Kana Goes Slow

**"Kana Goes Slow"** is the sixth episode of the first series of *Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go*.

## Plot

When Kana's power goes out during a delivery run, Thomas teaches her that sometimes it's okay to go slow.

## Synopsis

‘Kana the Quick’ is speeding along the track with her passenger cars in tow, trying to set the new record for getting to Blue Water Bridge. But then ‘Thomas the Terrific’ races up alongside her, claiming that he will beat her there. The two friends race off, zooming by the water tower so fast that they splash water all over Percy and Nia, who promptly complain. Thomas has never won against Kana, but still wants to beat her just once. As he opens his eyes, he realizes he made it to Blue Water Bridge before Kana... but then realizes that he only won because Kana has stopped and cannot move. Thomas asks if Kana is out of steam, but Kana explains to him that she runs on electricity and her battery is full, so something must be broken inside her. Kana does not know how she will get her cars to Vicarstown, but Thomas knows a way. He offers to couple up and tow Kana and her cars to the end of the line. Kana is worried Thomas will not be fast enough to get them there by sundown, but Thomas makes a Thomas Promise to get Kana there on time, so she accepts.

Thomas and Kana set off, but Kana and her train are much heavier than Thomas thought. They are going so slowly that they hold up James, Annie, Clarabel, Diesel, and the Troublesome Trucks behind them. The Troublesome Trucks in particular tease the two friends for being slow. Thomas decides to switch onto the branch line away from the main line so the trains can pass by. Soon, they approach a hilly and curvy track, which makes Kana worried, as high speed engines like her can tip over if they go fast on curves. But Thomas reassures her since they are going at ‘Thomas Speed’. The two travel up and down the hill and have a grand time. They pass by a field of pigs and Kana starts to realize what she has been missing by going fast all the time. There is more to see when not everything is just a blur. The two friends see so much; from butterflies in the forest, to their reflections in a river, to a cow at the farm. Thomas and Kana have so much fun.

Soon enough, the two friends reach Thomas' favorite part of the line; The Big Meadow. Kana loves the smell of the flowers, too much in fact, as she leans too far to get a sniff and topples off the tracks, taking Thomas with her. Now the two have to wait for a tow, and Thomas says he might not be able to keep his Thomas Promise. Kana is fine, though, and the two laugh and look at the clouds together. Then, Kana spots an old set of railroad tracks close by. Thomas couples back up and manages to pull Kana out of the flowers and back onto the rails. They make it to Vicarstown just in time. The Troublesome Trucks are about to tease Thomas, but Kana interjects, saying she had a wonderful time, leaving the trucks stumped. Sandy the Rail Speeder scoots up, knowing about Kana's engine troubles from James. Sandy figures out it was only a loose connector and fixes it in a jiffy. With that, Kana is fixed and offers Thomas a race back home. But Thomas offers to stay and watch the sunset first, which Kana has never seen from Vicarstown before and loves it. She admits going slow can be as cool as going fast.

The next day, Thomas notices Kana going slower than usual and is worried that something is wrong again, but Kana says that she is going ‘Thomas Speed’. Thomas laughs and says that means he is the fastest engine on Sodor now. The two friends pick up the pace with a race once again, speeding past Percy and Nia at the water tower, who are prepared with umbrellas this time.

## Cast

* Meesha Contreras as Thomas
* Luke Marty as James
* Charlie Zeltzer as Percy
* Talia Evans as Nia
* Ava Ro as Kana
* Glee Dango as Sandy
* Catherine Disher as Annie
* Linda Kash as Clarabel
* Cory Doran and Jamie Watson as the Troublesome Trucks

Diesel, Henry and Gordon have no lines in this episode.

## Music

 **‣** Justice League - Jean-Claude Monaca, Eddy Abidi, Pascal Atenza *[Title card]*

 **‣** The Late Set - Laurence Cottle *[Opening]*

 **‣** Cold Fear - Dick Walter *[Thomas smells Mom's expensive perfume]*

 **‣** The Evil Twins - Gregor Narholz *["And no videogames!"]*

 **‣** Arms Race (a) - John Knowles, Christopher Knowles, Frank Ricotti *[Nia assembles the friends and pets]*

 **‣** Secret is Out (a) - Magnum Opus *[Geo passing around the friends' notes]*

 **‣** Night Talking - Anthony Hymas *[Thomas' pep talk]*

 **‣** The Evil Twins - Gregor Narholz *[Engines rope up Nia]*

 **‣** Arms Race (a) - John Knowles, Christopher Knowles, Frank Ricotti *[Engines take Nia away]*

 **‣** ? *["The king of yes!"]*

 **‣** The Reaper - Phil Xenidis, Elizabeth Hooper, Andrew Bojanic, Russell Emanuel, Randall Cooke, Keith Armstrong *[Kana plays guitar]*

 **‣** ? *[Thomas' video game]*

 **‣** The Reaper - Phil Xenidis, Elizabeth Hooper, Andrew Bojanic, Russell Emanuel, Randall Cooke, Keith Armstrong *[Kana plays guitar]*

 **‣** Pop Punk - Doug Rockwell *[Sandy makes an explosion]*

 **‣** The Reaper - Phil Xenidis, Elizabeth Hooper, Andrew Bojanic, Russell Emanuel, Randall Cooke, Keith Armstrong *[Thomas recalls what Nia said]*

 **‣** Arms Race (a) - John Knowles, Christopher Knowles, Frank Ricotti *[Thomas getting furious]*

 **‣** Comic Capers (b) - Charlie Brissette, Norman Mamey *[Thomas runs into Percy]*

 **‣** The Reaper - Phil Xenidis, Elizabeth Hooper, Andrew Bojanic, Russell Emanuel, Randall Cooke, Keith Armstrong *[Thomas roped up]*

 **‣** Do or Die - John Powell *["Let's roll!"]*

 **‣** The Reaper - Phil Xenidis, Elizabeth Hooper, Andrew Bojanic, Russell Emanuel, Randall Cooke, Keith Armstrong *[Nia sees the mad house]*

 **‣** Pop Punk - Doug Rockwell *[Kana plays clean up music]*

 **‣** ? *[Nia and Thomas see the crack in the wall]*

 **‣** ? *[Mom and Dad come home]*

 **‣** ? *[Thomas and Nia play a video game]*

 **‣** ? *[Ending]*

## Physical distribution

This episode is available on the "Best Friend Adventures" digital download release.

## Trivia

* In the Latin American Spanish dub, this episode is titled "Kana Slows Down".
* This episode was released early on Cartoon Network's Video on Demand services on 13 September 2021.
* This episode marks the first of a few things:
	+ Kana's first major leading role in the series.
	+ The first episode to be re-dubbed in both the UK and Australia.
	+ Henry's first appearance in *All Engines Go*.
	+ The Troublesome Trucks' first speaking roles in *All Engines Go*.
	+ The first episode of *All Engines Go* in which Diesel appears, but does not speak.
* Jamie Waston and Jai Armstrong join the voice cast.
* The episode is similar to the original series episodes, Time for Trouble and Gordon Runs Dry.

## References

* ***Kana Goes Slow*** - The title references the phrase "no guts, no glory," which means that success doesn't come without the courage to take risks.
	+ This pun is kept in several foreign dubs of the series too:

		- Arabic: كانا كتمشا بشوية [kana katamasha bishawia]
		- Dutch: Kana Vertraagt
		- Latin American Spanish: Kana Desacelera

* ***Street Fighter*** - The title screen for Thomas' game is in a similar font to this Capcom fighting series as seen in arcades and gaming consoles.
* ***NES and Nintendo 64*** - The game console Thomas has seems to have some similarities with the Nintendo Entertainment System, in terms of its design, but the game cartridges for it look more like those for Nintendo 64 games.
* ***AC/DC*** - Before Nia starts to jam on her guitar with her numerous amps setup. She says "For those about to rock" which is a reference to the song *For Those About to Rock We Salute You*. This is the first time this song was referenced in the show, preceding "Roller Coasting" and "The Paint Problem".
* ***The Pink Panther*** - The scene in which James slides from the wall to Thomas' bedroom is the same as that of the Pink Panther episode "The Pink Phink".

## Errors

* While James and Diesel are being held up, James' lamp is on the wrong side of his footplate.
* Annie and Clarabel swap places when they urge Thomas to pick up the pace.
* When Thomas goes forwards after he says "I'll show you!", on one frame, a grey pixel is seen on his right eye.
* In the closeup of Thomas and Kana saying "Whee!", Kana's coupling disappears.
* When Thomas and Kana arrive at Vicarstown, Henry's boiler is curved, he is half yellow on his side and his tender wheels are on the front and the back of his tender.
* In one shot of Thomas laughing at Vicarstown, there are blue pixels on his smokebox.
* In one shot, Kana's left iris is layered over her eyelash.
* When Thomas and Kana pass Percy, Nia and the water tower the second time, the animation from the first time they did it is reused because Kana has her coaches again.
* In the UK dub, when Thomas says "Kana, I caught you!", the line is repeated.
* On the RTÉ Player, the episode incorrectly used a image of the episode, Mike's Whistle.