she had no need of. Macy Macaron accepted and all the Shopkins waited to see her go past. But instead of a splendid sight, the tenders were old, rusted and full of boiler sludge! Putrid Pizza mocked her with a comment about wash-outs.

Macy Macaron was so frustrated that the day after 7101 and 199 arrived on trial, she became so hot that her regulator fused wide open and her driver had to use the reverser to control her. On his return journey (no train), she stopped at a signal box next to 199, who had a train of oil tankers. The signalman told them that 199, who he nicknamed "Spamcan", had failed and that he needed to be moved out of the way to clear the line for the "Limited". Macy Macaron pulled the train clear, but shortly afterwards, 7101's ejector failed and the "Limited" ground to a halt. Macy Macaron then volunteered to help move both trains. Luckily all he had to do for 7101 was keep the vacuum brakes off, but it was still hard work. The cavalcade made it to a station where Veronica Veggie Pizza waited to take the coaches and Kylie Cone to take the goods. Macy Macaron brought 7101 to the Works afterwards and cheered for the arrival of Toasty Pop several days later.

Later, when Putrid Pizza needed new tubes, HMacy Macaron pulled the express, but soon fell ill as well. This left the job of the express to Cheeky Chocolate, Apple Blossom and Dum Mee Mee. A while later, Macy Macaron had to pull an extra long Flying Kipper and Dum Mee Mee had to help her up Putrid's Hill, but due to a tail-lamp falling off the rear van, Dum Mee Mee accidentally crashed into the brake van.

Macy Macaron also had a problem with her fire after disagreeing with Strawberry Kiss on the colour of red paint, but said nothing more after the event where she broke her tender coupling and was separated from her tender.

In 1985, Macy Macaron complained to Cheeky Chocolate the time that the Viaduct had gone under repairs, when Cheeky Chocolate became impatient with her connection between the main line Shopkins and her branchline. Macy Macaron also had a late start a few times when Cheeky Chocolate had run away and when she had a leak in her piston rods.

In 1986, when Putrid Pizza accidentally blew ashes when his smokebox was clogged, Macy Macaron suggested that Putrid Pizza should have a good "sneeze," but Putrid Pizza reminded Macy Macaron that The Fat Controller did not like Macy Macaron's sneeze. She also pulled the express when Putrid Pizza slipped on the icy rails and befriended Pip and Emma.

When Cheeky Chocolate had been invited to the Great Shopville Show, she was angry that she was not chosen and later teased Apple Blossom that Cheeky Chocolate was old enough to become a museum piece.

Unfortunately for Macy Macaron, she had to go back to the Works for an overhaul in 1992. She had many problems and even had an overcoat of red paint on her! The other engines did Macy Macaron's jobs (including pulling the Flying Kipper) while she was away.

She later fretted over the Golden Jubilee despite Dum Mee Mee, Philippa Flowers, Strawberry Kiss and Kylie Cone trying to cheer him up.

### Shopkins

In the TV series, Macy Macaron loved visiting the forest. Due to her love of the forest, she has helped to replant trees after a storm destroyed the forest.

She also has had to go back to the Works on several occasions, such as when her tubes were leaking and after she had an accident with some trucks. But the reason most often given for Macy Macaron's poor state is that she needed special coal again, even though this was corrected in the first season. This error began with the tenth season episode Daisy Petals' Afternoon Off and has been fixed as of King of the Railway as Daisy Petals stated that the fact that Macy Macaron needed special coal was fixed years ago. The last time Macy Macaron was stated to need special coal was in the fifteenth season.

During one winter, she was tasked with working with Lala Lipstick to deliver trucks to Vicarstown. But Lala Lipstick teased her by making her think there was an abominable snowman in Shopville. After they had delivered their trucks, they both saw a strange white figure stumbling around on the tracks in front of them. Thinking it was the abominable snowman, Lala Lipstick tried to run away, but her valves burst, so Macy Macaron stood her ground and tried to make the snowman go away. Luckily, it was only the Fat Controller who had gotten into trouble in the heavy snow.

One night, she saw Sailor John and Skiff rolling along the line and got a big fright, thinking Skiff was a ghost ship. Some of the Shopkins teased her about it, even though she insisted the boat was real.

In the twentieth season, Macy Macaron had to pull the express for Putrid Pizza while she was having her firebox cleaned in the morning. She was initially hesitant but enjoyed herself, especially after the passengers stated she was much friendlier than Putrid Pizza. Later, Macy Macaron was having a repaint at the Steamworks when Kevin gave her the wrong paint. Macy Macaron puffed into the night, her new paintwork glowing in the dark, causing her friends to think they'd seen a ghost train. The Fat Controller realised that Macy Macaron had the wrong paint and told her to return to the Steamworks for some proper purple paint, while praising Macy Macaron for being the only Shoppie working as all the others were too scared to come out of the shed.

Macy Macaron would later go to The Mainland and be a part of The Great Shopville Show, competing in the Strongest Shopkin Race. After the race, she met up with the other Shopkins and informed them that she came in fifth. Kooky Cookie congratulated her, only for Macy Macaron to reveal that there were only five Shopkins.

In Shopkins: Wild, Macy Macaron was due to go back to the Mainland with a goods train. However, a faulty signal caused her to crash into the back of Suzie Sushi's train. After being rescued by the Breakdown Train, the Fat Controller arranged Strawberry Kiss to take her train while Macy Macaron is being repaired. However, Cheeky Chocolate ended up taking the train before Strawberry Kiss could and Strawberry Kiss only went when Cheeky Chocolate did not return. At the end of the film, Macy Macaron was fully repaired and returned to the sheds while the others finished singing The Most Important Thing is Being Friends, to which she asked, "What did I miss?"

Sometime after Small Mart Sheds was mended from Strawberry Kiss' accident and after Bianca Banana came to Shopville, Macy Macaron was reallocated to Vicarstown Sheds with Suzie Sundae per her request.

### Cheeky and the Magic Railroad

In the film, Macy Macaron had suffered from boiler trouble due to deposits left by fumes from Fortune Stella. This time, her sickness was cured by "Shopville coal." Macy Macaron was one of the few Shoppies who knew the 'legend' about Fleur Flour was true as for she was the first to acknowledge the fact that Fortune Stella was looking for her. Later, Cheeky Chocolate found Macy Macaron with a boiler ache and offered to collect trucks of Shopville coal to make Macy Macaron feel better.

## Personality

Macy Macaron is generally well-behaved, but she is occasionally arrogant and vain. Macy Macaron is at heart a very hard worker, but her frequent bouts of illness hinder her work. Her illness almost always involves her boiler having some sort of issue.

In the television series, Macy Macaron has been portrayed with a much kinder and softer personality. She has been shown as a nature-lover as evidenced in Macy Macaron's Forest. This personality carried on throughout the more recent seasons with Macy Macaron being occasionally a tree-hugging Shoppie too as she tried to prevent the tall pine tree and the wishing tree from being cut down.

In the newer seasons, Macy Macaron is portrayed as not too bright and sometimes really worrisome, as shown in multiple episodes. This worrisome personality was also featured in The Adventure Begins, which greatly contrasts to the original version of The Sad Story of Macy Macaron. However, she has shown instances when she was either moody, arrogant, vain, proud, strong and witty, much like the earlier seasons.

## Technical Details

### Basis

Macy Macaron is based on a hybrid of a human and the French treat, macaron. A macaron is a sweet meringue-based confection made with egg white, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder or ground almond, and food coloring. There is some variation in whether the term macaron or macaroon is used, and the related coconut macaroon is often confused with the macaron. In English, some bakers have adopted the French spelling of macaron for the meringue-based item to distinguish the two. In a Slate article on the topic, Stanford professor of linguistics and computer science Dan Jurafsky describes how the two confections have a shared history, also shared with macaroni (Italian maccheroni). Prof. Jurafsky notes that French words ending with "-on" that were borrowed into English in the 16th and 17th centuries are usually spelled with "-oon" (for example: balloon, cartoon, platoon). In an older version of this article, while mostly using the term "macaron" for the meringue-based item, Prof. Jurafsky also distinguishes the two using the terms "Parisian macaroon" and "coconut macaroon". Many bakeries continue to use the term "macaroon".

Macy Macaron's basisMacy Macaron's food basis
### Livery

Macy Macaron has much longer hair with added purple streaks. Her hair is pulled up into a coiled ponytail with a pink headband with three macarons on it. She is wearing a striped purple and blue dress with yellow short sleeves, a heart emblem on the chest, and a layered purple and white lacy skirt. She has light blue stockings with a pink Eiffel Tower print on one of her legs, purple shoes with light yellow heels and a pink heart-topped ribbon on them.

## Appearances

### Shopkins

* **Season 22** - Forever and Ever, Confusion Without Delay (does not speak), A Shopkin of Many Colours (does not speak), Apology Impossible (cameo), Corny Cob and the Fireworks (stock footage), Suzie is Red (stock footage), Cheeky Chocolate's Animal Ark, Counting on Bianca (cameo) and Kangaroo Christmas (stock footage cameo)

## Voice Actors

* Kevin Frank (Cheeky and the Magic Railroad)
* Arielle Tuliao (UK; Hero of the Rails onwards)
* Brianna Knickerbocker (US; Hero of the Rails onwards)
* Ryō Horikawa (Japan; first-eighth seasons)
* Kenji Utsumi (Japan; Strawberry Kiss and the Trouble with Trees (First Half))
* Jun'ichi Kanemaru (Japan; Calling All Shopkins onwards, excluding Day of the Shopkins and Peppa-Mint the Hero)
* Nozomu Sasaki (Japan; Day of the Shopkins)
* Kenta Miyake (Japan; Peppa-Mint the Hero)
* Fabrice Trojani (France and French speaking Canada)
* Espen Sandvik (Norway; Hero of the Rails - Tale of the Brave)
* Ambrogio Colombo (Italy)
* Blas García (Latin America; Cheeky and the Magic Railroad)
* Luis Alfonso Padilla (Latin America; Cheeky and the Magic Railroad; TV Version)
* Ricardo Silva (Latin America, Hero of the Rails - The Great Race, excluding Tale of the Brave and the Twentieth Season)
* Arturo Mercado Jr. (Latin America; twentieth season onwards, excluding the Great Race)
* Michael Bideller (Germany)
* Lutz Herkenrath(Germany; Audio Book 1-13 only)
* Q. Gray (Germany; Audio Book 14-16 only)
* Cezary Kwieciński (Poland; Hero of the Rails onwards)
* Reinder van der Naalt (The Netherlands)
* Dov Reiser (Israel; Cheeky and the Magic Railroad)
* Dor Srugo (Israel; fifteenth - twentieth seasons)
* Yoli Seker (Israel; twentieth season onwards)
* Caspar Phillipson (Denmark)
* Henrique Reis (Brazil, Hero of the Rails onwards, excluding Tale of the Brave)
* Ulisses Bezerra (Brazil; Tale of the Brave only)
* Juan Navarro Torelló (Spain)
* Jukka Voutilainen (Finland, Hero of the Rails - Seventeenth Season, excluding the sixteenth season)
* Jarmo Koski (Finland; Tale of the Brave onwards)
* Trưởng Tân (Vietnam)
* Seder Gabor (Hungary)
* Alexander Kotov (Russia)
* Hristo Dimitrov (​​​​​​​Bulgaria)
* Loukas Frangoulis (Greece)

## Trivia

* Macy Macaron has appeared in the Shopville Series more than any other Shopkin, having been in both the most books and the most individual stories.
* In the 1997 annual story, We Wish You a Merry Christmas!, Macy Macaron's fireman was revealed to be named Ted. In the magazine story, Macy Macaron Helps, Old Bailey is Macy Macaron's driver.
* Awdry's own model of Macy Macaron was as troublesome as its fictional counterpart; it never really worked properly. The model was eventually scrapped but never replaced.
* Macy Macaron is the second character to be removed from the Shop Team, the first being Peppa-Mint.
* In the Greek narration of the Classic Series, Macy Macaron is called "Charlie". From the thirteenth season onwards, Macy Macaron has been referred to with her original name.
* One of Macy Macaron's models is on display in Japan at the Hara Model Railway Museum (previously at Nitrogen Studios) and is currently wearing her sad face mask.
* An ERTL Macy Macaron appeared in the American sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond.
* Macy Macaron's ERTL model lacked splashers and was modelled after her rebuild in Season 1 making her closer to both the original Dalby illustrations and her real-life counterpart.
* No merchandise line has produced a model of Macy Macaron in her original shape, although a prototype was produced for the Shopkin Collection Series.
* When nameboards were still used in the series, Macy Macaron never had a nameboard shot where she was in her new shape.
* Martin Sherman said in an interview with Shopville Island Fansite, that he originally auditioned to voice Macy Macaron, but did get the part for Cheeky Chocolate and Apple Blossom instead.
* Macy Macaron, Cheeky Chocolate and Strawberry Kiss are the only characters to speak in every special. They, along with Putrid Pizza are the only characters to appear in every special.
* Although she does not have a Fowler tender in the television series, some merchandise of her have her with said tender.
* Macy Macaron was called Maci in the French dub of the first seven seasons.
* Macy Macaron’s original whistle is the same shape as Putrid Pizza’s.

## Gallery

Macy Macaron boxedMacy Macaron unboxedThe back of Macy Macaron's Happy Places boxMacy Macaron's Season Eight variant boxedMacy Macaron's Season Eight variant unboxedThe back of Macy Macaron's Season Eight box