Thomas and the Memes and other stories.
Please add entries in the following format if possible:
- The meme. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The explanation behind the meme, if necessary.[[/labelnote]] ExplanationLike this.
- Further mutations and successor memes, if any.
- "Just look what you've done to our breakfast!"
Explanation This line originates from "Thomas Comes to Breakfast", where a woman says this line after Thomas accidentally crashes into her house. Tellingly, she doesn't care about the house itself but rather how that day's breakfast was ruined. - Lines from Thomas & Friends will frequently appear in comment sections of YouTube videos (that is until the infamous COPPA update came along and affected many videos) and Facebook pictures showing train wrecks, train crashes, derailments, and train collisions:
- "His driver applied the brakes..." [train wreck] "...but it was too late."
- "Luckily, no one was hurt."
- The Fat Controller/Sir Topham Hatt was very cross.
- Heck, just the usage of the word "Cross" in general is this since it's used to describe whenever a character in the show is mad/angry/pissed off.
- "You have caused confusion and delay!"ExplanationSir Topham Hatt's catchphrase.
- Thomas' shocked face from series 1, accompanied by a Scare Chord, has been dubbed 'The O Face'.
- It is common to mash up the original theme song with various rap tracks (for example: this video featuring The Notorious B.I.G.), for some reason. And it's not just rap: songs from other TV shows will sometimes be remixed to the theme tune, like this remix using an incidental song from The Good Place, or this remix using AC/DC's Back in Black.
- While most of the fandom has forgotten about The Great Discovery, two things have been remembered: The fact that it was the last hurrah for the model era of Thomas and Pierce Brosnan's immortal line "WELCOME STANLEY!!" spouted in the trailer.
- There are lots of YouTube videos using this show's clips, then redubbing them with audio from another cartoon, dubbed "Thomas/X Show Parody". Even ones with TUGS, another show by Clearwater!
- It's also very popular for people to use toys and/or simulation programs to remake episodes of the series. Just search up "Tomy (insert episode here)", or "Trainz (insert episode here)", for instance.
- Ringo's narration of "Shut up! It's not funny!" from "Break Van / Donald and Douglas" has come up a lot, often as a form of Self-Deprecation in YouTube Poop usage.
- "His firebox was on fire!" ExplanationThis line from "Fiery Flynn" when Flynn meets Thomas, covered in soot from his exploded firebox. It usually comes to mind whenever you think of the terrible writing of the HiT seasons.
- It's rather popular on Pixiv to render scenes from the episodes with the engine characters being humanized.
- Dart's face from one of his promo images is quickly becoming this, originating from the Thomas and Friend Wiki powered by Fandom. Johnny vs. Sonic Hacking Contest 2014 (Day 2) and Joel's Windows 7 Destruction stream are where this face gained memetic popularity.
- Henry shouting "For the love of God, Montressor!" as he is being bricked up in the tunnel.
- An increasingly popular trend is splicing in audio clips from George Carlin's audiobooks as if they were actual narration.
- One YouTube trend the fanbase likes to do is "Custom DVDs". Basically, these are videos made to simulate the Anchor Bay and Strand VCI releases of Thomas & Friends VHSes and DVDs, in that they all center around certain themes. These range from original ideas to complete remakes of past releases made from the CGI era. Some of these videos will tell you that they're just doing it for fun, and are only in it for the novelty these earlier releases provided.
- "Who is Duncan?"ExplanationBecame a meme in the fandom since Duncan didn't make the switch to CGI until season 18, leading to fans jokingly forgetting about him.
- An image of Thomas with a shell-shocked expression and the caption "It was time for Thomas to leave. He had seen everything." (also as shown above) from "Thomas, Percy, and the Coal" became quite infamous in mid-to-late 2018, as a response to unpleasant or overwhelming content.
- The Fat Controller laughed. "You are wrong."◊ExplanationOriginates from "Thomas and the Rumors", where the Fat Controller reacts to Thomas talking to him about the rumors that he wanted to replace them with Harold the Helicopter. The scene in question is often used as a reaction image to mock poorly constructed opinions or inaccurate statements. Others, due to the presence of the name "the Fat Controller", use it to say the recommended serving size for a food they just ate a lot of is incorrect.
- Thomas had never seen such a mess!ExplanationA narration line from Lady Hatt's Birthday Party. It is used in the same vein as "It was time for Thomas to leave. He had seen everything." as an expression on seeing unpleasant content, especially on the show's cartoonish reboot.
- "Who cares? This is good cocoa!" ExplanationFrom the Japanese side of the fandom, this line from the episode "The Flying Kipper" is rather infamous thanks to the fireman saying this line in response to guard commenting his concerns about the Flying Kipper passing through soon and their brake van being stuck on the main line, with the fireman seeming more concerned about his cocoa than the fact that they are at risk of getting hit by another train. The way he says the line also gives the line funny vibe, which is hard to translate into English.
- The Station Joke ExplanationThe infamous accident from "A Better View For Gordon" has become a Running Gag in YouTube Poop videos by TheRealXBoxNerd. Often being placed above various other accidents from the show
- "Thomas had never seen such bullshit before."ExplanationThis screenshot◊ from "Thomas in Trouble" is captioned with the phrase, and used as a reaction image in the same spirit as "Thomas had never seen such a mess!"
- I suffer dreadfully, and no one cares.ExplanationHenry's first line in the episode "Coal".
- There's two ways of doing things, The Great Western way and the wrong way.ExplanationDuck's catchphrase.
- Duck: I'm Great Western and...
Henry, Gordon, and James: Don't we know it!ExplanationHenry, Gordon, and James' reaction to the line in the episode "Pop Goes the Diesel". - RABBISH! ExplanationSaid by James in "Duck Takes Charge", Ringo Starr's narration of the line in particular.
- "SILENCE!" snapped the Fat Controller.ExplanationSir Topham Hatt reads Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, and Duck the Riot Act at the end of "Duck Takes Charge" for their roles in a disturbance during the course of the story. This is the original British version of the line, as narrated by Ringo Starr.
- THIS isn't fun AT ALL!
- That's riiiiiiiiiiiiiight!ExplanationFerdinand's catchphrase.
- Shake, shake, make me quake! Make me quake until I shake!ExplanationWhat Bash and Dash say every time they cross the Shake Shake Bridge.
- Anything involving Sharon Miller and rhymes.ExplanationEpisodes where Sharon Miller was head writer tend to include rhymes in them.
- Special Special.ExplanationWhat Thomas tells Cranky about the jet engine he's supposed to deliver in "Thomas the Jet Engine".
- A minor meme involves the use of Carlos of Mexico to do the sort of Incredibly Lame Pun another kiddie show Carlos is known for.
- "James didn't like that at all."ExplanationA narration line from "James and the Coaches" after Sir Topham Hatt scolds James for soaking his hat, threatening to remove his red paint job and paint him blue. This has been used along with a picture of James tearing up to describe unfavourable and/or undesirable situations.
- "Dirty Percy/DON'T CALL ME DIRTY PERCY!" ExplanationFrom "Thomas, Percy and the Squeak", from a line spoken by Gordon regarding Percy's appearance, to which Percy shouts "DON'T CALL ME DIRTY PERCY!". This became a running gag in the Thomas the Tank Engine 20-minute YouTube Poop Challenge (in which participants only have 20 minutes to edit a poop) in April 2020.
- Elephant Thomas Explanation From a series of shorts on the show's YouTube channel called "Thomas's Magical Birthday Wishes." It quickly became a meme on Twitter due to its Unintentional Uncanny Valley appearance. This gained slightly more traction in 2023 with the release of the trailer for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which showed off a powerup that turns Mario into an elephant.
- "Disgraceful!" said Gordon.
"Disgusting!" put in James.
"Despicable!" finished Henry.ExplanationA line from "Dirty Work", often used to express a negative reaction in the same vein as "Thomas had never seen such a mess!" and "Thomas had never seen such bullshit before." - Educating Gordon Day Explanation A day referenced by Gordon in "Tender Engines" has become adopted by fans as being June 2, 1992; the original UK air date of the episode.
- "Nice day for it, isn't it?" ExplanationIn the episode, "Happy Ever After", when Percy comes to a field where Terrence is, Terrence says, "Hello, Percy! Nice day for it isn't it?" In YouTube Poops, whenever Percy comes across a character with a square head, they say "Nice day for it, isn't it?" while having Terrence's head around them.
- Sir Topham Hatt: I'm banishing you to the Shadow Realm!
Sir Handel: NOoOoOoOoOoOo!
Sir Topham Hatt: Much better! ExplanationA video by the YouTube user The Unlucky Tug recapped the model series of Thomas & Friends... and added the Cutaway Gag explaining Sir Handel's absence for several seasons. It came so far out of left-field in contrast to the rest of the video that it was taken out of context, causing people to make fun of the clip, quoting it, or adding expansions such as Sir Handel banishing the Fat Controller or getting laughed at by Skarloey, or banishing Skarloey.- "Anth-" ExplanationThe first video showing this clip went a little too long, resulting in the Cutaway Gag, when The Unlucky Tug said "And thus ends..."
- "Oh yes. I like children." ExplanationA concluding line in "Thomas and Trevor", as Trevor reflects on his day and adventure with Thomas and the children. It was not long before some people saw how awkwardly worded the line was, giving them a reason to turn him into a Memetic Molester.
- "Gordon? What's a Gordon?" ExplanationSaid by Cleo in the series 24 episode "Cleo the Road Engine" where she and Ruth come across the express engine while racing Thomas on the rails. The clip is usually edited to end with Gordon in an absurd or unpleasant situation.
- "Can you spare a coach?" ExplanationYouTuber PieceOfJayVA released a video editing SpongeBob's tirade against Mr Krabs from the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Can You Spare a Dime?" to depict a situation based on the Unfinished Episode "The Missing Coach". Following this, several people used the audio to recreate the scene using toys or simulation software.
- Malos the Tank Engine ExplanationDavid Menkin, the voice actor for Malos, one of the main antagonists of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, had done work for Thomas the Tank Engine back in the day. Given how the works aren't anywhere near similar to one another... it's hilarious to imagine a Thomas voice actor playing an Omnicidal Maniac
- Thomas Was Everywhere ExplanationA YouTube Poop by RevSecond that became popular enough to inspire a Sonic the Hedgehog ROM hack and is a recurring entry in iceberg charts, mainly Internet-related ones.
- Picnic supper of fish and chips. ExplanationFrom the episode "Thomas Goes Fishing" - a lot of kids in The '90s enjoyed repeating the line, having learned of the meal from it (especially in North America).
- NOT FUCKING MADE FOR KIDS! ExplanationAfter the introduction of YouTube's 'Made for Kids' classification system, T&F content creators were agitated after the system started repeatedly flagging down their videos. To this end, creators placed statements indicating that the video was 'NOT MADE FOR KIDS', or resorted to using expletives in an effort to stave off the algorithm. Not that it helped, as some of these videos usually ended up flagged down anyway.
- Henry's tender exploding. ExplanationA blooper reel for season 10 includes an outtake of a scene from "It's Good to Be Gordon", where the mechanism in the plastic Henry model's tender causing him to spew black smoke from his funnel overheated and exploded, sending the model of one of the workmen on Henry's tender and parts from the mechanism flying. The incident resulted in the plastic Henry model's tender having to be rebuilt. It came so far out of left-field in contrast to the rest of the blooper reel that it was taken out of context, causing people to joke about the whole clip, such as joking that the incident happened as a result of Henry having explosive diarrhoea or the result of someone sticking explosives in his tender.
- Jiko wa Okorusa (じこはおこるさ) Explanation The Japanese title of the song "Accidents Will Happen," which is very popular among the Japanese internet, even outside the Thomas fandom, due to the gap between cheerful melody sung by wholesome-sounding child choir and mature and preachy lyrics which makes more sense for experienced adults. For non-Thomas fans, the amount of accidents that appear in the MV make the song impressive even more. There are a lot of Japanese MAD movies using the song, including covers and parodies. Even Okada Toshio, an anime producer and author posted an analysis of the song on his YouTube channel.
- "What's a railway testicles?". ExplanationAs asked by Percy, from a widely circulated edit by The Unlucky Tug of "Spic and Span".
- Smudger's laugh is commonly mixed with YouTube Poops.
- "The Sad Story of Henry/Come Out, Henry!" is frequently used in Youtube Poops, with lines like cutting out Topham Hatt's "Always and always and always and always" (sometimes extending it), or making Gordon's lines "I'm going to poop poop at Henry!" into Toilet Humor.
- The Snonce Crongldker ExplanationThe Snonce Crongldker is a character who looks like a cross between a steam engine and a tractor, made in AI using modified artwork from the My Thomas Story Library book covers.
- Thomas once saw Terence the tractor... ExplanationA video circulated in which the opening verse of "Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover" was rewritten to be about Terence the tractor engaging in sexual intercourse (or, to put it explicitly, "fuckin' in a field one day"), much to Thomas' disgust.
- "Bother that telephone!" ExplanationIn the Season 1 episode "Thomas in Trouble", Sir Topham Hatt utters this line after his butler interrupts his mealtime to notify him of a call. Since 2015, fans have begun using this line in their own projects for at least a few times a year.
- "I wanted an Atlantic, and that son-of-a-bitch sent me that!" Explanation"The Island of Sodor: Its People, History and Railways" guidebook for The Railway Series reveals Sir Topham Hatt ordered a GCR Robinson Atlantic and ended up with Henry because of a scam, with censored text of his resultant angry reaction. Fandom member Trampy, creator of the Trampy Movies, did an explicit redub of the line and it became popular to create visuals for it, usually with an offended Henry nearby to react.
- "Look out for the train."ExplanationSome early American home video releases of "Thomas and the Trucks" contain an infamous blooper in which a voice from out of nowhere (speculated to either be a crew member on the show or an employee from Strand VCI Entertainment, the American distributor of the show's home media releases at the time) cuts the audio and says, "Look out for the train" during Thomas' climb on Gordon's Hill (later home video releases would fix this error). The blooper quickly became a meme amongst the fandom after it was brought up by GWR Studios in "Goofs Found in Thomas and the Trucks" due to how random and jarring it is.
