Unikitty to the Rescue

***Unikitty to the Rescue*** is the first episode of the original first season and the pilot special of Clash of the Couples. It first aired in workprint form on August 19th, 2017 and made its proper premiere on August 21st, 2017.

The special was first developed in 2014 as a regular episode of the series, but as the series switched to a ten-minute episode format, the episode became a half-hour special that would take three years to complete.

## Synopsis

Unikitty is a young switch character living at the bustling Kahlville Junction, where she arranges trains for bigger characters that travel on the mainlines of Cartoonia's many railways. Richard, the mountain local block, impatiently demands for his coaches, claiming "silly little characters" like her aren't worth his time and that he'll never touch dirty freight cars. Unikitty teases him back, saying this makes him "disposable" and unable to handle last-minute trains that will come up, but Richard rebuttals by saying he's an "indispensable ending" and that he's as important to big characters "as that puny little Shoppie from Shopville"....who then proceeds to cut in front of him as payback for his rude remarks.

As Richard departs, Clarence, the express human in charge of The Fairytale Arrow, is told that he won't be working on the trains until much later, due to the railway company manager, Mrs. C. Ella, receiving orders for a last-minute slow goods train at Celgreb City Central. As Clarence worriedly heads to work, Unikitty (feeling a bit hurt after Richard's remarks) laments to a passing Cheeky Chocolate, who confidently reminds her that she got her own branch line after proving her worth as a shunter. She encourages her by reminding her of her hard working attitude and that she'll have a larger job soon enough.

A few hours later at the bustling Celgreb Central, Chee Zee is found by Richard sitting at the platform; he is waiting for his driver to return with a schedule of his work. The two then bicker with each other, which is interrupted by the Freight Manager of the station requesting Richard to leave his coaches, report to the goods yard, and get to Celgreb Bay Harbour by 12:30pm to collect a load of containers. Richard is flabbergasted as Chee Zee departs from the station, and causes problems for Toasty Pop and Steven Universe; Toasty Pop's passengers are on-board Richard's coaches, and are rudely dropped off in the middle of the line as Steven Universe hurries in with his own express.

As the two leave, Clarence arrives to find Snax pulling in with a delivery of emergency supplies. It's here where we learn Clarence isn't worried because he has to pull coaches; it's because his express run later will take him to the United States, and that makes him anxious about being late. Snax reassures him that things will go fine, and that Bubbleisha and Kraw have taken over his usual express runs for the time being. After this, the characters are sent on their way as Snax's cargo has been unloaded and the station staff are quickly arranging to have Clarence's goods train brought in, due to Cheeky Chocolate's run to Grofflen Harbour arriving soon.

Back at Kahlville, Snax is surprised to find a depressed Unikitty sadly going about her work. She opens up to him about being stuck in the junction yards, while everyone else gets to travel. Snax then proceeds to show the advantages of being a smaller character working in the yards; she can deliver trains safely without the risk of hitting the points, and plenty of smaller characters like Lana, Pixel, and Chelsea have big jobs of their own thanks to their hard work. However, their talk is interrupted by an alarm; Cherie Tomatoe and Stingy race down the line as a heavy milk train has broken free from Hawkodile, and is racing into the junction at a dangerous and destructive speed! With Snax stuck in the sidings and no one else to help, Unikitty bravely hurries in to stop the milk wagons. With great force and great effort, she manages to grind them to a halt, just as Hawkodile hurries back to the junction to recover the runaway freight cars. The rescue manages to boost Unikitty's confidence once more.

At the docks, Richard and Chee Zee impatiently wait for Terex to unload their containers so they can get going. The two bicker once again, with Richard boasting about his passenger services, before getting shut down by Miss Sprinkles and Sally Brown, who go to collect the last wagons for their trains. Fed up with all that he's had to put up with, Richard hurries off with only one car in tow, while Chee Zee rushes behind with three loaded wagons. Sally Brown and Miss Sprinkles give chase as the two passenger characters cause chaos in their fued-fueled race; they nearly ram into Lincoln at the harbour intersection and nearly smash into Pixel and his small goods train in the outskirts of the docks. During this, Clarence is told to head for a loop, as they've neglected some flatbeds for Gridinia Bay.

Sally Brown and Miss Sprinkles give up chasing them in Great Wolf Forest, where Sally Brown (following Miss Sprinkles' comment of "They're used to racin'....I'm not sure if rule-breaking's typical") realizes the two are headed for a collision. She orders her to head back to the harbour to send a warning before its too late.

Clarence is hurrying down the line to Great Wolf Junction at a fairly quick speed due to the delays that have been caused by the train, when he notices Chee Zee and Richard are about to ram into each other. Finally snapping out of their racing fever, the two brake hard, but are unable to prevent a crash; Chee Zee is sent boiler first into the ditch, with Richard falling on top of him, while Clarence, braking hard to avoid a further crash, hits the points and rams straight into a hill near the signal box.

Meanwhile, the alarm has gone off at the Cartoonian Fire and Rescue Centre, and Volectro sends off Skyanna and Snax (who has just finished his supply run) to the rescue, who set to work trying to get things back in order. However, with the accident decommissioning Clarence until further notice, the Fairytale Arrow's "Border Special" is left without a character. With all the big characters scheduled with work, Chelsea and Unikitty are put in charge of the train, with Bubbleisha and Steven Universe meeting them at Celgreb Central. Though they encounter tough hills along their travels, they manage to make it to the station in record time, as Bubbleisha and Steven Universe collect their coaches for the US run.

A few days later, a ceremony is held by Stacey Cakes at the Junction to award Chelsea and Unikitty for their contributions and work from the eventful day: Chelsea receives a passenger run on the Cartoonian Seaside Railway, and Unikitty receives a rake of mail cars. Unikitty now confidently works at the junction, while handling mail runs to and from Celgreb City, taking pride of finally having her own job.

## Characters

* Unikitty
* Tiara Sparkles
* Cheeky Chocolate
* Chelsea Keezheekoni
* Bubbleisha
* Terex
* Miss Sprinkles
* Richard
* Swag
* Clarence Wendle
* Toasty Pop
* Chee Zee
* Snax
* Steven Universe
* Buttercup (*does not speak*)
* Ziggy (*cameo*)
* Kawaii Queen (*cameo*)
* Lemona & Lima (*cameo*)
* Widget (*cameo*)
* BJ (*cameo*)
* Marsha Mello (Kindi Kids) (*cameo*)
* Belson Noles (*cameo*)
* Scarletta Gateau (*cameo*)
* Glomp (*cameo*)
* Peppa-Mint (*cameo*)
* Strawberry Kiss (*cameo*)
* Lynn Loud (*cameo*)
* Queen Bee (*cameo*)
* Suzie Sundae (*cameo*)
* Skyanna (*cameo*)
* Shine (*cameo*)
* Molly (*cameo*)
* Lotso (*cameo*)
* Tinky Winky (*cameo*)
* Tayler Tee (*cameo*)
* Mummy Pig (*cameo*)
* Yong Bao (*cameo*)
* Apple Blossom (*cameo*)
* Egghead (*cameo*)
* Bunny Bow (*cameo*)
* Cherie Tomatoe (*cameo*)
* Apple Blossom (Kindi Kids) (*audible cameo*)
* Kraw (*mentioned*)
* Milly and Molly Cake Pop (*indirectly mentioned*)
* Meathead (*deleted scene*)
* Pinkie Pie (*deleted scene*)

## Voice Cast

* Blake Hawkins - Unikitty
* Jonathan Asiamah - Cheeky Chocolate
* JLRosieFan98 - Miss Sprinkles
* Merry\_Ryan - Lincoln Loud
* Spiritkitten - Sally Brown
* Lachie V - Swag/Richard
* Michelle Hurtado - Mrs. C. Ella
* Luca Dollar - Bubbleisha
* Griffin Burns - Snax
* Tweetsie12 - Clarence
* Leo Jones Productions - Chee Zee
* RetroPokeFan - The Workmen/Additional Voices
* Cinnamonpig - The Kahlville Station Announcer
* Maggie - Lana Loud
* EnterprisingEngine93 - Tiara Sparkles
* TheMilanTooner - Additional Voices/Narrator

## Music

* "Unikitty to the Rescue Opening" - AngryBirdFan98/Christopher Bouchard
* Tom and Jerry Theme - Henry Mancini ["Far away in the country of Cartoonia…"]
* Bedtime Story - J.A.C. Redford [Cheeky Chocolate leaves and Richard arrives at Celegreb Central Station]
* "Richard is Speechless!" - AngryBirdFan98/Christopher Bouchard [Richard and Chee Zee leave Celegreb Central Station]
* Fireman Sam Theme [Snax leaves Celegreb Station]
* Lightfoot - Aaron Lieberman [Snax speaks with Unikitty]
* Rescuers Climax - Artie Butler [Unikitty stops the runaway milk train]
* Unikitty's Theme - Mark Mueller, Ben Heneghan, and Ian Lawson (Recreated by Isaiah Ferguson) ["Thanks, Unikitty!"]
* Train Chase - Julian Nott [Miss Sprinkles chases Richard and Chee Zee]
* Fireman Sam Theme [Snax gets the breakdown train]
* Nothing Can Stop Us Now - Mark Mueller, Ben Heneghan, and Ian Lawson (Performed by MaddGirlzArtz) [Unikitty and Chelsea take the Fairytale Express]
* Ash Can Parade [Everyone gathers for Unikitty and Chelsea's celebration]
* Unikitty's Theme - Mark Mueller, Ben Heneghan, and Ian Lawson (Recreated by Isaiah Ferguson [Unikitty pulls her mail train]
* Nothing Can Stop Us Now - Mark Mueller, Ben Heneghan, and Ian Lawson (Performed by MaddGirlzArtz) [Credits]

## Trivia

* The special was, for a time, intended to be released direct-to-home-video; however, constantly changing release dates pushed the special to make a YouTube debut instead.
* The special took three years to complete; the script was written between July and September 2015, with the July-written portions being done whilst on a Croatian holiday. The animation itself was produced in-and-out during Tyler's Grade 11 and 12 years of high school, with the majority of the work being completed in July and August 2017.
* The decision to bring on Griffin Burns as Snax was one made towards the final stages of animation on the special; the original actor had been fired, and Tyler was unable to find a replacement that would fit. Seeing the opportunity for a guest spot on the special, he contacted Griffin, who agreed to record for the special after a deal was made.
* Cheeky Chocolate tells Unikitty how she started off as a shunter but after proving she was really useful she got her own branch line and coaches. This is a reference to her first few episodes of season 1 of *Shopkins*, most notably *Cheeky Chocolate and the Breakdown Train*.
* The "Nothing Can Stop Us Now" musical sequence was done during the final stages of production; the scene originally contained narration, but it was decided that a cover of the song would be better suited. Only the "I think I can, I THINK I can" line was retained. There was also another Unikitty line was cut from the scene: "Make way for the Little Character Express!", originally written in for the "Run-Over" shot of the sequence.
* RetroPokeFan originally was supposed to have voiced Steven Universe but due to time constraints TheMilanTooner voiced him instead.
* This is Chelsea's only appearance with a face; following Cheeky Chocolate the Building Shopkin, she was reverted to her original faceless look.
* Many changes occurred during the scriptwriting phase:
	+ A variety of scrapped shots for the intro, including:
		- Bubbleisha stopping at Gridinia Bay Junction, next to Pinkie Pie and Steven Universe; we would then follow BJ as he hurries off to work, passing Trinket Sparkles, with Celgreb City in the distance serving as the final credit shot.
		- An alternate version of this scene with Cliffstone Junction replacing Gridinia Bay Junction.
		- Bubbleisha passing through a prototype Bluthsburg Freight Yard (as seen in the early teaser trailer/early intro). This was scrapped due to the uploader of the set raising concerns.
	+ Luke the Engine Driver and Chelsea having speaking roles, which were reduced to silent appearances in the special.
	+ Unikitty would have had her driver from Soeren Hermansen's earlier project, Heidi, but was scrapped as animation went underway.
	+ Richard would have had a driver
	+ A scene following the crash at Great Wolf Junction in which the signalman on duty raises the alarm to the Cartoonian Fire and Rescue Centre. A later version (cut due to the production schedule) would have humorously had Meathead as the signalman. This sequence was reproduced for the 2019 Release of the Movie on DVD
	+ Snax would have collected his breakdown train from a mountain station, rather than Gridinia Bay Junction.

## Merchandise

* Etsy/Facebook Store - Unikitty to the Rescue (DVD/VHS) (*discontinued*)
* Teepublic - Unikitty, Clarence, Snax, Richard, Chelsea, Mrs. C. Ella, Steven Universe and Pixel designs
* Clash of the Couples Railway System - 'Pixel's Busy Day' and 'Richard's Container Run' Multi-Packs (*cancelled*)