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Characters / The Little Engine That Could

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Characters From The 1991 Animated Special

    The Locomotives 
  • Adaptation Dye-Job: All of the engines' liveries are based on Ruth Sanderson's 1976 illustrations rather than the earlier editions of the book (i.e., Farnsworth being silver instead of gold, and Pete being marron instead of black).
  • Color Motif:
    • Tillie, the titular lead, is blue, and the main protagonist, being a delightful and cheerful locomotive who looks on the bright side of things and is a Determinator through-and-through.
    • Georgia is a bright red engine who experiences excitement at being able to pull the birthday train, and is unquestionably kind and supportive.
    • Pete, the freight locomotive, is also red, but he's a lot more short-tempered, and passionate about being a freight engine.
    • Jebediah is a dull-yellow engine with shades of brown, being a friendly locomotive who's otherwise starting to feel his age.
    • Farnsworth is a grey engine, who's pretty humorless and otherwise a stiff diesel.
    • Doc is a green engine who's profession lets him work as a healer, tending to the ill.
  • Establishing Character Moment:
    • Tillie wakes up with a smile on her face, eager to get to work.
    • Farnsworth complains about being woken up so early, and tells off Tillie for not being a "real" engine. He then egotistically offers his services to pull the passenger train.
    • Pete hacks up a billow of smoke, lets out a playful jab at Tillie as he's being pulled out, hacks up another billow of smoke at the tower, and snarkingly goes out to get the freight train.
    • Jebediah is still fast asleep and comfortably resting.
    • Georgia points out to Tillie that she failed to get Jebediah. When the little engine reveals she wanted to give the old guy a break and pull the milk train for him, she supports the gesture. When Tillie gets caught, Georgia still happily tells Tillie she'll get her chance.
    • Doc is sitting in the yard when he's told of Georgia's condition, then rushes off without hesitation to check out on her.
  • Leitmotif:
    • Tillie's is a bright, cheery, and determined, musical score. It becomes a Dark Reprise when she's buried under snow.
    • Georgia's is peppy and energetic, but it goes crazy when she breaks down, stopping altogether along with her.
    • Farnsworth's is fast and elegant, much like the engine thinks of himself.
    • Pete's is loud, full of deep bassoon and tuba tones, and is often played roughly.
    • Jebediah's sounds like it came right out of the Old West, with plenty of banjo plucking and a slow tone to match his age.
    • Doc doesn't have one.
  • Meaningful Name:
    • Tillie comes from the German word meaning "mighty in battle", and this locomotive is determined to get over the mountain to prove her worth.
    • Georgia is a southern-accented engine with a bonnet and dress-style cylinder piping covers, sharing a name with a southern US state.
    • Farnsworth is an English word combining a plant (fern) with a settlement (or worth). The snooty diesel thinks himself as being worth better than most.
    • Pete is derived from Peter, which is Greek for "stone or rock". Both happen to be a particularly tough substance, and Pete is undoubtedly the toughest of the locomotives.
    • Jebediah comes from Hebrew, which means "Friend of God". He happens to be the oldest of the bunch, and is considered a dear friend whom Tillie looks out for.
    • Doc is a medical professional who devotes himself to helping broken-down locomotives.
  • Named by the Adaptation: With the exception of Doc, each of the engines are named this time around. The titular little engine is called "Tillie," the engine that breaks down is "Georgia," the shiny passenger engine is "Farnsworth," the freight engine is "Pete," and the old engine is "Jebediah."
  • Nice Mean And In Between: Of the six engines, Tillie, Doc, and Georgia are unquestionably the nicest of the bunch, Jebediah seems to lean towards nice, while Pete is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold and Farnsworth is a Jerkass mixed with Upper-Class Twit.

Individual Engines

    Tillie 

Tillie

Voiced by: Kath Soucie
"I think I can!"
The rail yard's switch engine, she's determined to pull her own train. It's just the tower in charge of the yard has no intention of doing so. But a broken-down birthday train might give her that chance.

    Georgia 

Georgia

"Oh, happy day! The birthday train!"
Voiced by: Bever-Leigh Banfield
A southern-accented red engine who's got a heart as good as gold. Unfortunately for her, a bad boiler causes her to break down when she's assigned to pull a birthday train.
  • Adaptation Expansion: Unlike the book, where she disappears after Tillie comes into the picture, we actually see what became of Georgia.
  • Expy: She might come across as a Gender Flip of Edward, being a kind engine who's like an older sister figure to another, younger engine, much like Edward is to Thomas.
  • For Want Of A Nail: If her boiler wasn't acting up when it did, she never would have broken down, and the toys would have made it over the mountain as planned. Consequently, Tillie would have never been able to take the birthday train, proving her own worth as an engine.
  • Meaningful Name: Her name is Georgia, and she speaks in a southern accent, along with having a metal "bonnet" and dress-style coverings on her cylinder pipes.
  • Nice Girl: She actively supports Tillie's efforts to want to pull a train, and apologizes to the toys when she breaks down.
  • Pink Means Feminine: She's painted in a pinkish-red, and her smokebox/face is a bright pink.
  • Plot-Driven Breakdown: The story is kicked into motion when her "spunglemunger" breaks on her and renders her unable to move, forcing the toys to try and flag down another engine to get the birthday train rolling.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: She doesn't really do much, but her breaking down causes the plot to take place.
  • Team Mom: She is the nicest of the engines in the roundhouse.

    Farnsworth 

Farnsworth

Voiced by: Frank Welker
"Refined engines such as I should never get up this early. It's bad for our chug."
A snooty diesel locomotive who prides himself on pulling the finest of passenger trains over the mountain.
  • Adaptation Species Change: Due to the film taking influence from the 1976 edition illustrated by Ruth Sanderson, Farnsworth is a diesel engine rather than a steam locomotive like in earlier editions of the book.
  • Brilliant, but Lazy: As a diesel engine, he could have very easily sped the birthday train over the mountain in no time flat, but he doesn't bother taking the job, seeing it as beneath his status as a passenger locomotive.
  • Everyone Has Standards: Farnsworth was mortified when he saw Rollo was standing on the tracks while waving his flag. Rollo was able to survive this, though.
  • Expy: He's rather like an even snootier, diesel version of Gordon. Inversely (and amusingly), he himself seems to have gained one himself in the form of Spencer, Gordon's rival.
  • Fantastic Racism: He's the only one of the engines to look down on Tillie for being small. Considering the other person who looks down on her is the Tower, that's saying a lot.
  • Jerkass: He's not as bad as the Tower, but his egotistical tendencies and snobbish attitude make him unwilling to do anything he considers beneath him.
  • It's All About Me: He won't take the birthday train over the mountain because it's not a fine passenger train for him to pull.
  • Karma Houdini: He isn't punished for refusing to pull the birthday train.
  • Narcissist: The most egoistical of the trains, as exemplified by this quote.
    Farnsworth: "What is the assignment that I shall do extremely well?"
  • Not a Morning Person: As noted in his quote above, he detests being woken up early.
  • No True Scotsman: He accuses Tillie of not being a "real engine."
  • Not a Morning Person: He doesn't like to wake up early because he thinks it's bad for his chug.
  • Not So Above It All: In spite of being a stiff, he freaks out when Rollo tries to flag him down and makes a valiant attempt to stop. But just as he reaches the clown's position on the tracks and runs into him, he immediately goes back to being annoyed.
  • Upper-Class Twit: He prides himself on being a passenger engine, and has the accent and attitude to go along with it.
  • Verbal Tic: His voices sometimes slips into sounding off his diesel horn.
  • Voice of the Legion: His voice sometimes slips into his diesel horn, causing him to sound like this.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: After refusing to take the birthday train, he disappears from the rest of the film, only being mentioned as having refused to take said train. He's not even at the yard when Tillie sneaks out from it. Though, it is most likely that he went back into the sheds at the time.

    Pete 

Pete

Voiced by: Peter Cullen
"Careful kid. Don't bust a boiler."
A rough, tough freight locomotive who considers himself very important in what he does.
  • The Big Guy: Undoubtedly the largest of the locomotives, as he's huge for being a 2-4-2.
  • Brilliant, but Lazy: For a big engine like him, the birthday train would have been no sweat to take over the mountain, but he thinks such a job is beneath him and won't do it.
  • Brooklyn Rage: Downplayed, but with his Brooklyn accent and his gruff attitude, to say he takes being asked to pull the birthday train poorly is an understatement, and drives poor Missy to tears when he flat out turns her down.
  • Deadpan Snarker: His interactions with the Tower indicate he has some shades of this, as he dismisses his boss's comments to watch his smoke.
  • Expy: He's rather like if someone took Henry, Gordon, and James (also known as the "Big Engine Trio"), and put them all into one engine. Like them, he's big, strong, fast, grumpy, and arrogant.
  • Hypocrite: He considers himself a very important engine for pulling freight trains, but he refuses to pull the birthday train, despite the fact that its cargo is freight!
  • It's All About Me: He won't take the birthday train because it's not an important freight train like the one he just pulled.
  • Jerkass: He's not as bad as Farnsworth or the Tower, but his telling off of the toys when they ask him to pull the birthday train cements him as being this.
    • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In spite of refusing to pull the birthday train, it's worth noting that he comes off as much more amicable towards Tillie, not demeaning her the same way as Farnsworth and Tower do and even humorously telling her not to "bust a boiler" when she's pulling him out of the roundhouse for him to tend to his duties for the day.
  • Karma Houdini: Like Farnsworth, he isn't punished for refusing to pull the birthday train.
  • Lightning Bruiser: He seems to be able to move pretty fast in spite of his massive size.
  • Shoulders of Doom: Well, cylinders of doom, but the piping connecting his cylinders to his boiler are a lot thicker than the other engines.
  • Tranquil Fury: He does not take being asked to pull the birthday train well at all.
  • Troll: Implied to be when he gives the tower a big old puff of black smoke, despite being told to watch where he puffs it out. He seems to grin as he passes by while doing so.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: After refusing to take the birthday train, he disappears from the rest of the film, only being mentioned as having refused to take said train. He's not even at the yard when Tillie sneaks out from it. Though, it is most likely that he went back into the sheds at the time.

    Jebediah 

Jebediah

Voiced by: Frank Welker
"Well I'd love to, but...but my chug just isn't what it used to be, and going over the mountain is too much for me these days. Sorry."
The oldest engine in the yard, he's had his fair share of pulling over the mountain, and is in no shape to do anything else but pull the milk train.
  • Cool Old Guy: He's a much friendlier engine than Farnsworth or Pete, but he can't pull the birthday train due to his advanced age.
  • Expy: Like Georgia, he may bring to mind Edward, though he notably takes more notes from Edward's being one of the oldest engines.
  • Feeling Their Age: He'd love to take the birthday train over the mountain, but he's getting too old to handle it properly.
  • Nice Guy: He is genuinely willing to help the other toys out, but he's just not able to do it because of his advanced age. He even tells Tillie that he feels bad for not being able to help out.

    Doc 

Doc

Voiced by: Neil Ross
"You'll have your old chug back in a couple of days."
The railyard's resident doctor.
  • Adaptational Explanation: He's the reason that Georgia gets back to the roundhouse after she breaks down, whereas the original story never explained what happened to that other engine.
  • Canon Foreigner: He was created for the special.
  • Nice Guy: A soft-spoken and gentle engine, he makes sure to take good care of Georgia when he goes to get her back to the roundhouse.
  • Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: He's the only engine to make no appearance on the back of the VHS. Considering he wasn't assigned to pull any trains like the others, and wasn't in the original story, this kind of makes sense.

Residents of the Rail Yard

    Chip 

Chip

Voiced by: Scott Menville
"Don't worry Tillie. You'll get your chance."
A little bird who acts as Tillie's best friend and confidant.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: He will do anything to defend Tillie and call out bullies who insults Tillie. He didn't hesitate to stand up to Tower for being rude to Tillie.
  • Bullying a Dragon: When the Tower won't let Tillie take the milk train in Jebediah's place, Chip tries to tell him off. The tower simply blows his siren and shoos him away.
    Chip: "What do you know, you overgrown stack of lumber?! She is not too little!"
  • Calling the Old Man Out: After Tower told Tillie that she's too little, Chip angrily tells him that she's not.
  • Canon Foreigner: He was created for the special.
  • Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Right after standing up to Tower, the boss gets really ticked off and uses his nose to scare him off. Chip was not amused by this.
  • Noodle Incident: He couldn't sleep all night because he ate some green worms again.
  • Odd Friendship: With Tillie, a steam locomotive.
  • Undying Loyalty: He goes to any lengths he can to help Tillie, even with the smallest of gestures.

    The Tower 

The Tower

Voiced by: Neil Ross
"Stop squabbling! We can't waste a minute!"
The head of the rail yard who assigns the locomotives their tasks. He's concerned with efficiency above all else and can't stand anyone disobeying him.
  • Big "NO!": Lets out a violent barrage of these when Tillie asks to take the birthday train.
  • Brooklyn Rage: His accent is not as obvious as Pete, and it's downplayed overall, but he's still very short tempered and prone to anger.
  • Canon Foreigner: He was created for the special, but a female version of him (albeit much nicer) was featured in the 2011 version.
  • Expy: He's essentially The Fat Controller when he's at his strictest and coldest to the engines, and without the redeeming qualities.
  • Establishing Character Moment: He wakes up in the morning with a big smile on his face, only to immediately realize what time it is and order the sleeping locomotives to work first thing.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: He's not evil (though he's not really a nice guy either), but even he takes concern when he sees Pete having another coughing fit.
  • Hair-Trigger Temper: It doesn't take much to set him off. Disobey his orders, waste his time, or try and handle another locomotive's job? He'll bite right into you for it.
  • Hate Sink: We can't really hate Farnsworth and Pete due to them having some redeeming qualities while they do have a little bit of Jerkass tendencies. But while the Tower originally seems like a crabby, but Reasonable Authority Figure, he cements himself as a rather hateful jerk when he decides to yank Tillies chain by initially seeming to accept her request to pull the birthday chain, then yells his refusal in her face.
  • Hidden Depths: For all of his worst qualities, it can be implied that he does care for Tillie's well-being. He doesn't want her to do anything that would be, in his view, completely reckless and stupid.
  • Hypocrite: He's a stickler for making sure the trains get out and do their work, wanting to keep schedule, but he actually allows a train to fall behind schedule because he can't stand the idea of the smallest of his engines pulling it. Not to mention he isn't shown as being in that much of a hurry to find a replacement engine for said train.
  • Jerkass: One of the biggest examples of all, he firmly cements himself as one when he denies Tillie the chance to pull the birthday train after he baits her into thinking he's finally going to let her take it.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: When Tillie asks him to take the birthday train, he seems touched by the gesture and lets off a big smile...only to berate her and make it abundantly clear he's never going to let her pull that train.
  • Karma Houdini: In spite of all the horrible things he did to Tillie, he gets away with it clean, instead dozing off in the middle of the day.
  • Mean Boss: He orders the locomotives around like toys and has no room for pleasantries; they have to get up and go first thing, no questions asked. Tillie ends up getting the brunt of his abuse.
  • Skewed Priorities: One of his trains is unable to move, putting things behind schedule. Two of his engines won't bother with the job, and three are unable to do it. Tillie is the only one willing and able to do it, making her his only choice in getting things back on track. What does he do? He yells at her for even daring to volunteer, all because he thinks she's too little. All this does is put the train further behind schedule, and what does he do after? He takes a nap! If this was Real Life, he would've gotten fired on the spot.
  • Sneeze of Doom: The only real sort of punishment he gets is when Pete bellows a thick cloud of black smoke in his face, and he lets out a big enough of a sneeze that he actually has snot coming out of his nose. He just shakes it off and angrily asks where Tillie is with the milk train.
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: Just when he finally seems to relent about letting Tillie haul the birthday train, he cruelly tells her off.

    Rollo the Clown 

Rollo the Clown

Voiced by: Frank Welker
"But Doc! We've got to get over that...the-the thing! That big lump! That-that mountain! T-t-t-today!"
A circus clown who is in charge of loading toys for a journey over the mountain.
  • Adaptational Comic Relief: Compared to the clown of the original story, Rollo is a genuine Butt-Monkey who spends half the special getting tossed around like a rag doll.
  • Butt-Monkey: His list of misfortunes is a long one. For starters, he gets flung into a coal tender when the birthday train takes off. Then his engine breaks down, and he falls flat on his face when he fails to to stick a landing on his pogo stick when he goes to see why Georgia stopped. As his pants keep falling down, he trips over a tie while going to get help. He tries to flag down Farnsworth, only to get hit by the annoyed diesel. He flags down Pete and successfully avoids getting hit, only to get a face full of steam and left soaking wet in his trousers. Then, as he's arguing with Grumpella about whether or not another engine will come along, he fails to notice Jebediah twice. When he has to turn them down, the other toys decide to up and leave, leading him to give out a rallying speech that only works thanks to Tillie's arrival. And that's not even getting into how he almost dies twice in the same trip. Poor guy can't catch a break.
  • Clueless Boss: Downplayed, since he clearly knows how to run his operation and is very well-meaning. He's just a bit clueless when it comes to dealing with a crisis situation.
  • The Ditz: He's not exactly the smartest clown around, but he's not horribly stupid.
  • Dumbass Has a Point: He does actually make a good point that winners never quit during his Rousing Speech.
  • Glad I Thought of It: Does this twice, first when Georgia suggest she can signal for help, then again when Doc suggests they flag down another engine to pick up the birthday train.
  • Hidden Depths: In spite of being an idiot and a Clueless Boss, he is a genuinely well-meaning person who goes out of his way to rally the toys to help them get over the mountain, even when it seems like none of the engines are willing to help. He also can pull off some pretty nifty magic tricks, and sing one heck of a catchy song.
  • Idiot Hero: He's undoubtedly a good guy, but he isn't much for brains.
  • Negated Moment of Awesome: When he flags down Pete and sidesteps being hit.
    Rollo: "Hah! Nothing to it!"
    He gets hit with a cloud of steam from Pete's cylinders, leaving him soaking wet.
    Rollo: (attempting to empty the water that built up in his trousers) "On the other hand..."
  • Non-Ironic Clown: He's a heroic (if somewhat stupid) clown.
  • Porky Pig Pronunciation: Tends to constantly change up his words, even when they still describe the situation he's in.
  • Stutter Stop: Does this on occasion.
  • Verbal Tic: He tends to backspace on his sentences, and has a bit of a stutter. When he's trying to get out a sentence, he usually points out what other characters said if he can't quite say it.

    Jeepers 

Jeepers

Voiced by: Frank Welker
Rollo's assistant.

    Grumpella 

Gumpella

Voiced by: BJ Ward
A toy bird who's never in a good mood.
  • Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: In spite of the fact that Tillie snuck out of the yard to help them out, Grumpella still can't help but complain about how her small size isn't going to help them.
  • Jerkass: Is always in a bad mood, and complains in virtually every line she has.
    • Jerkass Has a Point: While she was constantly complaining about it, she was right that the train is physically unable to move without an engine, and the toys can't make it in time because of the lack of one.
  • Meaningful Name: Grumpella, who's always in a bad mood.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: After being turned down for an engine thrice in a row, the toys finally get their wish when Tillie shows up to help. All she can do is complain about her size.
    Grumpella: "Oh, great! Now we have a miniature choo-choo who thinks she can pull us!"

    Perky 

Perky

Voiced by: Frank Welker
A toy elephant.
  • The Klutz: Trips over Handy Pandy while trying to board the train.

    Handy Pandy 

Handy Pandy

Voiced by: Neil Ross
A toy panda.

    Stretch 

Stretch

Voiced by: Scott Menville
A toy basketball player who can stretch his arms to great lengths.
  • Meaningful Name: He can stretch his arms out to any lengths, hence the name.

    Missy 

Missy

Voiced by: Kath Soucie
A Russian ballerina doll.
  • Tender Tears: She politely asks Pete to haul the birthday train for them. He just tells her off and leaves her crying.
  • Troubled Fetal Position: After Pete yells at her for daring to ask him to haul the birthday train.

Residents of the Mountain

    The Wolf 

The Wolf

Voiced by: Frank Welker
''Turn back! You're too little! You can't do it!"
A wolf that lives up in the mountains.

    Little Wolf 

Little Wolf

Voiced by: Kath Soucie
  • Nice Guy: Whereas the bigger wolf doubts Tillie can make the trip, this little guy is far more encouraging.

    The Eagle 

The Eagle

Voiced by: Frank Welker
A Bald Eagle that lives and flies the highest and most difficult reaches of the mountains and warns the little engine of the mounting dangers ahead.
  • Noble Bird of Prey: To a degree seems to be this. He tells Tillie to turn back and say's she is too little. But he does so because the initial rain that began to fall moments before at this point in Tilly and her trains journey over the mountain; is prelude to a heavy rain storm and he appears worried that she won't be able to make it though the storm as a result.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: The Eagles first words to Tillie are an urgent, concerned warning to turn back,and when rebuffed by her response: he cautions her that she is too little to make it though the rage of approaching storm. Even though like other characters who either urged her to turn back (like the wolf) or whom noted how she was too little to take the birthday train over the mountain: his expression when first landing on her cab is of clear worry, and he states his warning to her without any tone of derision, ridicule or ill will in his voice. When Tillie affirms that she will take her train over the mountain: he sounds resigned and lamenting of the little engine chuffing forward into danger as he tries to take wing but is carried off by a gust of strong wing.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: While he tries to give Tillie warning about the upcoming dangers of a heavy rainstorm and is sincerely worried about her safety and her train, when the little engine replies that she is going to cross the mountain even despite the warning: the Eagle ruefully gives up and hastily takes flight to get out of the fast approaching risk of the approaching storm, not wanting to stick around in such dangerous weather and conditions. A gust of wind blows him away just as he takes to the air, but he is still facing Tilly with a look of pained regret.
  • You Can Turn Back: Like the Wolf, he warns Tillie to turn back. Unlike the wolf however: he does so because she is puffing forward into a heavy rainstorm while also approaching to cross a precarious trestle bridge; indicating he is urging her to seek safety because he's actually concerned for her well being and that of her train facing degrading conditions.

    The Cave 

The Cave

Voiced by: Peter Cullen
"Tooooooooooooooo little..."
A frightening cave at the top of the mountain.
  • Cave Mouth: A true nightmare to behold, and has the shape to prove it.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: Its sole line of dialogue is a booming, ominous voice.

    Eric 

Eric

Voiced by: Billy O'Sullivan
A little boy who has every confidence the birthday train mentioned in his storybook is coming for his birthday tomorrow.

    Jill 

Jill

Voiced by: Dina Sherman
Eric's non-fantasy believing teenage sister.
  • Big Sister Bully: Relentlessly mocks and puts down her little brother for believing that a talking birthday train is coming to bring him toys for his birthday.
  • Cassandra Truth: Doesn't believe in the alleged birthday train until she sees it with her own eyes.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite her mocking of her brother mentioned above, she is pleasantly surprised when the birthday train her brother mentioned turns out to be real and quite happy for her little brother's excitement. Her smile practically says, "Maybe I should reconsider my faith in Santa Claus as well."
  • Tempting Fate: "Don't hold your breath, cause there's not going to be any little engines or birthday trains coming here."

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