Harold

Harold

* Current
* Debut

Background information

**First episode**
"New Heights For Harold"

Character information

**Full name**
Harold the Helicopter

**Other names**
* Whirlybird (*by James and Percy*)
* Birdbrain (*by Percy*)
* Lazy Wings (*by Percy*)
* Cheeky Chopper (*by Rusty*)
* Harold the Flopper Chopper (*by Splatter and Dodge*)

**Age**
Unknown (*Helicopter*)

**Home**
Island of SodorEngland (*built*)

**Friends**
* Percy
* Belle
* Flynn
* Rocky
* Butch
* Captain

**Quote**
"Well done. Cheers, and keep up the good work.""Cheeky chopper."

**Harold** is a white helicopter who patrols the skies of Island of Sodor, searching for emergencies. In the television series.
He is part of the Search and Rescue Team and is operated by two pilots.

Personality
When Harold was first introduced, he was shown to be very proud of being able to fly and the speed and versatility this gives him. He somewhat tended to be cocky, as he believed that "railways are slow and quite out of date". This caused a bit of rivalry between him and the engines, particularly Percy and he is usually nicknamed "whirlybird" for that, but he usually got his comeuppance in the end. Sometimes, he finds himself in need of Percy's help after he teases him for being slow. Despite this, he still works hard and deep down, he knows that the engines on the Fat Controller's railway, including Percy, are just as useful as he is. He is always helpful and highly alert whenever there is an emergency, especially on patrol. Because of this, he remains a friend to the railway.
Harold also speaks in a manner reminiscent of an RAF pilot, using terms such as "wizard" and "old chap" in conversation.
Since joining the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre, he has acted a lot more mature and almost never teases the engines. He takes his job as part of the team very seriously and continues to remain on patrol.

Technical Details
Basis
Harold is based on a Sikorsky S-55 helicopter (also known as Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw), built in the UK as the Westland Whirlwind. These were used by the United States Air Force to transport US troops during the Korean War. He has added floats. Around 70 of these still survive in some form.

Harold's basis
Livery
Harold is painted white with red lining. His name is painted on his sides, near his tail, in red.

Appearances
Television Series* **Season 1** - Wilbert, Frank, and the Milk
* **Season 4** - All For One and One For James
* **Season 5** - New Heights for Harold
* **Season 7** - Molly's Folly
* **Season 8** - A Challenge for the Controller and Frank and the Fib
* **Season 10** - Norman Invasion (cameo)
* **Season 13** - It's Good To Be Belle, Toad Gets Towed (cameo) and Ivo Hugh's Day at the Zoo (cameo)
* **Season 14** - Hiro and the Heat Wave (does not speak), Hugo Takes Flight, Merlin the Magical Engine (cameo) and Flat Stanley (cameo)
* **Season 15** - The Island of Misfit Engines
* **Season 16** - Finding Lorry (cameo)
* **Season 17** - Dustin the Really Useless Engine (does not speak), Sidney Transplant (cameo), Oliver Confusion (cameo), Toby, Or Not Toby (mentioned), Thomas' Crown Affair (cameo) and Rocked by a Hurricane (cameo)

Specials* The Legend of Diesel 10 (does not speak)
* Saving Pirate Ryan

Trivia* George Carlin's voice for Harold in the US version sounds like an impression of Jim Backus.
* In both of his appearances in the sixth series, Harold's unhappy expression was always visible behind his mouth on his happy face.
* He is the only member of the Search and Rescue team to be created by the Rev. W. Awdry.
* He was the only non-human/animal character to be fully animated in the twelfth series.
* Harold was the only character introduced after the first series to have a speaking role in *Thomas and the Magic Railroad.*
* Harold appears in a Pixar short called "Float" as a ERTL like toy.
* Harold's theme in the second series is a musical variation on the main score of the 1955 film, *The Dam Busters*.
* The fifteenth series episode, Stop That Bus! was the first time Harold has flown outside of The Island of Sodor.
* Harold is the second anthropomorphized helicopter to be voiced by Kerry Shale, who had previously voiced Chuck the American twin-rotored helicopter from *Budgie the Little Helicopter*.
* In the television series, Harold never had eyebrows. However, he did have them in the magazine stories Mountain Rescue and False Alarm, in illustrations by Ken Stott, and in the book adaptation of Thomas and the Missing Christmas Tree, illustrated by Clive Spong. Harold also had eyebrows in his Thomas Story Library book.
* Harold was called *Herbert* in the French dub from the second to seventh series.
* In the model series, Harold is shown to have two pilots operating him. In the CGI series however, he is only shown to have one.