U.S. Title: James Goes Buzz Buzz
Air date: May 12th, 1992 (UK), March 25th, 1993 (US)
Adapted from: Main Line Engines, "Buzz, Buzz"
James feels insulted when BoCo advises him to be careful with bees that the Vicar is taking care of and he overhears Duck referring Bill and Ben as "bees". He interrupts the conversation rudely and brags about how he would make the bees go away, only to get a retort from Duck with "buzz, buzz, buzz."
Preparing to take the express, James notices that a beehive was knocked over and people quickly left the station. The bees fly over to James' driver and fireman and then turn their attention to the big red engine. They all lay on his boiler, which irritates James. One of the bees burnt their feet and then turns to James, stinging him right on his nose. James runs off and tries many ways to get rid of the bees by spinning around the turntable, pouring water from the water tower, and blowing smoke through a tunnel. They arrive to the Wellsworth vicarage, and finally, the bees went inside the beehive.
Later at the sheds, James was thanked by the Vicar for saving his beez and gave him a nickname "James the Red-Nosed Engine". (James didn't mind). Instead, they prefer to call him the "bee's knees" as a sign that he's more useful than ever.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Actually Pretty Funny: James, who was still irritable of the bee incident, actually finds it humorous when the Vicar calls him "James the Red-Nosed Engine".
- Adaptation Expansion: Of Main Line Engines. This episode adds a side plot involving the vicar's beehives, and an earlier scene explaining James' rudeness towards BoCo. Inverted in that it omits the opening in which friendly BoCo remedies Duck's wariness towards Diesels.
- Bee Afraid: James gets a taste of the bee's sting.
- Bratty Half Pints: How Duck best describes Bill and Ben as "bees".
- Chekhov's Gun: The vicarage beehives, which James' workmen use to get rid of the bees swarming over James.
- Continuity Nod: BoCo tells Duck about the trick Bill and Ben played on him in "The Diseasel".
- Determinator: The bees stay on James through spinning on the turntable, water from the water tower, and being smoked out through a tunnel.
- Digital Destruction: The shot of James spinning on the turntable isn't as fast in the restored version, losing some of the scene's humour.
- Disneyfication: A few examples:
- The episode omits the mention of Duck's wariness towards diesels until he realizes how friendly BoCo was. In this adaptation, both engines are already friends.
- In Main Line Engines, James is the butt of all jokes after the bee incident. In this adaptation, he is thanked by the Vicar for returning the bees to the beehive and was given the nickname the "bee's knees" for being useful.
- "Double, Double" Title: The British title, "Buzz, Buzz".
- Fantastic Racism: James ignores BoCo's advice about bees with the narrator hinting it to be due to him "not liking being told what to do by a diesel".
- The Freelance Shame Squad : In a
Deleted Scene, Duck and BoCo laugh at James for his red nose as he takes on water. - Mass "Oh, Crap!": The moment the beehive breaks, the entire station, passengers and staff alike, immediately evacuate.
- Medium Blending: The bees are rendered in 2D hand-drawn animation.
- Miles Gloriosus: James.
- Narrative Profanity Filter: This exchange after James' numerous unsuccessful attempts to shoo the bees off his boiler:James' Driver: It's no good, James. We'll just have to go back to the orchard and fetch another hive.
Narrator: James' reply was drowned by the sound of buzzing. - Roger Rabbit Effect: The bee who stings James on the nose is drawn in a deliberately "cartoony" style that looks vastly different from the more realism-oriented design of the series.
- Rule of Three: James' crew tries three times to get the bees off by spinning on the turntable, hosing them off, and smoking them out through a tunnel, before finally giving up and heading back to the orchard for a new hive.
- Scary Stinging Swarm: James gets attacked by a swarm of bees in the episode.
- The Scream: When the burnt bee stings him on the nose, James howls out: "EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After being stung, James runs off, deserting the train he was supposed to pull.
- Series Continuity Error: Contrary to Main Line Engines, this episode doesn't take place between "The Diseasal" and "Wrong Road".
- Shout-Out: The Vicar of Wellsworth says it's a pity it's not Christmas, then they could call James "James the Red-Nosed Engine"
- Team Dad: Duck acknowledges Edward as the only one able to keep Bill and Ben in order.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The Express is seemingly abandoned after James is stung (in the novel it is explained that BoCo pulled it instead). To be fair, all the passengers cleared out when the beehive broke.
